THE NEW LIFE
Words of God for Young Disciples of Christ
By Andrew Murray
We have revised this classic 1885 book, The New Life, Words of God for Young Disciples
of Christ, by Andrew Murray and made it available in this electronic edition so that Rev. Murray's words can live on to bless many generations to come. This book is intended for
new Christians, but works wonders as a refresher course for existing Christians as well.
The book covers in detail many of the basic foundational truths of the Christian faith.
[Adam Woeger, Editor]
Preface
In intercourse with young converts, I have very frequently longed for a suitable book in
which the most important truths that they have need of for the New Life should be briefly
and simply set forth. I could not find anything that entirely corresponded to what I
desired. During the services in which, since Whitsuntide 1884, I have been permitted to
take part, and in which I have been enabled to speak with so many who professed to have
found the Lord, and who were, nevertheless, still very weak in knowledge and faith, this
want was felt by me still more keenly. In the course of my journey, I felt myself pressed
to take the pen in hand. Under a vivid impression of the infirmities and the perverted
thoughts concerning the New Life, with which, as was manifest to me from conversations
I had with them, almost all young Christians have to wrestle, I wished, in some words of
instruction and encouragement, to let them see what a glorious life of power and joy is
prepared for them in their Lord Jesus, and how simple the way is to enjoy all this
blessing.
I have confined myself in these reflections to some of the most important topics. The first
is the Word of God as the glorious and sure guide, even for the simplest souls that will
only surrender themselves to it. Then, as the chief element in the word, there is the Son,
the gift of the Father, to do all for us. Thereupon follows what the Scriptures teach
concerning Sin, as the only thing that we have to bring to Jesus, as that which we must
give to Him, and from which He will set us free. Further, there is Faith, the great word in
which is expressed our inability to bring or to do anything, and that teaches us that all our
salvation must be received every day of our life as a gift from above. With the Holy Spirit
also must the young Christian make acquaintance, as the Person through whom the word
and Jesus, with all His work, and faith in Him, can become power and truth. Then there is
the Holy Life of obedience and of fruitfulness, in which the Spirit teaches us to walk. It is
to these six leading thoughts of the New Life that I have confined myself, with the
ceaseless prayer that God may use what I have written to make His young children
understand what a glorious and mighty life it is that they have received from their Father.
It was often very unwillingly that I took leave of the young converts who had to go back
to lonely places, where they could have little counsel or help, and seldom mingle in the
preaching of the word. It is my sure and confident expectation that what the Lord has
given me to write shall prove a blessing to many of these young confessors.
[I have, in some instances, attached the names of the places where the different portions
of this manual were written; in others, the names of the towns where the substance of
them was spoken, as a remembrance to the friends with whom I had intercourse.]
While writing this book I have had a second wish abiding with me. I have thought what I
could possibly do to secure that my little book should not draw away attention from the
word of God, but rather help to make the word more precious. I resolved to furnish the
work with marginal references, so that, on every point that was treated of, the reader
might be stirred up still to listen to the Word itself, to GOD HIMSELF.
I am hopeful that this arrangement will yield a double benefit. Many a one does not
know, and had nobody to teach him, how to examine the Scriptures properly. This book
may help him in his loneliness. If he will only meditate on one and another point, and
then look up the texts that are quoted, he will get into the way of consulting God's word
itself on that which he wishes to understand. But it may just as readily be of service in
prayer meetings or social gatherings for the study of the word. Let each one read the
portion fixed on at home and review those texts that seem to him the most important. Let
the president of the meeting read the portion aloud once. Let him then request that each
one who pleases should announce one and another text on that point which has struck
him most.
We have found in my congregation that the benefit of such meetings for bringing and
reading aloud texts on a point previously announced, is very great. This practice leads to
the searching of God's word, as even preaching does not. It stirs up the members of the
congregation, especially the young people, to independent dealing with the word. It leads
to a more living fellowship amongst the members of Christ's body, and helps also their
upbuilding in love. It prepares the way for a social recognition of the word as the living
communication of the thoughts of God, which with Divine power shall work in us what is
pleasing to God. I am persuaded that there is many a believing man and woman that asks
what they can accomplish for the Lord, who along this pathway could become the
channels of great blessing. Let them once a week bring together some of their neighbours
or friends (sometimes two or three household live on one farm) to hear read out texts for
which all have been previously searching: the Lord shall certainly give His blessing there.
With respect to the use of this book in retirement, I would fain request one thing more. I
hope that no one will think it strange. Let every portion be read over at least three times.
The great bane of all our converse with Divine things is superficiality. When we read
anything and understand it somewhat, we think that this is enough. No: we must give
time, that it may make an impression and wield its own influence upon us. Read every
portion the first time with consideration, to understand the good that is in it, and then see
if you receive benefit from the thoughts that are there expressed. Read it the second time
to see if it is really in accordance with God's word: take some, if not all, of the texts that
are adduced on each point, and ponder them in order to come under the full force of what
God has said on the point. Let your God, through His word, teach you what you must
think and believe concerning Him and His will. Read it then the third time to find out the
corresponding places, not in the Bible, but in your own life, in order to know if your life
has been in harmony with the New Life, and to direct your life for the future entirely
according to God's word. I am fully persuaded that the time and pains spent on such
converse with the word of God under the teaching of this or some book that helps you in
dealing with it, will be rewarded tenfold.
I conclude with a cordial brotherly greeting to all with whom I have been permitted to
mingle during the past year, in speaking about the precious Saviour and His glorious
salvation: also to all in other congregations, who in this last season have learned to know
the beloved Lord Jesus as their Redeemer. With a heart full of peace and love, I think of
you all, and I pray that the Lord may confirm His work in you. I have not become weary
of crying to you: the blessedness and the power of the New Life that is in you are greater
than you know, are wonderfully great: only learn to know aright and trust in Jesus, the
gift of God and the Scriptures, the word of God. Only give Him time to hold converse
with you and to work in you, and your heart shall overflow with the blessedness of God.
Now to Him who is able to do more than exceedingly above all that we can ask or think,
to Him be glory in the Church to all eternity.
ANDREW MURRAY,
Wellington, 12th August 1885
CONTENTS
Translator's Note
A glance at the pages of this little work will show that it is more elementary than the
other writings of its honoured author. The reason is that it is specially designed for young
disciples who have but recently chosen the better part, and consequently need nothing so
much as just to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear His word. Every minister of a
congregation in which young people have been brought to the Lord, will remember the
keen feeling of anxiety that swept over his heart as he contemplated their entrance on the
duties and responsibilities of a public Christian confession. The supreme question at such
a time is: How shall these young converts be built up in the knowledge of the truth? How
shall they be best taught the real nature of the new life they have received, the dangers by
which it is beset, and the directions in which its energy may safely go forth?
The desire to give a fitting answer to these questions has given rise to many excellent
manuals. In connection with every time of revival, especially, new books for this circle of
readers always make their appearance. As Mr. Murray indicates in the Preface, it was in
the midst of such a happy period that the following chapters were written. The volume
came under my notice whilst I was recently traveling in Holland. A brief inspection
showed me that it was one of the most simple, comprehensive, and suggestive of its class.
It is now translated into English from the latest Dutch edition, that the many thousands
who have profited by Mr. Murray's other admirable works may have a suitable book to
give or recommend to tho se who are setting their faces towards an earnest and fruitful
Christian life.
That it will be very helpful to this end I cannot doubt: especially if the directions the
author himself has given are faithfully adhered to. It will be noticed that the chapters are
comparatively short; but every one of them has a considerable number of Biblical
references. Let no reader be content to read what is written here without turning up and
examining the texts marked This practice, if persistently carried out, cannot fail to yield
much recompense. There are just as many chapters in the book as Sabbaths in the year.
What an additional blessing it would bring, if the members of a family who have had
access to the book during the week, were to hear a chapter read aloud every Sabbath
evening, and were encouraged to quote the texts in each that my have struck them most.
I have only to add that the volume is now translated and issued with Mr. Murray's cordial
sanction. It has been to me a very pleasant task to put it into an English dress for my
younger brethren throughout the country. Beyond this point, of course, my responsibility
does not go. Should the book prove useful in guiding the feet of those who have come to
the Lord yet further into the way of peace and holiness, it will be, both for author and
translator, the answer to many a fervent prayer.
J.P.L.
Abbroath, September 1891
Chapter I
THE NEW LIFE
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life." -- John 3:16
"For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Christ is our life." -- Col. 3:3,4
"We declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was
manifested unto us. God gave unto us eternal life; and this life is in His Son. He that hath
the Son hath the life." - 1 John 1:2,11,12
How glorious, then, is the blessing which every one receives that believes in the Lord
Jesus. Not only does there come a change in his disposition and manner of life; he also
receives from God out of heaven an entirely new life. He is born anew, born of God: he
has passed from death into life. (John 1:12-13; 3:5,7; 5:24; 1 John 3:14; 5:1)
This new life is nothing less than Eternal Life. (John 3:15-16,36; 6:40,51; 6:25-26;
Romans 6:11,23; 8:2; 1 John 5:12,13) This does not mean, as many suppose, that our life
shall now no more die, but shall endure into eternity. No: eternity life is nothing else than
the very life of God, the life that He has had in Himself from eternity, and that has been
visibly revealed in Christ. This life is now the portion of every child of God. (1 John 1:3;
3:1, 5:11)
This life is a life of inconceivable power. Whenever God gives life to a young plant or
animal, that life has in itself the power of growth, whereby the plant or animal as of itself
becomes large. Life is power. In the new life, that is, in your heart, there is the power of
eternity. (John 5:10,28; Heb. 7:16,29; 6:25,26; 2 Cor 7:9; 8:4; Col. 3:3-4; Phil. 4:13)
More certain than the healthful growth of any tree or animal is the growth and increase of
the child of God, who in reality surrenders himself to the working of the new life.
What hinders this power and the reception of the new spiritual life is chiefly two things.
The one is ignorance of its nature, its laws and workings. Man, even the Christian, has of
himself not the least conception of the new life that comes from God: it surpasses all his
thoughts. His own perverted thoughts of the way to serve and to please God, namely, by
what he does and is, are so deeply rooted in him, that, although he thinks that he
understands and receives God's word, he yet thinks humanly and carnally on Divine
things. (Jos. 3:4; Isa. 4:8,9; Matt. 16:23) Not only must God give salvation and life; He
must also give the Spirit to make us know what He gives. Not only must He point out the
land of Canaan, and the way thither; we must also, like the blind, be led every day by
Himself. The young Christian must try to cherish a deep conviction of his ignorance
concerning the new life, and of his inability to form right thoughts about it. This will
bring him to the meekness and to the childlike spirit of docility, to which the Lord shall
make His secret known. (Ps. 25:5,8-9; 143:8; Isa. 42:16; 64:4; Matt. 11:25; 1 Cor. 1:18-
19; 2:7,10,12; Heb. 11:8)
There is a second hindrance in the way of faith. In the life of every plant and every
animal and every child there lies sufficient power by which it can become big. In the new
life, God has made the most glorious provision of a sufficient power whereby His child
can grow and become all that he must be. Christ Himself is his life and his power of life. (Ps. 18:2; 27:1; 38:3; 34:8; John 14:19; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3,4) Yet, because this mighty
life is not visible or cannot be felt, but works in the midst of human weakness, the young
Christian often becomes of doubtful mind. He then fails to believe that he shall grow with
Divine power and certainty. He does not understand that the believing life is a life of faith
whereby he reckons on the life that is in Christ for him, although he neither sees, feels,
nor experiences anything. (Hab. 2:4; Matt. 6:27; Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38)
Let every one then that has received this new life, cultivate this great conviction: it is
eternal life that works in me: it works with Divine power: I can and shall become what
God will have me be: Christ Himself is my life: I have to receive Him every day as my
life given by God to me, and He shall be my life in full power.
O my Father, who hast given me Thy Son that I may have life in Him, I thank Thee for
the glorious new life that is now in me. I pray Thee, teach me to know aright this new
life. I will acknowledge my ignorance and the perverted thoughts which are in me,
concerning Thy service. I will believe in the heavenly power of the new life that is in me:
I will believe that my Lord Jesus, who Himself is my life, will by His Spirit teach me to
know how I can walk in that life. Amen.
Try now to apprehend and appropriate the following lessons in your heart; --
1. It is eternal life, the very life of God, that you have now received through faith.
2. This new life is in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in you to bring over to you all that is in
Christ. Christ lives in you through the Holy Spirit.
3. This life is a life of wonderful power. However weak you may feel, you must believe
in the Divine power of the life that is in you.
4. This life has need of time to grow in you and to take possession of you. Give it time: it
shall surely increase.
5. Forget not that all the laws and rules of this new life are in conflict with all human
thoughts of the way to please God. Be very much in dread of your thoughts, and let
Christ, who is your life and also your wisdom, teach you all things.
Chapter 2
THE MILK OF THE WORD
"As new-born babes, long for the spiritual milk that is without guile, that ye may grow
thereby unto salvation" -- 1 Peter 2:2
Beloved young Christians, hear what your Father has to say in this word. You have just
recently given yourselves to the Lord, and have believed that He has received you. You
have thus received the new life from God. you are now as new-born infants: He would
teach you in this word what is necessary that you may grow and wax strong.
The first point is: you must know that you are God's children. Hear how distinctly Peter
says this to those just converted: (1 Pet. 1:23; 2:2,10,25) 'You have been born again,' 'you
are new-born infants,' 'you are now converted,' 'you are now the people of God.' A
Christian, however young and weak he is, must know that he is God's child. Then only
can he have the courage to believe that he shall make progress, and the boldness to use
the food of the children provided in the word. All Scripture teaches us that we must know
and can know that we are children of God. (Rom 8:16; 1 Cor. 3:1,16; Gal. 4:6,7; 1 John
3:2,14,24; 4:13, 5:10,13) The assurance of faith is indispensable to a healthy powerful
growth in the Lord. (Eph. 5:8; Col. 2:6; 1 Pet. 1:14,19)
The second point which this word teaches you is: you are still very weak, weak as newbon
children. The joy and the love which a young convert sometimes experiences do
indeed make him think that he is very strong. He runs the risk of exalting himself, and of
trusting in what he experiences. He must nevertheless learn much of how he must
become strong in his Lord Jesus. Endeavour to feel deeply that you are still young and
weak. (1 Cor. 3:1,13; Heb. 5:13,14) Out of this sense of weakness comes the humility
which has nothing (Matt. 5:3; Rom 12:3,10; Eph. 4:2; Phil. 2:3,4; Col. 3: 12) in itself, and
therefore expects all from its Lord. (Matt. 8:8,15,27,28)
The third lesson is: the young Christian must not remain weak; he must grow and
increase in grace; he must make progress and become strong. God lays it upon us as a
command. His word gives us concerning this point the most glorious promises. It lies in
the nature of the thing: a child of God must and can make progress. The new life is a life
that is healthy and strong: when a disciple surrenders himself to it, the growth certainly
comes. (Judg. 5:31; Ps. 84:8, 92:13,14; Prov. 4:18; Isa. 40:31; Eph. 4:14; 1 Thess. 4:1; 2
Pet. 3:18)
The fourth and principal lesson, the lesson which young disciples of Christ have most
need of is: it is through the milk of the word that God's new-born infants can grow. The
new life from the Spirit of God can be sustained only by the word from the mouth of
God. Your life, my young brother, will largely depend on whether you learn to deal
wisely and well with God's word, or whether you learn to use the word from the
beginning as your milk. (Ps. 19:8,11; 119:97,100; Isa. 55: 2,3; 1 Cor. 12:11)
See what a charming parable the Lord has given us here in the mother's milk. Out of her
own life does the mother yield food and life to her child. The feeding of the child is the
work of the tenderest love, in which the child is pressed to the breast, and is held in the
closest fellowship with the mother. And the milk is just what the weak child requires,
food gentle and yet strong.
Even so is there in the word of God the very life and power of God. (John 6:63; 1 Thess.
2:13; Heb. 4:12) His tender love will through the word receive us into the gentlest and
most intimate fellowship with Himself. (John 10:4) His love will give us out of the word
what is, like warm soft milk, just fitted for our weakness. Let no one suppose that the
word is too high or too hard for him. For the disciple who receives the word, and
trustfully relies on Jesus to teach him by the Spirit, the word of God shall practically
prove to be gentle sweet milk for new-born infants. (Ps 119:18; John 14:26; Eph. 1:17-
18)
Dear young Christian, would you continue standing, would you become strong, would
you always live for the Lord? Then hear this day the voice of your Father: 'As new-born
babes, long for the spiritual milk that is without guile.' Receive this word into your heart
and hold it fast as the voice of your Father: on your use of the word of God will your
spiritual life depend. Let the word of God be precious to you above everything. (Ps
19:14,47,48,111,127)
Above all, forget not this: the word is the milk; the sucking or drinking on the part of the
little child is the inner, living, blessed fellowship with the mother's love. Through the
Holy Spirit your use of the milk of the word can become warm, living fellowship with the
Living Love of your God. O long then very eagerly for the milk. Do not take the word as
something that is hard and troublesome to understand: in that way you lose all delight in
it. Receive it with trust in the love of the living God. With a tender motherly love will the
Spirit of God teach and help you in your weakness. Believe always that the Spirit will
make the word in you life and joy, a blessed fellowship with your God.
Precious Saviour, Thou hast taught me to believe Thy word, and Thou hast made me by
that faith a child of God. Through that word, as the milk of the new-born babes, wilt
Thou also feed me. Lord, for this milk shall I be very eager: every day will I long after it.
Teach me, through the Holy Spirit and the word, to walk and hold converse every day in
living fellowship with the love of the Father. Teach me always to believe that the Spirit
has been given me with the word. Amen.
1. What texts do you consider the best for proving that the Scriptures teach us that we
must know we are children of God?
2. What are the three points in which the sucking child is to us a type of the young child
in Christ in his dealing with the word?
3. What must a young Christian do when he has little blessing in the reading of God's
word? He must set himself through faith in fellowship with Jesus Himself: he must
reckon that Jesus will teach him through the Spirit and so trustfully continue in the
reading.
4. One verse chosen to meet our needs, read ten times and then laid up in the heart, is
better than ten verses read once. Only so much of the word as I actually receive and
inwardly appropriate for myself, is food for my soul.
5. Choose out for yourselves what you consider one of the most glorious promises about
making progress and becoming strong; learn it by heart, and repeat it continually as the
language of your positive expectation.
6. Have you learned well to understand what the great means for growth in grace is?
Chapter 3
GOD'S WORD IN OUR HEART
"Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul.' -- Deut. 11:18
"Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee, receive in heart.' -- Ezek. 3:10
"Thy word have I laid up in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee.' - Ps. 119:11
Long for the milk, that ye may grow thereby. This charming word taught every young
Christian that, if he would grow, he must receive the word as milk, as the living
participation of the life and the love of God. On this account is it of so great importance
to know well how we must deal with the word. The Lo rd says that we must receive it and
lay it in our heart. (Deut. 30:14; Ps. 1:2; 119:34,36; Is. 51:7; John 5:38; 8:31; 15:7; Rom.10:8-9; Col. 3:16) The word must possess and fill the heart. What does that mean?
The heart is the temple of God. In the temple there was an outer court and an inner
sanctuary. So also is it in the heart. The gate of the court is the understanding; what I do
not understand cannot enter into the heart. Through the outer gate of the understanding,
the word comes into the court. (Ps. 119:34; Mat.. 13:19; Acts 8:30) There it is kept by
memory and reflection. (Ps. 119:15,16) Still it is not yet properly in the heart. From the
court there is an entrance into the innermost sanctuary; the entrance of the door is faith.
What I believe, that I receive into my heart. (John 5:38; Acts 8:37; Rom. 10:10,17) Here
it then becomes held fast in love and in the surrender of the will. Where this takes place,
there the heart becomes the sanctuary of God. His law is there, as in the ark, and the soul
cries out: 'The law is within my heart.' (Ex. 25:16; Ps. 37:31; 40:9; Col. 3:16)
Young Christian, God has asked your heart, your love, your whole self. You have given
yourself to Him. He has received you, and would have you and your heart entirely for
Himself. He will make that heart full of His word. What is in the heart one holds dear,
because one thinks continually on that which gives joy. God would have the word in the
heart. Where His word is, there is He Himself and His might. He considers Himself
bound to fulfil His word; when you have the word, you have God Himself to work in
you. (Gen. 21:1; Josh. 23:14) He wills that you should receive and lay up His words in
your heart: then will He greatly bless you. (Deut. 11:10; 28:1,2; Ps. 1:2,3;
119;14,45,98,165; John 27:6,8,17)
How I wish that I could bring all young Christians to receive simply that word of their
Father, 'Lay up My words in your heart,' and to give their whole heart to become full of
God's word. Resolve then to do this. Take pains to understand what you read. When you
understand it, take then always one or another word to keep in remembrance and ponder.
Learn words of God by heart; repeat them to yourself in the course of the day. The word
is seed; the seed must have time, must be kept in the ground: so must the word be carried
in the heart. Give the best powers of your heart, your love, your desire, the willing and
joyful activity of your will, to God's word. 'Blessed is the man whose delight is in the law
of the Lord; and in His law doth he meditate day and night.' Let the heart be a temple, not
for the world and its thoughts, but for God and His thoughts. (Ps. 119:69; John 15:3,7;
17:6,8,17) He that, every day, faithfully opens his heart to God's voice to hear what God
says, and keeps and carries about that word, shall see how faithfully God also shall open
His heart to our voice, to hear what we say to Him in prayer.
Dear Christian, pray read yet once again the words at the head of this section. Receive
them as God's word to you -- the word of the Father who has received you as a child, of
Jesus who has made you God's child. God asks of you, as His child, that you give your
heart to become filled with His word. Will you do this? What say you? The Lord Jesus
would complete His holy work in yo u with power along this way. (John 14:21,23; 1 John
2:14,24; Rev. 3:8,10) Let your answer be distinct and continuous: 'I have hid Thy word in
my heart;' 'How love I thy law: it is my mediation all the day.' Even if it appears difficult
for you to understand the word, read it only the more. The Father has promised to make it
a blessing in your heart. But you must first take it into your heart. Believe then that God
will by the Holy Spirit make it living and powerful in you.
O my Father, who hast said to me: 'My son, give Me thine heart,' I have given Thee mine
heart. Now that Thou chargest me to lay up and to keep Thy word in that heart, I answer:
'I keep Thy commands with my whole heart.' Father, teach me every day so to receive
Thy word in my heart that it can exercise there its blessed influence. Strengthen me in the
deep conviction that even though I do not actually apprehend its meaning and power, I
can still reckon on Thee to make the word living and powerful in me. Amen.
1. What is the difference between the reading of the word to increase knowledge and the
receiving of it in faith?
2. The word is as a seed. Seed requires time ere it springs up. During this time it must be
kept silently and constantly in the earth. I must not only read God's word, but ponder it
and reflect upon it: then shall it work in me. The word must be in me the whole day, must
abide in me, must dwell in me.
3. What are the reasons that the word of God sometimes has so little power in those that
read it and really long for blessing? One of the principal reasons is surely that they do not
give the seed time to grow, that they do not keep it and reflect upon it, in the believing
assurance that the word itself shall have its working.
4. What is the token of His disciples that Jesus mentions first in the high-priestly prayer? (John 17)
5. What are the blessings of a heart filled with the word of God?
Chapter 4
FAITH
"Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been
spoken to her from the Lord.' -- Luke 1:45
"I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken unto me.' -- Acts 27:25
"Abraham waxed strong through faith, being fully assured that what He had promised, he
was able also to perform.' -- Rom. 4:21
God has asked you to take and lay up His words in your heart. Faith is the proper avenue
whereby the word is taken and received into the innermost depths of the heart. Let the
young Christian then take pains always to understand better what faith is: he will thereby
gain an insight into the reasons why such great things are bound up with faith. He will
yield his perfect assent to the view that full salvation is made every day dependent on
faith. (1 Chron. 22:20; Mk. 9:23; Heb. 11:33,35; 1 John 5:4,5)
Let me now ask my reader to read over once again the three texts which stand above, and
to find out what is the principal thought that they teach about faith. Pray, read nothing
actually beyond them, but read first these words of God, and ask yourself what they teach
you about faith.
They make us see that faith always attaches itself to what God has said or promised.
When an honourable man says anything, he also does it: on the back of the saying
follows the doing. So also is it with God: when He would do anything, He says so first
through His word. When the man of God becomes possessed with this conviction and
established in it, God always does for him what He has said. With God, speaking and
doing always go together: the deed follows the word: 'Shall He say it and not do it?'
(Gen.21:1; 32:12; Num. 14:17,18,20; 23:19; Josh. 21:45; 23:14; 2 San. 7:25,29; 1 Chron.
8:15,24; Ps. 119:49) When I have a word of God in which He promises to do something,
I can always remain sure that He will do it. I have simply to take and hold fast the word,
and there with wait upon God: God will take care that He fulfils His word to me. Before I
ever feel or experience anything, I hold fast the promise, and I know by faith that God
will make it good to me. (Luke 1:38,45; John 3:33; 4:50; 11:40; 20:29; Heb. 11:11,18)
What, now, is faith? Nothing other than the certitude that what God says is true. When
God says that something subsists or is, then does faith rejoice, although it sees nothing of
it. (Rom. 1:17; 4:5; 5:1; Gal. 3:27; Eph. 1:19; 3:17) When God says that He has given me
something, that something in heaven is mine, I know by faith with entire certitude that it
is mine. (John 3:16,17,36; 1 John 5:12,13) When God says that something shall come to
pass, or that He will do something for me, this is for faith just as good as if I had seen it. (Rom. 8:38; Phil. 3:21; 1 Thess 5:24; 1 Pet. 1:4,5) Things that are, but that I have not
seen, and things that are not yet, but shall come, are for faith entirely sure. 'Faith is the
assurance of things hoped for, the proving of things not seen.' (Heb. 11:1) Faith always
asks only for what God has said, and then relies on His faithfulness and power to fulfil
His word.
Let us now review again the words of Scripture. Of Mary we read: 'Blessed is she that
believed; for there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have been spoken to her from
the Lord.' All things that have been spoken in the word shall be fulfilled for me: so I
believe them.
Of Abraham it is reported that he was fully assured that that which had been promised,
God was also able to fulfil. This is assurance of faith: to be assured that God will do what
He has promised.
Exactly thus is it in the word of Paul: 'I believe God that it shall be even so as it hath been
spoken unto me.' It stood fixed with him that God would do what He had spoken.
Young disciples in Christ, the new, the eternal life that is in you is a life of faith. And do
you not see how simple and how blessed that life of faith is? I go every day to the word
and hear there what God has said that He has done and will do. (Gal. 2:20; 3:2,5; 5:5,6;
Heb. 10:35; 1 Pet. 1:2) I take time to lodge in my heart the word in which God says that,
and I hold it fast, entirely assured that what God has promised, He is able to perform.
And then in a childlike spirit I await the fulfilment of all the glorious promises of His
word. And my soul experiences: Blessed is she that believed; for the things that have
been spoken to her from the Lord shall be fulfilled. God promises -- I believe -- God
fulfils: that is the secret of the new life.
O my Father, Thy child thanks Thee for this blessed life of faith in which we have to
walk. I can do nothing, but Thou canst do all. All that Thou canst do hast Thou spoken in
Thy word. And every word that I take and trustfully bring to Thee, Thou fulfillest. Father,
in this life of faith, so simple, so glorious, will I walk with Thee. Amen.
1. The Christian must read and search the Scriptures to increase his knowledge. For this
purpose he daily reads one or more principal portions. But he reads the Scriptures also to
strengthen his faith. And to this end he must take one or two verses to make them the
subject of special reflection, and to appropriate them trustfully for himself.
2. Pray, do not suffer yourselves to be led astray by those who speak as if faith were
something great and unintelligible. Faith is nothing other than the certitude that God
speaks truth. Take some promises of God and say to Him: I know for certain that this
promise is truth, and that Thou wilt fulfil it. He will do it.
3. Never mourn over unbelief as if it were only a weakness which you cannot help. As
God's child, however weak you may be, you have the power to believe, for the spirit of
God is in you. You have only to keep in mind this: no one apprehends anything before
that he has the power to believe; he must simply begin and continue with saying to the
Lord that he is sure that His word is truth. He must hold fast the promise and rely upon
God for the fulfilment.
Chapter 5
THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD
'Faith cometh of hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.' -- Rom. 10:17
'Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.' -- James
1:21
'We also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received from us the word of the
message, even the word of God, ye accepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in
truth, the word of God, which also worketh in you that believe.' -- 1 Thess. 2:13
'For the word of God is living and active.' -- Heb. 4:12
The new life of a child of God depends so much on the right use of God's word, that I
shall once again speak of it with my young brothers and sisters in the Lord.
It is a great thing when the Christian discerns that he can receive and accomplish all only
through faith. He has only to believe; God will look to the fulfilling of what is promised.
He has every morning to trust in Jesus, and the new life as given in Jesus and working in
himself; Jesus will see to it that the new life works in him.
But now he runs the risk of another error. He thinks that the faith that does such great
things must be something great, and that he must have a great power in order to exercise
such a great faith. (Luke 17:5-6; Rom. 10:6-8) And, because he does not feel this power,
he thinks that he cannot believe as he ought. This error may prove a loss to him his life
long.
Come and hear, then, how perverted this thought is. You must not bring this mighty faith
to get the word fulfilled, but the word comes and brings you this faith which you must
have. "The word is living and powerful." The word works faith in you. The Scripture
says, "Faith is by the word." (Rom. 10:17; Heb. 4:12)
Think on what we have said of the heart as a temple, and of its two divisions. There is the
outer court, with the understanding as its gate or entrance. There is the innermost
sanctuary, with the faith of the heart as its entrance. There is a natural faith -- the historic
faith -- which every man has; with this must I first receive the word into my keeping and
consideration. I must say to myself, "The word of God is certainly true. I can make a
stand upon it." Thus I bring the word into the outer court, and from within the heart desire
reaches out to it, seeking to receive it into the heart. The word now exercises its divine
power of life; it begins to grow and shoot out roots. As a seed which I place in the earth
sends forth roots and presses still deeper into the soil, the word presses inwardly into the
holy place. The word thus works true saving faith. (1 Thess. 2:13; Jas. 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:23)
Young Christian, pray understand this. The word is living and powerful; through the
word you are born again. The word works faith in you; through the word comes faith.
Receive the word simply with the thought that it will work in you. Keep yourselves
occupied with the word, and give it time. The word has a divine life in itself; carry it in
your inmost parts, and it will work life in you. It will work in you a faith strong and able
for anything.
O be resolved then, pray, never to say, I cannot believe. You can believe. You have the
Spirit of God in you. Even the natural man can say, This word of God is certainly true or
certainly not true. And when he with a desire of the soul says, "It is true; I will believe it,"
the living Spirit, through whom the word is living and powerful, works this living faith.
Besides, the Spirit is not only in the word, but also in you. Although you do not feel as if
you were believing, know for certain you can believe. (Deut. 32:46,47; Josh. 1:7,9) Begin
actually to receive the word; it will work a mighty faith in you. Rely upon it, that when
you have to do with God's word, you have to do with a word that can be surely trusted
that it of itself works faith in you.
And not only the promises, but also the commands have this living power. When I first
receive a command from God, it is as if I felt no power to accomplish it. But if I then
simply receive the word as God's word, which works in those that believe, -- if I trust in
the word to have its working, and in the living God which gives it its operation, -- that
commandment will work in me the desire and the power for obedience. When I weigh
and hold fast the command, it works the desire and the will to obey; it urges me strongly
towards the conviction that I can certainly do what my Father says. The word works both
faith and obedience of faith. I must believe that through the Spirit I have the power to do
what God wills, for in the word the power of God works in me. The word, as the
command of the living God who loves me, is my power. (Rom. 1:3; 16:6; Gal. 6:6; 1
Thess. 1:3; Jas. 1:21)
Therefore, young disciples in Christ, learn to receive God's word trustfully. Although you
do not at first understand it, continue to meditate upon it. It has a living power in it; it will
glorify itself. Although you feel no power to believe or to obey, the word is living and
powerful. Take it, and hold it fast; it will accomplish its work with divine power. The
word rouses and strengthens for faith and obedience.
Lord God, I begin to conceive how Thou art in Thy word with Thy life and Thy power,
and how that word itself works faith and obedience in the heart that receives and keeps it.
Lord, teach me to carry Thy every word as a living seed in my heart, in the assurance that
it shall work in me all Thy good pleasure. Amen
1. Forget not that it is one and the same to believe in the word, or in the person that
speaks the word, or in the thing which is promised in the word. The very same faith that
receives the promises receives also the Father who promises, and the Son with the
salvation which is given in the promises. Pray see to it that you never separate the word
and the living God from each other.
2. See to it also that you apprehend thoroughly the distinction betwixt the reception of the
word "as the word of man" and "as the word of God, which works in you that believe."
3. I think that you now know what is necessary to become strong in faith. Exercise as
much faith as you have. Take a promise of God. Say to yourself that it is certainly true. Go to God and say to Him that you rely on Him for the fulfilment. Ponder the promise,
and cleave to it in converse with God. Rely upon Him to do for you what He says. He
will surely do it.
4. The Spirit and the word always go together. I can be sure concerning all of which the
word says that I must do it, that I also can do it through the Spirit. I must receive the word
and also the command in the confidence that it is the living word of the living God which
also works in us who believe.
Chapter 6
GOD'S GIFT OF HIS SON
'For God so loved the world, that He have His only-begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal life.' -- John 3:16
'Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift.' -- 2 Cor. 9:15
Thus dear did God hold the world. How dear? That He gave His only-begotten Son for
every one in the world who will trust in Him. And how did He give? He gave Him, in His
birth as man, in order to be for ever one with us. He gave Him, in His death on the cross
as Surety, in order to take our sin and curse upon Himself. He gave Him on the throne of
heaven, in order to arrange for our welfare, as our Representative and Intercessor over all
the powers of heaven. He gave Him in the outpouring of the Spirit, in order to dwell in
us, to be entirely and altogether our own. (John 1:14,16; 14:23; Rom. 5:8; 8:32,34; Eph. 1:22;
3:17; Col. 2:9-10; Heb. 7:24,26; 1 John 4:9-10) Yes; that is the love of God, that He
gave His Son to us, for us, in us.
Nothing less than His Son Himself. This is the love of God; not that He gives us
something, but that He gives us some one -- a living person -- not one or another
blessing, but Him in whom is all life and blessing -- Jesus Himself. Not simply
forgiveness, or revival, or sanctification, or glory does He give us; but Jesus, His own
Son. The Lord Jesus is the beloved, the equal, the bosom- friend, the eternal blessedness
of the Father. And it is the will of the Father that we should have Jesus as ours, even as
He has Him. (Matt. 11:27; John 17:23,25; Rom. 8:38-39; Heb. 2:11) For this end He gave
Him to us. The whole of salvation consists in this: to have, to possess, to enjoy Jesus.
God has given His Son, given Him wholly to become ours. (Ps. 73:25; 142:6; John 20:28;
Heb. 3:14)
What have we, then, to do? To take Him, to receive and to appropriate to ourselves the
gift, to enjoy Jesus as our own. This is eternal life. 'He that hath the Son hath life.' (John
1:12; 2 Cor. 3:13,5; Col. 2:6; 1 John 5:12)
How I do wish, then, that all young Christians may understand this. The one great work
of God's love for us is, He gives us His Son. In Him we have all. Hence the one great
work of our heart must be to receive this Jesus who has been given to us, to consider Him
and use Him as ours. I must begin every day anew with the thought, I have Jesus to do all
for me. (John 15:5; Rom. 8:37; 1 Cor. 1:30; Eph. 1:3; 2:10; Phil. 4:13; 2 Tim. 1:12) In all
weakness or darkness or danger, in the case of every desire or need, let your first thought
always be, I have Jesus to make everything right for me, for God has given Him to me.
Whether your need be forgiveness or consolation or confirmation, whether you have
fallen, or are tempted to fall, into danger, whether you know not what the will of God is
in one or another matter, or know that you have not the courage and the strength to do
this will, let this always be your first thought, the Father has given me Jesus to care for
me.
For this purpose, reckon upon this gift of God every day as yours. It has been presented
to you in the word. Appropriate the Son in faith on the word. Take Him anew every day.
Through faith you have the Son. (John 1:12; 1 John 5:9,13) The love of God has given
the Son. Take Him, and hold Him fast in the love of your heart. (1 John 4:4,19) It is to
bring life, eternal life, to you that God has given Jesus. Take Him up into your life; let
heart and tongue and whole walk be under the might and guidance of Jesus. (2 Cor. 5:15;
Phil 3:8) Young Christian, so weak and so sinful, listen, pray, to that word. God has
given you Jesus. He is yours. Taking is nothing else but the fruit of faith. The gift is for
me. He will do all for you.
O my Lord Jesus, today anew, and every day, I take Thee. In all Thy fulness, in all Thy
relations, without ceasing, I take Thee for myself. Thee, who art my Wisdom, my Light,
my Leader, I take as my Prophet. Thee, who dost perfectly reconcile me, and bring me
near to God, who dost purify and sanctify me and pray for me, I take as my Priest. Thee,
who dost guide and keep and bless me, I take as my King. Thou, Lord, art All, and Thou
art wholly mine. Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. Amen.
1. Ponder much the word Give. God gives in a wonderful way: from the heart, completely
for nothing, to the unworthy. And He gives effectually. What He gives He will really
make entirely our possession, and inwardly appropriate for us. Believe this, and you shall
have the certitude that Jesus will, to the full, come into your possession, with all that He
brings.
2. Ponder much also that other word Take. To take Jesus, and to hold Him fast and use
Him when received, is our great work. And that taking is nothing but trusting. He is mine
with all that He has. Take Jesus -- the full Jesus -- every day as yours. This is the secret of
the life of faith.
3. Then weigh well also the word Have. 'He that hath the Son hath light.' What I have is
mine, for my use and service. I can dispose of it, and can have the full enjoyment of it. 'He that hath the Son hath life.'
4. Mark especially that what God gives, and what you take, and what you now have, is
nothing less than the living Son of God. Do you receive this?
Chapter 7
JESUS' SURRENDER OF HIMSELF
'Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it; that He might sanctify it; that
He might present the Church to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle;
but that it should be holy and without blemish.' -- Eph. 5:24-47
So great and wonderful was the work that Jesus had to do for the sinner, that nothing less
was necessary than that He should give Himself to do that work. So great and wonderful
was the love of Jesus towards us, that He actually gave Himself for us and to us. So great
and wonderful is the surrender of Jesus, that all that same thing for which He gave
Himself can actually and completely come to pass in us. For Jesus, the Holy, the
Almighty, has taken it upon Himself to do it: He gave Himself for us. (Gal. 1:4; 2:20;
Eph. 5:2,25; 1 Tim. 2:6; Titus 2:14) And now the one thing that is necessary is that we
should rightly understand and firmly believe this His surrender for us.
To what end, then, was it that He gave Himself for the Church? Hear what God says. In
order that He might sanctify it, in order that it might be without blemish. (Eph. 1:4; 5:27;
Col. 1:22; 1 Thess. 2:10; 3:13; 5:23,24) This is the aim of Jesus. This His aim He will
reach in the soul according as the soul falls in with it so as to make this also its highest
portion, and then relies upon Jesus' surrender of Himself to do it.
Hear still a word of God: 'Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all
iniquity, and purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, zealous of good
works.' (Titus 2:14) Yes: it is to prepare for Himself a pure people, a people of His own, a
zealous people, that Jesus gives Himself. When I receive Him, when I believe that He
gave Himself to do this for me, I shall certainly experience it. I shall be purified through
Him, shall be held fast as His possession, and be filled with zeal and joy to work for Him.
And mark, further, how the operation of this surrender of Himself will especially be that
He shall then have us entirely for Himself: 'that He might present us to Himself.' 'that He
might purify us to Himself, a people of His own.' The more I understand and contemplate
Jesus' surrender of Himself for me, the more do I give myself again to Him. The
surrender is a mutual one: the love comes from both sides. His giving of Himself makes
such an impression on my heart, that my heart with the self-same love and joy becomes
entirely His. Through giving Himself to me, He of Himself takes possession of me; He
becomes mine and I His. I know that I have Jesus wholly for me, and that He has me
wholly for Him. (Ex. 19:4,5; Deut. 26:17,18; Isa. 41:9,10; 1 Cor. 6:19,20; 1 Pet. 2:10)
And how come I then to the full enjoyment of this blessed life? 'I live in faith, the faith
which is in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.' (John 6:29,35;
7:38; 10:10,38; Gal. 2:20) Through faith I reflect upon and contemplate His surrender to
me as sure and glorious. Through faith I appropriate it. Through faith I trust in Jesus to
confirm this surrender, to communicate Himself to me and reveal Himself within me.
Through faith I await with certainty the full experience of salvation which arises from
having Jesus as mine, to do all, all for me. Through faith, I live in this Jesus who loved
me and gave Himself for me. and I say, 'No longer do I live, but Christ liveth in me.'
Christian, pray believe it with your whole heart: Jesus gives Himself for you: He is
wholly yours: He will do all for you. (Matt. 8:10; 9:2,22; Mark 11:24; Luke 7:50; 8:48;
17:19; 18:42; Rom. 4:16,21; 5:2; 11:20; Gal. 3:25,26; Eph. 1:19; 3:17)
O my Lord Jesus, what wonderful grace is this, that Thou gavest Thyself for me. In Thee
is eternal life. Thou Thyself art the life and Thou givest Thyself to be in my life all that I
need. Thou purifiest me and sanctifiest me, and makest me zealous in good works. Thou
takest me wholly for Thyself, and givest Thyself wholly for me. Yes, my Lord, in all thou
art my life. O make me rightly understand this. Amen.
1. It was in His great love that the Father gave the Son. It was out of love that Jesus gave
Himself. (Rom. 3:15; Eph. 5:26) The taking, the having of Jesus, is the entrance to a life
in the love of God: this is the highest life. (John 14:21,23,; 17:23,26; Eph. 3:17,18)
Through faith we must press into love, and dwell there. (1 John 4:16-18)
2. Do you think that you have now learned all the lesson, to begin every day with the
childlike trust: I take Jesus this day to be my life, and to do all for me.
3. Understand that to take and to have Jesus, presupposes a personal dealing with
Himself. To have pleasure in Him, to hold converse gladly with Him, to rejoice in Him as
my friend and in His love -- to this leads the faith that truly takes Him.
Chapter 8
CHILDREN OF GOD
'As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to
them that believe on His name.' -- John 1:12
What is given must be received, otherwise it does not profit. If the first great deed of
God's love is the gift of His Son, the first work of man must be to receive this Son. And if
all the blessings of God's love come to us only in the ever-new, ever- living Son of the
Father, all these blessings enter into us from day to day through the always-new, alwayscontinuing
reception of the Son.
What is necessary for this reception, you, beloved young Christians, know, for you have
already received the Lord Jesus. But all that this reception involves must become clearer
and stronger, the unceasing living action of your faith. (2 Cor. 10:15; 1 Thess. 1:8; 3:10;
2 Thess. 1:3) Herein especially consists the increase of faith. Your first receiving of Jesus
rested on the certitude which the word gave you, that He was for you. Through the word
must your soul be still further filled with the assurance that all that is in Him is literally
and really for you, given by the Father in Him to be your life.
The impulse to your first receiving was found in your want and necessity. Through the
Spirit you become still poorer in spirit, and you see everything every moment: this leads
to a ceaseless, ever-active taking of Him as your all. (Matt 5:3; 2 Cor. 3:10,13,16; 6:10;
Eph. 4:14,15; Col. 2:6)
Your first receiving consisted in nothing but the appropriation by faith of what you could
not yet see or feel. That same faith must be continually exercised in saying: all that I see
in Jesus is for me: I take it as mine, although I do not yet experience it. The love of God
is a communicating, a ceaseless outstreaming of His light of life over the soul, a very
powerful and veritable giving of Jesus: our life is nothing but a continuous blessed
apprehensio n and reception of Him. (John 1:16; Col. 2:9,10; 3:3)
And this is the way to live as children of God: as many as receive Him, to them gives He
the power to become children of God. This holds true, not only of conversion and
regeneration, but of every day of my life. If to walk in all things as a child of God, and to
exhibit the image of my Father, is indispensable, I must take Jesus the only-begotten Son:
it is He that makes me a child of God. To have Jesus Himself, to have the heart and life
full of Him, is the way to live as a child of God. I go to the word and learn there all the
characteristics of a child of God; (Matt 5:9,16,44,45; Rom. 8:14; Eph. 1:4,5; 5:1,2; Phil.2:15; Heb. 2:10; 1 Pet. 1:14,17; 1 John 3:1,10; 5:1,3) and after each one of them I write:
this Jesus shall work in me: I have him to make me to be a child of God.
Beloved young Christian, learn, I beseech you, to understand the simplicity and the glory
of being a true Christian. It is to receive Jesus, to receive Him in all His fulness, to
receive Him in all the glorious relations in which the Father gives Him to you. Take Him
as your Prophet, as your Wisdom, your Light, your Guide. Take Him as your Priest, who
renews you, purifies you, sanctifies you, brings you near to God, takes you and forms you
wholly for His service. Take Him as your King who governs you, protects you and
blesses you. Take him as your Head, your Exemplar, your Brother, your Life, your All.
The giving of God is a divine, an ever-progressive and effectual communication to your
soul. Let your taking be the childlike, cheerful, continuous opening of mouth and heart
for what God gives, the full Jesus and all His grace. To every prayer the answer of God
is: Jesus, all is in Him, all in Him is for you. Let your response always be: Jesus, in Him I
have all. You are, you live in all things as, 'children of God, through faith in Jesus Christ.'
O my Father, open the eyes of my heart to understand what it is to be a child of God: to
live always as a child through always believing in Jesus, Thine only Son. O let every
breath of my soul be, faith in Jesus, a confidence in Him, a resting in Him, a surrender to
Him, to work all in me.
If by the grace of God you now know that you have received Jesus and are God's child,
you must now take pains to make His salvation known. There is many a one who longs to
know and cannot find out how he can become a child of God.
Endeavour to make two things plain to him. First, that the new birth is something so high
and holy that he can do nothing in it. He must receive eternal life from God through the
Spirit: he must be born from above. This Jesus teaches. (John 3:1-8). Then make plain to
him how low God has descended to us with this new life, and how near He brings it to us.
In Jesus there is life for every one who believes in Him. This Jesus teaches (John 3:14-
18). And this Jesus and the life are in the word. Tell the sinner that, when he takes the
word, he then has Jesus, and life in the word. (Rom. 10:8). O do, pray, take pains to tell
forth the glad tidings that we become children of God only through faith in Jesus.
Chapter 9
OUR SURRENDER TO JESUS
'They gave their own selves to the Lord.' -- Cor. 8:5
In the surrender of Jesus for me, I have the chief element of what He has done and always
does for me. In my surrender to Him I have the chief element of what He would have me
to do. For young Christians who have given themselves to Jesus, it is a matter of great
moment always to hold fast, to confirm and renew this surrender. This is the special life
of faith, to say anew every day: I have given myself to Him, to follow Him and to serve
Him; (Matt. 4:22; 10:24,25,37,38; Luke 18:22; John 12:25,26; 2 Cor. 5:15) He has taken
me: I am His, and entirely at His service. (Matt. 28:20)
Young Christian, hold firm your surrender, and make it always firmer. When there recurs
a stumbling or a sin after you have surrendered yourself, think not the surrender was not
sincere. No; the surrender to Jesus does not make us perfect at once. You have sinned,
because you were not thoroughly or firmly enough in His arms. Adhere to this, although
it be with shame: Lord, Thou knowest it, I have given myself to Thee: I am Thine. (John
21:17; Gal. 6:1; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Tim. 2:13; 1 John 5:16) Confirm this surrender anew.
Say to Him that you now begin to see better how complete the surrender to Him must be,
and renew every day the voluntary, entire, and undivided offering up of yourselves to
Him. (Luke 28:28; Phil. 3:7,8)
The longer we continue Christians, the deeper will be our insight into that word:
surrender to Jesus. We shall always see more clearly that we do not yet fully understand
or contemplate it. The surrender must become, especially, more undivided and trustful.
The language which Ahab once used must be ours: 'According to thy saying, my lord, O
king, I am thine, and all that I have' (1 Kings 20:4). This is the language of undivided
dedication: I am thine, and all that I have. Keep nothing back. Keep back no single sin
that you do not confess and leave off. Without conversion there can be no surrender.
(Matt. 7:21,27; John 3:20,21; 2 Tim. 2:19,21) Keep back no single power. Let your head
with all its thinking, your mouth with all its speaking, your heart with all its feeling, your
hand with all its working -- let your time, your name, your influence, your property, let
all be laid upon the altar. (Rom. 6:13,22; 12:1; 2 Cor. 5:15; Heb. 8:15; 1 Pet. 2:5) Jesus
has a right to all: He demands the whole. Give yourself, with all that you have, to be
guided and used and kept, sanctified and blessed. 'According to Thy word, my Lord, O
King, I am Thine, and all that I have.'
That is the language of trustful dedication. It is on the word of the Lord, which calls upon
you to surrender yourself, that you have done this. That word is your warrant that He will
take and guide and keep you. As surely as you give yourself, does He take you; and what
He takes He can keep. Only, we must not take it again out of His hand. Let it remain
fixed with you that your surrender is in the highest degree pleasing to Him: be certain of
it, your offering is a sweet-smelling savour. Not on what you are, or what you experience
or discover in yourselves, do you say this, but on His word. According to His word, you
are able to take a stand on this: what you give, that He takes; and what He takes, that He
keeps. (John 10:28; 2 Thess. 3:3; 2 Tim. 1:12) Therefore every day anew, let this be the
childlike joyful activity of your life of faith: you surrender yourselves without ceasing to
Jesus, and you are safe in the certitude that He in His love takes and holds you fast, and
that His answer to your giving is the renewed and always deeper surrender of Himself to
you.
According to Thy word, my Lord and King, I am Thine, and all that I have. Every day,
this day, will I confirm it, that I am not mine own, but am my Lord's. Fervently do I
beseech Thee to take full possession of Thy property, so that no one may doubt whose I
am. Amen.
1. Ponder now once again the words giving and taking and having. What I give to Jesus,
He take with a divine taking. And what He takes, he has and thereafter cares for. Now it
is absolutely no longer mine. I must not take thought for it; I may not dispose of it. O
pray, let your faith find expression in adoration: Jesus takes me: Jesus has me.
2. Should there overtake you a time of doubting or darkness whereby your assurance that
the Lord has received you has come to be lost, suffer not yourself thereby to be dispirited.
Come simply as a sinner, confess your sins: believe in His promises that He will by no
means cast out those that come to Him and begin simply on the ground of the promises to
say: I know that He has received me.
3. Forget not what the chief element in surrender is: it is a surrender to Jesus and to His
love. Fix your eye, not upon your activity in surrender, but upon Jesus, who calls you,
who takes you, who can do all for you. This it is that makes faith strong.
4. Faith is always a surrender. Faith is the eye for seeing the invisible. When I look at
something, I surrender myself to the impression which it makes upon me. Faith is the ear
that hearkens to the voice of God. When I believe a message, I surrender myself to the
influence, cheering or saddening, which the tidings exercises upon me. When I believe in
Jesus, I surrender myself to Him, in reflection, in desire, in expectation, in order that He
may be in me and do that for which He has been given to me by God.
Chapter 10
SAVIOUR FROM SIN
'Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for it is He that shall save His people from their sins.' --
Matt. 1:21
'Ye know that He was manifested to take away sins; and in Him is no sin. Whosoever
abideth in Him sinneth not.' -- 1 John 3:5,6
It is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin that provoked God, and brought His curse
upon man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred, and will do everything to root it out.
(Deut.27:26; Isa. 59:1,2; Jer. 44:4; Rom. 1:18) It is to take away sin that God gave His Son, that
Jesus gave Himself. (Gal. 2:4; Eph. 5:25,27; 1 Pet. 2:24; 1 John 3:8) It belongs to God to
set us free, not only from punishment and curse, from disquietude and terror, but from sin
itself. (Jer. 27:9; 1 Pet. 1:2,15,16; 2:14; 1 John 3:8) You know that He was manifested
that He might take away our sins. Let us receive the thought deep into our hearts: it is for
God to take away our sins from us. The better we apprehend this, the more blessed shall
our life be.
All do not receive this. They seek chiefly to be freed from the consequences of sin, from
fear and darkness, and the punishment that sin brings. (Gen. 27:34; Isa. 58:5,6; John 6:26;
Jas. 4:3) Just on this account they do not come to the true rest of salvation. They do not
understand that to save is to free from sin. Let us hold it fast. Jesus saves through taking
away sin. Then we shall learn two things.
The first is to come to Jesus with every sin. (Ps. 32:5; Luke 7:38; 19:7,8,10; John 8:11;
34:36) the sin that still attacks and overmasters you, after that you have given yourself
over to the Lord, must not make you lose heart. There must also be no endeavour merely
in your own strength to take away and overcome sin. Bring every sin to Jesus. He has
been ordained by God to take away sin. He has already brought it to nought upon the
cross, and broken its power. (Heb. 9:26) It is His work, it is His desire to set you free
from it. O learn then always to come to Jesus with every sin. Sin is your deadly foe: if
you confess it to Jesus, and surrender it to Him, you shall certainly overcome it. (Rom.7:4,9; 8:2; 2 Cor. 7:9; 2 Thess 2:3)
Learn to believe this firmly: this is the second point. Understand that Jesus, Jesus
Himself, is the Saviour from sin. It is not you that must overcome sin with the help of
Jesus, but Jesus Himself: Jesus in you. (Deut. 8:17,18; Ps. 44:4,8; John 16:33; 1 John
5:4,5) If you would thus become free from sin, if you would enjoy full salvation, let it be
the one endeavour of your life to stand always in full fellowship with Jesus. Wait not till
you enter into temptation ere you have recourse to Jesus. But let your life beforehand be
always through Jesus. Let His nearness be your one desire; Jesus saves from sin; to have
Jesus is salvation from sin (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Phil. 4:13; Col 3:3-5) O that we
could indeed rightly understand this! Jesus will not merely save from sin as a work that
He will from time to time do in us, but He will give it as a blessing through Himself to us
and in us. (Ex. 29:43; John 15:4,5; Rom. 8:10; Eph. 3:17,18) When Jesus fills me, when
Jesus is all for me, sin has no hold on me: 'He that abideth in Him sinneth not.'
Yes: sin is driven out and kept out only through the presence of Jesus. It is Jesus, Jesus
Himself, that, through His giving Himself to me and His living in me, is salvation from
sin.
Precious Lord, let Thy light stream over me, and let it become still clearer to my soul,
that Thou, Thou Thyself, art my salvation. To have Thee, Thee, with me, in me -- this
keeps sin out. Teach me to bring every sin to Thee; let every sin drive me into a closer
alliance with Thee. Then shall Thy Jesus-name become truly my salvation from sin. Amen.
1. See of what moment it is that the Christian should always grow in the knowledge of
sin. The sin that I do not know, I cannot bring to Jesus. The sin that I do not bring to Him
is not taken out of me.
2. To know sin better there are required:
The constant prayer, 'Examine me:' make known to me my transgression and my sin (Job
13:23; Ps. 139:23,24);
A tender conscience that is willing to be convinced of sin through the Spirit, as He also
uses the conscience for this end;
The very humble surrender to the word, to think concerning sin only as God thinks.
3. The deeper knowledge of sin will be found in these results:
That we shall see to be sin things which previously we did not regard in this light;
That we shall perceive more the exceedingly sinful, the detestable character of sin (Rom.7:13);
That with the overcoming of external sins we become all the more encouraged over the
deep sinfulness of our nature, of the enmity of our flesh against God. Then we give up all
hope of being or of doing anything good, and we are turned wholly to live in faith
through the Spirit.
4. O let us thank God very heartily that Jesus is a Saviour from sin. The power that sin
has had over us, Jesus now has. The place that sin has taken in the heart, Jesus will now
take. 'The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us free from the law of sin and
death.'
Chapter 11
THE CONFESSION OF SIN
'If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse
us from all unrighteousness.' -- 1 John 1:9
The one thing that God hates, that grieves Him, that He is provoked by, and that He will
destroy, is sin. The one thing that makes man unhappy, is sin. (Gen. 6:5,6; Isa. 13:24;
Ezek. 33:6; Rev. 6:16,17) The one thing for which Jesus had to give His blood was sin. In
all the intercourse betwixt the sinner and God, this is thus the first thing that the sinner
must bring to his God -- sin. (Judg. 10:10,15,16; 2 Chron. 27:14; Ezra 9:6; Neh. 2:33;
9:2,33; Jer. 3:21,25; Dan. 9:4,5,20)
When you came to Jesus at first, you perceived this in some measure. But you should
learn to understand this lesson more deeply. The one counsel concerning sin is, to bring it
daily to the only One who can take it away -- God Himself. You should learn that one of
the greatest privileges of a child of God is -- the confession of sin. It is only the holiness
of God that can consume sin; through confession I must hand over my sin to God, lay it
down in God, get quit of it to God, cast it into the fiery oven of God's holy love which
burns against sin like a fire. God, yes, God Himself, and He alone, takes away sin.
(Lev.4:21; Num. 5:7; 2 Sam. 12:13: Ps. 32:5, 38:19; 51:5,19)
This the Christian does not always understand. He has an inborn tendency to desire to
cover sin, or to make it less, or to root it out only when he purposes drawing near to God.
He thinks to cover sin with his repentance and self-blame, with scorn of the temptation
that came to him, or otherwise with what he has done or still hopes to do. (Gen. 3:12;
Ex.32:22,24; Isa. 1:11,15; Luke 13:26) Young Christian, if you would enjoy the gladness of
a complete forgiveness and a divine cleansing of sin, see to it that you use aright the
confession of sin. In the true confession of sin you have one of the most blessed
privileges of a child of God, one of the deepest roots of a powerful spiritual life.
For this end, let your confession be a definite one. (Num 12:11, 21:7; 2 Sam. 24;10,17;
Isa. 59:12,13; Luke 23:41; Acts 1:18,19; 22:19,20; 1 Tim. 1:13,15) The continued
indeterminate confession of sin does more harm than good. It is much better to say to
God that you have nothing to confess, than to confess you know not what. Begin with one
sin. Let it come to a complete harmony betwixt God and you concerning this one sin. Let
it be fixed with you that this sin is through confession placed in God's hands. you shall
experience that in such confession there are both power and blessing.
Let the confession be an upright one. (Prov. 28:13; Lev. 26:40,41; Jer. 31:18,19) By it
deliver up the sinful deed to be laid aside. By it deliver up the sinful feeling with a view
to trusting in God. Confession implies renunciation, the putting off of sin. Give up sin to
God, to forgive it to you, and to cleanse you from it. Do not confess, if you are not
prepared, if you do not heartily desire to be freed from it. Confession has value only as it
is a giving up of sin to God.
Let the confession be trustful (2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 32:5; Isa. 4:7) Reckon firmly upon God
actually to forgive you, and also to cleanse you from sin. Continue in confession, in
casting the sin of which you desire to be rid into the fire of God's holiness until your soul
has the firm confidence that God takes it on His own account to forgive and to cleanse
away. It is this faith that really overcomes the world and sin: the faith that God in Jesus
really emancipates from sin. (1 John 5:5; 2:12)
Brother, do you understand it now? What must you do with sin, with every sin? To bring
it in confession to God, to give it to God; God alone takes away sin.
Lord God, what thanks shall I express for this unspeakable blessing, that I may come to
Thee with sin. It is known to Thee, Lord, how sin before Thy holiness causes terror and
flight. It is known to Thee how it is our deepest thought, first to have sin covered, and
then to come to Thee with our desire and endeavour for good. Lord, teach me to come to
Thee with sin, every sin, and in confession to lay it down before Thee and give it up to
Thee. Amen.
1. What is the distinction betwixt the covering of sin by God and by man? How does man
do it? How does God do it?
2. What are the great hindrances in the way of the confession of sin?
a) Ignorance about sin.
b) Fear to come with sin to the holy God.
c) The endeavour to come to God with something good.
d) Unbelief in the power of the blood and in the riches of grace.
3. Must I immediately confess an oath or a lie or a wrong word, or wait until my feeling
has first cooled and become rightly disposed? O pray, confess it immediately; come in
full sinfulness to God, without first desiring to make it less!
4. Is it also necessary or good to confess before man? It is indispensable, if our sin has
been against man. And, besides, it is often good; it is often easier to acknowledge before
God than before man that I have done something (Jas. 5:16).
Chapter 12
THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS
'Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.' -- Ps. 32:1
'Bless the Lord, O my soul .... who forgiveth all thine iniquities.' -- Ps. 103;2,3
In connection with surrender to the Lord, it was said that the first great blessing of the
grace of God was this -- the free, complete, everlasting forgiveness of all your sins. For
the young Christian it is of great moment that he should stand fast in this forgiveness of
his sins, and always carry the certitude of it about with him. To this end, he must
especially consider the following truths.
The forgiveness of our sin is a complete forgiveness. (Ps. 103:12; Isa. 38:17; 55:7; Micah
7:18,19; Heb. 10:16-18) God does not forgive by halves. Even with man, we reckon a
half forgiveness no true forgiveness. The love of God is so great, and the atonement in
the blood of Jesus so complete and powerful, that God always forgives completely. Take
time with God's word to come under the full impression that your guilt has been blotted
out wholly and altogether. God thinks absolutely no more of your sins. 'I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more.' (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12; 10:17)
The forgiveness of our sin restores us entirely again to the love of God. (Hos. 14:5; Luke
15:22; Acts 26:18; Rom. 5:1,5) Not only does God not impute sin any more, -- that is but
one half, -- but He reckons to us the righteousness of Jesus also, so that for His sake we
are as dear to God as He is. Not only is wrath turned away from us, but the fulness of
love now rests upon us. 'I will love them freely, for Mine anger is turned away from him.'
Forgiveness is access to all the love of God. On this account, forgiveness is also
introduction to all the other blessings of redemption.
Live in the full assurance of forgiveness, and let the Spirit fill your heart with the
certitude and the blessedness of it, and you shall have great confidence in expecting all
from God. Learn from the word of God, through the Spirit, to know God aright, and to
trust Him as the ever- forgiving God. That is His name and His glory. To one to whom
much, yea, all is forgiven, He will also give much. He will give all. (Ps. 103:3; Isa.12:1,3; Rom. 5:10; 8:32; Eph. 1:7; 3:5) Let it therefore be every day your joyful
thanksgiving. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all mine iniquities.' Then
forgiveness becomes the power of a new life: 'He who is forgiven much, loves much.'
The forgiveness of sins, received anew in living faith every day, is a bond that binds
anew to Jesus and His service. (John 13:14,15; Rom. 7:1; 1 Cor. 6:20; Eph. 5:25,26; Tit.2:14; 1 Pet. 1:17,18)
Then the forgiveness of former sins always gives courage to go immediately anew with
every new sin and trustfully to take forgiveness. (Ex. 34:6,7; Matt. 28:21; Luke 1:77,78)
Look, however, to one thing: the certitude of forgiveness must not be a matter of memory
or understanding, but the fruit of life -- living converse with the forgiving Father, with
Jesus in whom we have forgiveness. (Eph. 2:13,18; Phil. 3:9; Col. 1:21,22) It is not
enough to know that I once received forgiveness: my life in the love of God, my living
intercourse with Jesus by faith -- this makes the forgiveness of sin again always new and
powerful -- the joy and the life of my soul.
Lord God, this is the wonder of Thy grace, that Thou art a forgiving God. Teach me
every day to know in this anew the glory of Thy love. Let the Holy Spirit every day seal
forgiveness to me as a blessing, everlasting, ever-fresh, living, and powerful. And let my
life be as a song of thanksgiving. 'Bless the Lord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine
iniquities.' Amen.
1. At bottom, forgiveness is one with justification. Forgiveness is the word that looks
more to the relation of God as Father. Justification looks more to His acquittal as Judge.
Forgiveness is a word that is more easily understood by the young Christian. But he must
also endeavour to understand the word justification, and to obtain part in all that the
Scripture teaches about it.
2. About justification we must understand --
That man in himself is wholly unrighteous.
That he cannot be justified by works, that is, pronounced righteous before the judgmentseat
of God.
That Jesus Christ has brought in a righteousness in our place. His obedience is our
righteousness.
That we through faith receive Him, are united with Him; and then are pronounced
righteous before God.
That we through faith have the certitude of this, and, as justified, draw near before God.
That union with Jesus is a life by which we are not only pronounced righteous, but are
really righteous and act righteously.
3. Let the certitude of your part in justification, in the full forgiveness of your sins, and in
full restoration to the love of God, be every day your confidence in drawing near to God.
Chapter 13
THE CLEANSING OF SIN
'If we walk in the light, the blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we confess
our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness.' -- 1 John 1:7,9
The same God that forgives sin also cleanses from it. Not less than forgiveness is
cleansing a promise of God, and therefore a matter of faith. As it is indispensable, as it is
impossible for man, so is cleansing as well as forgiveness certain to be obtained from
God.
And what now is this cleansing? The word comes from the Old Testament. While
forgiveness was a sentence of acquittal passed on the sinner, cleansing was something
that happened to him and in him. Forgiveness came to him through the word: in the case
of cleansing, something was done to him that he could experience. (Lev. 8:13; 14:7,8;
Num. 19:12, 31:23,24; 2 Sam. 22:21,25; 2 Chron. 5:10; Neh. 13:30; 28:21,25; Ps. 21:4;
Mal. 3:3) Consequently with us also cleansing is the inner revelation of the power of God
whereby we are liberated from unrighteousness, from the pollution and the working of
sin. Through cleansing we obtain the blessing of a pure heart; a heart in which the Spirit
can complete His operations with a view to sanctifying us, and revealing God within us. (Ps 51:12; 73:1; Matt. 5:8; 1 Tim 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:22) Cleansing is through the blood. Forgiveness and cleansing are both through the blood.
The blood breaks the power that sin has in heaven to condemn us. The blood thereby also
breaks the power of sin in the heart to hold us captive. The blood has a ceaseless
operation in heaven from moment to moment. The blood has likewise a ceaseless
operation in our heart, to purify, to keep pure the heart into which sin always seeks to
penetrate from the flesh. The blood cleanses the conscience from dead works, to serve the
living God. The marvelous power that the blood has in heaven, it has also in the heart. (John 13:10,11; Heb. 9:14; 10:22; 1 John 1:7)
Cleansing is also through the word, for the word testifies of the blood and of the power of
God. (John 14:3) Hence also cleansing is through faith. It is a divine and effectual
cleansing, but it must also be received in faith ere it can be experienced and felt. I believe
that I am cleansed with a divine cleansing, even while I still perceive sin in the flesh;
through faith in this blessing, cleansing itself shall be my daily experience.
Cleansing is ascribed sometimes to God or the Lord Jesus; sometimes to man. (Ps. 51:3;
Ezek. 30:25; John 13:2; 2 Cor. 7:1; 1 Tim. 5:22; 2 Tim 2:21; Jas. 4:8; 1 John 3:3) That is
because God cleanses us by making us active in our own cleansing. Through the blood
the lust that leads to sin is mortified, the certitude of power against it is awakened, and
the desire and the will are thus made alive. Happy is he that understands this. He is
protected against useless endeavours after self-purification in his own strength, for he
knows God alone can do it. He is protected against discouragement, for he knows God
will certainly do it.
What we have now accordingly to lay the chief stress upon is found in two things, the
desire and the reception of cleansing. The desire must be strong for a real purification.
Forgiveness must be only the gateway or beginning of a holy life. I have several times
remarked that the secret of progress in the service of God is a strong yearning to become
free from every sin, a hunger and thirst after righteousness. (Ps. 19:13; Matt. 5:6) Blessed
are such as thus yearn. They shall understand and receive the promise of a cleansing
through God.
They learn also what it is to do this in faith. Through faith they know that an unseen,
spiritual, heavenly, but very real cleansing through the blood is wrought in them by God
Himself.
Beloved child of God, you remember how we have seen that it was to cleanse us that
Jesus gave Himself. (Eph. 5:26; Tit. 2:14) Let Him, let God the Lord, cleanse you.
Having these promises of a divine cleansing, cleanse yourselves. Believe that every sin,
when it is forgiven you, is also cleansed away. It shall be to you according to your faith.
Let your faith in God, in the word, in the blood, in your Jesus increase continually: 'God
is faithful and righteous to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.'
Lord Go, I thank Thee for these promises. Thou givest not only forgiveness, but also
cleansing. As surely as forgiveness comes first, does cleansing follow for every one that
desires it and believes. Lord, let Thy word penetrate my heart, and let a divine cleansing
from every sin that is forgiven me be the stable expectation of my soul. Beloved Saviour,
let the glorious, ceaseless cleansing of Thy blood through Thy Spirit in me be made
known to me and shared by me every moment. Amen.
1. What is the connection between cleansing by God and cleansing by man himself?
2. What, according to 1 John 1:9, are the two things that must precede cleansing?
3. Is cleansing, as well as forgiveness, the work of God in us? If this is the case, of what
inexpressible importance is it to trust God for it. To believe that God gives me a divine
cleansing in the blood when He forgives me, is the way to become partaker of it.
4. What, according to Scripture, are the evidence of a pure heart?
5. What are 'clean hands'? (Ps. 24)
Chapter 14
HOLINESS
'Like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living:
because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.' -- 1 Pet. 1:15,16
'But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us from God, sanctification.' -- 1
Cor. 1:30
'God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sanctification of the Spirit and belief
of the truth.' -- 2 Thess. 2:13
Not only salvation, but holiness -- salvation in holiness: for this end has God chosen and
called us. Not only safe in Christ, but holy in Christ, must the goal of the young Christian
be. Safety and salvation are in the long run found only in holiness. The Christian who
thinks that his salvation consists merely in safety and not in holiness, will find himself
deceived. Young Christian, listen to the word of God: Be holy.
And wherefore must I be holy? Because He who called you is holy, and summons you to
fellowship and conformity with Himself. How should any one be saved in God, when he
has not the same disposition as God? (Ex. 19:6; Lev. 11:44; 19:2; 20:6,7)
God's holiness is His highest glory. In His holiness His righteousness and love are united.
His holiness is the flaming fire of His zeal against all that is sin, whereby He keeps
Himself free from sin, and in love makes others also free from it. It is as the Holy One of
Israel tha t He is the Redeemer, and that He dwells in the midst of His people. (Ex. 25:11;
Isa. 2:6; 12:14; 43:15; 49:7; 57:15; Hos. 11:9) Redemption is given to bring us to Himself
and to the fellowship of His holiness. We cannot possibly have part in the love and
salvation of God if we are not holy as He is holy. (Isa. 10:18; Heb. 12:14) Young
Christians, be holy.
And what is this holiness that I must have? Answer: Of God are ye in Christ, who of God
is made unto you sanctification. Christ is your sanctification; the life of Christ in you is
your holiness. (1 Cor. 1:3; Eph. 5:27) In Christ you are sanctified; you are holy. In Christ
you must still be sanctified; the glory of Christ must penetrate your whole life.
Holiness is more than purity. In Scripture we see that cleansing precedes holiness. (2 Cor.7:1; Eph. 5:26,27; 2 Tim. 2:21) Cleansing is the taking away of that which is wrong;
liberation from sin. Holiness is the filling with that which is good, divine, with the
disposition of Jesus. Conformity to Him -- this is holiness: separation from the spirit of
the world; the being filled with the presence of the Holy God -- this is holiness. The
tabernacle was holy because God dwelt there; we are holy, as God's temple, after we have
the indwelling of God. Christ's life in us is our holiness. (Ex. 29:43,45; 1 Cor. 1:2;
3:16,17; 6:19)
And how do we become holy? By the sanctification of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is
named the Holy Spirit, because He makes us holy. He reveals and glorifies Christ in us.
Through Him Christ dwells in us, and His holy power works in us. Through this Holy
Spirit the workings of the flesh are mortified, and God works in us both the will and the
accomplishment. (Rom. 1:4; 8:2,13; 1 Pet. 1:2)
And what is now the work that we have to do to receive this holiness of Christ through
the Holy Spirit? 'God chose you to salvation, in sanctification of the Spirit and belief of
the truth.' (2 Thess. 2:13) The holiness of Christ becomes ours through faith. There must
naturally first be the desire to become holy. We must cleanse ourselves from all
pollutions of flesh and spirit by confessing them, giving them up to God, and having
them cleansed away in the blood. Then, first, can we perfect holiness. (2 Cor. 7:1). Then,
in belief of the truth that Christ Himself is our sanctification, we have to take and receive
from Him what is prepared in His fulness for us. (John 1:14,16; 1 Cor. 2:9,10) We must
be deeply convinced that Christ is wholly and alone our sanctification as He is our
justification, and that He will actually and powerfully work in us that which is wellpleasing
to God. In this faith we must know that we have sufficient power for holiness,
and that our work is to receive this power from Him by faith every day. (Gal. 2:21;
Eph.2:10; Phil. 2:13; 4:13) He gives His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, in us; the Spirit communicates
the holy life of Jesus to us.
Young Christian, the Three-One God is the Thrice-Holy. (Isa. 6:3; Rev. 4:8; 15:3,4) And
this Three-One God is the God that sanctifies you: the Father, by giving Jesus to you, and
confirming you in Jesus; the Son, by Himself becoming your sanctification and giving
you the Spirit; the Spirit, by revealing the Son in you, preparing you as a temple for the
indwelling of God, and making the Son dwell in you. O, be holy, for God is holy.
Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, what thanks shall I render to Thess for the gift of Thy
Son as my sanctification, and that I am sanctified in Him. And what thanks for the Spirit
of sanctification to dwell in me, and transplant the holiness of Jesus into me. Lord, give
me to understand this aright, and to long for the experience of it. Amen.
1. What is the distinction betwixt forgiveness and cleansing, and betwixt cleansing and
holiness?
2. What made the temple a sanctuary? The indwelling of God. What makes us holy?
Nothing less than this: the indwelling of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Obedience and
purity are the way to holiness; holiness itself is something higher.
3. In Isa. 52:17, there is a description of the man who will become holy. It is he who, in
poverty of spirit, acknowledges that, even when he is living as a righteous man, he has
nothing, and looks to God to come and dwell in Him.
4. No one is holy but the Lord. You have as much of holiness as you have of God in you.
5. The word 'holy' is one of the deepest words in the Bible, the deepest mystery of the
Godhead. Do you desire to understand something of it, and to obtain part in it? Then take
these two thoughts, 'I am holy.' 'Be ye holy,' and carry them in your heart as a seed of
God that has life.
6. What is the connection betwixt the perseverance of the saints and perseverance in
holiness?
Chapter 15
RIGHTEOUSNESS
'He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but
to justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?' -- Micah 6:8
'Present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and your members as instruments
of righteousness. Even so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto
sanctification.' -- Rom. 6:13,18,19
The word of Micah teaches us that the fruit of the salvation of God is seen chiefly in three
things. The new life must be characterized, in my relation to God and His will, by
righteousness and doing right; in my relation to my neighbour, by love and beneficence;
in relation to myself, by humility and lowliness. For the present, we meditate on
righteousness.
Scripture teaches us that no man is righteous before God, or has any righteousness that
can stand before God; (Ps. 14:3; 143:2; Rom. 3:10,20) that man receives the rightness or
righteousness of Christ for nothing; and that by this righteousness, which is received in
faith, he is then justified before God, (Rom. 3:22,24: 10:3,10; 1 Cor. 1:30; 2 Cor. 5:21;
Gal. 2:16; Phil. 3:9) he is right with God. This righteous sentence of God is something
effectual, whereby the life of righteousness is implanted in man, and he learns to live as a
righteous man, and to do righteousness. (Rom. 5:17,18; 6:13,18,19; 8:3; Tit. 1:8; 2:12; 1
John 2:29; 3:9,10) Being right with God is followed by doing right. 'The righteous shall
live by faith' a righteous life.
It is to be feared that this is not always understood. One thinks sometimes more of
justification than of righteousness in life and walk. To understand the will and the
thoughts of God here, let us trace what Scripture teaches us on this point. We shall be
persuaded that the man who is clothed with a divine righteousness before God must also
walk before God and man in a divine righteousness.
Consider how, in the word, the servants of God are praised as righteous; (Gen. 6:9; 7:1;
Matt. 1:19; Luke 1:6; 2:25; 2 Pet. 2:7) how the favour and blessing of God are
pronounced upon the righteous; (Ps. 1:6; 5:13, 14:5; 34:16,20; 37:17,39; 92:13; 97:11;
144:8) how the righteous are called to confidence, to joy. (Ps. 32:11; 33:1; 58:11; 64:11;
68:4; 97:12) See this especially in the Book of Psalms. See how in Proverbs, although
you should take but one chapter only, all blessing is pronounced upon the righteous. (Prov. 10:3,6,7,11,16,20,21,24,25,28,30,31,32 See how everywhere men are divided into
two classes, the righteous and the godless. (Eccles 3:17; Isa. 3:10; Ezek. 3:18,20;
18:21,23; 33:12; Mal. 3:18; Matt. 5:45; 12:49; 25:46) See how, in the New Testament,
the Lord Jesus demands this righteousness; (Matt. 5:6,20; 6:33) how Paul, who
announces most the doctrine of justification by faith alone, insists that this is the aim of
justification, to form righteous men, who do right. Rom. 3:31; 6:13,22; 7:4,6; 8:4; 2 Cor. 9:9,10; Phil 1:11; 1 Tim. 6:11) See how John names righteousness along with love as the
two indispensable marks of the children of God. (1 John 2:4,11,29; 3:10; 5:2) When you
put all these facts together, it must be very evident to you that a true Christian is a man
who does righteousness in all things, even as God is righteous.
And what this righteousness is, Scripture will also teach you. It is a life in accordance
with the commands of God, in all their breadth and height. The righteous man does what
is right in the eyes of the Lord. (Ps. 119:166,168; Luke 1:6,75; 1 Thess. 2:10) He takes
not the rules of human action; he asks not what man considers lawful. As a man who
stands right with God, who walks uprightly with God, he dreads above all things even the
least unrighteousness. He is afraid, above all, of being partial to himself, of doing any
wrong to his neighbour for the sake of his own advantage. In great and little things alike,
he takes the Scriptures as his measure and line. As the ally of God, he knows that the way
of righteousness is the way of blessing, and life, and joy.
Consider, further, the promises of blessing and joy which God has for the righteous, and
then live as one who, in friendship with God, and clothed with the righteousness of His
Son through faith, has no alternative but to do righteousness.
O Lord, who hast said, 'There is no God else beside Me: a just God and a Saviour,' Thou
art my God. It is as a righteous God that Thou are my Saviour, and hast redeemed me in
Thy Son. As a righteous God Thou makest me also righteous, and sayest to me that the
righteous shall live by faith. O Lord, let the new life in me be the life of faith, the life of a
righteous man. Amen.
1. Observe the connection between the doing of righteousness and sanctification in Rom.6:19,22; 'Present your members as servants to righteousness unto sanctification.' 'Having
become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification.' The doing of
righteousness, righteousness in conduct and action, is the way to holiness. Obedience is
the way to become filled with the Holy Ghost. And the indwelling of God through the
Spirit -- this is holiness.
2. 'Suffer it now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. It was when the Lord
Jesus had spoken that word that He was baptized with the Spirit. Let us set aside every
temptation not to walk in full obedience towards God, even as He did, and we too shall
be filled with the Spirit. 'Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness.'
3. Take pains to set before yourselves the image of a man who so walks that the name of
'righteous; is involuntarily given to him. Think of his uprightness, his conscientious care
to cause no one to suffer the least injury, his holy fear and carefulness to transgress none
of the commands of the Lord -- righteous, and walking in all the commandments and
ordinances of the Lord blameless; and then say to the Lord that you should so live.
4. You understand now the great word, 'The righteous shall live by faith.' By faith the
godless is justified, and becomes a righteous man; by faith he lives as a righteous man.
Chapter 16
LOVE
'A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; even as I have loved
you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if
ye have love one to another.' -- John 13:34,35
'Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: love therefore is the fulfilling of the law.' -- Rom.13:10
'Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. If we love one another,
God abideth in us, and His love is perfected in us.' -- 1 John 4:11,12
In the word of Micah, in the previous section, righteousness was the first thing, to love
mercy the second, that God demands. Righteousness stood more in the foreground in the
Old Testament: it is in the New Testament that it is first seen that love is supreme.
Utterances to this effect are not difficult to find. It is in the advent of Jesus that the love
of God is first revealed; that the new, the eternal life, is first given; that we become
children of the Father, and brethren of one another. On this ground the Lord can then, for
the first time, speak of the New Commandment -- the commandment of brotherly love.
Righteousness is required not less in the New Testament than in the Old. (Matt 5:6,17,20;
6:33) Yet the burden of the New Testament is, that power has been given us for a love
that in early days was impossible. (Rom. 5:5; Gal. 5:22; 1 Thess. 4:9; 1 John 4:11; 13:34)
Let every Christian take it deeply to heart, that in the first and the great commandment,
the new commandment given by Jesus at His departure, the peculiar characteristic of a
disciple of Jesus is brotherly love. And let him with his whole heart yield himself to Him,
to obey that command. For the right exercise of this brotherly love, one must take heed to
more than one thing.
Love to the brethren arises from the love of the Father. By the Holy Spirit, the love of
God is shed abroad in our hearts, the wonderful love of the Father is unveiled to us, so
that His love becomes the life and the joy of our soul. Out of this fountain of the love of
God to us springs our love to Him. (Rom. 5:5; 1 John 4:19) And our love to Him works
naturally love to the brethren. (Eph. 4:2,6; 5:1,2; 1 John 3:1; 4:7,20; 5:1) Do not attempt
then to fulfil the commandment of brotherly love of yourselves: you are not in a position
to do this. But believe that the Holy Spirit, who is in you to make known the love of God
to you, also certainly enables you to yield this love. Never say: I feel no love; I do not
feel as if I can forgive this man. Feeling is not the rule of your duty, but the command,
and the faith that God gives power to obey the command. In obedience to the Father, with
the choice of your will, and in faith that the Holy Spirit gives you power, begin to say: I
will love him; I do love him. The feeling will follow the faith. Grace gives power for all
that the Father asks of you. (Matt. 5:44,45; Gal 2:20; 1 Thess. 3:12,13; 5:24; Phil. 4:13; 1
Pet. 1:22)
Brotherly love has its measure and rule in the love of Jesus. 'This is my commandment,
that ye love one another, as I have loved you.' (Luke 22:26,27; John 13:14,15,34; Col.2:13) The eternal life that works in us is the life of Jesus; it knows no other law than what
we see in Him; it works with power in us what it wrought in Him. Jesus Himself lives in
us and loves in and through us: we must believe in the power of this love in us, and in
that faith love as He loved. O, do believe that this is true salvation, to love even as Jesus
loves.
Brotherly love must be in deed and in truth. (Matt. 12:50; 25:40; Rom. 13:10;
1 Cor.7:19; Gal. 5:6; Jas. 2:15,16; 1 John 3:16-18) It is not mere feeling: faith
working by love is what has power in Christ. It manifests itself in all the dispositions that are enumerated
in the word of God. Contemplate its glorious image in 1 Cor. 13:4-7. Mark all the
glorious encouragements to gentleness, to longsuffering, to mercy. (Gal. 5:22;
Eph.4:2,32; Phil. 2:2,3; Col. 3:12; 2 Thess. 1:3). In all your conduct, let it be seen that the love
of Christ dwells in you. Let your love be a helpful, self-sacrificing love, like that of Jesus.
Hold all children of God, however sinful or perverse they may be, fervently dear. Let
love to them teach you to love all men. (Luke 6:32,35; 1 Pet. 1:22; 2 Pet. 1:7) Let your
household, and the Church, and the world, see in you one with whom 'love is greatest;'
one in whom the love of God has a full dwelling, a free working.
Christian, God is love. Jesus is the gift of this love, to bring love to you, to transplant you
into that life of godlike love. Live in that faith, and you shall not complain that you have
no power to love: the love of the Spirit shall be your power and your life.
Beloved Saviour, I discern more clearly that the whole of the new life is a life in love.
Thou Thyself art the Son of God's love, the gift of His love, come to introduce us into His
love, and give us a dwelling there. And the Holy Spirit is given to shed abroad the love of
God in our hearts, to open a spring out of which shall stream love to Thee, and to the
brethren, and to all mankind. Lord, here am I, one redeemed by love, to love for it, and in
its might to love all. Amen.
1. Those who reject the word of God sometimes say that it is of no moment what we
believe, if we but have love, and so they are for making love the one condition of
salvation. In their zeal against this view, the orthodox party have sometimes presented
faith in justification, as if love were not of so much importance. This is likely to be very
dangerous. God is love. His Son is the gift, the bringer, of His love to us. The Spirit sheds
abroad the love of God in the heart. The New Life is a life in love. Love is the greatest
thing. Let it be the chief element in our life: true love, that, namely, which is known in
the keeping of God's commandments. (See 1 John 3:10,23,24; 5:2)
2. Do not wonder that I have said to you that you must love, although you do not feel the
least love. Not the feeling, but the will is your power: it is not in your feeling, but in faith,
that the Spirit in you is the power of your will to work in you all that the Father bids you. Therefore, although you feel absolutely no love to your enemy, say in the obedience of
faith: Father, I love him; in faith in the hidden working of the Spirit in my heart, I do love
him.
3. Pray, think not that this is love, if you wish no evil to any one, or if you should be
willing to help, if he were in need. No: love is much more: love is love. Love is the
disposition with which God addressed you when you were His enemy, and afterwards ran
to you with tender longing to bless you.
Chapter 17
HUMILITY
'And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk
humbly with thy God?' -- Micah 6:8
'Learn of me that I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.' --
Matt. 11:29
One of the most dangerous enemies against which the young Christian must watch, is
pride or self-exaltation. There is no sin that works more cunningly and more hiddenly. It
knows how to penetrate into everything, even into our service for God, our prayers -- yea,
even into our humility: there is nothing so small in the earthly life, nothing so holy in the
spiritual life, that self-exaltation does not know to extract its nutriment out of.
(2 Chron.26:5,16; 32:26,31; Isa. 65:5; Jer. 7:4; 2 Cor. 12:7) The Christian must therefore be on his
guard against it, must listen to what Scripture teaches about it, and about the lowliness
whereby it is driven out.
Man was created to have part in the glory of God. He obtains this by surrendering himself
to the glorification of God. The more he seeks that the glory of God only shall be seen in
him, the more does this glory rest upon himself. (Isa. 43:7,21; John 12:28; 13:31,32;
27:1,4,5; 1 Cor. 10:31; 2 Thess. 1:11,12) The more he forgets and loses himself, desiring
to be nothing, that God may be all and be alone glorified, the more happy shall he be.
By sin this design has been thwarted: man seeks himself and his own will.
(Rom.1:21,23) Grace has come to restore what sin has corrupted, and to bring man to glory by
the pathway of dying unto himself and living solely for the glory of God. This is the
humility or lowliness of which Jesus is the exemplar: He took no thought for Himself, He
have himself over wholly to glorify the Father (John 8:50 Phil. 2:7)
He who would be freed from self-exaltation must not think to obtain this by striving
against its mere workings. No: pride must be driven out and kept out by humility. The
Spirit of life in Christ, the Spirit of His lowliness, will work in us true
lowliness. (Rom.8:2; Phil. 2:5)
The means that He will chiefly use for this end is the word. It is by the word that we are
cleansed from sin; it is by the word that we are sanctified and filled with the love of God.
Observe what the word says about this point. It speaks of God's aversion to pride, and the
punishment that comes upon it. (Ps. 31:24; Prov. 26:5; Matt. 23:12; Luke 1:51; Jas. 4:5; 1
Pet. 5:5) It gives the most glorious promises to the lowly. (Ps. 34:19; Prov. 11:2; Isa. 57:
15; Luke 9:48; 14:11; 18:14) In well- nigh every Epistle, humility is commended to
Christians as one of the first virtues. (Rom. 12:3,16; 1 Cor. 13:4; Gal. 5:22,26; Eph. 4:2;
Phil. 2:3; Col. 2:13) It is the feature in the image of Jesus which He seeks chiefly to
impress on His disciples. His whole incarnation and redemption has its roots in His
humiliation. (Matt. 20:26,28; Luke 22:27; John 13:14,15; Phil. 2:7,8)
Take singly some of these words of God from time to time and lay them up in your heart.
The tree of life yields many different kinds of seed -- the seed also of the heavenly plant,
lowliness. The seeds are the words of God. Carry them in your heart: they shall shoot up
and yield fruit. (1 Thess. 2:13; Heb. 4:12; Jas. 1:21)
Consider, moreover, how lovely, how becoming, how well-pleasing to God, lowliness is. As man, created for the honour of God, you find it befitting you. (Gen. 1:27; 1 Cor. 11:7)
As a sinner, deeply unworthy, you have nothing more to urge against it.
(Job 40:6; Isa.6:5; Luke 5:8) As a redeemed soul, who knows that only through the death of the natural
I does the way to the new life lie, you find it indispensable. (Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 25:9,10;
Gal. 2:20)
But here, as everywhere in the life of grace, let faith be the chief thing. Believe in the
power of the eternal life that works in you. Believe in the power of Jesus, who is your
life. Believe in the power of the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. Attempt not to hide your
pride, or to forget it, or to root it out yourself. Confess this sin, with every working of it
that you trace, in the sure confidence that the blood cleanses, that the Spirit sanctifies.
Learn of Jesus that He is meek and lowly in heart. Consider that He is your life, with all
that He has. Believe that He gives His humility to you. The word: 'Do it to the Lord
Jesus,' means, 'Be clothed with the Lord Jesus.' Be clothed with humility, in order that
you may be clothed with Jesus. It is Christ in you that shall fill you with humility.
Blessed Lord Jesus, there never was any one amongst the children of men so high, so
holy, so glorious as Thou. And never was there any one who was so lowly and ready to
deny himself as the servant of all. O Lord, when shall we learn that lowliness is the grace
by which man can be most closely conformed to the divine glory? O teach me this.
Amen.
1. Take heed that you do nothing to feed pride on the part of others. Take heed that you
do not suffer others to feed your pride. Take heed, above all, that you do nothing yourself
to feed your pride. Let God alone always and in all things obtain the honour. Endeavour
to observe all that is good in His children, and to thank Him heartily for it. Thank Him for
all that helps you to hold yourself in small esteem, whether it be sent through friend or
foe. Resolve, especially, never on any account to be eagerly bent on your own honour,
when this is not accorded to you as it ought to be. Commit this to the Father: take heed
only to His honour.
2. By no means suppose that faint-heartedness or doubting is lowliness. Deep humility
and strong faith go together. The centurion who said: 'I am not worthy that Thou shouldst
come under my roof,' and the woman who said: 'Yea, Lord, yet even the dogs eat of the
crumbs' -- these two were the most humble and the most trustful that the Lord found (see
Matt. 8:10; 15:28). The reason is this: the nearer we are to God, the less we are in
ourselves, but the stronger we are in Him. The more I see of God, the less I become, the
deeper is my confidence in Him. To become lowly, let God fill eye and heart. Where God
is all, there is no time or place for man.
Chapter 18
STUMBLINGS
'In many things we all stumble.' -- Jas. 3:2
This word of God by James is the description of what man is, even the Christian, when he
is not kept by grace. It serves to take away from us all hope in ourselves. (Rom. 7:14,23;
Gal. 6:1) 'Now unto Him that is able to guard you from stumbling ... be glory, majesty,
dominion, and power ... forevermore' (Jude 24,25). This word of God by Jude points to
Him who can keep from falling, and stirs up the soul to ascribe to Him the honour and the
power. It serves to confirm our hope in God. (2 Cor. 1:9; 1 Thess. 5:24; 2 Thess. 2:16,17;
3:3) 'Brethren, give the more diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do
these things, ye shall never stumble' (2 Pet. 1:10). This word of God by Peter teaches us
the way in which we can become partakers of the keeping of the Almighty: the
confirmation of our election by God in a godlike walk (see verses. 4,8,11). It serves to
lead us into diligence and conscientious watchfulness. (Matt. 26:41; Luke 12:35; 1 Pet.1:13; 5:8-10)
For the young Christian, it is often a difficult question what he ought to think of his
stumblings. On this point, he ought especially to be on his guard against two errors. Some
become dispirited when they stumble: they think that their surrender was not sincere, and
lose their confidence towards God. (Heb. 3:6,14; 10:35) Others again take it too lightly.
They think that it cannot be otherwise: they concern themselves little with stumblings,
and continue to live in them. (Rom. 6:1; Gal. 2:18; 3:3) Let us take these words of God to
teach us what we ought to think of our stumblings. There are three lessons.
Let no stumblings discourage you. You are called to perfectness: yet this comes not at
once: time and patience are needful for it. Therefore James says: 'Let patience have its
perfect work that ye may be perfect and entire. (Matt. 5:48; 2 Tim. 3:17; Heb. 13:20,21;
Jas. 1:4; 1 Pet. 5:10) Think not that your surrender was not sincere; acknowledge only
how weak you still are. Think not also that you must only continue stumbling:
acknowledge only how strong your Saviour is.
Let stumbling rouse you to faith in the mighty keeper. It is because you have not relied on
Him with a sufficient faith that you have stumbled. (Matt. 14:31; 17:20) Let stumbling
drive you to Him. The first thing that you must do with a stumbling is: go with it to your
Jesus. Tell it out to Him. (Ps. 38:18; 56:6; 1 John 1:9; 2:1) Confess it, and receive
forgiveness. Confess it, and commit yourself with your weakness to Him, and reckon on
Him to keep you. Sing continually the song: 'To Him that is mighty to keep you, be the
glory.' And then, let stumbling make you very prudent. (Prov. 28:14; Phil. 2:12; 1 Pet. 1:17,18)
By faith you shall strive and overcome. In the power of your keeper and the joy and
security of His help, you shall have courage to watch. The firmer you make your election,
the stronger the certitude that He has chosen you, and will not let you go, the more
conscientious shall you become, to live in all things only for Him, in Him, through Him. (2 Chron 20:15; Ps. 18:30,37; 44:5,9; John 5:4,5; Rom. 11:20; 2 Cor. 1:24; Phil. 2:13) Doing this, the word of God says, you shall never stumble.
Lord Jesus, a sinner who is ready to stumble every moment would give honour to Thee,
who art mighty to keep from stumbling: Thine is the might and the power: I take Thee as
my keeper. I look to Thy love which has chosen me, and wait for the fulfilment of Thy
word: 'Ye shall never stumble.' Amen.
1. Let your thoughts about what the grace of God can do for you, be taken only from the
word of God. Our natural expectations -- that we must just always be stumbling -- are
wrong. They are strengthened by more than one thing. There is secret unwillingness to
surrender everything. There is the example of so many sluggish Christians. There is the
unbelief that cannot quite understand that God will really keep us. There is the experience
of so many disappointments, when we have striven in our own power.
2. Let no stumbling be tolerated, for the reason that it is trifling.
Chapter 19
JESUS THE KEEPER
'The Lord is Thy keeper: ... The Lord shall keep thee from all evil; ... He shall keep thy
soul.' -- Ps. 121:4,7
'I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that
which I have committed unto Him against that day.' -- 2 Tim. 1:12
For young disciples of Christ who are still weak, there is no lesson that is more necessary
than this, that the Lord has not only received them, but that He will also keep them. (Gen.28:15; Deut. 7:9; 32:10; Ps. 27:8; 89:33,34; Rom. 12:2,29) The lovely name, 'the Lord
Thy keeper,' must for this end be carried in the heart, until the assurance of an Almighty
keeping becomes as strong with us as it was with Paul, when he spake that glorious word:
'I know Him in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to guard that
which I have committed unto Him against that day.' Come and learn this lesson from him.
Learn from his to deposit your pledge with Jesus. Paul had surrendered himself, body and
soul, to the Lord Jesus: that was His pledge which he had deposited with the Lord. You
have also surrendered yourselves to the Lord, but perhaps not with the clear
understanding that it is in order to be kept every day. Do this now daily. Deposit your
soul with Jesus as a costly pledge that He will keep secure. Do this same thing with every
part of your life. Is there something that you cannot rightly hold -- your heart, because it
is too worldly; (Ps. 31:6; Jer. 31:33) your tongue, because it is too idle; (Ps. 51:17; 141:3) your temper, because it is too passionate; (Ps. 119:165; Jer. 26:3,4; John 14:27;
Phil.4:6,7; 2 Thess. 3:16) your calling to confess the Lord, because you are too weak?
(Isa.50:7; Jer. 1:9; Matt. 10:19,20; Luke 26:15) Learn, then, to deposit it as a pledge for
keeping with Jesus, in order that He may fulfil in you the promise of God about it. You
often pray and strive too much in vain against a sin: it is because, although this is done
with God's help, you would be the person who would overcome. No: entrust the matter
wholly to Jesus: 'the battle is not yours, but God's. (Ex. 14:14; Deut. 3:22; 20:4 2 Chron.20:15)
Leave it in His hands: believe in Him to do it for you: 'This is the victory that hath
overcome the world, even your faith.' (Matt. 9:23; 1 John 5:3,4) But you must first place
it wholly out of your hands in His.
Learn from Paul to set your confidence only on the power of Jesus. I am persuaded that
He is able to keep my pledge. You have an almighty Jesus to keep you. Faith keeps itself
occupied only with His omnipotence. (Gen. 17:1; 18:14; Jer. 32:17,27; Matt. 8:27; 28:18;
Luke 1:37,49; 18:27; Rom. 4:21; Heb. 11:18) Let your faith especially be strengthened in
what God is able to do for you. (Rom. 4:21; 14:4; 2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Tim. 1:12) Expect with
certainty from Him that He will do for you great and glorious things, entirely above your
own strength. See in the Holy Scriptures how constantly the power of God was the
ground of the trust of His people. Take these words and hide them in your heart. Let the
power of Jesus fill your soul. Ask only: 'What is my Jesus able to do?' What you really
trust Him with, He is able to keep. (John 13:1; 1 Cor. 1:8,9)
And learn also from Paul where he obtained the assurance that this power would keep his
pledge: it was in his knowledge of Jesus. 'I know Him whom I have believed:' therefore I
am assured. (John 10:14,28; Gal. 2:20; 2 Tim. 4:18; 1 John 2:13,14) You can trust the
power of Jesus, if you know that He is yours, if you hold converse with Him as your
friend. Then yo u can say: 'I know whom I have believed: I know that he holds my very
dear: I know and am assured that He is able to keep my pledge.' So runs the way to the
full assurance of faith: Deposit your pledge with Jesus; give yourselves wholly, give
everything, into His hands; think much on His might, and reckon upon Him; and live
with Him so that you may always know who He is in whom you have believed.
Young disciples of Christ, pray, receive this word: 'The Lord is thy keeper.' For every
weakness, every temptation, learn to deposit your soul with Him as a pledge. You can
reckon upon it, you can shout joyfully over it: 'The Lord shall keep you from all evil. (Josh. 1:9; Ps. 23:4; Rom. 8:35,39)
Holy Jesus, I take Thee as my keeper. Let Thy name, 'The Lord thy keeper,' sound as a
song in my heart the whole day. Teach me in every need to deposit my case as a pledge
with Thee, and to be assured that Thou art able to keep it. Amen.
1. There was once a woman who for years long, and with much prayer, had striven
against her temper, but could not obtain the victory. On a certain day she resolved not to
come out of her room until by earnest prayer she had the power to overcome. She went
out in the opinion that she should succeed. Scarcely had she been in the household, when
something gave her offense and caused her to be angry. She was deeply ashamed, burst
into tears, and hastened back to her room. A daughter, who understood the way of faith
better than she, went to her and said, 'Mother, I have observed your conflict: may I tell
you what I think the hindrance is?' 'Yes, my child,' 'Mother, you struggle against temper,
and pray that the Lord may help you to overcome. This is wrong. The Lord must do it
alone. You must give temper wholly into His hands: then He takes it wholly, and He
keeps you.' The mother could not at first understand this, but later it was made plain to
her. And she enjoyed the blessedness of the life in which Jesus keeps us, and we by faith
have the victory. Do you understand this?
2. 'The Lord must help me to overcome sin:' the expression is altogether outside of the
New Testament. The grace of God in the soul does not become a help to us. He will do
everything: 'The Spirit has made me free from the law of sin.'
3. When you surrender anything to the Lord for keeping, take heed to two things: that you
give it wholly into His hands; and that you have it there. Let Him have it wholly: He will
carry out your case gloriously.
Chapter 20
POWER AND WEAKNESS
'He hath said unto me, My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore will I glory in
my weaknesses, that the strength of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure
in weaknesses: for when I am weak, then am I strong.' -- 2 Cor. 12:9,10
There is almost no word that is so imperfectly understood in the Christian life as the word
weakness. Sin and shortcoming, sluggishness and disobedience, are set to the account of
our weakness. With this appeal to weakness, the true feeling of guilt and the sincere
endeavour after progress are impossible. How, pray, can I be guilty, when I do not do
what it is not in my power to do? The Father cannot demand of His child what He can
certainly do independently. That, indeed, was done by the law under the Old Covenant;
but that the Father, under the New Covenant, does not do. He requires of us nothing more
than what He has prepared for us power to do in His Holy Spirit. The new life is a life in
the power of Christ through the Spirit.
The error of this mode of thinking is that people estimate their weakness, not too highly,
but too meanly. They would still do something by the exercise of all their powers, and
with the help of God. They know not that they must be nothing before God. (Rom. 4:4,5;
11:6; 1 Cor. 1:27,28) You think that you have still a little strength, and that the Father
must help you by adding something of His own power to your feeble energy. This
thought is wrong. Your weakness appears in the fact that you can do nothing. It is better
to speak of utter inability -- that is what the Scriptures understand by the word 'weakness.'
'Apart from me ye can do nothing.' 'In us is no power.' (2 Chron. 16:9; 20:12; John 5:19;
15:5; 2 Cor. 1:9)
Whenever the young Christian acknowledges and assents to this his weakness, then he
learns to understand the secret of the power of Jesus. He then sees that he is not to wait
and pray to become stronger, to feel stronger. No: in his inability, he is to have the power
of Jesus. By faith he is to receive it; he is to reckon that it is for him, and that Jesus
Himself will work in and by him. (John 15:5; 1 Cor 1:24; 15:10; Eph. 1:18,19; Col. 1:11)
It then becomes clear to him what the Lord means when He says, 'My power is made
perfect in your weakness.' He knows to return the answer, 'When I am weak, then am I --
yea, then am I -- strong.' Yea, the weaker I am, the stronger I become. And he learns to
sing with Paul, 'I shall glory in my weaknesses.' 'I take pleasure in weaknesses.' 'We
rejoice when we are weak.' (2 Cor. 11:30; 12:9,11; 13:4,9)
It is wonderful how glorious that life of faith becomes for him who is content to have
nothing, or feel nothing, in himself, and always to live on the power of his Lord. He
learns to understand what a joyful thing it is to know God as his strength. 'The Lord is my
strength and song.' (Ps. 89:18; 118:14; Jer. 12:2) He lives in what the Psalms so often
express: 'I love Thee, O Lord, my strength;' 'I will sing of Thy strength: unto Thee, O my
strength, will I sing praises.' (Ps. 18:2; 28:7,8; 31:5; 43:2; 46:2; 59:17,18; 62:8; 81:2) He
understands what is meant when a psalm says, 'Give strength to the Lord: the Lord will
give strength to His people;' and when another says, 'Give strength to God: the God of
Israel, He giveth strength and power to His people.' (Ps. 29:1,11; 68:35,36) When we
give or ascribe all the power to God, then He gives it to us again.
"I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth
in you, and ye have overcome the Evil One." The Christian is strong in his Lord:
(Ps.71:16; 1 John 2:14) not sometimes strong and sometimes weak, but always weak, and
therefore always strong. He has merely to know and use his strength trustfully. To be
strong is a command, a behest that must be obeyed. On obedience there comes more
strength. 'Be strong ... and He shall strengthen thine heart.' In faith the Christian must
simply obey the command, 'Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might.'
(Ps.27:14; 31:25; Isa. 40:31; Eph. 6:10)
The God of the Lord Jesus, the Father of glory give unto us the spirit of wisdom and of
revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, that we may know what is the exceeding greatness
of His power to usward who believe. Amen.
1. So long as the Christian thinks of the service of God or of sanctification as something
that is hard and difficult, he will make no progress in it. He must see that this very thing
is for him impossible. Then he will cease still endeavouring to do something; he will
surrender himself that Christ may work all in him. See these thoughts set forth in detail in
Professor Hofmeyr's book, Out of Darkness into Light: a Course of Instruction on
Conversion, the Surrender of Faith, and Sanctification * (J.H. Rose, Cape Town), chapter
third and following of the third part.
2. The complaint about weakness is often nothing else than an apology for our idleness. There is power to be obtained in Christ for those who will take the pains to have it.
3. 'Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.' Mind that. I must abide in the
Lord and in the power of His might, then I become strong. To have His power I must
have Himself. The strength is His, and continues His; the weakness continues mine. He,
the Strong, works in me, the weak; I, the weak, abide by faith in Him, the Strong; so that
I, in the self-same moment, know myself to be weak and strong.
4. Strength is for work. He who would be strong simply to be pious, will not be so. He
who in his weakness begins to work for the Lord, shall become strong.
* Professor N.J. Hofmeyr is senior professor of the Theological College of the Dutch
Reformed Church, Stellenbosch, Cape Colony. The volume referred to has been recently
published in English under the title, The Blessed Life: How to Find and Live It (J. Nisbet
& Co.), (vide P. 185). -- Translator
Chapter 21
THE LIFE OF FEELING
'We walk by faith, not by sight.' -- 2 Cor. 5:7
'Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' -- John 20:29
'Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?' -- John
11:40
In connection with your conversion there was no greater hindrance in your way than
feeling. You thought, perhaps for years, that you must experience something, must feel
and perceive something in yourselves. It was to you as if it were too hazardous thus
simply, and witho ut some feeling, to believe in the word, and be sure that God had
received you, and that your sins were forgiven. But at last you have had to acknowledge
that the way of faith, without feeling, was the way of the word of God. And it has been to
you the way of salvation. Through faith alone have you been saved, and your soul has
found rest and peace. (John 3:36; Rom. 3;28; 4:5,16; 5:1)
In the further life of the Christian there is no temptation that is more persistent and more
dangerous than this same feeling. The word 'feeling' we do not find in Scripture, but what
we call 'feeling' the Scripture calls 'seeing'. And it tells us without easing that not seeing,
but believing, that believing right in opposition to what we see, gives salvation.
'Abraham, not being weak in faith, considered not his own body'. * Faith adheres simply
to what God says. The unbelief that would see shall not see; the faith that will not see, but
has enough in God, shall see the glory of God. (2 Chron. 7:2; Ps. 2713; Isa. 7:9; Matt.14:30,31; Luke 5:5) The man who seeks for feeling, and mourns about it, shall not find it;
the man who cares not for it shall have it overflowing. 'Whosoever would save his life
shall lose it, and whosoever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it.' Faith in the word
becomes later on sealed with true feeling by the Holy Spirit. (John 12:25; Gal. 3:2,14;
Eph. 1:13)
Child of God, learn to live by faith. Let it be fixed with you that faith is God's way to a
blessed life. When there is no feeling of liveliness in prayer, when you feel cold and dull
in the inner chamber, live by faith. Let your faith look upon Jesus as near, upon His
power and faithfulness, and, though you have nothing to bring to Him, believe that He
will give you all. Feeling always seeks something in itself; faith keeps itself occupied
with what Jesus is. (Rom. 4:20,21; 2 Tim. 1:12; Heb. 9:5,6; Jas. 3:16; 6:16) When you
read the word, and have no feeling of interest or blessing, read it yet again in faith. The
word will work and bring blessing; 'the word worketh in those that believe.' When you
feel no love, believe in the love of Jesus, and say in faith that He knows that you still love
Him. When you have no feeling of gladness, believe in the inexpressible joy that there is
in Jesus for you. Faith is blessedness, and will give joy to those who are not concerned
about the self-sufficiency that springs from joy, but about the glorification of God that
springs from faith. (Rom. 15:13; Gal. 2:20; 1 Pet. 1:5,7,8) Jesus will surely fulfil His
word: 'Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.' 'Said I not unto thee,
that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?'
Betwixt the life of feeling and the life of faith the Christian has to choose every day.
Happy is he who, once for all, has made the firm choice, and every morning renews the
choice, not to seek or listen for feeling, but only to walk by faith, according to the will of
God. The faith that keeps itself occupied with the word, with what God has said, and,
through the word, with God Himself and Jesus His Son, shall taste the blessedness of a
life in God above. Feeling seeks and aims at itself; faith honours God, and shall be
honoured by Him. Faith pleases God, and shall receive from Him the witness in the heart
of the believer that he is acceptable to God.
Lord God, the one, the only, thing that Thou desirest of Thy children is that they should
trust Thee, and that they should always hold converse with Thee in that faith. Lord, let it
be the one thing in which I seek my happiness, to honour and to please Thee by a faith
that firmly holds Thee, the Invisible, and trusts Thee in all things. Amen.
1. There is indeed something marvelous in the new life. It is difficult to make it clear to
the young Christian. The Spirit of God teaches him to understand it after he perseveres in
grace. Jesus has laid the foundation of that life in the first word of the Sermon on the
Mount: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven'; a feeling of
deep poverty and of royal riches, of utter weakness and of kingly might, exist together in
the soul. To have nothing in itself, to have all in Christ -- that is the secret of faith. And
the true secret of faith is to bring this into exercise, and, in hours of barrenness and
emptiness, still to know that we have all in Christ.
2. Forget not that the faith, of which God's word speaks so much, stands not only in
opposition to works, but also in opposition to feeling, and therefore that for a pure life of
faith you must cease to seek your salvation, not only in works, but also in faith. Therefore
let faith always speak against feeling. When feeling says, 'In myself, I am sinful; I am
dark; I am weak; I am poor; I am sad;' let faith say. 'In Christ, I am holy; I am light; I am
strong; I am rich; I am joyful.'
Chapter 22
THE HOLY GHOST
'And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying,
Abba, Father.' -- Gal. 4:6
The great gift of the Father, through whom He obtained salvation and brought it near to
us, is the Son. On the other hand, the great gift of the Son, whom He sends to us from the
Father, to apply to us an inner and effectual salvation, is the Holy Spirit. (John 7:38;
14:16,26; Acts 1:4; 2:33; 1 Cor. 3:16) As the Son reveals and glorifies the Father, so the
Spirit reveals and glorifies the Son. (John 15:26; 16:14,15; 1 Cor. 2:8,12; 12:3) The Spirit
is in us to transfer to us the life and the salvation that are prepared in Jesus, and to make
them wholly ours. (Job 14:17,21; Rom. 8:2; Eph. 3:17,19) Jesus who is in heaven is made
present in us, dwells in us, by the Spirit. We have seen that in order to become a partaker
of Jesus there are always two things necessary: the knowledge of the sin that is in us, and
of the redemption that is in Him. It is the Holy Spirit who continually promotes this
double work in believers. He reproves and comforts, He convinces of sin and He glorifies
Christ. (John 16:9,14)
The Spirit convinces of sin. He is the light and the fire of God, through whom sin is
unveiled and consumed. He is 'the Spirit of judgment and of burning,' by whom God
purifies His people. (Isa. 4:4; Zech. 12:10,11; Matt. 3:11,12) To the anxious soul who
complains that he does not feel his sin deeply enough, we must often say that there is no
limit as to how deep his repentance must be. He must come daily just as he is; the deepest
conviction often times comes after conversion. To the young convert we have simply to
say: let the Spirit who is in you convince you always of sin. Sin, which formerly you
knew but by name, He will make you hate. Sin, which you had not seen in the hidden
depths of your heart, He will make you know, and with shame confess. Sin, of which you
fancied that it was not with you, and which you had judged severely in others, He will
point out to you in yourself. (Ps. 139:7,23; Isa. 10:17; Matt. 7:5; Rom. 14:4; 1 Cor. 2:10;
14:24,25) And He will teach you with repentance and self-condemnation to cast yourself
upon grace as entirely sinful, in order to be thereby redeemed and purified from it.
Beloved brother, the Holy Spirit is in you as the light and fire of God to unveil and to
consume sin. The temple of God is holy, and this temple you are. Let the Holy Spirit in
you have full mastery to point out and expel sin. (Ps. 19:13; 139:23; Mic. 3:8; 1 Cor.3:17; 2 Cor. 3:17; 5:16) After He makes you know sin, He will at every turn make you
know Jesus as your life and your sanctification.
And then shall the Spirit who rebukes also comfort. He will glorify Jesus in yo u, will take
what is in Jesus and make it known to you. He will give you knowledge concerning the
power of Jesus' blood to cleanse, (1 John 1:7; 5:6) and the power of Jesus' indwelling to
keep. (John 14:21,23; Eph. 3:17; 1 John 3:24; 4:13) He will make you see how literally,
how completely, how certainly Jesus is with you every moment, to do Himself all his
own Jesus-work in you. Yea, in the Holy Spirit, the living, almighty, and ever-present
Jesus shall be your portion; you shall also know this, and have the full enjoyment of it.
The Holy Spirit will teach you to bring all your sin and sinfulness to Jesus, and to know
Jesus with His complete redemption from sin as your own. As the Spirit of sanctification,
He will drive out sin in order that He may cause Jesus to dwell in you. (Rom. 1:4; 5:5;
8:2,13; 1 Pet. 1:2)
Beloved young Christian, take time to understand and to become filled with the truth: the
Holy Spirit is in you. Review all the assurances of God's word that this is so.
(Rom.8:14,16; 1 Cor. 6:19; 2 Cor. 1:22; 6:16; Eph. 1:13) Pray, think not for a moment of living
as a Christian without the indwelling of the Spirit. Take pains to have your heart filled
with the faith that the Spirit dwells in you, and will do His mighty work, for through faith
the Spirit comes and works (Gal. 3:2,5,15; 5:5) Have a great reverence for the work of
the Spirit in you. Seek Him every day to believe, to obey, to trust, and He will take and
make known to you all that there is in Jesus. He will make Jesus very glorious to you and
in you.
O my Father, I thank Thee for this gift which Jesus sent me from Thee, the Father. I
thank Thee that I am now the temple of Thy Spirit, and that He dwells in me. Lord, teach
me to believe this with the whole heart, and to live in the world as one who knows that
the Spirit of God is in him to lead him. Teach me to think with deep reverence and filial
awe on this, that God is in me. Lord, in that faith I have the power to be holy. Holy Spirit,
reveal to me all that sin is in me. Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that Jesus is in me. Amen.
1. The knowledge of the person and the work of the Holy Spirit is for us of just as much
importance as the knowledge of the person and the work of Christ.
2. Concerning the Holy Spirit, we must endeavour especia lly to hold fast the truth that He
is given as the fruit of the work of Jesus for us, that He is the power of the life of Jesus in
us, and that through Him, Jesus Himself, with His full salvation, dwells in us.
3. In order to enjoy all this, we must be filled with the Spirit. This simply means, emptied
of all else and full of Jesus. To deny ourselves, to take up the cross, to follow Jesus. Or
rather, this is the way in which the Spirit leads us to His fulness. No one has the power to
enter fully into the death of Jesus but he who is led by the Spirit. But He takes him that
desires this by the hand and brings him.
4. As the whole of salvation, the whole of the new life is by faith, so is this also true of
the gift and the working of the Holy Spirit. By faith, not by works -- not in feeling, do I
receive Him, am I led by Him, am I filled with Him.
5. As clear and definite as my faith is in the work that Jesus only and alone finished for
me, so clear and definite must faith be in the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in
me, to work in me the willing and the performing of all that is necessary for my salvation.
Chapter 23
THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT
'As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. The Spirit Himself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are children of God.' -- Rom. 8:14,16
It is the very same Spirit that leads us as children who also assures us that we are
children. Without His leading there can be no assurance of our filiation. True full
assurance of faith is enjoyed by him who surrenders himself entirely to the leading of the
Spirit.
In what does this leading consist? Chiefly in this, that our whole hidden inner life is
guided by Him to what it ought to be. This we must firmly believe. Our growth and
increase, our development and progress, is not our work but His: we are to trust Him for
this. As a tree or animal grows and becomes large by the spirit of life which God has
given to it, so also does the Christian by the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus. (Hos. 14:6,7;
Matt. 6:28; Mark 4:26,28; Luke 2:40; Rom. 8:2) We have to cherish the joyful assurance
that the Spirit whom the Father gives to us does with divine wisdom and power guide our
hidden life, and bring it where God will have it.
Then there are also special directions of this leading. 'He will lead you into all the truth,'
When we read the word of God, we are to wait upon Him, to make us experience the
truth, the essential power of what God says. He makes the word living and powerful. He
leads us into a life corresponding to the word. (John 6:63, 14:26; 16:13; 1 Cor. 2:10,114;
1 Thess. 2:13)
When you pray, you can reckon upon His leading: 'The Spirit helpeth our infirmities.' He
leads us to what we must desire. He leads us into the way in which we are to pray,
trustfully, persistently, mightily. (Zech 12:10; Rom. 8:26,27; Jude 12,20)
In the way of sanctification it is He that will lead: He leads us in the path of
righteousness. He leads us into all the will of God. (1 Cor. 6:19,20; 1 Pet 1:2,15)
In our speaking and working for the Lord, He will lead. Every child has the Spirit: every
child has need of Him to know and to do the work of the Father. Without Him no child
can please or serve the Father. The leading of the Spirit is the blessed privilege, the sure
token, the only power of a child of God. (Matt. 10:20; Acts 1:8; Rom 8:9,13; Gal. 4:6;
Eph. 1:13)
And how then can you fully enjoy this leading? The first thing that is necessary for this is
faith. You must take time, young Christian, to have your heart filled with the deep and
living consciousness that the Spirit is in you. Read all the glorious declarations of your
Father in His word concerning what the Spirit is in you and for you, until the conviction
wholly fills you that you are really a temple of the Spirit. Ignorance or unbelief on this
point makes it impossible for the Spirit to speak in you and to lead you. Cherish an everabiding
assurance that the Spirit of God dwells in you. (Acts. 19:2; Rom. 5:5;
1 Cor.3:16; 2 Cor. 5:5 Gal. 3:5,14)
Then the second thing that is necessary is this: you are to hold yourself still, to attend to
the voice of the Spirit. As the Lord Jesus acts, so does the Spirit. As the Lord Jesus acts,
so does also the Spirit: 'He shall not cry nor lift up His voice.' He whispers gently and
quietly: only the soul that sets itself very silently towards God can perceive His voice and
guidance. When we become to a needless extent engrossed with the world, with its
business, its cares, its enjoyments, its literature, its politics, the Spirit cannot lead us.
When our service of God is a bustling and working in our own wisdom and strength, the
Spirit cannot be heard in us. It is the weak, the simple, who are willing to have
themselves taught in humility, that receive the leading of the Spirit. Sit down every
morning, sit down often in the day, to say: Lord Jesus, I know nothing, I will be silent: let
the Spirit lead me. (1 Chron. 19:12; Ps. 62; 2,6; 131:2; Isa. 43:2; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 4:6
Acts 1:4)
And then: be obedient. Listen to the inner voice, and do what it says to you. Fill your
heart every day with the word, and when the Spirit puts you in mind of what the word
says, betake yourself to the doing of it. So you become capable of further teaching: it is to
the obedient that the full blessing of the Spirit is promised. (John 14:15,16; Acts 5:32
Young Christian, know that you are a temple of the Spirit, and that it is only through the
daily leading of the Spirit that you can walk as a child of God, with the witness that you
are pleasing the Father.
Precious Saviour, imprint this lesson deeply on my mind. The Holy Spirit is in me. His
leading is every day and everywhere indispensable for me. I cannot hear His voice in the
word when I do not wait silently upon Him. Lord, let a holy circumspectness keep watch
over me, that I may always walk as a pupil of the Spirit. Amen.
1. It is often asked: How do I know that I shall continue standing, that I shall be kept, that
I shall increase? The question dishonours the Holy Spirit -- is the token that you do not
know Him or do not trust Him. The question indicates that you are seeking the secret of
strength for perseverance in yourself, and not in the Holy Spirit, your heavenly Guide.
2. As God sees to it, that every moment there is air for me to breathe, so shall the Holy
Spirit unceasingly maintain life in the hidden depths of my soul. He will not break off his
own work.
3. From the time that we receive the Holy Spirit, we have nothing to do but to honour his
work: to keep our hands off from it, and to trust Him, and to let Him work.
4. The beginning and the end of the work of the Spirit is to reveal Jesus to me, and to
cause me to abide in Him. As soon as I would fain look after the work of the Spirit in me,
I hinder Him: He cannot work when I am not willing to look upon Jesus.
5. The voice of the Father, the voice of the good Shepherd, the voice of the Holy Spirit is
very gentle. We must learn to become deaf to other voices, to the world and its news of
friends and their thoughts, to our own Ego and its desires: then shall we distinguish the
voice of the Spirit. Let us often set ourselves silent in prayer, entirely silent, to offer up
our will and our thoughts, and, with our eye upon Jesus, to keep ear and heart open for
the voice of the Spirit.
Chapter 24
GRIEVING THE SPIRIT
'Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed unto the day of redemption.'
-- Eph. 4:30
It is by the Holy Spirit that the child of God is sealed: separated and stamped and marked
as the possession of God. This sealing is not a dead or external action that is finished
once for all. It is a living process, which has power in the soul, and gives firm assurance
of faith, only when it is experienced through the life of the Spirit in us. On this account
we are to take great care not to grieve the Spirit: in Him alone can you have every day the
joyful certitude and the full blessing of your childship. * It is the very same Spirit that
leads us who witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. And how can any one
grieve the Spirit? Above all by yielding to sin. He is the Holy Spirit, given to sanctify us,
and, for every sin from which the blood cleanses us, to fill us with the holy life of God,
with God. Sin grieves Him. (Isa. 53:10; Acts. 7:51; Heb. 10:29) For this reason the word
of God presently states by name the sins against which above all we are to be on our
guard. Mark only the four great sins that Paul mentions in connection with our text.
There is first lying. There is no single sin that in the Bible is so brought into connection
with the devil as lying. Lying is from hell, and it goes on to hell. God is the God of truth.
And the Holy Spirit cannot possibly carry forward His blessed working in a man or
woman that lies, that is insincere, that does injury to the truth. Young Christian, review
with care what the word of God says about lying and liars, and pray God that you may
never speak anything but the literal truth. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. (Ps. 5:7;
Prov. 12:22; 21:28; John 8:44; Rev. 21:8,27; 22:15)
Then there is anger. 'Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evilspeaking,
be put away from you.' Hastiness, proneness to anger, sin of temper is, along
with lying, the most common sin by which the Christian is kept back from increase in
grace. (Matt. 5:22,26,27; 1 Cor. 1:10,11; 3:3; 13:1,3; Gal. 5:5; 15:21,26; Col. 3:8,12; 1
Thess. 5:15; Jas. 3:14) Christian, let all passionateness by put away from you: this
follows on the command not to grieve the Spirit. Believe that the Holy Spirit, the great
power of God, is in you. Surrender yourself every day to His indwelling, in faith that
Jesus can keep you by Him: He will make and keep you gentle. Yea, believe, I pray you,
in the power of God, and of Jesus and of the Holy Spirit to overcome temper.
(Matt.11:29; 1 Cor. 6:19,20; Gal. 6:1; Eph. 2:16,17; Col. 1:8; 2 Tim. 1:12) Confess the sin: God
shall cleanse you from it. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God.
Then there is stealing: all sin against the property or possession of my neighbour: all
deception and dishonesty in trade, whereby I do wrong to my neighbour, and seek my
own advantage at his cost. The law of Christ is love whereby I seek the advantage of my
neighbour as well as my own. O the love of money and property, which is inseparable
from self-seeking -- it is incompatible with the leading of the Holy Spirit. The Christian
must be a man who is known as honest to the back-bone, righteous, and loving his
neighbour as himself. (Luke 6:31; Rom. 13:10; 1 Thess. 4:6)
Then says the apostle: 'no corrupt speech -- but such as is good for edifying as the case
may be.' Even the tongue of God's child belongs to his Lord. He must be known by his
mode of speech. By his speaking, he can grieve or please the Spirit. The sanctified tongue
is a blessing not only to his neighbours but to the speaker himself. Foul talk, idle words,
foolish jests -- they grieve the Holy Spirit. They make it impossible for the Spirit to
sanctify and to comfort and to fill the heart with the love of God. (Prov. 10:19, 20,21,31;
18:20; Eccles. 5:1,2; Matt. 12:36; Eph. 5:4; Jas. 3:9,10)
Young Christian, I pray you, grieve not the Holy Spirit of God by these or other sins. If
you have committed such sins, confess them, and God will cleanse you from them. By
the Holy Spirit you are sealed if you would walk in the stability and joy of faith, listen to
the word: 'Grieve not the Holy Sprit of God.'
Lord God, my Father in heaven, do, I pray thee, cause me to understand what marvelous
grace Thou art manifesting to me, in that Thou hast given to me Thy Holy Spirit in my
heart. Lord, let this faith by the argument and the power for cleansing me from every sin.
Holy Jesus, sanctify me, that in my thinking, speaking, acting -- in all things, Thine
image may appear. Amen.
1. The thought of the Christian about this word, 'Grieve not the Holy Spirit' is a
touchstone as to whether he understands the life of faith.
For some it is a word of terror and fear. A father once brought a child to the train to go on
a journe y with the new governess, with whom she was to remain. Before her departure he
said: 'I hear that she is very sensitive and takes things much amiss: take care that you do
nothing to grieve her.' The poor child had no pleasant journey: it appeared to her very
grievous to be in anxious fear of one who was so prone to take anything wrong amiss.
This is the view of the Holy Spirit which many have: a Being whom it is difficult to
satisfy, who thinks little of our weakness, and who, even though we take pains, is
discontented when our work is not perfect.
2. Another father also brought his daughter to the train to go on a journey, and to be a
time from home: but in company with her mother, whom she loved very dearly. 'You are
to be a good child,' said the father, 'and do everything to please your mamma; otherwise
you shall grieve her and me.' 'Oh, certainly, papa!' was the joyful answer of the child. For
she felt so happy to be with her mother, and was willing to do her utmost to be agreeable
to her.
There are children of God to whom the Holy Spirit is so well known in His tender,
helpful love, and the Comforter and the Good Spirit, that the word, 'Grieve not the spirit
of God' has for them a gentle, encouraging power. May our fear to grieve Him always be
the tender childlike fear of trustful love.
* Kindschap -- a word coined by the writer to express the relation of a child. Our
childhood expresses rather the state or stage of child- life. -- Translator
Chapter 25
FLESH AND SPIRIT
'And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto
babes in Christ.' -- 1 Cor. 3:1
'I am carnal, sold under sin: to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of
death. Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwelleth in
you.' -- Rom. 7:14,18; 8:2,9
'Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the flesh? If ye are led by the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. If we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk.' -- Gal.3:3; 5:18,25
It is of great importance for the young Christian to understand that there are in him two
natures, which strive against one another. (Gal. 5:17,24,25; 6:8; Eph. 4:22,24; Col.3:9,10; 1 Pet. 4:2) If we weigh the texts noted above, we shall see that the word of God
teaches us the following truths on this point.
Sin comes from the flesh: the reason why the Christian still does sin is that he yields to
the flesh and does not walk by the Spirit. Every Christian has the Spirit and lives by the
Spirit, but every Christian does not walk by the Spirit. If he walks by the Spirit, he will
not fulfil the desires of the flesh. (Rom. 8:7; 1 Cor. 3:1,3; Gal. 5:16,25)
So long as there are still in the Christian strife and envy, the word of God calls him
carnal. He would indeed do good, but he cannot: he does what he would not, because he
still strives in his own strength and not in the power of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:18; 1 Cor. 3:3;
Gal. 5:15,26)
The flesh remains under the law, and seeks to obey the law. But through the flesh the law
is powerless, and the endeavour to do good is vain. Its language is: 'I am carnal, sold
under sin: to will is present with me, but to do that which is good is not.' (Rom. 6:14;15;
7:4,6; 8:3,8; Gal. 5:18; 6:12,13; Heb. 7:18; 8:9,13)
This is not the condition in which God would have his child remain. The word says: 'It is
God that worketh in you, both to will and to work.' * The Christian must not only live by
the Spirit, but also walk by the Spirit. He must be a spiritual man, and abide entirely
under the leading of the Spirit. (Rom. 8:14; 1 Cor. 2:15; 3:1; Gal. 6:1) If he thus walks,
he will no longer do what he would not. He will no longer remain in the condition of
Romans 7, as a new-born babe, still seeking to fulfil the law, but in Romans 8, a one who
through the Spirit is made free from the law with its commandment, 'do this,' which gives
no power, but brings death, and who walks, not in the oldness of the letter, but in the
newness of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:6; 8:2,13)
There are Christians that begin with the Spirit, but end with the flesh. They are converted,
born again through the Spirit, but fall unconsciously into a life in which they endeavour
to overcome sin and be holy through their own exertion, through doing their best. They
ask God to help them in these their endeavours, and think that this is faith. They do not
understand what it is to say: 'In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing,' and that
therefore they are to cease from their own endeavours, in order to do God's will, wholly
and only through the Spirit. (Rom. 7:18; Gal. 3:3; 4:9; 5:4,7)
Child of God, pray, learn what it is to say of yourself, just as you are, even after the new
birth: 'I am carnal, sold under sin.' Endeavour no longer to be doing your best, and to be
praying to God, and to be trusting Him to help you. No: learn to say: 'The law of the
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death.' Let your
work every day be to have the Spirit work in you, to walk by the Spirit, and you shall be
redeemed from the life of complaining, 'the good that I would I do not,' into a life of faith,
in which it is God that worketh in you both to will and to do.
Lord God, teach me to acknowledge with all my heart that in me, that is, in my flesh,
dwelleth nothing good. Teach me also to cease from every thought, as if I could with my
own endeavours serve or please Thee. Teach me to understand that the Spirit is the
Comforter, who frees me from all anxiety and fear about my own powerlessness, in order
that He may work the strength of Christ in me. Amen.
1. In order to understand the conflict betwixt flesh and Spirit, we must especially seek to
have a clear insight into the connection between Rom. 7 and 8. In Rom. 7:6 Paul had
spoken of the twofold way of serving God, the one in the oldness of the letter, the other in
the newness of the Spirit. In Rom. 7:14.16 he describes the first, in Rom. 8:1-16 the
second. This appears clearly when we observe that in ch. 7 he mentions the Spirit but
once, the law more than twenty times; in Rom. 8:1-16, the Spirit sixteen times. In Rom. 7
we see the regenerate soul, just as he is in himself with his new nature, desirous, but
powerless, to fulfil the law, mourning as one who 'is captive under the law of sin.' In
Rom. 8 we hear him say, 'the law of the Spirit of life in Christ made me free from the law
of sin.' Rom. 7 describes the ever-abiding condition of the Christian, contemplated as
renewed, but not experiencing by faith the power of the Holy Spirit: Rom. 8 his life in the
freedom which the Spirit of God really gives from the power of sin.
2. It is of very great importance to understand that the conflict between grace and works,
between faith and one's own power, between the Holy Spirit and confidence in ourselves
and the flesh, always continues to go on, not only in connection with conversion and the
reception of the righteousness of God, but even further, into a walk in this righteousness.
On this account the Christian has to watch very carefully against the deep inclination of
his heart still to work in his own behalf, when he sees in himself anything wrong or when
he would follow after holiness, instead of always and only trusting in Jesus Christ, and so
serving God in the Spirit.
3. In order to make clear the opposition between the two methods of serving God, let me
adduce consecutively in their entirety the passages in which they are expressed with
special distinctness. Compare them with care. Pray God for the Spirit in order to make
you understand them. Take deeply to heart the lesson as to how you are to serve God
well, and how not.
The circumcision of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. (Rom. 2:29)
To him that worketh not but believeth, his faith is reckoned for righteousness. (Rom. 4:5)
Ye are not under the law but under grace. (Rom. 6:14)
We have been discharged from the law, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not
in the oldness of the letter. (Rom. 7:6)
We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. (Rom. 7:14)
The ordinance of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh but after the
Spirit. (Rom. 8:4)
Ye received not the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye received the Spirit of adoption. (Rom. 8:15)
The righteousness which is of the law is: 'The man that doeth these things shall live by
them? But the righteousness which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thine heart, Who shall
ascend? Who shall descend? But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in
thy heart. (Rom. 5:5-8)
If it is by grace, it is no more of works. (Rom. 11:6)
I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ. (1
Cor. 3:7)
I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. (Gal. 2:20)
The righteous shall live by faith; yet the law is not of faith: but the man that doeth these
things shall live by them. (Gal. 3:11,12)
If the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise. (Gal. 3:19)
So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son. (Gal. 4:7)
Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but of the free-woman. (Gal.4:31)
Walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. (Gal. 5:16)
If ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. (Gal. 5:18)
Who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in
the flesh. (Phil. 3:3)
Another priest, who hath been made not after the law of a carnal commandment, but after
the power of an endless life. (Heb. 8:16)
4. Beloved Christian, you have received the Holy Spirit from the Lord Jesus to reveal
Him and His life in you, and to mortify the working of the body of sin. Pray much to be
filled with the Spirit. Live in the joyful faith that the Spirit is in you, as your Comforter
and Teacher, and that through Him all will come right. Learn by heart this text, and let it
live in your heart and on your lips: 'We are the circumcision, who worship by the Spirit
of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.'
* The Dutch version has -- 'and to accomplish.' -- Translator
Chapter 26
THE LIFE OF FAITH
'The righteous shall live by his faith.' -- Hab. 2:4
'We have been discharged from the law, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit, and not
in the oldness of the letter.' -- Rom. 7:6
'I live; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me: and that life which I now live in the
flesh I live in faith, the faith which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself
up for me.' -- Gal. 2:20
The word from Habakkuk is thrice quoted in the New Testament as the Divine
representation of salvation in Christ by faith alone. (Rom. 1:17; Gal. 3:11; Heb. 10:38)
But that word is oftentimes very imperfectly understood, as if it ran: Man shall on his
conversion be justified by faith. The word includes this, but signifies much more. It says
that the righteous shall live by faith: the whole life of the righteous, from moment to
moment, shall be by faith. (Rom. 5:17,21; 6:11; 8:2; Gal. 2:20; 1 John 5:11,12)
We all know how sharp is the opposition which God in His word presents betwixt the
grace that comes by faith and the law that works -- demands. This is generally admitted
with reference to justification. But that distinction holds just as much of the whole life of
sanctification. The righteous shall live by faith alone, that is, shall have power to live
according to the will of God. As at his conversion he found it necessary to understand
that there was nothing good in him, and that he must receive grace as one that was
powerless and godless, so must he as a believer just as clearly understand that in him
there is nothing good, and that he must receive his power for good every moment from
above. (Rom. 7:18; 8:2,13; Heb. 11:38) And his work must therefore be every morning
and every hour to look up and believe and receive his power from above, out of his Lord
in heaven. I am not to do what I can, and hope in the Lord to supply strength. No: as one
who has been dead, who is literally able for nothing in himself, and whose life is in his
Lord above, I am to reckon by faith on Him who will work in me mightily (Rom. 4:17; 2
Cor. 1:9; Col. 1:20; 2:3)
Happy the Christian who understands that his greatest danger every day is again to fall
under the law, and to be fain to serve God in the flesh with his own strength. Happy when
he discerns that he is not under the law which just demands and yet is powerless through
the flesh, but is under grace where we have simply to receive what has been given. Happy
when he fully appropriates for himself the promise of the Spirit who transfers all that is in
Christ to him. Yea, happy when he understands what it is to live by faith, and to serve,
not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit. (Rom. 7:4,6; 12:5,6;
Gal.5:18; Phil. 3:3)
Let us make our own the words of Paul: they present to us the true life of faith: 'I have
been crucified with Christ; yet I live.' My flesh, not only my sin, but my flesh, all that is
of myself, my own living and willing my own power and working, have I given up to
death. I Live no longer -- of myself, I cannot. I will not live, or do anything. (John 15:4,5;
1 Cor. 15:10; 2 Cor. 12:10) Christ lives in me: He Himself, by His Spirit, is my power,
and teaches and strengthens me to live as I ought to do. And that life which I now live in
the flesh, I live by faith in Him: my great work is to reckon upon Him to work in Him, as
well the willing as the accomplishment. Young Christian, let this life of faith be your faith.
O my Lord Jesus, Thou art my life: yea, my life. Thou livest in me, and art willing to take
my whole life at Thine own charges. And my whole life may daily be a joyful trust and
experience that Thou art working all in me. Precious Lord, to that life of faith will I
surrender myself. Yea, to Thee I surrender myself, to teach me and to reveal Thyself fully
in me. Amen.
1. Do you discern the error of the expression -- if the Lord helps me -- the Lord must help
me? In natural things we speak thus, for we have a certain measure of power, and the
Lord will increase it. But the New Testament never uses the expression 'help' of the grace
of God in the soul. We have absolutely no power -- God is not to help us, because we are
weak: no, He is to give His life and His power in us as entirely impotent. He that discerns
this aright will learn to live by faith alone.
2. 'Without faith it is impossible to please God'; 'All that is not of faith is sin.' Such works
of the Spirit of God teach us ho w really every deed and disposition of our life is to be full
of faith.
3. Hence our first work every day is anew to exercise faith in Jesus as our life; to believe
that He dwells in us, and will do all for us and in us. This faith must be the mood of our
soul the whole day. This faith cannot be maintained except in the fellowship and nearness
of Jesus Himself.
4. This faith has its power in the mutual surrender of Jesus and the believer to each other. Jesus first gives Himself wholly for us. The believer gives himself wholly in order to be
taken into possession and guided by Jesus. Then the soul cannot even doubt if He will do
all for it.
Chapter 27
THE MIGHT OF SATAN
'Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he might sift you as wheat: but I
made supplication for thee, that thy faith fail not.' -- Luke 22:31,32
There is nothing that makes an enemy so dangerous as the fact that he remains hidden or
forgotten. Of the three great enemies of the Christian, the world, the flesh, and the devil,
the last is the most dangerous, not only because it is he that, strictly speaking, lends to the
others what power they have, but also because he is not seen, and, therefore, little known
or feared. The devil has the power of darkness: he darkens the eyes, so that men do not
know him. He surrounds himself with darkness, so that he is not observed. Yea, he has
even the power to appear as an angel of light. (Matt. 4:6; 2 Cor. 4:4; 11:14) It is by the
faith that recognizes things unseen that the Christian is to endeavour to know Satan, even
as the Scripture has revealed him.
When the Lord Jesus was living upon earth, His great work was to overcome Satan.
When at His baptism He was filled with the Spirit, this fulness of the Spirit brought him
into contact with Satan as head of the world of evil spirits, to combat him and to
overcome him. (Matt. 4:1,10) After that time the eyes of the Lord were always open to
the power and working of Satan. In all sin and misery He saw the revelation of the
mighty kingdom of the very same superior, the evil one. Not only in the demoniacs, but
also in the sick, He saw the enemy of God and man. (Matt. 12:28; Mark 4:15; Luke
13:16; Acts. 10:38) In the advice of Peter to avoid the cross, and in his denial of his Lord,
where we should think of the revelation of the natural character of Peter, Jesus saw the
work of Satan. (Matt. 26:23; Luke 22:31,32) In His own suffering, where we rather speak
of the sin of man and the permission of God, Jesus perceives the power of darkness. His
whole work in living and in dying was to destroy the works of Satan, as He shall also at
His second coming utterly bruise Satan himself. (Luke 10:18; 22:3,53; John 12:31; 14:30;
16:11; Rom. 16:20; Col. 2:15; 2 Thess. 2:8,9; 1 John 3:8)
His word to Peter, compared with the personal experience of the Lord, gives us a fearful
insight into the work of the enemy. 'Satan hath eagerly desired you,' says Jesus. 'As a
roaring lion, he walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,' says Peter himself later
on. (1 Cor. 7:5; 2 Cor. 2:10; 1 Pet. 5:8) He has no unlimited power, but he is always eager
to make use of every weak or unguarded moment. 'That he might sift you as wheat:' what
a picture! This world, yea, even the Church of Christ, is the threshing- floor of Satan. The
corn belongs to God; the chaff is his own. He sifts and sifts continually, and all that falls
through with the chaff he endeavours to take for himself. And many a Christian is there
who does fall through in a terrible fashion, and who, were it not for the intercession of his
Lord, would perish for ever. (1 Cor. 5:5; 1 Tim. 1:20)
Satan has more than one sieve. The first is generally wordly-mindedness -- the love of the
world. Many a one is pious in his time of poverty, but when he becomes rich, he again
eagerly strives to win the world. Or in the time of conversion and awakening he appears
very zealous, but through the care of the world he is led astray. (Matt. 4:9; 8:22;
1 Tim.6:9,10; 2 Tim. 4:10)
A second sieve is self- love and self-seeking. Whenever any one does not give himself
undividedly to serve his Lord and his neighbour, and to love his neighbour in the Lord, it
soon appears that the principal token of a disciple is lacking in him. It will be manifest
that many a one, with a fair profession of being devoted to the service of God, fails
utterly on this point, and must be reckoned with the chaff. Lovelessness is the sure token
of the power of Satan. (John 8:44; 1 John 3:10,15; 4:20)
Yet another sieve, a very dangerous one, is self-confidence. Under the name of following
the Spirit, one may listen to the thoughts of his own heart. He is zealous for the Lord, but
with a carnal zeal, in which the gentleness of the Lamb of God is not seen. Without being
observed, the movements of the flesh mingle with the workings of the Spirit, and while
he boasts that he is overcoming Satan, he is being secretly ensnared by him. (Gal. 3:3;
5:13)
O it is a serious life here upon the earth, where God gives permission for Satan to set his
threshing floor even in the Church. Happy are they who with deep humility, with fear and
trembling, distrust themselves. Our only security is in the intercession and guidance of
Him who overcame Satan. (Eph. 6:10,12,16) Far be from us the idea that we know all the
depths of Satan, and are a match for all his cunning stratagems. It is in the region of the
spirit, in the invisible, that he works and has power, as well as in the visible. Let us fear
lest, while we have known and overcome him in the visible, he should prevail over us in
the spiritual. May our only security be the conviction of our frailty and weakness, our
confidence in Him who certainly keeps the lowly in heart.
Lord Jesus, open our eyes to know our enemy and his wiles. Cause us to see him and his
realm, that we may dread all that is of him. And open our eyes to see how Thou hast
overcome him, and how in Thee we are invincible. O teach us what it is to be in Thee, to
mortify all that is of the mere Ego and the will of the flesh, and to be strong in weakness
and lowliness. And teach us to bring into prayer the conflict of faith against every
stronghold of Satan, because we know that Thou wilt bruise him under our feet. Amen.
1. What comfort does the knowledge of the existence of Satan give us? We know then
that sin is derived from a foreign power which has thrust itself into our nature, and does
not naturally belong to us. We know besides that he has been entirely vanquished by the
Lord Jesus, and thus has no power over us so long as we abide trustfully in Christ.
2. The whole of this world, with all that is in it, is under the domination of Satan:
therefore there is nothing, even what appears good and fair, that may not be dangerous
for us. In all things, even in what is lawful and right, we must be led and sanctified by the
Spirit, if we would continue liberated from the power of Satan.
3. Satan is an evil spirit: only by the good Spirit, the Spirit of God, can we offer
resistance to him. He works in the invisible: in order to combat him, we have, by prayer,
to enter into the invisible. He is a mighty prince: only in the name of One who is mightier
and in fellowship with Him can we overcome.
4. What a glorious work is labour for souls, for the lost, for drunkards, for heathen; a
conflict to rescue them from the might of Satan. (Acts. 26:18)
5. In the Revelation the victory over Satan is ascribed to the blood of the Lamb.
(Rev.12:11) Christians have also testified that there is no power in
temptation, because Satan readily retreats when one appeals to the
blood, by which one knows that sin has been entirely expiated, and we
are thus also wholly freed from his power.
Chapter 28
THE CONFLICT OF THE CHRISTIAN
'Strive to enter in by the narrow door.' -- Luke 13:24
'Fight the good fight of the faith.' -- 1 Tim. 6:12
'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.' -- 2 Tim.4:7
These texts speak of a twofold conflict. The first is addressed to the unconverted: 'Strive
to enter in by the narrow door.' Entrance by a door is the work of a moment: the sinner is
not to strive to enter during his whole lifetime: he is to strive and do it immediately. He is
not to suffer anything to hold him back; he must enter in. (Gen. 19:22; John 10:9; 2 Cor.6:2; Heb. 4:6,7)
Then comes the second, the life-long conflict: by the narrow door I come upon the new
way. On the new way there are still always enemies. Of this life- long conflict Paul says:
'I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith.' With
respect to the continuous conflict, he gives the charge: 'Fight the good fight of faith.'
There is much misunderstanding about this twofold conflict. Many strive all their life
against the Lord and His summons, and, because they are not at rest, but feel an inner
conflict, they think that this is the conflict of a Christian. Assuredly not: this is the
struggle against God of one who is not willing to abandon everything and surrender
himself to the Lord. (Acts 5:39; 1 Cor. 10:22) This is not the conflict that the Lord would
have. What He says is that the conflict is concerned with entering in: but not a conflict for
long years. No: He desires that you should break through the enemies that would hold
you back, and immediately enter in.
Then follows the second conflict, which endures for life. Paul twice calls this the fight of
faith. The chief characteristic of it is faith. He who understands well that the principal
element in the battle is to believe, and acts accordingly, does certainly carry off the palm:
just as in another passage Paul says to the Christian combatant: 'Withal taking up the
shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one.'
(Eph. 6:16; 1 John 3:4,5)
And what then does it mean, this 'fight of faith'? That, while I strive, I am to believe that
the Lord will help me? No: it is not so, although it often is so understood.
In a conflict it is of supreme importance that I should be in a stronghold or fortress which
cannot be taken. With such a stronghold a weak garrison can offer resistance to a
powerful enemy. Our conflict as Christians is now no longer concerned with going into
the fortress. No: we have gone in, and are now in; and so long as we remain in it, we are
invincible. The stronghold, this stable fort, is Christ. (Ps. 18:3; 46:2; 62:2,3,6,7,8; 144:2;
Eph. 6:10) By faith we are in Him: by faith we know that the enemy can make no
progress against our fortress. The wiles of Satan all go forth on the line of enticing us out
of our fortress, of engaging us in conflict with him on the open plain. There he always
overcomes. But if we only strive in faith, abiding in Christ by faith, then we overcome,
because Satan then has to deal with Him, and because He then fights and overcomes.
(Ex.14:14; Josh 5:14; 2 Chron. 23:15; John 26:33; Rom. 8:37; 2 Cor. 2:14) 'This is the victory
that hath overcome the world, even our faith.' Our first and greatest work is thus to
believe. As Paul said before he mentions the warlike equipment of the Christian: 'From
henceforth be strong in the Lord, and in the strength of His might.'
The reason why the victory is only by faith, and why the fight of faith is the good fight, is
this: it is the Lord Jesus who purchased the victory, and who therefore alone gives power
and dominion over the enemy. If we are, and abide, in Him, and surrender ourselves to
live in Him, and by faith appropriate what He is, then the victory is in itself our own. We
then understand: 'The battle is not yours, but God's. The Lord your God shall fight for
you, and ye shall be still.' Just as we in opposition to God can achieve nothing good of
ourselves, but in Christ please Him, so also is it in opposition to Satan: in ourselves we
achieve nothing, but in Christ we are more than conquerors. By faith we stand in Him
righteous before God, and just so in Him are we strong against our enemies. (Ps. 44:4,9;
Isa. 45:24)
In this light we can read and take home to ourselves all the noble passages in the Old
Testament, especially in the Psalms, where the glorious conflict of God in behalf of his
people is spoken of. Fear, or spiritlessness, or uncertainty, makes weak, and cannot
overcome: faith in the living God is equal to everything. (Deut. 20:3,8; Josh. 6:20; Judges
7:3 Ps. 18:32-40; Heb. 11:23) In Christ this truth is now still more real. God has come
near. His power works in us who believe; it is really He that fights for us.
O Lord Jesus, who art the Prince of the army of the Lord, the Hero, the Victor, teach me
to be strong in Thee my stronghold, and in the power of Thy might. Teach me to
understand what the good fight of faith is, and how the one thing that I have need of is,
always to look to Thee, to Thee, the supreme Guide of faith. And, consequently, in me,
too, let this be the victory that overcometh the world, namely, my faith. Amen.
1. The conflict of faith is no civil war, in which one half of the kingdom is divided
against the other. This would be insurrection. This is the one conflict that many
Christians know: the unrest of the conscience, and the powerless wrestling of a will
which consents to that which is good, but does not perform it. The Christian has not to
overcome himself. This his Lord does when he surrenders himself. Then he is free and
strong to combat and overcome the enemies of his Lord and of the kingdom. No sooner,
however, are we willing that God should have His way with us than we are found striving
against God. This also is truly conflict, but it is not the good fight of faith.
2. In Galatians 5 reference is made to the inner conflict; for the Galatians had not yet
entirely surrendered themselves to the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit. 'The connection,'
says Lange, 'shows that this conflict betwixt the flesh and the Spirit of God is not endless,
but that there is expected of the Christian a complete surrender of himself, in order to be
led only by the one principle -- the Spirit; and then, further, a refusal to obey the flesh.'
The believer must not strive against the flesh, to overcome it: this he cannot do. What he
is to do is to choose to whom he will subject himself: by the surrender of faith to Christ,
to strive in Him through the Spirit, He has a divine power for overcoming.
3. Hence, as we have seen in connection with the beginning of the new life, our one work
every day and the whole day is to believe. Out of faith come all blessings and powers,
also the victory for overcoming.
Chapter 29
BE A BLESSING
'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the
land that I will show thee; and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing: ' -- Gen. 12:1,2
In these first words that God spake to Abraham, we have the short summary of all that
God has to say to him and to us as His children. We see what the goal is to which God
calls us, what the power that carries us to that goal is, and what the place where the power
is found.
Be a blessing: that is the goal for which God separates Abraham and every believing
child of His.
God would have him and us made to understand that, when he blesses us, this is certainly
not simply to make us happy, but that we should still further communicate His blessing.
(Matt. 5:34,35; 10:8; 18:33) God Himself is love, and therefore He blesses. Love seeketh
not itself: when the love of God comes to us, it will seek others through us.
(Isa.43:10,11; 1 Cor. 13:5; 1 John 4:11) The young Christian must from the beginning
understand that he has received grace with the definite aim of becoming a blessing to
others. Pray, keep not for yourself what the Lord gives to you for others. Offer yourself
expressly and completely to the Lord, to be used by Him for others: that is the way to be
blessed oveflowingly yourself. (Ps. 112:5,9; Prov. 11:24,25; Matt. 25:40; 1 Cor. 15;58; 2
Cor. 9:6; Heb. 6:10) The power for this work will be given. 'Be a blessing': 'I will bless thee,' says the Lord.
You are to be personally blessed yourself, personally sanctified and filled with the Spirit,
and peace, and power of the Lord: then you have power to bless. (Luke 24:49; John 7:38;
14:12) In Christ God has 'blessed us with all spiritual things': let Jesus fill you with these
blessings, and you shall certainly be a blessing: you need not doubt or fear. The blessing
of God includes in it the power of life for multiplication, for expansion, for
communication. See in the Scriptures how blessing and multiplication go together.
(Gen.1:22,28; 9:1; 22:17; 26:24) Blessing always includes the power to bless others. Only give
the word of the Almighty God, 'I will bless Thee,' time to sink into your spirit. Wait upon
God, that He Himself may say to you, 'I will bless thee.' Let your faith cleave fast to this. God will make it truth to you above all asking and thinking. (2 Cor. 9:8,11; Eph. 1:3;
Heb. 6:14)
But for this end you must also betake yourself to the place of blessing: the land of
promise, the simple life of faith in the promises. 'Get thee out thy land and thy father's
house,' says the Lord. Departure, separation from the life of nature and the flesh, in which
we were born of our father Adam, is what God would have. The offering up of what is
most precious to man is the way to the blessing of God. (Luke 18:29,30; John 12:24,25; 2
Cor. 6:17,18) 'Get thee to a land that I will show thee,' says the Lord, out of the old life to
a new life, where I alone am your guide; that is, a life where God can have me wholly for
Himself alone, where I walk only on the promises of God -- a life of faith.
Christian, God will in a Divine fashion fulfil to you His promise, 'I will bless thee.' O go,
pray, out of your land and your father's house, out of the life of nature and the flesh, out
of intercourse with the flesh and this world, to the New Life, the life of the Spirit, the life
in fellowship with God to which He will lead you. There you become receptive of His
blessing; there your heart becomes open to full faith in His word, 'I will bless thee'; there
He can fulfil that word to you, and make you full of His blessing and power to be a
blessing to others. Live with God, separated from the world: then shall you hear the voice
of God speak with power: 'I will bless thee'; 'Be thou a blessing.'
O my Father, show me the way to that promised land where Thou bringest Thy people to
have them wholly for Thyself. I will abandon everything to follow Thee, to hold converse
with Thee alone, in order that Thou mayest fill me with Thy blessing. Lord, let Thy word,
'I will bless thee,' live in my heart as a word of God: then shall I give myself wholly to
live for others and to be a blessing. Amen.
1. God is the great, the only Fountain of blessing: as much of God as I have in me, so
much blessing can I bring. I can work much for others without blessing. Actually to be a
blessing, I must begin with that word, 'I will bless thee': then the other, 'Be a blessing'
becomes easy.
2. In order to become a blessing, begin on a small scale: yield yourself up for others. Live
to make others happy. Believe that the love of God dwells in you by the Spirit, and give
yourself wholly to be a blessing and a joy to those who are round about you. Pray God to
shed abroad His love in you still further by the Spirit. And believe very firmly that God
can make you a greater blessing than you can think, if you surrender yourself to Him for
this end.
3. But this surrender must have time in solitary prayer, that God may obtain possession of
your spirit. This is for you the departure from your father's house: separate yourself from
men that God may speak with you.
4. What think you? Was Abraha m ever filled with regret that he placed himself so
entirely under the leading of God? Then do you likewise.
5. Do you now know the two words which are the source of all promises and all
commands to the children of believing Abraham? The promise is: 'I will bless thee.' The
command is: 'Be a blessing.' Pray, take them both firmly for yourself.
6. And do you now understand where these two words to Abraham are fulfilled? In
separation from his father's house -- in the walk in fellowship with God.
Chapter 30
PERSONAL WORK
'Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation: and uphold me with a free spirit. Then will I
teach transgressors Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto Thee.' -- Ps. 51:12,13
'I believed, therefore have I spoken:...' -- Ps. 116:10
'But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come upon you.' -- Acts. 1:8
Every redeemed man is called to be a witness for his Lord. Not only by a godly walk, but
by personal effort must I serve and make known my Lord. My tongue, my speech, is one
of the principal means of intercourse with others and influence upon them. It is but a half
dedication, when I do not also bring the offering of the lips, to speak for the Lord.
(Ps.40:10,11; 66:16; 71:8,15,24; Heb 13:15)
Of this work there is inconceivably real need. There are thousands of Christians who
continually enjoy the preaching of the word, and yet do not understand the way of
salvation. The Lord Jesus not only preached to the multitudes, but also spoke to
individuals according to their needs. (Luke 7:40; John 3:3; 4:7) Scripture is full of
examples of those who told to others what the Lord had done for them, and who thus
became a blessing to them. (Ex. 18:8,1; 2 Chron. 5:3) The teacher alone cannot do this
work of personal speaking: every ransomed soul must co-operate with him. He is in the
world as a witness for his Lord. His own life cannot come to its full healthy increase, if
he does not confess his Lord and work for Him.
That witness for the Lord must be a personal witness. We must have the courage to say,
'He has redeemed me: He will also redeem you: will you not accept this redemption?
Come, let me show you the way.' (John 1:42,46; 4:28,39; Acts. 11:19) There are
hundreds who would be glad if the personal question were put to them, 'Are you
redeemed? What keeps you back? Can I not help you to go to the Lord?' Parents ought to
speak personally with their children, and put the question, 'My child, have you already
received the Lord Jesus?' Teachers in Sabbath schools and in day schools, when they
teach the word of God, ought to bring forward the personal question, whether the children
have really received salvation, and ought to seek the opportunity of also putting the
question to them separately. Friends must speak with their friends. Yes: before all else
should this work be done.
Such work must be the work of love. Let souls feel that you love them tenderly. Let the
humility and gentleness of love, as this was to be seen in Jesus, be seen also in you. At
every turn surrender yourself to Jesus to be filled with His love: not by feeling, but by
faith in this love, can you do your work. 'Beloved, keep yourselves in the love of God.
And on some have mercy who are in doubt; and some save, snatching them out of the
fire; and on some have mercy with fear.' The flesh often thinks that strength and force do
more than love and patience. But that is not so: love achieves everything: it has overcome
on the cross. (Heb. 3:13; 10:24; Jude 21:23)
Such work must be the work of faith, of faith working by love : faith that the Lord desires
to use you and will use you. Be not afraid on account of your weakness: learn in the
Scriptures what glorious promises God from time to time gave to those who had to speak
for Him. (Ex. 4:11,12; Josh. 1:9; Isa. 50:4,11; Jer. 1:6,7; Matt. 10:19,20) Surrender
yourself continually to God to be used for the rescue of souls, and take your stand on the
fact that He who has redeemed you for this end, will for this end bless you. Although
your work is in weakness and fear, although no blessing appears to come, be of good
courage: at His time, we shall reap. (2 Chron. 15:7; Ps. 126:6,7; Hag. 2:5; Gal. 8:9; 1
John 5:16) Be filled with faith in the power of God, in His blessing upon you, and in the
certainty of the hearing of prayer. 'If any man see his brother sinning a sin not unto death,
he shall ask, and God will give him life.' Whether it be the most miserable and neglected,
or whether it be the decent but indifferent who does not know his sin, take courage, the
Lord is mighty to bless: He hears prayer.
But above all, -- for this is the principal point, -- carry out this work in fellowship with
Jesus. Live closely with Him -- live entirely for Him -- let Jesus be in all your own life
and He will speak and work in you. (Acts. 4:13; 2 Cor. 3:5; 8:3) Be full of the blessing of
the Lord, full of His Spirit and His love, and it cannot be otherwise than that you should
be a blessing. You shall be able to tell what He is continually for you. You shall have the
love and the courage, with all humility, to put to souls the question, 'Is it well with you?
Have you indeed the Lord Jesus as your Saviour?' And the Lord will made you
experience the rich blessing which is promised to those who live to bless others.
Young Christian, be a witness for Jesus. Live as one who is wholly given away to Him to
watch and to work for His honour.
Blessed Lord, who hast redeemed me to serve the Father in the proclamation of His love,
I will with a free spirit offer myself to Thee for this end. Fill my heart for this end with
love to Him, to Thee, and to souls. Cause me to see what an honour it is to do the work of
redeeming love, even as Thou didst do it. Strengthen my confidence that Thou art
working with Thy power in my weakness. And let my joy be to help souls to Thee. Amen.
1. The question is often asked, 'What can I do to work for the Lord? Can you not take a
class in the Sabbath school? Perhaps you live in the country where there are children that
have no hour of the Sabbath devoted to them. Perhaps there are heathen children, or even
grown-up people of the farms, who do not go to Church. See whether you cannot gather
them together in the name of Jesus. Make it a matter of prayer and faith. Although you do
this work with trembling, you may be sure that to begin to work will make you strong. Or can you do nothing for the circulation of books and tracts? When you have a book that
has been useful to you, order six or twelve copies of it. Speak of it, and offer it for sale:
you can do great service by this means. So also with tracts: if you are too poor to give
them for nothing, have them to sell: you may procure blessing by this method. It will
especially help you to speak to others, if you begin with telling what is in a book.
2. But the principal thing is personal speaking. Do not hold back because you feel no
freedom. The Lord will give you freedom in His own time. It is incredible how many are
lost through ignorance. No one has ever personally made it clear to them how they can be
saved. The thought that a change must first be sought and felt is so deeply rooted that the
most faithful preaching is often of no avail against it. By their erroneous ideas, people
misunderstand everything. Begin then to speak and to help souls to understand that they
are to receive Jesus just as they are, that they can certainly know that He receives them,
and that this is the power of a new and holy life.
Chapter 31
MISSIONARY WORK
'And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to the whole
creation. And they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them,
and confirming the word by the signs that followed.' -- Mark 16:15,20
Every friend of Jesus is a friend of missions. Where there is a healthy spiritual life, there
is a love for the missionary cause. When you consider the reasons of this, you obtain an
insight into the glory of missions, and into your calling to embrace this cause as apart of
your soul's life. Come and hear how much there is to make missionary work glorious and
precious.
1. It is the cause for which Jesus left the throne of heaven. The heathen are His
inheritance, given to Him by His Father. It is in heathendom that the power of Satan has
been established. Jesus must have Himself vindicated as the conqueror. His glory, the
coming and manifestation of His kingdom, depend on missions. (Isa. 2:8; Matt. 24:14;
28:18,28; Mark 13:10; Luke 21:24; Rom. 11:25)
2. Missionary work is the principal aim of the church on earth. All the last words of the
Lord Jesus teach us this. (Mark. 26:15; Luke 24:47; John 27:18; Acts 1:8) The Lord is the
head and He has made himself dependent upon His body, upon His members, by whom
alone He can do His work. (1 Cor. 7:21) As a member of Christ, as a member of the
church, shall I not give myself to take part in the work, that this goal may be reached?
3. It is the work for which the Holy Spirit was given. See this in the promise of the Spirit:
in the leading of the Spirit vouschafed to Peter and Barnabas and Saul. (Acts 1:8;
11:12,23,24; 8:2,4; 22:21) In the history of the Church we find that times of revival go
hand in hand with new zeal for the missionary cause. The Holy Spirit is always a holy
enthusiasm for the extension of the kingdom.
4. Missionary work brings blessing on the Church. It rouses to heroic deeds of faith and
self-denial. It has furnished the most glorious instances of the wondrous power of the
Lord. It gives heavenly joy over the conversion of sinners to those who watch for it with
love and prayer. It cleanses the heart to understand God's great plans, and to await the
fulfilment of them in supplication. Missionary work is a token of life in a Church, and
brings more life. (Acts 14:287; 15:4,5; Rom. 11:25,33; 15:10; Eph. 3:5,8,10)
5. What a blessing it is for the world. What would we have been, had not missionaries
come to our heathen forefathers in Europe? What a glorious blessing has onto missionary
work already won in some lands? What help is there for the hundred millions of heathen,
if not in missions? (Isa. 49:6,12,18,22; 54:1,2) Heaven and hell look upon missions as the
battlefield where the powers of Satan and of Jesus Christ encounter one another. Alas!
that the conflict should be carried on so feebly.
6. There will be a blessing for your own soul in love for missionary work.
(Prov.11:24,25; Isa. 58:7,8)
You will be exercised in faith. Missionary work is a cause for faith, where everything
goes on slowly, and not according to the fancy of men. You will learn to cleave to God
and the word.
Love will be awakened. You will learn to go out of yourselves and your little circle, and
with an open eye and a large heart to live in the interests of your Lord and King: you will
feel how little true love you have, and you will receive more love.
You will be drawn into prayer. Your calling and power as an intercessor will become
clearer to you, and therewith the blessedness of thus co-operation for the kingdom. You
will discern how it is the highest conformity to Him who came to seek the lost, to give up
your own ease and rest to fight in love the fight of prayer against Satan in behalf of the
heathen.
Young Christian, missionary work is more glorious and holy than you suppose. There is
more blessing in it than you are aware of. The new life in you depends upon it more than
you can as yet understand. Yield yourself up anew in obedience to the word to give
missions a large place in your heart; yes, in your heart. The Lord Himself will further
teach and bless you.
And if you would know how to have your love for missions, as the work of your Lord,
increased, attend to the following hints: - Become acquainted with the missionary cause.
Endeavour by writings and books to know what the condition and need of heathendom is;
what, by the blessing of the Lord, has been already done there; what the work is that is
being done now. Speak with others about this cause. Perhaps there could be instituted in
your neighbourhood a little missionary society. Perhaps one of your prayer-meetings, say,
once a month, could be set apart for prayer in behalf of the missionary cause. Pray also
for this in secret. Let the coming of the kingdom have a definite place in your secret
prayers. Endeavour to follow the material for prayer in the promises of the word about
the heathen, in the whole Scriptures, especially in the prophet Isaiah. (Isa. 49:6,18,21,22;
54:1,3; 60:1,3,11,16; 62:2) Give also for missions: not only when you are asked; not
merely what you can spare without feeling it; but set apart for this cause a portion of what
you possess or earn. Let the Lord see that you are in earnest with His work. If there is
missionary work that is being done in your neighbourhood, show yourself a friend to it.
Although there be much imperfection in that work, -- and where is there work of man that
is perfect? -- complain not of the imperfection, but look upon the essence of the cause,
the endeavour to obey the command of the Lord, and give your prayer and your help. A
friend of Jesus is a friend of missions. Love for missionary work is an indispensable
element of the new life.
Son of God, when Thou didst breathe Thy Spirit upon Thy disciples, saying, 'Receive ye
the Holy Ghost,' Thou didst add: 'As the Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.' Lord,
here am I: send me also. Breathe Thy Spirit into me also, that I may live for Thy
kingdom. Amen.
1. 'Unknown makes unbeloved,' is a word that is specially true of missionary work. He
who is acquainted with the wonders that God has wrought in some lands, will praise and
thank God for what the missionary enterprise has achieved, and will be strengthened in
his faith that missionary work is really God's own cause. Among the books that help to awaken interest in missions are biographies of
missionaries. 'The life of Henry Martyn' is one, formerly issued by the Book Society. 'Uncle Charles' is the name of a book with an account of missionary work in South
Africa. Some books on missions are generally to be found in our Sabbath school libraries.
2. We should never forget that the missionary cause is an enterprise of faith. It requires
faith in the promises of God, in the power of God. It has need of love -- love to Jesus,
whereby the heart is filled with desire for His honour, and love to souls, that longs for
their safety. It is a work of the Spirit of God, 'whom the world cannot receive': therefore
the world can approve of missions only when they go forward with the highest
prosperity.
3. Let no friend of missions become discouraged when the work proceeds slowly. Although all baptized men are not converted, although even amongst the converts there is
still much perversity, and some fall back after a fair professions. Amongst our forefathers
in Europe, a whole century was occupied with the introduction of Christianity. Sometimes a nation received Christianity to cast it off again after thirty or forty years. It
required a thousand years to bring them up to the height at which we now stand. Let us
not expect too much from the heathen at once, but with love and patience and firm faith,
pray and work, and expect the blessing of God.
Chapter 32
LIGHT AND JOYFULNESS
'Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy
Continence. In Thy name do they rejoice all the day.' -- Ps. 89:15,16
'Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart.' -- Ps. 47:11
'I am the Light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall
have the light of life.' -- John 8:12
'I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no one taketh away from
you.' -- John 16:22
'As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.' -- 2 Cor. 6:10
A father will always be eager to see his children joyful. He does all that he can to make
them happy. Hence God also desires that His children should walk before Him in
gladness of heart. He has promised them gladness: He will give it. (Ps. 89:16,17;
Isa.29:29; John 26:22; 1 Pet. 1:8) He has commanded it: we must take it and walk in it at all
times. (Ps. 32:1; Isa. 12:5,6; 1 Thess. 5:16; Phil. 4:4)
The reason of this is not difficult to find. Gladness is always the token that something
really satisfies me and has great value for me. More than anything else is gladness for
what I possess a recommendation of it to others. And gladness in God is the strongest
proof that I have in God what satisfies and satiates me, that I do not serve Him with
dread, or to be kept, but because He is my salvation. Gladness is the token of the truth
and the worth of obedience, showing whether I have pleasure in the will of God.
(Deut.28:47; Ps. 40:9; 119:11) It is for this reason that joy in God is so acceptable to Him, so
strengthening to believers themselves, and to all who are around the most eloquent
testimony of what we think of God. (Neh. 8:11; Ps. 68:4; Prov. 4:18)
In the Scriptures light and gladness are frequently connected with each other. (Esth. 8:16;
Prov. 13:9; 15:30; Isa. 60:20) It is so in nature. The joyful light of the morning awakens
the birds to their song and gladdens the watchers who in the darkness have longed for the
day. It is the light of God's countenance that gives the Christian his gladness: in
fellowship with his Lord, he can, and always will, be happy: the love of the Father shines
like the sun upon His children. (Ex. 10:23; 2 Sam. 23:4; Ps. 36:10; Isa. 60:1,20; 1 John
1:5; 4:16) When darkness comes over the soul, it is always through one of two things,
through sin or through unbelief. Sin is darkness, and makes dark. And unbelief also
makes dark, for it turns us from Him, who alone is the light.
The question is sometimes put, Can the Christian walk always in the light? The answer of
our Lord is clear, 'He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.' It is sin, the turning
from behind Jesus to our own way, that makes dark. But at the moment we confess sin,
and have it cleansed in the blood, we are again in the light. (Josh. 7:13; Isa. 58:10;
59:1,2,9; Matt. 15:14,15; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:8,14; 1 Thess. 5:5; 1 John 2:10) Or it is
unbelief that makes dark. We look to ourselves and our strength; we would seek comfort
in our own feeling, or our own works, and all becomes dark. As soon as we look to Jesus,
to the fulness, to the perfect provision for our needs that is in Him, all is light. He says, 'I
am the Light: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life.' So long as I believe, I have light and gladness. (John 12:36; 11:40; Rom. 15:13; 1
Pet. 1:8)
Christians, who would walk according to the will of the Lord, hear what His word says:
'Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Re joice in the Lord always: again, I will say,
Rejoice.' (Phil. 3:1; 4:3) In the Lord Jesus there is joy unspeakable, and full of glory:
believing in Him, rejoice in this. Live the life of faith: that life is salvation and glorious
joy. A heart that gives itself undividedly to follow Jesus, that lives by faith in Him and
His love, shall have light and gladness. Therefore, soul, only believe. Do not seek
gladness; in that case you will not find it, because you are seeking feeling. But seek
Jesus, follow Jesus, believe in Jesus, and gladness shall be added to you. 'Not seeing, but
believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'
Lord Jesus, Thou are the Light of the world, the Effulgence of the unapproachable light,
in whom we see the light of God. From Thy countenance radiates upon us the
illumination of the knowledge of the love and glory of God. And thou art ours, our light
and our salvation. O teach us to believe more firmly that with Thee we can never walk in
the darkness. Let gladness in Thee be the proof that Thou art all to us, and our strength to
do all that Thou wouldst have us do. Amen.
1. The gladness that I have in anything is the measure of its worth in my eyes: the
gladness in a person, the measure of my pleasure in him: the gladness in a work the
measure of my pleasure in it. Gladness in God and His service is one of the surest tokens
of healthy spiritual life.
2. Gladness is hindered by ignorance, when we do not rightly understand God and His
love and the blessedness of His service: by unbelief, when we still seek something in our
own strength or feeling: by double-heartedness, when we are not willing to give up and
lay aside everything for Jesus.
3. Understand this saying: 'He that seeks gladness shall not find it; he that seeks the Lord
and His will, shall find gladness unsought.' Think over this. He that seeks gladness as a
thing of feeling, seeks himself: he would fain be happy: he will not find it. He that forgets
himself to live in the Lord and His will, shall be taught of himself to rejoice in the Lord.
It is God, God Himself, who is the God of the gladness of our rejoicing: seek God, and
you have gladness. You have then simply to take and enjoy it by faith.
4. To thank much for what God is and does, to believe much in what God says and will
do, is the way to abiding gladness.
5. 'The light of the eyes gladdens the heart.' God has not intended that His children should
walk in the darkness. Satan is the prince of the darkness: God is light: Christ is the Light
of the world: we are children of the light: let us walk in the light. Let us believe in the
promise, 'The Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light. Thy sun shall no more go down,
for the Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be
ended.
Chapter 33
CHASTISEMENT
'Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest out of Thy law; that
Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity.' -- Ps. 94:12
'Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now I observe Thy word. It is good for me that I
have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes.' -- Ps. 119:67,71
'He chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.' -- Heb. 12:10
'Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold temptations; knowing that the
proof of your faith worketh patience.' -- Jas. 1:2,3
Every child of God must at one time or another enter the school of trial. What the
Scriptures teach us is confirmed by experience. And the Scriptures teach us further, that
we are to count it a joy when God takes us into this school. It is a part of our heavenly
blessedness to be educated and sanctified by the Father through chastisement.
Not that trial in itself brings a blessing. (Isa. 5:3; Hos. 7:14,15; 2 Cor. 7:10) Just as there
is no profit in the ground's being made wet by rain or broken up by the plough, when no
seed is cast into it, so there are children of God that enter into trial and have little blessing
from it. The heart is softened for a time, but they know not how to obtain an abiding
blessing from it. They know not what the Father has in view with them in the school of
trial.
In a good school there are four things necessary -- a definite aim, a good text-book, a
capable teacher, a willing pupil.
1. Let the aim of trial be clear to you. Holiness is the highest glory of the Father, and also
of the child. He 'chastens us for our profit that we may be partakers of His Holiness.'
(Isa.27:8,9; 1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 2:10; 12:11) In trial the Christian would oft en have only
comfort. Or he seeks to be quiet and contented under the special chastisement. This is
indeed the beginning; but the Father desires something else, something higher. He would
make him holy, holy, for his whole life. When Job said, 'Blessed be the name of the
Lord,' this was still but the beginning of his school- time: the Lord had still more to teach
him. God would unite our will with His holy will, not only on the one point in which He
is trying us, but in everything: God would fill us with His holy Spirit, with His holiness.
This is the aim of God; this also must be your aim in the school of trial.
2. Let the word of God at this time be your reading book. See in our trials how in
affliction God would teach us out of His law. The word will reveal to you why the Father
chastens you, how deeply He loves you in the midst of it, and how rich are the promises
of His consolation. Trial will give new glory to the promises of the Father. In
chastisement have recourse to the word. (Ps. 119:49,50,92,143; Isa. 40:1; 43:2; 1 Thess.4:8)
3. Let Jesus be your teacher. He Himself was sanctified by suffering: it was in suffering
that He learned full obedience. He has a wonderfully sympathetic heart. Have much
intercourse with Him. Seek not your comfort from muc h speaking on the part of men or
with men. Give Jesus the opportunity of teaching you. Have much converse with Him in
solitude. (Isa. 26:16; 61:1,2; Heb. 2:10,17,18; 5:9) The Father has given you the word,
the Spirit, the Lord Jesus your sanctification, in order to sanctify you: affliction and
chastisement are meant to bring you to the word, to Jesus Himself, in order that He may
make you partaker of His holiness. It is in fellowship with Jesus that consolation comes
as of itself (2 Cor. 1:3,4; Heb. 13:5,6)
4. Be a willing pupil. Acknowledge your ignorance. Think not that you understand the
will of God. Ask and expect that the Lord would teach you the lesson that you are to
learn in affliction. To the meek there is the promise of teaching and wisdom. Seek to have
the ear open, the heart very quiet, and turned towards God. Know that it is the Father that
has placed you in the school of trial: yield yourself with all willingness to hear you
taught. He will bless you greatly in this. (Ps. 25:9;39:2,10; Isa. 50:4,5)
'Happy is the man whom Thou chastenest, and teachest out of Thy law.' 'Count it all joy
when ye fall into manifold temptations,' 'that ye may be perfect, lacking in nothing.'
Regard the time of trial as a time of blessing, as a time of close converse with the Father,
of being made partaker of His holiness, and you shall also rejoicingly say: 'It is good for
me that I have been afflicted.'
Father, what thanks shall I express to Thee for the glorious light that Thy word casts upon
the dark trials of this life. Thou wilt by this means teach me, and make me partaker of
Thy holiness. Hast Thou considered the suffering and the death of Thy beloved Son not
too much to bring holiness near to me, and shall I not be willing to endure Thy
chastisement to be partaker of it? No: Father, thanks be unto Thee for Thy precious work:
only fulfil Thy counsel in me. Amen.
1. In chastisement it is first of all necessary that we should be possessed by the thought:
This is the will of God. Although the trial comes through our own folly or the perversity
of men, we must acknowledge that it is the will of God that we should be in that suffering
by means of that folly or perversity. We see this clearly in Joseph and the Lord Jesus. Nothing will give us rest but the willing acknowledgment: this is the will of God.
2. The second thought is: God wills not only the trial, but also the consolation, the power,
and the blessing in it. He who acknowledges the will of God in the chastisement itself is
on the way to see and experience the accompaniments also as the will of God.
3. The will of God is as perfect as He Himself: let us not be afraid to surrender ourselves
to it: no one suffers loss by deeming the will of God unconditionally good.
4. This is holiness: to know and to adore the will of God, to unite one's self wholly with
it.
5. Pray, seek not comfort in trial in connection with men. Do not mingle too much with
them: see to it rather that you deal with God and His word. The object of trial is just to
draw you away from what is earthly, in order that you may turn to God and give Him
time to unite your will with His perfect will.
Chapter 34
PRAYER
'Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and having shut the door, pray
to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense
thee.' -- Matt. 6:6
The spiritual life with its growth depends in great measure on prayer. According as I pray
much or little, pray with pleasure or as a duty, pray according to the word of God or my
own inclination, will my life flourish or decay. In the word of Jesus quoted above, we
have the leading ideas of true prayer.
Alone with God: that is the first thought. The door must be shut, with the world and man
outside, because I am to have converse with God undisturbed. When God met with His
servants in the olden time, He took them alone. (Gen. 28:22,23; 22:5; 32:24; Ex. 33:11)
Let the first thought in your prayer be: here are God and I in the chamber with each other.
According to your conviction of the nearness of God will be the power of your prayer.
In the presence of your Father: this is the second thought. You come to the inner
chamber, because your Father with His love awaits you there. Although you are cold,
dark, sinful; although it is doubtful whether you can pray at all; come, because the Father
is there, and there looks upon you. Set yourself beneath the light of his eye. Believe in
His tender fatherly love, and out of this faith prayer will be born. (Matt. 6:8; 7:11)
Count certainly upon an answer: that is the third point in the word of Jesus. 'Your Father
will recompense you openly.' There is nothing about which the Lord Jesus has spoken so
positively as the certainty of an answer to prayer. Pray, review the promises. (Matt 6:7,8;
11:24; Luke 28:8; John 14:13,14; 15:7,16; 16:23,24) Observe how constantly in the
Psalms, that prayer-book of God's saints, God is called upon as the God who hears prayer
and gives answers. (Ps. 3:5; 4:4; 6:10; 10:17; 27:6,22,25; 20:2,7,10; 34:5,7,18; 38:16;
40:2; 65:3; 66:19)
It may be that there is much in you that prevents the answer. Delay in the answer is a very
blessed discipline. It leads to self-searching as to whether we are praying amiss, and
whether our life is truly in harmony with our prayer. It rouses to a purer exercise of faith.
(Josh. 7:12; 1 Sam. 8:18; 14:37,38; 28:6,15; Prov. 21:13; Isa. 1:15; Mic. 3:4; Hag. 1:9;
Jas. 1:6; 4:3; 5:16) It conducts to a closer and more persistent converse with God. The
sure confidence of an answer is the secret of powerful praying. Let this always be with us
the chief thing in prayer. When you pray, stop in the midst of your prayer to ask, Do I
believe that I am receiving what I pray for? Let your faith receive and hold fast the
answer as given: it shall turn out according to your faith. (Ps. 145:9; Isa. 30:19; Jer. 33:3;
Mal. 3:10; Matt. 9:29; 15:28; 1 John 3:22; 5:14,15)
Beloved young Christians, if there is one thing about which you must be conscientious, it
is this: secret converse with God. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Every day must you
in prayer ask from above, and by faith receive in prayer what you need for that day.
Every day must personal intercourse with the Father and the Lord Jesus be renewed and
strengthened. God is our salvation and our strength: Christ is our life and our holiness:
only in personal fellowship with the living God is our blessedness found.
Christian, pray much, pray continually, pray without ceasing. When you have no desire to
pray, go just then to the inner chamber. Go as one who has nothing to bring to the Father,
to set yourself before Him in faith in His love. That coming to the Father, and abiding
before Him, is already a prayer that He understands. Be assured that to appear before
God, however passively, always brings a blessing. The Father not only hears: He sees in
secret, and He will recompense it openly.
O my Father, who hast so certainly promised in Thy word to hear the prayer of faith, give
to me the Spirit of prayer, that I may know how to offer that prayer. Graciously reveal to
me Thy wonderful Fatherly love, the complete blotting out of my sins in Christ, by which
every hindrance in this direction is taken away, and the intercession of the Spirit in me,
by which my ignorance or weakness cannot deprive me of the blessing. Teach me with
faith in Thee, the Three-One, to pray in fellowship with Thee. And confirm me in the
strong living certitude that I receive what I believingly ask. Amen.
1. In prayer the principal thing is faith. The whole of salvation, the whole of the new life
is by faith, therefore also by prayer. There is all too much prayer that brings nothing,
because there is little faith in it. Before I pray, and while I pray, and after I have prayed, I
must ask: Do I pray in faith? I must say: I believe with my whole heart.
2. To arrive at this faith we must take time in prayer: time to set ourselves silently and
trustfully before God, and to become awake to His presence: time to have our soul
sanctified in fellowship with God: time for the Holy Spirit to teach us to hold fast and use
trustfully the word of promise. No earthly knowledge, no earthly possessions, no earthly
food, no intercourse with friends, can we have without time, sufficient time. Let us not
think to learn how to pray, how to enjoy the power and the blessedness of prayer, if we
do not take time with God.
3. And then there must be not only time every day, but perseverance from day to day. Time is required to grow in the certitude that we are acceptable to the Father, and that our
prayer has power, in the confidence which knows that our prayer is according to His will
and is heard. We must not suppose that we know well enough how to pray, and can but
ask, and then it is over. No: prayer is converse and fellowship with God, in which God
has time and opportunity to work in us, in which our souls die to their own will and
power, and become bound up and united with God.
4. For encouragement in persistent prayer, the following instance may be of service. In an
address delivered at Calcutta, George Muller recently said that in 1844 five persons were
laid upon his heart, and that he began to pray for their conversion. Eighteen months
passed by before the first was converted. He prayed five years more, when the second
was converted. After twelve years and a half, yet another was converted. And now he
also already prayed forty years for the other two, without letting slip a single day; and
still they are not converted. He was, nevertheless, full of courage in the sure confidence
that these two also would be given him in answer to his prayer.
Chapter 35
THE PRAYER MEETING
'Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that
they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two
or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them.' -- Matt.
28:19,20
The Lord Jesus has told us to go into the inner chamber and hold our personal converse
with God by prayer in secret, and not to be seen of men. The very same voice tells us that
we are also to pray in fellowship with one another. (Matt. 6:6; Luke 9:18,28) And when
He went to heaven, the birth of the Christian Church took place in a prayer meeting
which one hundred and twenty men and women held for ten days. (Acts. 1:14) The Day
of Pentecost was the fruit of unanimous persevering prayer. Let every one who would
please the Lord Jesus, who desires the gift of the Spirit with power for his congregation
or Church, who would have the blessing of fellowship with the children of God, attached
himself to a prayer meeting, and prove the Lord whether He will make good His word
and bestow upon it a special blessing. (2 Chron. 20:4,17; Neh. 9:2,3; Joel 2:16,17;
Acts.12:5) And let him give help in it, so that the prayer meeting may be such as the Lord
presented it to us.
For a blessed prayer- meeting, there must be, first of all, agreement concerning the thing
which we desire. There must be something that we really desire to have from God; and
concerning this we are to be in harmony. There must be inner love and unity amongst the
suppliants, -- all that is strife, envy, wrath, lovelessness, makes prayer powerless,
(Ps.133:1,3; Jer. 58:4; Matt. 5:23,24; Mark. 11:25) -- and then agreement on the definite
object that is desired. (Jer. 32:39; Acts. 4:24) For this end it is entirely proper that what
people are to pray for should be stated in the prayer meeting. Whether it be that one of
the members would have his particular needs brought forward, or whether others would
bring more general needs to the Lord, such as the conversion of the unconverted, the
revival of God's children, the anointing of the teacher, the extension of the kingdom, let
the objects be announced beforehand. And let no one then suppose that there is unanimity
whenever one is content to join in prayer for these objects. No: we are to take them into
our heart and life, bring them continually before the Lord, be inwardly eager that the
Lord should give them: then we are on the way to the prayer that has power.
The second feature that characterizes a right prayer meeting is the coming together in the
name of Jesus and the consciousness of His presence. The Scripture says, 'The name of
the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.' (Prov. 18:10) * The
name is the expression of the person. When they come together, believers are to enter
into the name of Jesus, to betake themselves within this name as their fortress and abode.
In this name they mingle with one another before the Father, and out of this name they
pray: this name makes them also truly one with each other. And when they are thus in
this name, the living Lord Himself is in their midst: and He says that this is the reason
why the Father certainly hears them. (John 14:13,14; 15:7,16; 16:23,24) They are in Him,
and He is in them, and out of Him they pray, and their prayer comes before the Father in
His power. O let the name of Jesus be really the point of union, the meeting place, in our
prayer meetings, and we shall be conscious that He is in our midst.
Then there is the third feature of united prayer of which the Lord has told us: our request
shall certainly be done of the Heavenly Father. The prayer shall certainly be answered. O
we may well cry out in these days, 'Where is the God of Elijah?' for He was a God that
answered. 'The God that shall answer, He shall be God,' said Elijah to the people. And he
said to God, 'Answer me, Lord; answer me; that this people may acknowledge that Thou,
O Lord, art God.' (1 Chron. 18:24,37; Jas. 5:16) When we are content with much praying,
with continuous praying, without answer, then there will be little answer given. But when
we understand that the answer as the token of God's pleasure in our prayer is the principal
thing, and are not willing to be content without it, we shall discover what is lacking in our
prayer, and shall set ourselves so to pray that an answer may come. And this surely we
may firmly believe: the Lord takes delight in answering. It is a joy to Him when His
people so enter into the name of Jesus, and pray out of it, that He can give what they
desire. (Acts. 12:5; 2 Cor. 1:11; Jas. 4:8; 5:16,17)
Children of God, however young and weak you may still be, here is one of the
institutions prepared for you by the Lord Jesus Himself to supply you with help in prayer.
Let every one make use of the prayer meeting. Let every one go in a praying and
believing frame of mind, seeking the name and the presence of the Lord. Let every one
seek to live and pray with his brethren and sisters. And let every one expect surely to see
glorious answers to prayer.
Blessed Lord Jesus, who hast given us commandment to pray, as well in the solitary inner
chamber as in public fellowship with one another, let the one habit always make the other
more precious as complement and confirmation. Let the inner chamber prepare us, and
awaken the need for union with Thy people in prayer. Let Thy presence there be our
blessedness. And let fellowship with Thy people strengthen us surely to expect and
receive answers. Amen.
1. There are many places of our country where prayer meetings might be a great blessing. A pious man or woman who should once a week or on Sabbath at mid-day gather
together the inhabitants on a farm-place or the neighbours of two or three places that are
not far from one another, might be able to obtain great blessing. Let every believing
reader of this portion inquire if there does not exist in his neighbourhood some such need,
and let him make a beginning in the name of the Lord. Let me therefore earnestly put the
question to every reader: Is there a prayer- meeting in your district? Do you faithfully take
part in it? Do you know what it is to come together with the children of God in the name
of Jesus, to experience His presence and His hearing of prayer?
2. There is a book, 'The Hour of Prayer,' with suitable portions for reading out in such
gatherings. Or let this book, 'The New Life,' be taken, a portion read, and some of the
texts reviewed and spoken upon: this will give materia l for prayer.
3. 'Will the prayer meeting do no harm to the inner chamber?' is a question sometimes
asked. My experience is just the reverse of this result. The prayer meeting is a school of
prayer. The weak learn from more advanced petitioners. Material for prayer is given:
opportunity for self-searching; encouragement to more prayer.
4. Would that it were more general in prayer meetings for people to speak of definite
objects for which to pray; things in which one can definitely and trustfully look out for an
answer, and concerning which one can know when an answer comes. Such
announcements would greatly further unanimity and believing expectations.
* The Dutch version has -- 'and is set in a high room.' -- Translator
Chapter 36
THE FEAR OF THE LORD
'Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart
is established, he shall not be afraid.' -- Ps. 112:1,7,8
'So the Church, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was
multiplied.' -- Acts 9:31
The Scriptures use the word 'fear' in a twofold way. In some places it speaks of 'fear' as
something wrong and sinful, and in the strongest terms it forbids us to 'fear.' (Gen. 15:1;
Isa. 8:13; Jer. 32:40; Rom. 8:15; 1 Pet. 3:14; 1 John 4:18) In well-nigh one hundred
places occurs the word: 'Fear not.' In many other places, on the contrary, fear is praised as
one of the surest tokens of true godliness, acceptable to the Lord, and fruitful of blessing
to us. (Ps. 22:24,26; 33:18; 112:1; 115:13; Prov. 28:14) The people of God bear the
name: those that fear the Lord. The distinction betwixt these two lies in this simple fact:
the one is unbelieving fear, the other is believing. Where fear is found connected with
lack of trust in God, there it is sinful and very hurtful. (Matt. 8:26; Rev. 21:9) The fear,
on the other hand, that is coupled with trust and hope in God, is for the spiritual life
entirely indispensable. The fear that has man and what is temporal for its object, is
condemned. The fear that with childlike confidence and love honours the Father, is
commanded. (Ps. 33:18; 147:11; Luke 12:4,7) It is the believing, not slavish, but filial,
fear of the Lord that is presented by the Scriptures as a source of blessing and power. He
that fears the Lord will fear nothing else. The fear of the Lord will be the beginning of all
wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the sure way to the enjoyment of God's favour and
protection. (Ps. 56:5,12; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 10:27; 19:23; Acts. 9:31; 2 Cor. 7:1)
There are some Christians who by their upbringing are led into the fear of the Lord, even
before they come to faith. This is a very great blessing: parents can give a child no greater
blessing than to bring him up in the fear of the Lord. When those who are thus brought up
are brought to faith, they have a great advantage: they are, as it were, prepared to walk in
the joy of the Lord. When, on the contrary, others that have not this preparation, come to
conversion, they have need of special teaching and vigilance, in order to pray for and
awaken this holy fear.
The elements of which this fear is composed are many and glorious. The principal are the
following: --
There are holy reverence and awe before the glorious majesty of God and before the All
Holy. These guard against the superficiality that forgets who God is, and that takes no
pains to honour Him as God. (Job 42:6; Ps. 5:8; Isa. 6:2,5; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:3)
There is deep humility that is afraid of itself, and couples deep confidence in God with an
entire distrust in itself. Conscious weakness that knows the subtlety of its own heart
always dreads doing anything contrary to the will or honour of God. But just because he
fears God, such an one firmly reckons on Him for protection. And this same humility
inspires him in all his intercourse with his fellow- men. (Luke 18:2,4; Rom. 11:20; 1 Pet.3:5)
There is circumspectness or vigilance. With holy forethought, it seeks to know the right
path, to watch against the enemy, and to be guarded against all lightness or hastiness in
speech, resolve, and conduct. (Prov. 2:5,11; 8:12,13; 13:33; 16:6; Luke 1:74)
And there are also in it holy zeal and courage in watching and striving. The fear of
displeasing the Lord by not conducting one's self in everything as His servant, incites to
being faithful in that which is least. The fear of the Lord takes all other fear away, and
gives inconceivable courage in the certitude of victory. (Deut. 6:2; Isa. 12:2)
And out of this fear is then born joy. 'Rejoice with trembling:' the fear of the Lord gives
joy its depth and stability. Fear is the root, joy the fruit: the deeper the fear, the higher the
joy. On this account it is said: 'Ye that fear the Lord praise Him;' 'Ye that fear the Lord,
bless the Lord.' (Ps. 22:24; 135:20)
Young disciples of Christ, hear the voice of your Father, 'Fear the Lord, ye His saints.'
Let deep fear of the Lord and dread of all that might displease or grieve Him, fill you.
Then shall you never have any evil to fear. He that fears the Lord and seeks to do all that
pleases Him, for him shall God also do all that he desires. The childlike believing fear of
God will lead you into the love and joy of God, while slavish, unbelieving, cowardly fear
is utterly cast out.
O my God, unite my heart for the fear of Thy name. May I always be amongst those that
fear the Lord, that hope in His mercy. Amen.
1. What are some of the blessings of the fear of God? (Ps. 31:20; 115:13; 127:11; 145:19;
Prov. 1, 7,8,13,14,27; Acts 10:35)
2. What are the reasons why we are to fear God? (Deut. 10:17,20,21; Josh. 4:24; 1 Sam.12:24; Jer. 5:22; 10:6,7; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 15:4)
3. It is especially the knowledge of God in His greatness, power, and glory that will fill
the soul with fear. But for this end, we must set ourselve s silent before Him, and take
time for our soul to come under the impression of His majesty.
4. 'He delivered me from all my fears.' Does this apply to every different sort of fear by
which you are hindered? There is the fear of man (Isa. 41:12,13; Heb 13:16); the fear of
heavy trial (Isa. 40:1,2); the fear of our own weakness (Isa. 41:10); fear for the work of
God (1 Chron. 28:20); the fear of death (Ps. 23:4).
5. Do you now understand the word: 'Blessed is the man that fears the Lord. His heart is
established, he shall not be afraid'?
Chapter 37
UNDIVIDED CONSECRATION
'And Ittai answered, As the Lord liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be,
whether for death or for life, even there also will thy servant be.' -- 2 Sam. 15:21
'Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple.' --
Luke 14:33
'Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no unclean
thing; and I will receive you, and will be to you a Father.' -- 2 Cor. 6:17,18
'Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for Christ Jesus my Lord.' -- Phil. 3:8
We have already said that surrender to the Lord is something that for the Christian always
obtains newer and deeper significance. When this takes place, he comes to understand
how this surrender involves nothing less than a complete and undivided consecration to
live only, always, wholly for Jesus. as entirely as the temple was dedicated to the service
of God alone, so that every one knew that it existed only for that purpose; as entirely as
the offering on the altar could be used only according to the command of God, and no
one had a right to dispose of one portion of it otherwise than God had said: so entirely do
you belong to your Lord, and so undivided must your consecration to Him be. God
continually reminded Israel that He had redeemed them to be His possession. (Ex. 19:4,5;
Lev. 1:8,9; Deut. 7:6; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 3:16,17) Let us see what this implies.
There is personal attachment to Jesus, and intercourse wit h Him in secret. He will be, He
must be, the beloved, the desire, the joy of our souls. It is not, in the first instance, to the
service of God, but to Jesus as our Friend and King, our Redeemer and God, that we are
to be consecrated. (John 14:21; 15:14,15; 21:17; Gal. 2:10) It is only the spiritual impulse
of a personal cordial love that can set us in a condition for a life of complete
consecration. Continually did Jesus use the words: 'For My sake,' 'Follow Me,' 'My
disciple'; He Himself must be the central point. (Matt. 10:32,33,37,38,40: Luke
14:26,27,33; 18:22) He gave Himself: to desire to have Him, to love, to depend on Him,
is the characteristic of a disciple.
Then there is public confession. What has been given to any one, that he will have
acknowledged by all as his property. His possessions are his glory. When the Lord Jesus
manifests His great grace to a soul in redeeming it, He desires that the world should see
and know it: He would be known and honoured as its proprietor. He desires that every
one that belongs to Him should confess Him, and that it should come out that Jesus is
King. (Ex. 33:16; Josh. 24:15; John 13:35) Apart from this public confession, the
surrender is but a half- hearted one. As a part of this public confession, it is also required
that we should join His people and acknowledge them as our people. The one new
commandment that the Lord gave, the sure token by which all should recognize that we
are His disciples, is brotherly love. Although the children of God in a locality are few, or
despised, or full of imperfection, yet do you join them. Love them: hold intercourse with
them. Attach yourself to them in prayer meetings and otherwise. Love them fervently:
brotherly love has wonderful power to open the heart for the love and the indwelling of
God. (Ruth 1:16; John 15:12; Rom. 7:5; 1 Cor. 12:2021; Eph. 4:14,16; 1 Pet. 1:22)
To complete consecration, there also belongs separation from sin and the world. Touch
not the unclean thing. Know that the world is under the power of the Evil One. Ask not
how much of it you can retain without being lost. Ask not always what is sin and what is
lawful. Even of that which is lawful, the Christian must oftentimes make a willing
renunciation, in order to be able to live wholly for his God. (1 Cor. 8:13; 9:25,27; 10:23;
2 Cor. 6:16,17; 2 Tim. 2:4) Abstinence even from lawful things is often indispensable for
the full imitation of the Lord Jesus. Live as one who is really separated for God and His
holiness. He who renounces everything, who counts everything loss for Jesus' sake, shall
even in this life receive an hundredfold. (Gen. 22:16,17; 2 Chron. 25:9; Luke 18:29; John
12:24,25; Phil. 3:8)
And what I separate from everything, I will use. Entire consecration has its eye upon
making us useful and fit for God and His service. Let there not be with you the least
doubt as to whether God has need of you, and will make you a great blessing. Only give
yourself unreservedly into His hands. Present yourself to Him, that He may fill you with
His blessing, His love, His Spirit: you shall be a blessing. (2 Tim. 2:21)
Let no one fear that this demand for a complete consecration is too high for him. You are
not under the law which demands, but gives no power. You are under grace, which itself
works what it requires. (2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Thess. 1:11,12) Like the first surrender, so is every
fresh dedication yielded to this Jesus, whom the Father has given to do all things for you.
Consecration is a deed of faith, a part of the glorious life of faith. It is on this account that
you have to say: It is not I, but the grace of God in me, that will do it. I live only by faith
in Him who works in me as well the willing as the performance. (1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20;
Phil. 2:13)
Blessed Lord, open the eyes of my heart that I may see how completely Thou wouldst
have me for Thyself. Be Thou in the hidden depths of my heart the one power that keeps
me occupied, and holds me in possession. Let all know of me that Thou art my King, that
I ask only for Thy will. In my separation from the world, in my surrender to Thy people
and to Thy will, let it be manifest that I am wholly, yea, wholly, the Lord's. Amen.
1. There is well- nigh no point of the Christian life in connection with which I should
more desire to urge you to pray to God that He may enlighten your eyes, than this of the
entire consecration that God desires. In myself and others, I discover that with our own
thoughts we can form no conception how completely God Himself would take possession
of our will and live in us. The Holy Spirit must reveal this in us. Only then indeed does a
conviction arise of how little we understand this. We are not to think: I see truly how
entirely I must live for God, but I cannot accomplish this: no, we are to say: I am still
blind, I have still no view of what is the glory of a life in which God is all: if I should
once see that, I would strongly desire and believe that, not I, but God, should work it in
me.
2. Let there not be in your mind the least doubt as to whether you have given yourself to
God, to live wholly and only as His. Express this conviction often before Him.
Acknowledge that you do not yet see or understand what it means, but abide by this, that
you desire it to be so. Reckon on the Holy Spirit to seal you, to stamp you as God's entire
possession. Even if you stumble and discover self-will, hold fast your integrity, and
trustfully aver that the deep, firm choice of your heart is in all things, in all things, to live
to God.
3. Keep always before your eyes that the power to give all to the Lord, and to be all for
the Lord, arises from the fact that He has given all for you, that He is all for you. Faith in
what He did for you is the power of what you do for Him.
Chapter 38
ASSURANCE OF FAITH
'Looking unto the promise of God, Abraham wavered not through unbelief, but waxed
strong through faith, giving glory to God, and being fully assured that, what He had
promised, He was able also to perform.' -- Rom. 4:20,21
'My little children, let us not love in word, neither wit h the tongue; but in deed and truth.
'Hereby shall we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him.' -- 1
John 3:18,19
'And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He gave us.' -- 1 John
3:24
Every child of God has need of the assurance of faith: the full certitude of faith that the
Lord has received him and made him His child. The Holy Scripture always speaks to
Christians as those that know that they are redeemed, that they are now children of God,
and that they have received eternal life. (Deut. 26:27,28; Isa. 44:5; Gal. 4:7; 1 John 5:12)
How, pray, can a child love or serve his father, while he is uncertain whether his father
will really acknowledge him as a child? We have already spoken on this point in a
previous chapter; but oftentimes by ignorance or distrust a Christian again comes into
darkness: for this reason we will now deal with it once again of set purpose.
Scripture names three things by which we have our certitude: first, faith in the word; after
that, works; and then, in and with both of these, the Holy Spirit.
First, faith in the word. Abraham is to us the great exemplar of faith, and also of the
assurance of faith. And what then says the Scripture about the certitude that he had? He
was fully assured that what God had promised He was able also to perform. His
expectation was only from God, and what God had promised. He relied upon God to do
what He had said: the promise of God was for him his only but sufficient assurance of
faith. (John 3:33, 5:24; Acts. 27:25; Rom. 4:21,22; 1 John 5:10,11)
There are many young Christians who think that faith in the word is not sufficient to give
full certitude: they would fain have something more. They imagine that assurance, a sure
inward feeling or conviction, is what is given above or outside of faith This is wrong. As
I have need of nothing more than the word of a trustworthy man to give me complete
certitude, so must the word of God be my certitude. People err because they seek
something in themselves and in their feeling. No: the whole of salvation comes from
God: the soul must not be occupied with itself or its work, but with God: he that forgets
himself to hear what God says, and to rely upon His promise as something worthy of
credit, has in this fact the fullest assurance of faith. (Num. 23:19; Ps. 89:35) He does not
doubt the promises, but is strong in faith, giving God the glory, and being fully assured
that what was promised God is also able to perform.
Then the Scripture names also works: by unfeigned love we shall assure our hearts. (1
John 3:18,19) Here carefully observe this: assurance by faith in the promise, without
works, comes first. The godless man who receives grace knows this only from the word.
But then, later on, assurance is to follow from works. 'By works was faith made perfect.'
(John 15:10,14: Gal. 5:6; Jas. 2:22; 1 John 3:14) The tree is planted in faith; without
fruits. But when the time of fruit arrives, and no fruit appears, then I may doubt. The
more clearly I at the outset hold the assurance of faith, without works, on the word alone,
the more certainly shall works follow.
And both -- assurance by faith and by works -- come by the Spirit. Not by the word alone,
and not by works as something that I myself do, but by the word as the instrument of the
Spirit, and by works as the fruit of the Spirit, has a child of God the heavenly certification
that he is the Lord's. (John 4:13; Rom. 8:13,14; 1 John 3:24)
O let us believe in Jesus as our life, and abide in Him, and assurance of faith shall never
be lacking to us.
O my Father, teach me to find my assurance of faith in a life with Thee, in cordial
reliance upon Thy promises, and in cordial obedience to Thy commands. Let Thy Holy
Spirit also witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. Amen.
1. The importance of the assurance of faith lies in the fact, that I cannot possibly love or
serve as a child a God of whom I do not know whether He loves and acknowledges me as
His child.
2. The whole Bible is one great proof for the assurance of faith. Just because it thus
speaks of itself, it is not always named. Abraham and Moses knew well that God had
received them: otherwise they could not serve or trust Him. Israel knew that God had
redeemed them: for this reason they had to serve God. How much more must this be the
case in the greater redemption of the New Testament? All the Epistles are written to men
of whom it is presupposed that they know and confess that they are redeemed, holy
children of God.
3. Faith and obedience are inseparable, as root and fruit. First, there must be the root, and
the root must have time without fruits; then later on come surely the fruits: first assurance
without fruits by living faith in the word; then, further assurance from fruits. It is in a life
with Jesus that assurance of faith is exalted firmly above all doubt.
4. Assurance of faith is much helped by confession. What I express becomes from me
more evident; I am bound and confirmed by it.
5. It is at the feet of Jesus, looking up into His friendly countenance, listening to His
loving promises, it is in intercourse with Jesus Himself in prayer, that all doubtfulness of
mind falls away. Go thither for the full assurance of faith.
Chapter 39
CONFORMITY TO JESUS
'Foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son.' -- Rom. 8:29
'I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I have done to you.' -- John 13:15
The Bible speaks of a twofold conformity, a twofold likeness that we bear. We may be
conformed to the world or to Jesus. The one excludes and drives out the other.
Conformity to Jesus, where it is sought, will be secretly prevented by conformity to the
world more than anything else. And conformity to the world can be overcome by nothing
but conformity to Jesus.
Young Christian, the new life of which you have become partaker is the life of God in
heaven. In Christ that life is revealed and made visible. What the workings and fruits of
eternal life were in Jesus, they shall also be in you: in His life you get to see what eternal
life will work in you. It cannot be otherwise: if for this end you surrender yourself
unreservedly to Jesus and the dominion of eternal life, it will bring forth in you a walk of
wonderful conformity to that of Jesus. (Matt. 20:27,28; Luke 6:40; John 6:57; 1 John 2:6;
4:17)
To the true imitation of Jesus in His example and growth in inward conformity to Him,
two things especially are necessary. These are a clear insight that I am really called to
this, and a firm trust that it is possible for me.
One of the greatest hindrances in the spiritual life is that we do not know, that we do not
see, what God desires that we should be. (Matt. 22:19; Luke 24:16; 1 Cor. 3:1,2; Heb.5:11,12)
Our understanding is still so little enlightened, we have still so many of our own
human thoughts and imaginations about the true service of God, we know so little of
waiting for the Spirit who alone can teach us. We do not acknowledge that even the
clearest words of God do not have for us the meaning and power that God desires. And so
long as we do not spiritually discern what likeness to Jesus is, and how utterly we are
called to live like Him, there can be but little said of true conformity. Would that we
could only conceive our need of a special heavenly instruction on this point.
(1 Cor.2:12,13; Eph. 1:17,18)
Let us for this end earnestly examine the Scriptures in order to know what God says and
desires about our conformity to Christ. (John 13:15; 15:10,12; 27:18; Eph. 5:2; Phil. 2:5;
Col. 3:18) Let us unceasingly ponder such words of Scripture, and keep our heart in
contact with them. Let it remain fixed with us that we have given ourselves wholly to the
Lord, to be all that He desires. And let us trustfully pray that the Holy Spirit would
inwardly enlighten us and bring us to a full view of the life of Jesus so far as that can be
seen in a believer. (1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Cor. 3:18) The Spirit will convince us that we, no less
than Jesus, are absolutely called to live only for the will and glory of the Father: to be in
the world even as He is.
The other thing that we have need of is the belief that it is really possible for us with
some measure of exactness to bear the image of our Lord. Unbelief is the cause of
impotence. We put this matter otherwise. Because we are powerless, we think we dare
not believe that we can be conformed to our Lord. This thought is in conflict with the
word of God. We do not have it in our own power to carry ourselves after the image of
Jesus. No: He is our head and our life. He dwells in us, and will have His life work from
within, outwards, with divine power, through the Holy Spirit. (John 14:23; 2 Cor. 13:3;
Eph. 3:17,18)
Yet this cannot be apart from our faith. Faith is the consent of the heart, the surrender to
Him to work, the reception of His working. 'Be it unto you according to your faith,' is one
of the fundamental laws of the kingdom of God. (Zech. 8:6; Matt 8:29; Luke 1:37,45;
28:27; Gal. 2:20) It is something incredible what a power unbelief has to hinder the
working and the blessing of the Almighty God. The Christian who would be partaker of
conformity to Christ must specially cherish the firm trust that this blessing is within his
reach, is entirely within the range of possibility. He must learn to look to Jesus as Him to
whom he by the grace of God Almighty can, in his measure, be really conformable. He
must believe that the same Spirit that was in Jesus is also in him; that the same Father that
led and strengthened Jesus also watches over him; that the same Jesus that lived on earth
now lives in him. He must cherish the strong assurance that this Three-One God is at
work in changing him into the image of the Son. (John 14:19; 17:19; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor.3:18; Eph. 1:19,10)
He that believes this shall receive it. It will not be without much prayer: it will require
especially converse, ceaseless intercourse with God and Jesus. Yet he that desires it and
is willing to give time and sacrifice to it, certainly receives it.
Son of God, Effulgence of the glory of God, the very image of His substance, I must be
changed into Thine image. In Thee I see the image and the likeness of God in which we
are created, in which we are by Thee created anew. Lord Jesus, let conformity to Thee be
the one desire, the one hope of my soul. Amen.
1. Conformity to Jesus: we think that we understand the word: but how little do we
comprehend that God really expects we should live even as Jesus. It requires much time
with Him, in prayer and pondering of His example, at all rightly to conceive it. The writer
of these precepts has written a book on this theme, has often spoken of it, and yet he
sometimes feels as if he must cry out: Is it really true? Has God indeed called us to live
even as Jesus?
2. 'Like Jesus: Thoughts on the image of the Son of God and our conformity to Him,' is
the title of a book in which the various features of the image of Jesus and the sure way of
receiving them are set forth.
3. Conformity to the world is strengthened especially by intercourse with it: It is in
intercourse with Jesus that we shall adopt His mode of thinking, His disposition, His
manners.
4. The chief feature of the life of Jesus is this: He surrendered Himself wholly to the
Father in behalf of men. This is the chief feature of conformity to Him: the offering up of
ourselves to God for the redemption and blessing of the lost.
5. The chief feature His inner disposition was -- childlikeness: absolute dependence on
the Father, great willingness to be taught, cheerful preparedness to do the will of the
Father. Be specially like Him in this.
Chapter 40
CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD
'I beseech you, brethren, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to
God. And be not fashioned according to this world: but be ye transformed by the
renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.' -- Rom. 12:1,2
Be not conformed to this world. But what is conformity to the world? The opposite of
conformity to Jesus: for Jesus and the world stand directly opposed to each other. The
world crucified Him. He and His disciples are not of the world. The spirit of this world
cannot receive the Spirit of God, for it sees Him not and knows Him not. (John 14:17;
17:14,16; 1 Cor. 2:6,8)
And what is the spirit of this world? The spirit of this world is the disposition that
animates mankind in their natural condition, where the Spirit of God has not yet renewed
them. The spirit of this world comes from the Evil One, who is the prince of this world,
and has dominion over all that are not renewed by the Spirit of God. (John 14:30; 16:11;
1 Cor. 2:12)
And in what does the spirit of this world, or conformity to it, manifest itself? The word of
God gives the answer: 'All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the
eyes, and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.' The craving for
pleasure or the desire to enjoy the world; the craving for property, or the desire to possess
the world; the craving for glory, or the desire to be honoured in the world: these are the
three chief forms of the spirit of the world. (1 John 2:15,16)
And these three are one in root and essence. The spirit of this world is, that man makes
himself his own end: he makes himself the central point of the world: all creation, so far
as he has power over it, must serve him; he seeks his life in the visible. This is the spirit
of the world: to seek one's self and the visible. (John 5:44) And the Spirit of Jesus: to live
not for one's self and not for the visible, but for God and the things that are invisible. (2
Cor. 4:18; 5:7,15)
It is a very terrible and serious thought that once can carry on a busy fashionable life, free
from manifest sin or unrighteousness, and yet remain in the friendship of the world, and
thereby in enmity against God. (Jas. 4:4)
Where the care for the earthly, for what we eat and what we should drink, for what we
possess or may still get into possession, for what we can have brought forth in the earth
and made to increase, is the chief element in our life, there we are confo rmed to this
world. It is a terrible and a very serious thought that one can maintain to all appearance a
Christian life and think that one is trusting in Christ, while yet one is living with the
world for self and the visible. (Matt. 6:32,33) For this reason the command comes to all
Christians with great emphasis: Be conformed, not to this world, but to Jesus.
And how can I, for this end, come to be not conformed to the world? Read our text over
again with consideration: we read there two things. Observe what goes before. It is those
that have presented their bodies to God as a sacrifice on the altar that have it said to them:
Be not conformed to the world. Offer yourself to God -- that is conformity to Jesus; live
every day as one that is offered up to God, crucified in Christ to the world: then you shall
not be conformed to the world. (Gal. 6:14)
Observe also what follows: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may
prove what is the perfect will of God. There must be a continuous growing renewal of our
mind. This takes place by the Holy Spirit, when we let ourselves be led by Him. Then we
learn to judge spiritually of what is according to the will of God and what is according to
the spirit of the world. A Christian who strives after the progressive renewal of his whole
mind shall not be conformed to the world: the Spirit of God makes him conformed to
Jesus. (2 Cor. 6:14,16; Eph. 5:17; Heb. 5:14)
Christians, pray, do believe that Jesus has obtained for you the power to overcome the
world, with its deep hidden seductions to living for ourselves. Believe this: believe in
Him as Victor: and you also have the victory. (John 16:33; 1 John 5:4,5)
Precious Lord, we have presented ourselves to Thee as living sacrifices. We have offered
up ourselves to God. We are not of the world, even as Thou art not of the world. Lord, let
our mind be enlightened by the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that we may rightly see what
the spirit of this world is. And let it be seen in us that we are not of this world, but are
conformed to Jesus. Amen.
1. Worldly pleasures. Is dancing sin? What harm is there in playing billiards? Why may a
Christian not go to the play? One has sometimes wished that there were in the Scriptures
a distinct law to forbid such things. God has intentionally not given this. If there were
such a law, it would make men only externally pious. God would put each one upon trial
whether his inner disposition is worldly or heavenly. Pray, learn Rom. 12:1,2 by heart,
and ask the Spirit of God to make it living in you. The Christian who offers himself up to
God, and becomes transformed by the renewing of the mind to prove the perfect will of
God, will speedily learn whether he may dance or play billiards. The Christian who is
afraid only of hell, but not of conformity to the world, cannot see what the Spirit of God
gives His children to see.
2. It is remarkable that the trinity of the god of this world, in John's Epistle, is seen as
well in the temptation in Paradise as in that of the Lord Jesus.
- The lust of the flesh:
The woman saw that the tree was good for food.
- Command that those stones become bread.
- The lust of the eyes:
And that it was a delight to the eyes.
- The devil showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world.
- And the vainglory of life.
- And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise.
- Cast Thyself down.
3. Consider what I say to you: It is only conformity to Jesus that will keep out conformity
to the world. Let conformity to Jesus be the study, the endeavour of your soul.
Chapter 41
THE LORD'S DAY
'And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it He rested from all
His work which God had created.' -- Gen. 2:3
'On that day, the first day of the week, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and saith unto
them, Peace be unto you.' -- John 20:19
'I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day.' -- Rev. 1:10
Man abides under the law of time. He must have time for what he would do or obtain. In
a wonderful way God gives him time for intercourse with Himself. One day in seven God
separated for fellowship with Himself.
The great object of God's gift of this day is said to be, that it may serve as a token that
God desires to sanctify man. (Ex. 31:13,17; Ezek. 20:12,20) Endeavour, pray, to
understand well that word 'holy:' it is one of the most important words in the Bible. God
is the Holy One: that alone is holy to which God communicates His holiness by revealing
Himself thereby. We know that the temple was holy, because God dwelt there. God had
taken possession of it. He gave Himself to dwell there. So would God also sanctify man,
take possession of him, fill him with Himself, with His own life, His disposition, His
holiness. For this end, God took possession of the seventh day, appropriating it to
Himself: He sanctified it. And He calls man also to sanctify it, and to acknowledge it as
the Lord's day, the day of the Lord's presence and special working. He that does this, that
sanctifies this day, shall, as God has promised, be sanctified by Him. (Read with attention
Ex. 31:12-17, especially verse 13.)
God blessed the seventh day by sanctifying it. The blessing of God is the power of life,
lodged by Him in anything, whereby it has a result full of blessing. Grass, and cattle, and
man He blessed with power to multiply. (Gen. 1:22,28; 22:17) And so He lodged in the
seventh day a power to bless: the promise that every one that sanctifies this day shall be
sanctified and blessed by it. We must accustom ourselves always to think of the Sabbath
as a blessed day, that certainly brings blessing. The blessing bound up with it is very
great. (Isa. 46:4,7; 48:13,14)
There is still a third word that is used of the institution of the Sabbath: 'God rested on the
seventh day,' and, as it stands in Exodus, 'was refreshed' or gladdened. God would
sanctify and bless us, by introducing us into His rest. He would bring us to see that we are
not to burden ourselves with our cares and weakness: we are to rest in Him, in His
finished work, in His rest, which He takes because all is in order. This rest is not the
outward cessation of employments; no: it is the rest of faith, by which we cease from our
works as God did from His, because all is finished. Into this rest we enter by faith in the
finished work of Jesus, in surrender to be sanctified by God. (Heb. 4:3,10)
Because Jesus finished the second creation in His resurrection, and we, by the power of
His resurrection, enter into life and rest, the seventh day is changed to the first day of the
week. There is no specific statement on this point: und er the New Testament, the Spirit
takes the place of the law. The Spirit of the Lord led His disciples to the celebration of
this day. It was the day, not only on which the Lord was raised, but also on which, in all
likelihood, the Spirit was poured out: no t only on which the Lord manifested Himself
during the forty days, but on which the Spirit also specially worked (John 20:1,19,26;
Acts. 1:8; 20:7: 1 Cor. 26:2; Rev. 1:10)
The chief lessons that we have to learn about this day are the following: --
The principal aim of the Sabbath is to make you holy, as God is holy. God would have
you holy: this is glory, this is blessedness: this is His blessing, this His rest. God would
have you holy, filled with Himself and His holiness. (Ex. 29:43,45; Ezek. 37:27,28; 1 Pet.1:15,16)
In order to sanctify you, God must have you with Him, in His presence and fellowship.
You are to come away from all your struggling and working to rest with Him: to rest
quietly, without exertion or anxiety, in the certitude that the Son has finished everything,
that the Father cares for you in everything, that the Spirit will work everything in you. In
the holy rest of a soul that is converted to God, that is silent towards God, that remains
silent before His presence to hear what God speaks in him, that reckons upon God to
achieve all, God can reveal Himself. (Ps. 52:2,6; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; John 19:30) It is
thus that He sanctifies us.
We sanctify the day of rest, first by withdrawal from all external business and distraction;
but then especially by employing it as God's day, belonging to the Lord, for what He
destined it, fellowship with Himself.
Take heed, on the other hand, that you do not use the day of rest only as a day for the
public observance of divine worship. It is especially in private personal intercourse that
God can bless and sanctify you. In the church, the understanding is kept active, and you
have the ordinances of preaching, united prayer and praise, to keep you occupied. But we
do not there always know whether the heart is really dealing with God, is taking delight
in Him. This takes place in solitude. O, accustom yourself, then, to be alone with the
Lord your God. Not only speak to Him: let Him speak to you: let your heart be the temple
in whose holy silence His vo ice is heard. Rest in God: then will God say of your heart:
This is my rest, here will I dwell. (Ps. 122:13,14)
Young Christian, set great store by the holy, the blessed day of rest. Long for it. Thank
God for it. Keep it very holy. And, above all, let it be a day of inner fellowship with your
God, of a living converse with His love.
Holy God, I thank Thee for the holy day which Thou givest me as a token that Thou wilt
sanctify me. Lord God, it is Thou who didst sanctify the day by taking it for Thyself:
sanctify me in like manner by taking me for Thyself. Teach me so to enter into Thy rest,
so to find my rest in Thy love, that my whole soul shall be silent before Thee, in order
that Thou mayest make Thyself and Thy love known in me. And let every Sabbath be to
me a foretaste of the eternal rest with Thee. Amen.
1. The Sabbath was the first of all the means of grace, instituted even before the Fall. You
cannot see too high a value upon it.
2. Observe how specially the Three-One God has revealed Himself upon the day of rest.
The Father rested on this day. The Son rose from the dead upon it. The Spirit sanctified
this day by His special workings. You may on this day expect the fellowship and the
powerful workings of the Three-One.
3. What is meant by the word 'holy'? Of what is the day of rest a token, according to
Ex.31:13? How did God sanctify the day of rest? How does He sanctify us?
4. There are in this country peculiar difficulties in the way of the quiet celebration of the
day of rest in a village, where the church is often very full. Yet one can lay aside that
which is unnecessary and receive the influx of company. We can fix an hour in which
there shall be reading and singing.
5. It is a matter of great importance to bring up children aright, for the sanctification of
the Sabbath day, by avoiding worldly society and conversation, by accustoming them to
read something that may be useful for them. For the younger children, there should be in
every place a Sabbath school. For the older children, it would be well to come together in
connection with such a book as this, every one with a Bible, and to review texts.
6. There is no better day than the Lord's day for doing good to body and soul. Let the
works of Satan on this day come to an end, and work for the heathen and the ignorant be
carried forward.
7. The principal point is this: the day of rest is the day of God's rest, of rest in and with
God, and of intercourse with Him. It is God that will sanctify us. He does this by taking
possession of us.
Chapter 42
HOLY BAPTISM
'Go ye therefore, and make disciples * of all the nations, baptizing them into the name of
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all things
whatsoever I commanded you.' -- Matt. 28:19
'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' -- Mark. 26:16
In these words of the institution of baptism, we find its meaning comprehended as in a
summary. The word 'teach' means: 'make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them.' The
believing disciple, as he is baptized in the water, is also to be baptized or introduced into
the name of the Three-One God. By the name of the Father, the new birth and life as a
child in the love of the Father are secured to him: (Gal. 3:26,27; 4:6,7) by the name of the
Son, participation in the forgiveness of sins and the life that is in Christ: (Col. 2:12) by
the name of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling and progressive renewal of the Spirit. (Tit.2:5,6)
And every baptized believer must always look upon baptism as his entrance into a
covenant with the Three-One God, and as a pledge that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit
will in course of time do for him all that they have promised. It requires a life-long study
to know and enjoy all the blessing that is presented in baptism.
In other passages of Scripture the thrice two- fold blessing is again set forth separately:
thus we find bound up with it the new birth required to make a child of God. 'Except a
man be born of water and the Sprit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.' The
baptized disciple has in God a Father, and he has to live as a child in the love of this
Father. (John 3:3,5)
Then, again, baptism is brought more directly into connection with the redemption that is
in Christ. Consequently, the first and simplest representation of it is the forgiveness or
washing away of sins. Forgiveness is always the gateway or entrance into all blessing:
hence baptism is also the sacrament of the beginning of the Christian life; but of a
beginning that is maintained through the whole life. It is on this account that in Rom. 6
baptism is represented as the secret of the whole of sanctification, the entrance into a life
in union with Jesus. 'Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death?' And then follows in verse 4-11, the more precise
explanation of what it is to be baptized into the death of Jesus, and to arise out of this
with Him for a new life in Him. This is elsewhere very powerfully comprehended in this
one word: 'As many of you as were baptized into Christ did put on Christ.' This alone is
the right life of a baptized disciple: he has put on Christ. (Rom. 6:3,4; Gal. 3:27;
Col.2:12) As one is plunged into water and passes under it, so is the believing confessor
baptized into the death of Christ, in order then to live and walk clothed with the new life
of Christ.
And there are other passages where again there is connected with baptism the promise of
the Spirit, not only as the Spirit of regeneration, but as the gift bestowed from heaven
upon believers for indwelling and sealing, for progressive renewal. 'He saved us through
the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost, which He poured out upon
us richly.' Renewal is here the activity of the Spirit, whereby the new life that is planted
in the new birth penetrates our whole being, so that all our thinking and doing is
sanctified by Him. (Rom. 12:2; Eph. 4:23; Tit. 2:5,6)
And all this rich blessing which lies in baptism is received by faith. 'He that believeth,
and is baptized, shall be saved.' Baptism was not only a confession on man's part of the
faith that he who would be a disciple already had, but equally on God's part a seal for the
confirmation of faith, a covenant token in which the whole treasury of grace lay open, to
be enjoyed throughout life. As often as a baptized believer sees a baptism administered,
or reflects upon it, it is to be to him an encouragement to press by an over-growing faith
into the full life of salvation that the Three-One desires to work in him. The Holy Spirit is
given to appropriate within us all the love of the Father and all the grace of the Son. The
believing candidate for baptism is baptized into the death of Christ, has put on Christ: the
Holy Spirit is in him to give him all this as his daily experience. (Eph. 4:14,15; Col 2:16)
Lord God, make Thy holy baptism always operative in my soul as the experience that I
am baptized into the death of Christ. And let Thy people everywhere understand by Thy
Spirit what rich blessing lies thrown open in the baptism of their children. Amen.
And what are we now to think of Infant Baptism? With the assurance that those who
cleave only to God's word, namely, the Baptists, will say to us: You cannot adduce a
single passage in Scripture where the baptism of little children is spoken of.
Our answer is that this is thoroughly taught us in Scripture, not indeed by separate texts,
but by its whole tenor. The reason why the Lord Jesus did not name children specially,
was that this was altogether unnecessary. From the time of Abraham onwards God had
engrained it in His people, that in His covenant He always reckoned parents and children
together. He deals, not with separate individuals alone, but with households: the faith of a
father held good for the child, so long as the child did not violate the covenant.
a. In Abraham, Isaac obtained part; in every father amongst the people of Israel his child
obtained part in the covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, to be a God
unto thee, and thy seed after thee.' (Gen. 17:7.)
b. Even so in connection with the Passover, it was ordained that, when a stranger would
join the people, all his males should be circumcised. (Ex. 12:48)_ Up to the time of Christ
it was unquestionably the case that, when any one belonged to the people of God or
desired to become attached to them, his little children were received along with him. If
the Lord had desired to change this, a very express injunction was needed for the
purpose.
c. How expressly did the Lord Jesus declare of children: 'Of such is the kingdom of God.'
And under the kingdom should he not have as a Christian the privilege that he had as a
Jew? Yes: the covenant of Abraham is still confirmed from child to child.
d. The answer of Paul to the goal-keeper confirms the continuance of what God had
instituted: 'Believe in the Lord Jesus and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.' Although
there were no children in that house, this promise confirms the principle that God deals,
not merely with individuals, but with households.
e. 'Therefore are your children holy.' Since the child itself is holy, it has of itself a right to
the holy token of the covenant.
* The Dutch version, like our Authorized, has 'teach' here.
Chapter 43
THE LORD'S SUPPER
'The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of the blood of Christ? The
bread which we break, is it not a communion of the body of Christ?' -- 1 Cor. 10:16
'He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in Me, and I in him. He that
eateth Me, he also shall live because of Me.' -- John 6:56,57
All life has need of food: it is sustained by nourishment which it takes in from without.
The heavenly life must have heavenly food; nothing less than Jesus Himself is the bread
of life: 'He that eateth Me shall live by Me.' (Ps. 42:3; Matt. 4:4; John 6:51)
This heavenly food, Jesus, is brought near to us in two of the means of grace, the word
and the Lord's Supper. The word comes to present Jesus to us from the side of the
intellectual life, by our thoughts. The Lord's Supper comes in like manner to present
Jesus to us from the side of the emotional life, by the physical senses. Man has a double
nature: he has spirit and body. Redemption begins with the spirit, but it would also
penetrate to the body, (Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 6:13, 15,19,20; Phil. 3:21) Redemption is not
complete until this mortal body also shall share in glory. The Supper is the pledge that the
Lord will also change our body of humiliation and make it like His own glorified body by
the working whereby He subdues all things to Himself. It is not simply because all that is
corporeal is more clear and intelligible for us, that the Lord gives Himself in the bread of
the Supper. No: by the body, Scripture often understands the whole man. In the Supper,
Christ would take possession of the whole man, body and soul, to renew and sanctify it
by the power of His holy body and blood. Even His body shares in His glory: even His
body is communicated by the Holy Spirit. Even our body is fed with His holy body, and
renewed by the working of the Holy Spirit. (Matt. 26:26; John 6:54,55; Rom. 8:11,13)
This feeding with the body of Christ takes place, on the side of the Lord by the Spirit, on
our side by faith. On the side of the Lord by the Spirit: for the Spirit communicates to us
the power of the glorified body, whereby even our bodies, according to Scripture, become
members of His body. (1 Cor. 6:15,17; 12:13; Eph. 5:23,30) The Spirit gives us to drink
of the life-power of His blood, so that that blood becomes the life and the joy of our soul.
The bread is a participation in the body: the cup is a participation in the blood.
And this takes place on our side by faith: a faith that, above what can be seen or
understood, reckons on the wonder-working power of the Holy Spirit to unite us really,
alike in soul and body, with our Lord, by communicating Him inwardly to us. (Luke
1:37; 1 Cor. 2:9,12)
This is what the Heidelberg Catechism intends in Question and Answer 76.
'What is it to eat the glorified body of Christ and to drink His shed blood?'
'It is not only to receive with a believing heart the whole suffering and dying of Christ,
and thereby to obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but also therewith, by the Holy
Spirit, who dwells alike in Christ and in us, to be so united more and more with His
blessed body, that we, although He is in heaven and we are upon earth, are nevertheless
flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, and so live and are governed eternally by one
Spirit, as the members of our body by a soul.' *
This deeply inward union with Jesus, even with His body and blood, is the great aim of
the Lord's Supper. All that it teaches and gives us of the forgiveness of sins, of the
remembrance of Jesus, of the confirmation of the divine covenant, of union with one
another, of the announcement of the Lord's death till He comes, must lead to this:
complete oneness with Jesus through the Spirit. (Matt. 26:28; Luke 22:19; John 6:56;
25:4; 1 Cor. 10:17; 11:25; Rev. 3:20) 'He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood
abideth in Me, and I in him. He that eateth Me, he shall live by Me.'
It is readily understood that the blessing of the Supper depends very much on preparation
within the inner chamber, on the hunger and thirst with which one longs for the living
God. (Job. 11:13; Isa. 45:1,3; Matt. 5:6; Luke 1:53; 1 Cor. 11:8) Do not imagine,
however, that the Supper is nothing but an emblematic token of what we already have by
faith in the word. No: it is a spiritual actual communication from the exalted Lord in
heaven of the powers of His life: yet this, only according to the measure of desire and
faith. Prepare for the Lord's Supper, therefore, with very earnest separation and prayer.
And then expect that the Lord will, with His heavenly power, in a way to you
incomprehensible, yet sure, renew your life.
Blessed Lord, who didst institute the Supper in order to communicate Thyself to Thy
redeemed as their food and their power of life, O teach us to use the Supper. Teach us at
every opportunity to eat and to drink with great hunger and thirst for Thyself and for full
union with Thee, believing that the Holy Spirit feeds us with Thy body and gives us to
drink of Thy blood. Amen.
1. In connection with the Supper let us be especially on our guard against the idea of a
mere divine service of the congregation or transitory emotion. Preaching and addresses
may make an edifying impression, while there is little power or blessing.
2. For a meal, the first requisite is hunger. A strong hunger and thirst for God is
indispensable.
3. In the Supper, Jesus desires to give Himself to us, and would have us give ourselves to
Him. These are great and holy things.
4. The lessons of the Supper are many. It is a feast of remembrance; a feast of
reconciliation; a covenant feast; a love feast; a feast of hope. But all these separate
thoughts are only subordinate parts of the principal element: the living Jesus would give
Himself to us in the most inward union. The Son of God would descend into our inmost
parts; He would come in to celebrate the Supper with us. 'He that eateth My flesh and
drinketh My blood, let him abide in Me, and I in him.'
5. And then union with Jesus is union with His people in love and sympathy.
6. The preparatory address is not itself the preparation: it is only a help to the private
preparation which one must have in intercourse with Jesus.
7. To hold festival with God at His table is something of unspeakable importance. Pray,
do not suppose that, because you are a Christian, it is easy for you to go and sit down. No: betake yourself to solitude with Jesus, that He may speak to you and say how you are
to prepare you heart to eat with Him, yea, with Himself. It is very useful to take the whole week before the Supper for preparation and the whole
week after for reflection.
* 'Der Heidelbergische Catechismus,' 28, 5:76.
Chapter 44
OBEDIENCE
'Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me
from among all peoples.' -- Ex. 19:5
'The Lord will surely bless thee, if thou only diligently hearken unto the voice of the Lord
thy God.' -- Deut. 25:4,5
'By faith Abraham obeyed. -- Heb. 11:8
'He learned obedience by the things which He suffered; and having been made perfect,
He became unto all them that obey Him the author of eternal salvation.' -- Heb. 5:8,9
Obedience is one of the most important words in the Bible and in the life of the Christian.
It was in the way of disobedience that man lost the favour and the life of God: it is only in
the way of obedience that that favour and that life can again be enjoyed. (Rom. 5:19;
6:16; 1 Pet. 1:2,14,22) God cannot possibly take pleasure in those who are not obedient,
or bestow His blessing upon them. 'If ye will obey My voice indeed, ye shall be a
peculiar treasure unto Me;' 'The Lord will surely bless thee, if thou only diligently
hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God.' These are the eternal principles according to
which alone man can enjoy God's favour and blessing.
We see this in the Lord Jesus. He says: 'If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in
My love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love.' He was
in the love of the Father, but could not abide there otherwise than by obedience. And He
says that this is equally for us the one way to abide in His love: we must keep His
commandments. He came to open for us the way back to God: this way was the way of
obedience: only he that through faith in Jesus walks in this way shall come to God.
(Gen.22:17,18; 26:4,5; 1 Sam. 25:22; John 25:10)
How gloriously is this connection betwixt the obedience of Jesus and our own expressed
in Heb. 5: 'He learned obedience, and became unto all them that obey Him the author of
eternal salvation.' This is the bond of unity between Jesus and His people, the point of
conformity and inward unanimity. He was obedient to the Father: they, on the other hand,
are obedient to Him. He and they are both obedient. His obedience not only atones for,
but drives out their disobedience. He and they bear one token: obedience to God.
(Rom.6:17; 2 Cor. 10:5; Phil. 2:8)
This obedience is a characteristic of the life of faith. It is called the obedience of faith.
(Acts. 6:7; Rom. 1:5; 16:26) There is nothing in earthly things that so spurs on men to
work as faith: the belief that there is advantage or joy to be found is the secret of all work.
'By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed:' according to what I believe shall my
works be. The faith that Jesus made me free from the power of sin for obedience and sets
me in a suitable condition for it, has a mighty power to make me obedient. Faith in the
overflowing blessing which the Father gives to it, faith in the promises of the love and
indwelling of God, of the fulness of the Spirit which comes by this channel, strengthens
for obedience. (Deut. 28:1; Isa. 63:5; John 14:15,11,23; Acts. 5:32)
The power of this faith, again, as also of obedience lies especially in intercourse with the
living God Himself. There is but one Hebrew word for 'obeying voice' and 'hearing
voice:' to hear aright prepares to obey. It is when I learn the will of God, not in the words
of a man or a book, but from God Himself, when I hear the voice of God, that I shall
surely believe what is promised and do what is commanded. The Holy Spirit is the voice
of God: when we hear the living voice speak, obedience becomes easy. (Gen. 12:1,4;
31:13,16; Matt. 14:28; Luke 5:5; John 10:4,27) O let us then wait in silence upon God,
and set our soul open before Him, that He may speak by His Spirit. When in our Biblereading
and praying we learn to wait more upon God, so that we can say: My God has
spoken this to me, has given me this promise, has commanded this, then shall we also
obey. 'To listen to the voice' earnestly, diligently, is the sure way to obedience.
With a servant, a warrior, a child, a subject, obedience is indispensable, the first token of
integrity. And shall God, the living, glorious God, find no obedience with us? (Mal. 1:6;
Matt. 7:21) No: let cheerful, punctual, precise obedience from the beginning be the token
of the genuineness of our fellowship with the Son whose obedience is our life.
O Father, who makest us Thy children in Christ, Thou makest us in Him obedient
children, as He was obedient. Let the Holy Spirit make the obedience of Jesus so glorious
and powerful in us, that obedience shall be the highest joy of our life. Teach us in
everything only to seek to know what Thou desirest and then to do it. Amen.
For a life of obedience these things are required: --
1. Decisive surrender. I must no longer have to ask in every single case: Shall I or shall I
not, must I, can I, be obedient? No: it must be such an unquestionable thing, that I shall
know of nothing else than to be obedient. He that cherishes such a disposition and thinks
of obedience as a thing that stands firm, shall find it easy, yea, shall literally taste in it
great joy.
2. The knowledge of God's will through the Spirit. Pray, do not imagine that, because you
know the Bible in some sort, you know the will of God. The knowledge of God's will is
something spiritual: let the Holy Spirit make known to you the knowledge of God's will.
3. The doing of all that we know to be right. All doing teaches men: all doing of what is
right teaches men obedience. All that the wo rd, or conscience, or the Spirit tells you is
right, actually do it. It helps to form doing into a holy habit, and is an exercise leading to
more power and more knowledge. Do what is right, Christian, out of obedience to God,
and you shall be blessed.
4. Faith in the power of Christ. You have the power to obey: be sure of this. Although
you do not feel it, you have it in Christ your Lord by faith.
5. The glad assurance of the blessing of obedience. It unites us with our God, it wins His
good pleasure and love, it strengthens our life, it brings the blessedness of heaven into
our heart.
Chapter 45
THE WILL OF GOD
'Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth.' -- Matt. 6:10
The glory of heaven, where the Father dwells, is that His will is done there. He who
would taste the blessedness of heaven must know the Father who is there, and do His
will, as it is done in heaven. (Dan. 4:35)
Heaven is an unending holy kingdom, of which the throne of God is the central point.
Around this throne there are innumerable multitudes of pure, free beings, all ordered
under powers and dominions. An indescribably rich and many-sided activity fills their
life. All the highest and noblest that keeps man occupied is but a faint shadow of what
finds place in this invisible world. All these beings possess each their free personal will.
The will, however, has in self-conscious freedom, by its own choice, become one with
the holy will of the holy Father, so that, in the midst of a diversity that flashes out in a
million forms, only one will is accomplished -- the will of God. All the rich, blessed
movement of the inhabitants of heaven has its origin and its aim in the will of God.'
And why is it then that His children on earth do not regard this will as their highest joy?
Wherefore is it that the petition, 'Thy will be done as in heaven,' is for the most part
coupled with thoughts of the severe, the trying elements in the will of God, of the
impossibility of our always rejoicing in God's will? The cause is this: we do not take
pains to know the will of God in its glory and beauty, as the emanation of love, as the
source of power and joy, as the expression of the perfection of God. We think of God's
will only in the law that He gave and that we cannot keep, or in the trials in which this
will appears in conflict with our own. O let us no longer do this, but take pains to
understand that in the will of God all His love and blessedness are comprehended and can
be apprehended by us. (Gal. 1:4; Eph. 1:5,9,11; Heb. 10:10)
Hear what the word says about the will of God: and the glorious things that are destined
for us in this will.
'This is the will of my Father, that every one that beholdeth the Son and believeth on Him
should have eternal life.' The will of God is the rescue of sinners by faith in Christ. He
that surrenders himself to this glorious will to seek souls shall have the assurance that
God will bless his work to others; for he carries out God's will, even as Jesus did it. (John
4:35; 5:30; 6:38,40)
'It is not the will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these little ones should
perish.' The will of God is the maintenance, the strengthening, the keeping of the weakest
of His children. What courage shall he have who unites himself cordially with this will.
(Matt. 28:14)
'This is the will of God, even your sanctification.' With His whole heart, with all the
power of His will, is God willing to make us holy. If we but open our heart to believe that
it is not the law, but the will of God, something that He certainly gives and does where
we permit Him, then shall we rejoice over our sanctification a stable and sure. (1 Thess.4:3; 5;23)
'In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus to you-ward.' A
joyful, thankful life is what God has destined for us, is what He will work in us: what He
desires, that He certainly does in those who do not withstand Him, but receive and suffer
His will to work in them. (1 Thess. 5:18)
What we require then is to surrender our spirit to be filled with the thought, that what
God would have He will certainly bring to pass when we do not resist Him. And if we
further consider how glorious, and good, and perfect the will of God is, shall we not then
yield ourselves with the whole heart, that this will may bring itself to accomplishment in
us? (Rom. 12:2)
To this end, let us believe that the will of God is His love. Let us see what blessings in the
word are connected with the doing of this will. (Matt. 7:21; 12:50 John 7:17; 9:31; Eph.5:17; 6:6; 1 John 2:17) Let us think of the glory of heaven as consisting in the doing of
God's will, and make the choice that that our life on earth shall be. And let us with prayer
and meditation suffer ourselves to be led of the Spirit to know this will aright. (Rom.12:2; Col. 1:9; 4:12; Heb. 10:36; 13:21)
When we have thus learned to know the will of God on its glorious heavenly side in the
word, and have done it, it will not be difficult for us also to bear this will where it appears
to be contrary to our nature. We shall be so filled with the adoration of God and His will,
that we shall resolve to see, and approve, and love this will in everything. And it will be
the most glorious thought of our life that there is to be nothing, nothing, in which the will
of God must not be known and honoured. (Ps. 42:9; Matt. 26:39; Heb. 10:7,9)
O my Father, this was the glory of the Lord Jesus, that He did not His own will, but the
will of His Father. This His glory I desire to have as mine. Father, open mine eyes and
my heart to know the perfection, the glory of Thy will, and the glory of a life in this will.
Teach me to understand Thy will aright, then willingly and cheerfully to execute it; and
where I have to hear it, to do this also with filial adoration. Amen.
1. To do the will of God from the heart in prosperity is the only way to bear this will from
the heart in suffering.
2. To do the will of God, I must know it spiritually. The light and the power of the Spirit
go together: what He teaches to see as God's will, He certainly teaches all to do. Meditate
much on Rom. 12:2, and pray earnestly to see God's will aright.
3. Learn always to adore the will of God in the least and the worst thing that man does to
you. It is not the will of God that His child should be proved thereby. Say then always in
the least as well as the greatest trials: It is the will of God that I am in this difficulty. This
brings the soul to rest and silence, and teaches it to honour God in the trial. On this point
read the chapter, 'Is God in everything?' In the excellent little book, 'The Christians Secret
of Salvation.' *
4. When God gave a will to man, He gave him a power whereby he could accept or reject
the will of God. Child of God, pray, open your will to receive the will of God with its full
power, and to be filled with it. This is heavenly glory and blessedness, to be conscious
every day: my will is in harmony with God's will; God's will lives in me. It is the will of
God to work this in you.
* [The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, by H .W. S. F. E. Longely, chap. 8 p. 83. --
Translator]
Chapter 46
SELF-DENIAL
'Then said Jesus unto His disciples, If any man would come after Me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.' -- Matt. 16:24
Self-denial was an exercise of which the Lord Jesus often spoke. He mentioned it several
times as an indispensable token of every true disciple. He connects it with cross-bearing
and losing life. (Matt. 10:38,39; Luke 9:23; 14:27; John 12:24,25) Our old life is so
sinful, and remains to the end so sinful, that it is never in a condition for anything good. It
must therefore be denied and mortified, in order that the new life, the life of God, may
have free dominion over us. (Rom. 6:6; 8:13; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; 6:14; Col. 3:5) Let the
young Christian resolve from the very beginning to deny himself wholly, in accordance
with the injunction of his Lord. At the outset, it seems severe: he will find that it is the
source of inconceivable blessing.
Let self-denial reach our carnal understanding. It was when Peter had spoken according
to the thought of the natural understanding, that the Lord had to say to him: 'Thou
mindest not the things of God, but the things of men.' You must deny yourselves and
your own thoughts. We must be careful that the activity of our understanding with the
word and prayer, in endeavouring to reach the knowledge of what is God's will, does not
deceive us with a service of God that is not in spirit and in truth. Deny your carnal
understanding; bring it to silence; in ho ly silence give place to the Holy Spirit; let the
voice of God be heard in your heart. (Matt. 26:21; 1 Cor. 1:17,27; 2:6; Col. 2:18)
Deny also your own will, with all its lusts and desires. Let it be once for all
unquestionable that the will of God in everything is your choice, and that therefore every
desire that does not fall in with this will, must be mortified. Pray, believe that in the will
of God there is heavenly blessedness, and that therefore self-denial appears severe only at
the outset, but, whe n you exercise yourself heartily in it, becomes a great joy. Let the
body with all its life abide under the law of self-denial. (Matt. 26:39; Rom. 6:13; 1 Cor.9:25,27)
Deny also your own honour. Seek not it, but the honour of God. This brings such a rest
into the soul. 'How can ye believe,' says Jesus, 'which receive glory one of another?'
Although your honour be hurt or reviled, commit it to God to watch over it. Be content to
be little, to be nothing. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom.' (John
5:44; 7:18; 8:50; 1 Thess. 2:6)
Deny, in like manner, your own power. Cherish the deep conviction that it is those who
are weak, those who are nothing, that God can use. Be very much afraid of your own
endeavours in the service of God, however sincere they may be. Although you feel as if
you had power, say before God that you have it not, that your power is nothing:
continuous denial of your own power is the way to enjoy the power of God. It is in the
heart that dies to its own power, that the Holy Spirit decides to dwell and bring the power
of God. (2 Cor. 3:5; 12:9)
Deny especially your own interests. Live not to please yourself, but your neighbour. He
that seeks his own life shall lose it; he that would live for himself shall not find life. But
he that would really imitate Jesus, to share in His joy, let him give his life as He did, let
him sacrifice his own interests. (Rom. 15:1,3; 1 Cor. 10:23,24; Eph. 2:4)
Beloved Christian, at conversion you had to make a choice betwixt your own self and
Christ, which you should obey. You then said: 'Not I, but Christ' Now you are to confirm
this choice every day. The more you do so, the more joyful and blessed will it be for you
to renounce the sinful self, to cast aside unholy self- working, and suffer Jesus to be all.
The way of self-denial is a way of deep heavenly blessedness.
There are very many Christians that observe nothing of this way. They would have Jesus
to make them free from punishment, but not to liberate them from themselves, from their
own will. But the invitation to discipleship still always rings: 'If any man would come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.'
The reason as well as the power for self-denial, we find in the little word Me. 'If any man
would come after Me, let him deny himself, and follow Me.' The old life is in ourselves:
the new life is in Jesus: the new life cannot rule without driving out the old. Where one's
own self had everything to say, it must be nothing. This it would fain not be: on this
account there must be all the day denial of one's self, imitation of Jesus. He, with His
teaching, His will, His honour, His interests, must fill the heart. But he that has and
knows Him, willingly denies himself: Christ is so precious to him, that he sacrifices
everything, even himself, to win Him. (Gal. 2:20; Phil. 3:7,8)
This is the true life of faith. Not according to what nature sees or thinks to be acceptable,
do I live, but according to what Jesus says and would have. Every day and every hour I
confirm the wonderful bargain: 'Not I, but Christ:' I nothing, Christ everything. 'Ye died,'
and no longer have power, or will, or honour; 'your life is hid with Christ in God:' Christ's
power and will alone prevail. O soul, cheerfully deny that sinful wretched self, in order
that the glorious Christ may dwell in you.
Precious Saviour, teach me what self-denial is. Teach me so to distrust my heart that in
nothing shall I yield to its fancy. Teach me so to know Thee that it shall be impossible for
me to do anything else than to offer up myself to possess Thee and Thy life. Amen.
1. Of the denial of the natural understanding Tersteegen says: 'God and His truth are
never known aright, save by such an one as, by the dying of his carnal nature, his
inclinations, passions, and will, is made very earnest and silent; and by the abandonment
of the manifold deliberations of the understanding, has become very simple and childlike
We must give our heart and our will entirely to God, forsaking our own will in all things,
releasing ourselves especially from the manifold imaginations and activities of the
understanding, even in spiritual things, that it may collect itself silently in the heart, and
dwell as in the heart with God. Not in the head, but in the heart is found the living truth
itself, the anointing that teaches us all things. In the heart is found the living fountain of
light. Any one that lives in a heart entertained with God, will often with a glance of the
eye discern more truth than another with the greatest exertion.'
2. Read the above passage with care: you will find in it the reason why we have several
times said, that when you read or pray you must at every opportunity keep quiet for a
little and set yourself in entire silence before God. This is necessary, to bring the activity
of the natural understanding to silence and to set the heart open before God, that He may
speak there. In the heart is the temple where worship in spirit and truth takes place. Distrust, deny your understanding in spiritual things. The natural understanding is in the
head: the spiritual understanding is in the heart, the temple of God. O preserve in the
temple of God a holy silence before His countenance: then He will speak.
3. 'The peculiar mark of Christian self-denial is inward cheerfulness and joy in the midst
of privation. The word of God makes unceasing joy a duty. This gladsome disposition,
which, hailing from eternity, has all change and vicissitude under foot, will hold its
ground, not only in times of severe suffering, but also in the self-denial of every day and
hour that is inseparable from the Christian life.'
4. What all am I to deny? Deny yourself. How shall I know where and when to deny
myself? Do so always and in everything. And if you do not rightly understand that
answer, know that no one can give you the right explanation of it but Jesus Himself. To
imitate Him, to be taught of Him, is the only way to self-denial. Only when Jesus comes
in, does self go out.
Chapter 47
DISCRETION
'For wisdom sha ll enter into thine heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;
discretion shall watch over thee, understanding shall keep thee.' -- Prov. 2:10,11
'My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they be life unto thy soul.' -- Prov.
3:21,22
'Ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash.' -- Acts. 19:36
Indiscretion is not merely the sin of the unconverted: amongst the people of God, it is
often the cause of much evil and misery. We read of Moses: 'They angered him also at
the waters of Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their sakes: because they were
rebellious against his spirit, and he spake unadvisedly with his lips.' So of Uzzah's
touching the ark: 'And God smote him there for his error' (margin, rashness). (2 Sam. 6:7;
Ps. 106:38; Prov. 12:18)
What discretion is, and why it is so necessary, may be easily explained. When an army
marches into the province of an enemy, its safety depends on the guards which are set,
which are to be always on the watch, to know and to give warning when the enemy
approaches. Advance guards are sent out that the territory and power of the enemy may
be known. This prudence, which looks out beforehand and looks round, is indispensable.
The Christian lives in the province of the enemy. All that surrounds him may become a
snare or an occasion of sin. Therefore his whole walk is to be carried out in a holy reserve
and watchfulness, in order that he may do nothing indiscreet. He watches and prays that
he may not enter into temptation. (Matt. 26:41: Luke 1:36; Eph. 6:18; 1 Pet. 4:7; 5:8)
Prudence keeps guard over him. (1 Sam. 18:14; Matt. 10:16; Luke 1:17; 16:8; Eph. 5:15;
Tit. 2:4)
Discretion keeps watch over the lips. O what loss many a child of God suffers by the
thought that if he only speaks nothing wrong, he may speak what he will. He knows not
how, through much speaking, the soul becomes ensnared in the distractions of the world,
because in the multitude of words there is not wanting transgression. Discretion
endeavours not to speak, save for the glory of God and blessing to neighbours. (Ps. 39:2;
141:3; Prov. 10:19; Eccles. 5:1,2)
Over the ear also discretion keeps guard. Through the gate of the ear comes to me all the
news of the world, all the indiscreet speech of others, to infect me. Very hurtful for the
soul is eagerness for news. One can afterwards no more look into one's self: one lives
wholly in the world round about. Corinth was much more godless than Athens; but in this
last place, where they 'spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some
new thing,' very few were converted. Take heed, says Jesus, what ye hear. (Prov. 2:2;
18:15; Mark 4:24; Acts. 17:21)
On this account, discretion keeps watch over the society in which the Christian mingles.
'He that separateth himself seeketh his own desire.' The child of God has no the freedom
to yield himself to the society of the world so much and so long as he would: he must
know the will of his Father. (Ps. 1:1; Prov. 28:1; 2 Cor. 6:14; 2 Thess. 3:14; 2 John 10,11)
Discretion keeps watch over all lawful occupations and possessions. It knows how
gradually and stealthily the love of money, worldly- mindedness, the secret power of the
flesh, obtains the upper hand, and that it can never reckon itself free from this temptation.
(Matt. 13:22; Luke 21:34; 1 Tim. 6:9,17)
And, above all, it keeps watch over the heart, because there are the issues of life, there is
the fountain out of which everything springs. Remembering the word, 'he that trusteth in
his own heart is a fool,' it walks in deep humility, and it works out salvation with fear and
trembling. (Prov. 3:21,23; 4:23; 28:16; Jer. 31:33)
And whence has the soul the power to be with a never-resting watchfulness on its guard
against the thousand dangers that surround it on all sides? Is it not fatiguing, exhausting,
harassing, to have thus to watch always and never to be at rest in the certainty that there
is no danger? No: absolutely not. Discretion brings just the highest restfulness. It has its
security and strength in its heavenly Keeper, who slumbers not nor sleeps. In confidence
in Him, under the inspiration of His Spirit, discretion does its work: the Christian walks
as one that is wise; the dignity of a holy prudence adorns him in all his actions. The rest
of faith, the faith that Jesus watches and guards, binds to Him in love, and holy discretion
springs as of its own accord from a love that would not grieve or abandon Him, from a
faith that has its strength for everything in Him.
O Lord my God, guard me, that I may not be of the indiscreet in heart. Let the prudence
of the righteous always characterize me, in order that in everything I may be kept from
giving offense. Amen.
1. To one who bestowed great care on having his horse and cart in thoroughly good order,
it was once said: Come, it is not necessary to be always taking so much pains with this. His answer was: I have always found my prudence paid. How many a Christian has need
of this lesson. How many a young Christian may well pray for this -- that his conversion
may be, according to God's word, 'to the prudence of the righteous.'
2. Discretion has its root in self-knowledge. The deeper my knowledge of my impotence
and the sinfulness of my flesh is, the greater is the need of watchfulness. It is thus our
element of true self-denial.
3. Discretion has its power in faith: the Lord is our Keeper, and He does His keeping
through the Spirit keeping us in mind. It is from Him that our discretion comes.
4. Its activity is not limited to ourselves: it reaches out especially to our neighbour, in the
way of giving him no offense, and in laying no stumbling-block in his way. (Rom. 14:13;
1 Cor. 8:9; 10:32; Phil. 1:10)
5. It finds great delight in silence, so as to commit its way to the Lord with composure
and deliberation. It esteems highly the word of the town-clerk of Ephesus: 'Ye ought to
be quiet, and to do nothing rash.'
6. In great generals and their victories, we see that discretion is not timidity: it is
consistent with the highest courage and the most joyful certitude of victory. Discretion
watches against rashness, but enhances the courage of faith.
Chapter 48
MONEY
'Money answereth all things.' -- Eccles. 10:19
'I verily dedicate the silver unto the Lord from my hand.' -- Judg. 17:3
'Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the bankers, and at my coming I
should have received back mine own with interest.' -- Matt. 25:27
It is in his dealing with the world and its possessions, that the Christian finds one of the
opportunities in which he is to manifest his self-denial and the spirit of discretion. (John
17:15,16; 1 Cor. 7:31) Since it is in money that all value or property on earth will find its
expression, so it is especially in his dealing with money that he can show whether he is
free from worldliness to deny himself and to serve his God. In order rightly to
comprehend this, we must consider for a little what falls to be said about money.
What is money the token of? It is the token of the work by which a man earns it: of his
industry, and zeal, and ability in that work: of his success and the blessing of God upon
the work. It is also the token of all that I can do with money: the token of the work that
others would do for me, of the power that I thereby have to accomplish what I desire, of
the influence which I exercise on those that are dependent upon me for my money: a
token of all the possessions or enjoyments that are to be obtained by money: a token of
all upon earth that can make life desirable: yea, a token of life itself, which without the
purchase of indispensable food cannot be supported.
Money is thus, indeed, of earthly things, one of the most desirable and fruitful. No
wonder that it is thus esteemed by all.
What is the danger of money? What is the sin that is done with it, that the Bible and
experience should so warn us to be prudent in dealing with it? There is the anxiousness
that knows not if there will be sufficient money. (Matt. 6:31) There is the coveteousness
that longs too much for it. (1 John 2:16) There is the dishonesty that, without gross
deception or theft, does not give to a neighbour what belongs to him. (Jas. 5:4) There is
the lovelessness that would draw everything to one's self and does not keep another.
(Luke 16:21) There is love of money, which seeks after riches and lands in avarice. (1
Tim. 6:9,10,17) There is robbery of God and the poor in withholding the share that
belongs to them. (Prov. 7:24,26; Ma. 3:8)
What is the blessing of money? If the danger of sin is so great, would it not be better if
there were no money? Is it not better to be without money? No: even for the spiritual life
money may be a great blessing: as an exercise in industry and activity, (Prov. 13:4,18,19)
in care and economy: as a token of God's blessing upon our work: (Prov. 10:4,22) as an
opportunity for showing that we can possess and lay it out for God, without withholding
it or cleaving to it; that by means of it we can manifest our generosity to the poor and our
overflowing love for God's cause: (Isa. 47:7,8,10,11; 2 Cor. 8:14,15) as a means of
glorifying God by our beneficence, and of spreading among men the gold of heavenly
blessing: (2 Cor. 9:12,13) as a thing that, according to the assurance of Jesus, we can
exchange for a treasure in heaven. (Matt. 19:21; Luke 12:33)
And what is now the way to be freed from the danger and to be led into the right blessing
of money?
Let God be Lord over your money. Receive all your money with thanksgiving, as coming
from God in answer to the prayer: 'Give us this day our daily bread.' (1 Chron. 29:14)
Lay it all down before God as belonging to Him. Say with the woman: 'I verily dedicate
the silver unto the Lord.' (Judges 17:3)
Let your dealing with your money be a part of your spiritual life. Receive, and possess,
and give out your money as one who has been bought at a high price, redeemed, not with
silver and gold, but with the precious blood. (Luke 19:8)
Make what the word of God says of money, of earthly good, a special study. The word of
the Father alone teaches how the child of the Father is to use blessing.
Reflect much on the fact that it is not given to you for yourself alone, but for you and
your brethren together. The blessing of money is to do good to others, and make them
rejoice.
Remember especially that it can be given up to the Father and the service of His kingdom
for the upbuilding of His spiritual temple, for the extension of His way. Every time of
spiritual blessing mentioned in Scripture was a time of cheerful giving for God's cause.
Even the outpouring of the Holy Spirit make itself known in the giving of money for the
Lord. (Ex. 36:5; 1 Chron. 29:6,9; Acts. 2:15; 4:34)
Christian, understand it: all the deepest deliberations of the heart and its most spiritual
activities can manifest themselves in the way in which we deal with our money. Love to
God, love to our neighbour, victory over the world by faith, the hope of everlasting
treasure, faithfulness as steward, joy in God's service, cheerful self-denial, holy
discretion, the glorious freedom of the children of God, can all be seen in the use of
money. Money can be the means of the most glorious fellowship with God, and the full
enjoyment of the blessedness of being able to honour and serve Him.
Lord God, make me rightly discern in what close connection my money stands with my
spiritual life. Let the Holy Spirit lead and sanctify me, so that all my earning and
receiving, my keeping and dispensing of money may always be well-pleasing to Thee and
a blessing to my soul. Amen.
1. John Wesley always said that there were three rules about the use of money which he
gave to men in business, and by which he was sure that they would experience benefit.
Make as much money as you can. Be industrious and diligent.
Save as much money as you can. Be no spendthrift, live frugally and prudently.
Give away as much money as you can. That is the divine destination of money; that
makes it an everlasting blessing for yourselves and others.
2. Acquaint yourself with the magnificent prayer of David in 1 Chron. 29. Receive it into
your soul; it teaches us the blessedness and the glorification of God that spring from
cheerful giving.
Chapter 49
THE FREEDOM OF THE CHRISTIAN
'Being made free from sin, ye became bond-servants of righteousness. Being made free
from sin, ye have your fruit unto sanctification.' -- Rom. 6:18,22
'But now we have been discharged from the law.' -- Rom. 7:6
'The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of
death.' -- Rom. 8:2
Freedom is counted in Scripture as one of the greatest privileges of the child of God.
There is nothing in history for which nations have made great sacrifices except freedom.
Slavery is the lowest condition into which man can sink, for in it he can no longer dispose
of himself. Freedom is the deepest need of his nature.
To be free, then, is the condition in which anything can develop itself according to the
law of its nature, that is, according to its disposition. Without freedom nothing can attain
its destiny or become what it ought to be. This is true alike of the animal and man, of the
corporeal and the spiritual. It was for this cause that God in Israel chose the redemption
out of the slavery of Egypt into the glorious liberty of God's people, as the everlasting
type of redemption out of the slavery of sin into the liberty of the children of God.
(Ex.1:14; 4:23; 6:5; 20:2; Deut. 24:8) On this account, Jesus said on earth: 'If the Son shall
make you free, ye shall be free indeed.' And the Holy Scriptures teach us to stand fast in
the freedom with which Christ made us free. A right insight into this freedom opens up to
us one of the greatest glories of the life that the grace of God has prepared for us. (John
8:32,36; Gal. 4:21,31; 5:1)
In the three passages, from the Epistle to the Romans, in which sanctification is dealt
with, a threefold freedom is spoken of. There is freedom from sin in the sixth chapter,
freedom from the law in the seventh, freedom from the law of sin in the eighth.
There is freedom from sin (Rom. 6:7,18,22). Sin is represented as a power that rules over
man, under which he is brought and taken captive, and that urges him as a slave to evil. (John 8:34; Rom. 7:14,23; 2 Pet. 2:19) By the death of Christ and in Christ of the
believer, who is one with Him, he is made entirely free from the dominion of sin: it has
no more power over him. If, then, he still does sin, it is because he, not knowing his
freedom by faith, permits sin still to rule over him. But it by faith he fully accepts what
the word of God thus confirms, then sin ha s no power over him: he overcomes it by the
faith that he is made free from it. (Rom. 5:21; 6:12,14)
Then there is freedom from the law. This leads us deeper into the life of grace than
freedom from sin. According to Scripture, law and sin always go together. 'The strength
of sin is the law:' The law does nothing but make the offense greater. (Rom. 4:15;
5:13,20; 7:13; 1 Cor. 15:56) The law is the token of our sinfulness, cannot help us against
sin, but with its demand for perfect obedience gives us over hopeless to the power of sin.
The Christian who does not discern that he is made free from the law will still always
abide under sin. (Rom. 6:15; 7:5) Christ and the law cannot rule over us together: in
every endeavour to fulfil the law as believers, we are taken captive by sin. (Rom. 7:5,23)
The Christian must know that he is entirely free from the law, from the you must that
stands without us and over us: then for the first time shall he know what it is to be free
from sin.
Then there is also freedom from the law of sin, actual liberation from the power of sin in
our members. What we have in Christ, freedom from sin and from the law, is inwardly
appropriated for us by the Spirit of God. 'The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made
me free from the law of sin and of death.' The Holy Spirit in us takes the place of the law
over us. 'If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.' Freeing from the law is not
anything external, but takes place according to the measure the Spirit obtains dominion in
us and leads us. 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.' According as the law of
the Spirit rules in us, we are made free from the law, from the law of sin. We are then
free to do what we, as God's children, would fain do, free to serve God. (2 Cor. 3:17; Gal.5:18)
Free expresses a condition in which nothing hinders me from being what I would be and
ought to be. In other words, free is to be able to do what I would. The power of sin over
us, the power of the law against us, the power of the law of sin in us, hinder us. But he
that stands in the freedom of the Holy Spirit, he that is then truly free, nothing can
prevent or hinder him from being what he would be and ought to be. As it is the nature of
a tree to grow upwards, and it also grows as it is free from all hindrances, so a child of
God then grows to what he ought to be and shall be. And according as the Holy Spirit
leads him into this freedom, there springs up the joyful consciousness of his strength for
the life of faith. He joyfully shouts: 'I can do all things in Him that strengtheneth me.'
'Thanks be unto God which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ.'
Son of God, anointed with the Spirit to announce freedom to the captives, make me also
truly free. Let the Spirit of life in Thee, my Lord, make me free from the law of sin and of
death. I am Thy ransomed one. O let me live as Thy freed one, who is hindered by
nothing from serving Thee. Amen.
1. The freedom of the Christian extends over his whole life. He is free in relation to the
institutions and teachings of men. 'Ye were bought with a price: become not bondservants
of men.' ( 1 Cor. 7:23; Col. 2:20) He is free in relation to the world, and in the
use of what God gives: he has power to possess it or to dispense with it, to enjoy it or to
sacrifice it. (1 Cor. 8:8; 9:4,5)
2. This freedom is no lawlessness. We are free from sin and the law to serve God in the
Spirit. We are not under the law, but give ourselves, with free choice and in love, to Him
who loved. us. (Rom. 6:18; Gal. 5:13; 1 Pet. 2:16) Not under the law, also not without
law; but in the law; a new, a higher law, 'The law of the Spirit of life,' 'the law of liberty,'
the law written in our hearts, is our rule and measure. (1 Cor. 9:21; Jas. 1:15; 2:12) In this
last passage the translation ought to be: 'bound by a law to Christ.'
3. This freedom has its subsistence from the word and also in it: the more the word abides
in me, and the truth lives in me, the freer I become. (John 8:31,32,36)
4. Freedom manifests itself in love. I am free from the law, and from men, and from
institutions, to be able now like Christ to surrender myself for others. (Rom. 14:13,21;
Ga. 5:13; 6:1)
5. This glorious liberty to serve God and our neighbour in love is a spiritual thing. We
cannot by any means seize it and draw it to us. It becomes known only by a life in the
Holy Spirit. 'Where the Spirit of the Lord is there liberty.' 'If ye are led by the Spirit, ye
are not under the law.' It is the Holy Spirit that makes free. Let us suffer ourselves to be
introduced by Him into the effectual glorious liberty of the children of God. 'The Spirit of
life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin and of death.'
Chapter 50
GROWTH
'So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon the earth; and should sleep
and rise night and day, and the seed should spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The
earth beareth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.' --
Mark 4:26-28
'The Head, from whom the whole body increaseth with the increase of God' -- Col. 2:19
'That we may grow into Him which is the Head, even Christ, from whom the whole body
maketh the increase.' -- Eph. 4:15,16
Death is always a standing still: life is always movement, progressiveness. Increase or
growth is the law of all created life; consequently, the new life in man is destined to
increase, and always by becoming stronger. As there are in the seed and in the earth a life
and power of growth by which the plant is impelled to have its full height and fruit; so is
there in the seed of the eternal life an impelling force by which also that life always
increases and grows with a divine growth, until we come to a perfect man, to the measure
of the stature of the fulness of Chr ist. (Eph. 4:12; 2 Thess. 1:4)
I this parable of the seed that springs up of itself, and becomes great and bears fruit, the
Lord teaches us two of the most important lessons on the increase of the spiritual life.
The one is that of its self-sufficiency, the other that of its gradualness.
The first lesson is for those that ask what they are to do in order to grow and advance
more in grace. As the Lord said of the body: 'Which of you by being anxious can add one
cubit unto his stature? consider the lilies of the field how they grow;' so He says to us
here that we can do nothing, and need to do nothing, to make the spiritual life grow.
(Hos. 14:16; Matt. 6:25,27,28) Do you not see how, while man slept, the seed sprang up
and became high, he knew not how, and how the earth brought forth fruit of itself? When
man has once sowed, he must reckon that God cares for the growth: he has not to care: he
must trust and rest.
And must man then do nothing? He can do nothing: it is from within that the power of
life must come: from the life, from the Spirit implanted in him. To the growth itself he
can contribute nothing: it shall be given him to grow. (Ps. 92:14; Gal. 2:20; Col. 3:3)
All that he can do is to let the life grow. All that can hinder the life, he must take away
and keep away. If there are thorns and thistles that take away place and power in the soil
which the plant should have, he can take them away. (Jer. 4:13; Matt. 13:22,23) The plant
must have its place in the earth alone and undivided. For this the husbandman can care:
then it grows further of itself. So must the Christian take away what can hinder the
growth of the new life: to surrender the heart entire and undivided for the new life, to
hold it alone in possession and to fill it, so that it may grow free and unhindered. (Son.2:15; Heb. 12;1)
The husbandman can also bring forward what the plant requires in the way of food or
drink: he can manure or moisten the soil as it may be needful. So must the believer see to
it that for the new life there is brought forward nourishment out of the word, the living
water of the Spirit, by prayer. It is in Christ that the new life is planted: from Him it
increases with divine increase: abide rooted in Him by the exercise of faith: the life will
grow of itself. (2 John 15:4,5; Col. 2:6,7) Give it what it must have: take away what can
hinder it: the life will grow and increase of itself.
Then comes in the second lesson of the parable: the gradualness of the growth: 'first the
blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear.' Do not expect everything at once. Give
God time. By faith and endurance we inherit the promises: the faith that knows that it has
everything in Christ: the endurance that expects everything in its time according to the
rule and the order of the divine government. Give God time. Give the new life time. It is
by continued abiding in the earth that the plant grows: it is by continuous standing in
grace, in Christ Himself, in whom God has planted us, that the new life grows. (Heb.3:13; 6:12,15; Jas. 5:7)
Yes: give the new life only sufficient time: time in prayer: time in intercourse with God:
time in continuous exercise of faith: time in persistent separation from the world. Give it
time: slow but sure, hidden but real, in apparent weakness but with heavenly power, is the
divine growth with which the life of God in the soul grows up to the perfect man in
Christ.
Lord God, graciously strengthen the faith of Thy children, that their growth and progress
are in Thy hands. Enable them to see what a precious, powerful life was implanted in
them by Thyself, a life that increases with a divine increase. Enable them by faith and
patience to inherit the promises. And teach them in that faith to take away all that can
hinder the new life, to bring forward all that can further it, so that Thou mayest make Thy
work in them glorious. Amen.
1. For a plant, the principal thing is the son in which it stands and out of which it draws
its strength. For the Christian, this also is the principal thing: he is in Christ. Christ is all:
he must grow up in Him, for out of Him the body obtains its increase. To abide in Christ
by faith -- that is the main thing.
2. Remember that faith must set itself towards a silent restfulness, that growth is just like
that of the lilies on God's hands, and that He will see to it that we increase and grow
strong.
3. By this firm and joyful faith, we become 'Strengthened with all power according to the
might of His glory, unto all patience and long-suffering with joy.' (Col. 1:11)
4. This faith, that God cares for our growth, takes away all anxiety, and gives courage for
doing the two things that we have to do: the taking away of what may be obstructive to
the new life, the bringing forward of what may be serviceable to it.
5. Observe well the distinction betwixt planting and growing. Planting is the work of a
moment: in a moment the earth receives the seed: after that comes the slow growth.
Without delay -- immediately must the sinner receive the word: before conversion there
is no delay. Then with time follows the growth of the seed.
6. The main thing is Christ: from Him and in Him is our growth. He is the soil that of
itself brings forth fruit, we know not how. Hold daily intercourse with Him.
There is a book 'Abide in Christ' (Nisbet & Co.), with meditations for a month on the
blessed life of continued fellowship with Him.
Chapter 51
SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES
'O how love I Thy law: it is my meditation all the day.' -- Ps. 119:97
'Ye search (or search ye) the Scriptures: and these are they which bear witness of Me.' --
John 5:39
'The word did not profit them, because they were not united by faith with them that
heard.' -- Heb. 4:2
At the beginning of this book there is more than one passage upon the use of God's word
in the life of grace. Ere I take leave of my readers, I would fain once again come back to
this all- important point. I cannot too earnestly and urgently address this call to my
beloved young brothers and sisters: Upon your use of the word of God your spiritual life
in great measure depends. Man lives by the word that proceedeth from the mouth of God.
Therefore seek with your whole heart to learn how to use God's word aright. To this end,
receive the following hints.
Read the word more with the heart than with the understanding: with the understanding I
would know and comprehend; with the heart I desire, and love, and hold fast. Let the
understanding be the servant of the heart. Be much afraid of the understanding of the
carnal nature, that cannot receive spiritual things. (1 Cor. 1:12,27; 2:6,12; Col. 2:18)
Deny your understanding, and wait in humility on the Spirit of God. On every occasion,
still keep silent amidst your reading of the word, and say to yourselves: this word I now
receive in my heart, to lo ve and to let it live in me. (Ps. 119:10,11,47; Rom. 10:8; Jas.1:21)
Read the word always in fellowship with the living God. The power of a word depends
on my conviction regarding the man from whom it comes. First set yourself in loving
fellowship with the living God under the impression of His nearness and love: deal with
the word under the full conviction that He, the eternal God, is speaking with you; and let
the heart be silent to listen to God, to God Himself. (Gen. 17:3; 1 Sam. 3:9,10; Isa. 50:4;
52:6; Jer. 1:2) Then the word certainly becomes to you a great blessing.
Read the word, as a living word in which the Spirit of God dwells, and that certainly
works in those that believe. The word is seed. Seed has life, and grows and yields fruit of
itself. The word has life, and of itself grows and yields fruit. (Mark 4:27,28; John 6:63; 1
Thess. 2:13; 1 Pet. 1:23) If you do not wholly understand it, if you do not feel its power,
carry it in your heart; ponder it and meditate upon it: it will of itself begin to yield a
working and growth in you. (Ps. 119:15,40,48,69; 2 Tim. 3:16,17) The Spirit of God is
with and in the word.
Read it with the resolve to be, not only a hearer, but a doer of the word. Let the great
question be: What would God now have of me with this word? If the answer is: He would
have me believe it and reckon upon Him to fulfil it: do this immediately from the heart. If
the word is a command of what you are to do, yield yourself immediately to do it.
(Matt.5:19,20; 7:21,24; Luke 11:28; Jas. 1:21,25) O there is an unspeakable blessedness in the
doing of God's word, and in the surrender of myself to be and to act just as the word says
and would have it. Be not hearers, but doers of the word.
Read the word with time. I see more and more that one obtains nothing on earth without
time. Give the word time. Give the word time, at every occasion on which you sit down
to read it, to come into your heart. Give it time, in the persistence with which you cleave
to it, from day to day, and month after month. (Deut. 6:5; Ps. 1:2; 119:97; Jer. 15:16) By
perseverance you become exercised and more accustomed to the word: the word begins
to work. Pray, be not dispirited when you do not understand the word. Hold on: take
courage: give the word time: later on the word will explain itself. David had to meditate
day and night to understand it.
Read the word with a searching of the Scriptures. The best explanation of the Bible is the
Bible itself. Take three or four texts upon a point: set them close to one anothe r and
compare them. See wherein they agree and wherein they differ; where they say the same
thing or again something else. Let the word of God at one time be cleared up and
confirmed by what He said at another time on the same subject: this is the safest and the
best explanation. Even the sacred writers use this method of instruction with the
Scriptures: 'and again.' (Isa. 34:16; John 19:37; Acts. 17:11; Heb. 2:13) Do not complain
that this method takes too much time and pains: it is worthy of the pains: yo ur pains will
be rewarded. On earth you have nothing without pains. (Prov. 2:4,5; 3:13,18; Matt.
13:44) Even the bread of life we have to eat in the sweat of our face. He that would go to
heaven never goes without taking pains. Search the Scriptures: it will be richly
recompensed to you.
Young Christian, let one of my last and most earnest words to you be this: on your
dealing with the word of God depend your growth, your power, your life. Love God's
word then; esteem it sweeter than honey: better than tho usands of gold or silver. In the
word, God can and will reveal His heart to you. In the word, Jesus will communicate
Himself and all His grace. In the word, the Holy Spirit will come in to you, to renew your
heart and all your thoughts, according to the mind and will of God. O, then, read not
simply enough of the word to keep you from declension, but reckon it one of your chief
occupations on earth to yield yourself that God may fill you with His word, that He may
fulfil His word in you.
Lord God, what grace it is that Thou speakest to us in Thy word, that we in Thy word
have access to Thy heart, to Thy will, to Thy love. O forgive us our sins against Thy
precious word. And, Lord, let the new life become so strong by the Spirit in us, that all its
desire shall be to abide in Thy word. Amen.
1. Ps. 119. In the middle of the Bible stands this psalm, in which the praise and the love
of God's word are so strikingly expressed. It is not enough for us to read through the
divisions of this psalm successively: we must take its principal points, and one with
another seek what is said in different passages upon each of these. Let us, for example,
take the following points, observing the indications of the answers, and seek in this way
to come under the full impression of what is taught us of the glory of God's word: --
The blessing that the word gives. Verses, 1,2,6,9,11,14,24,45,46,47, and so on.
2. The appellations that in this psalm are given to God's word.
3. How we have to handle the word. (Observe -- walk -- keep -- mark -- and so on.)
4. Prayer for divine teaching. Verses 5,10,12,18,19,26.
5. Surrender to obedience to the word. Verses 93,105,106,112,128,133.
6. God's word the basis of our prayer. Verses 41,49,58,76,107,116,170.
7. Observance as the ground of confidence in prayer. Verses 77,159,176.
8. Observance as promised upon the hearing of prayer. Verses 8,17,33,32,44.
9. The power to observe the word. Verses 32,36,41,42,117,135,146.
10. The praise of God's word. Verses 54,72,97,129,130,144.
11. The confident confession of obedience. Verses 102,110,121,168.
12. Personal intercourse with God, seen in the use of Thou and I, Thine and Mine.
I have merely mentioned a few points and a few verses. Seek out more and mark them,
until your mind is filled with the thoughts about the word, which the Spirit of God desires
to give you.
Read with great thoughtfulness the words of that man of faith, George Mueller. He says:
'The power of our spiritual life will be according to the measure of the room that the word
of God takes up in our life and in our thoughts.' After an experience of fifty- four years, I
can solemnly declare this. For three years after my conversion I used the word little.
Since that time I searched it with diligence, and the blessing was wonderful. From that
time, I have read the Bible through a hundred times in order, and at every time with
increasing joy. Whenever I start a fresh with it, it appears to me as a new book. I cannot
express how great the blessing is of faithful, daily, regular searching of the Bible. The
day is lost for me, on which I have used no rounded time for enjoying the word of God.
'Friends sometimes say: I have so much to do, that I can find no time for regular Bible
study. I believe that there are few that have to work harder than I have. Yet it remains a
rule with me never to begin my work until I have had real sweet fellowship with God.
After that I give myself heartily to the business of the day, that is, to God's work, with
only intervals of some minutes of prayer.'
Chapter 52
THE LORD THE PERFECTER
'I will cry unto God most High; unto God that performeth all things for me.' -- Ps. 57:2
'The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me.' -- Ps. 138:8
'Being confident of this very thing, that He which began a good work in you will perfect
it until the day of Jesus Christ.' -- Phil. 1:6
'For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things. To Him be the glory for ever
and ever.' -- Rom. 11:36
We read that David was once dispirited by unbelief, and said: 'I sha ll one day perish by
the hand of Saul.' So even the Christian may indeed fear that he shall one day perish. This
is because he looks upon himself and what is in him, and does not set his trust wholly
upon God. It is because he does not yet know God as the Perfecter. He does not yet know
what is meant by His name being: 'I am the Alpha and the Omega: the Beginning and the
End: the First and the Last.' If I really believe in God as the beginning out of whom all is,
then must I also trust Him as the continuation by whom, as also the End to whom, all is.
God is the beginning: 'He who began a good work in you:' 'Ye have not chosen Me, but I
have chosen you.' It is God's free choice, from before the foundation of the world, that we
have to thank that we became believers, and have the new life. (John 15:16; Rom.8:29,30;
Eph. 1:4,11) Those that are still unconverted have nothing to do with this
election: for them there is the offer of grace and the summons to surrender. Outside, over
the door of the Father, stands the superscription: 'Him that cometh unto Me, I will in no
wise cast out.' This every one can see and understand. No sooner are they inside the door
than they see and understand the other superscription: 'All that the Father giveth Me shall
come to me.' (John 6:37) Then they can discern how all things are of God: first obedience
to the command of God, then insight into the counsel of God.
But then it is of great moment to hold fast this truth: He has begun the good work. Then
shall every thought of God strengthen the confidence that He will also perfect it. His
faithfulness, His love, His power, are all pledged that He will perfect the good work that
He began. Pray, read how God has taken more than one oath regarding His unchangeable
faithfulness: your soul will rest in this and find courage. (Gen. 28:15; Ps. 89:29,34,35,36;
Isa. 54:9,10; Jer. 33:25,26)
And how shall He finish His work? What has its origin from Him is sustained by Him,
and shall one day be brought to Him and His glory. There is nothing in your life,
temporal or spiritual, for which the Father will not care, because it has influence upon
you for eternity. (Matt. 6:25,34; 1 Pet. 5:7) There is no moment of day or night in which
the silent growth of your soul is not to go forward: the Father will take care of this, if you
believe. There is no part of your destiny as a child of God, perhaps in things of which you
have as yet not the least thought, but the Father will continue and complete His work in
it. (Isa. 27:2,3; 51:12,13) Yet upon one condition. You must trust Him for this. You must
in faith suffer Him to work. You must trustfully say: The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. You must trustfully pray: I will cry unto God that performeth all things
for me. Christian, pray, let your soul become full of the thought: The whole care, for the
continuation and the perfecting of God's work in me, is in His hands. (Heb. 10:35;
13:5,6,20,21; 1 Pet 5:10)
And how glorious shall the perfecting not be. In our spiritual life, God is prepared to
exhibit His power in making us partakers of His holiness and the image of His Son. He
will make us fit, and set us in a condition for all the blessed work in His kingdom that He
would have from us. Our body He will make like to the glorious body of His Son. We
may wait for the coming of the Son Himself from heaven to take His own to Him. He
will unite us in one body with all His chosen, and will receive and make us dwell for ever
in His glory. O how can we think that God will not perfect His work? He will surely do
it, He will gloriously do it, for every one that trusts Him for it.
Child of God, pray, say in deep assurance of faith: The Lord will perfect that which
concerneth me. In every need say continually with great boldness: I will call on God, that
performeth all things for me. And let the song of your life be the joyful doxology: 'From
Him, and through Him and to Him are all things: to Him be the glory for ever. Amen.
Lord God, who shalt perfect that which concerneth me, teach me to know Thee and to
trust Thee. And let every thought of the new life go hand in hand with the joyful
assurance: He who began a work in me will perfect it. Amen.
1. 'He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.' It brings but little profit to begin
well; we must hold the beginning of our hope firm unto the end. (Matt. 10:27; 24:13;
Heb. 3:14,16; 11:12)
2. The perseverance of the saints -- in holiness -- is one of the characteristic articles of
doctrine of the Reformed Church. The grace of regeneration is inadmissible.
3. How do we explain the falling away of some believers? They were only temporary
believers: they were partakers only of the workings of the Spirit. (Heb. 6:4)
4. How do I know whether I am partaker of the true new birth? 'As many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God' (Rom. 8:14). The faith that God has received me
is matured, is confirmed, by works, by a walk under the leading of the Spirit. 5. How can
any one know for certain that he will persevere unto the end? By faith in God the
Perfecter. We may take the Almighty God as our keeper. He that gives himself in
sincerity to Him, and trusts wholly in Him to perfect His work, obtains a divine certitude
that the Lord has Him, and will hold him fast unto the end.
Child of God, live in fellowship with your Father: live the life of faith in your Jesus with
an undivided heart, and all fear of falling away shall be taken away from you. The living
sealing of the Holy Spirit shall be your assurance of perseverance unto the end.