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Andrew Murray
1. The first and chief need of our Christian life is, Fellowship
with God.
The Divine life within us comes
from God, and is entirely dependent upon Him. As I need every
moment afresh the air to breathe, as the s sun every moment
afresh sends down its light, so it is only in direct living
communication with God that my soul can be strong.
The manna of one day was corrupt
when the next day came. I must every day have fresh grace from
heaven, and I obtain it only in direct waiting upon God Himself.
Begin each day by tarrying before God, and letting Him touch you.
Take time to meet God.
2. To this end, let your first act
in your devotion be a setting yourself still before God. In
prayer, or worship, everything depends upon God taking the chief
place. I must bow quietly before Him in humble faith and
adoration, speaking thus within my heart: "God is. God is
near. God is love, longing to communicate Himself to me. God the
Almighty One, Who worketh all in all, is even now waiting to work
in me, and make Himself known." Take time, till you know
God is very near.
3. When you have given God His
place of honor, glory, and power, take your place of deepest
lowliness, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of humility. As
a creature it is your blessedness to be nothing, that God may be
all in you. As a sinner you are not worthy to look up to God; bow
in self abasement. As a saint, let God's love overwhelm you, and
bow you still lower down. Sink down before Him in humility,
meekness, patience, and surrender to His goodness and mercy. He
will exalt you. Oh! take time, to get very low before God.
4. Then accept and value your place
in Christ Jesus. God delights in nothing but His beloved Son, and
can be satisfied with nothing else in those who draw nigh to Him.
Enter deep into God's holy presence in the boldness which the
blood gives, and in the assurance that in Christ you are most
well-pleasing. In Christ you are within the veil. You have access
into the very heart and love of the Father. This is the great
object of fellowship with God, that I may have more of God in my
life, and that God may see Christ formed in me. Be silent before
God and let Him bless you.
5. This Christ is a living Person.
He loves you with a personal love, and He looks every day for the
personal response of your love. Look into His face with trust,
till His love really shines into your heart. Make His heart glad
by telling Him that you do love Him. He offers Himself to you as
a personal Saviour and Keeper from the power of sin. Do not ask,
can I be kept from sinning, if I keep close to Him? but ask, can
I be kept from sinning, if He always keeps close to me?
and you see at once how safe it is to trust Him.
6. We have not only Christ's life
in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we
have His likeness to be wrought into us. He is to be formed in
us, so that His form or figure, His likeness, can be seen in us.
Bow before God until you get some sense of the greatness and
blessedness of the work to be carried on by God in you this day.
Say to God, "Father, here am I for Thee to give as much in
me of Christ's likeness as I can receive." And wait to hear
Him say, "My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy
heart is open to receive." The God who revealed Jesus in the
flesh and perfected Him, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee
in Him. The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His
image and likeness in thee. Count upon it that this blessed work
will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy God, and holdest
fellowship with Him.
7. The likeness to Christ consists
chiefly in two things--the likeness of His death and
resurrection, (Rom. 6:5). The death of Christ was the
consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up
of His life to God. In Him we are dead to sin. As we sink down in
humility and dependence and entire surrender to God, the power of
His death works in us, and we are made conformable to His death.
And so we know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the
victory over sin, and all the joy and power of the risen life.
Therefore every morning, "present yourselves unto God as
those that are alive from the dead." He will maintain the
life He gave, and bestow the grace to live as risen ones.
8. All this can only be in the
power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. Count upon Him to
glorify Christ in you. Count upon Christ to increase in you the
inflowing of His Spirit. As you wait before God to realize His
presence, remember that the Spirit is in you to reveal the things
of God. Seek in God's presence to have the anointing of the
Spirit of Christ so truly that your whole life may every moment
be spiritual.
9. As you meditate on this wondrous
salvation and seek full fellowship with the great and holy God,
and wait on Him to reveal Christ in you, you will feel how
needful the giving up of all is to receive Him. Seek grace to
know what it means to live as wholly for God as Christ did. Only
the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you what an entire yielding of
the whole life to God can mean. Wait on God to show you in this
what you do not know. Let every approach to God, and every
request for fellowship with Him be accompanied by a new, very
definite, and entire surrender to Him to work in you.
10. "By faith" must here,
as through all Scripture, and all the spiritual life, be the
keynote. As you tarry before God, let it be in a deep quiet faith
in Him, the Invisible One, who is so near, so holy, so mighty, so
loving. In a deep, restful faith too, that all the blessings and
powers of the heavenly life are around you, and in you. Just
yield yourself in the faith of a perfect trust to the Ever
Blessed Holy Trinity to work out all God's purpose in you. Begin
each day thus in fellowship with God, and God will be all in all
to you.
"And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." --Luke 15:31
The words of the text are familiar to us all. The elder son
had complained and said, that though his father had made a feast,
and had killed the fatted calf for the prodigal son, he had never
given him even a kid that he might make merry with his friends.
The answer of the father was: "Son, thou art ever with me,
and all that I have is thine." One cannot have a more
wonderful revelation of the heart of our Father in heaven than
this points out to us. We often speak of the wonderful revelation
of the father's heart in his welcome to the prodigal son, and in
what he did for him. But here we have a revelation of the
father's love far more wonderful, in what he says to the elder
son.
If we are to experience a deepening
of spiritual life, we want to discover clearly what is the
spiritual life that God would have us live, on the one hand; and,
on the other, to ask whether we are living that life; or, if not,
what hinders us living it out fully.
This subject naturally divides
itself into these three heads:--I. The high privilege of every
child of God. 2. The low experience of too many of us believers.
3. The cause of the discrepancy; and, lastly, The way to the
restoration of the privilege.
I. THE HIGH PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF GOD.
"We have here two things
describing the privilege:--First, "Son, thou art ever with
me"--unbroken fellowship with thy Father is thy portion;
Second, "All that I have is thine"--all that God can
bestow upon His children is theirs.
"Thou are ever with me;"
I am always near thee; thou canst dwell every hour of thy life in
My presence, and all I have is for thee. I am a father, with a
loving father's heart. I will withhold no good thing from thee.
In these promises, we have the rich privilege of God's heritage.
We have, in the first place, unbroken fellowship with Him. A
father never sends his child away with the thought that he does
not care about his child knowing that he loves him. The father
longs to have his child believe that he has the light of his
father's countenance upon him all the day--that, if he sends the
child away to school, or anywhere that necessity compels, it is
with a sense of sacrifice of parental feelings. If it be so with
an earthly father, what think you of God? Does He not want every
child of His to know that he is constantly living in the light of
His countenance? This is the meaning of that word, "Son,
thou art ever with me."
That was the privilege of God's
people in Old Testament times. We are told that "Enoch
walked with God." God's promise to Jacob was: "Behold,
I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou
goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not
leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of."
And God's promise to Israel through Moses, was: "My presence
shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." And in
Moses' response to the promise, he says, "For wherein shall
it be known that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight?
Is it not that Thou goest with us; so shall we be separated, I
and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the
earth." The presence of God with Israel was the mark of
their separation from other people. This is the truth taught in
all the Old Testament; and if so, how much more may we look for
it in the New Testament? Thus we find our Saviour promising to
those who love Him and who keep His word, that the Father also
will love them, and Father and Son will come and make Their abode
with them.
Let that thought into your hearts--that
the child of God is called to this blessed privilege, to live
every moment of his life in fellowship with God. He is called to
enjoy the full light of His countenance. There are many
Christians--I suppose the majority of Christians--who seem to
regard the whole of the Spirit's work as confined to conviction
and conversion:--not so much that He came to dwell in our hearts,
and there reveal God to us. He came not to dwell near us, but in
us, that we might be filled with His indwelling. We are commanded
to be "filled with the Spirit;" then the Holy Spirit
would make God's presence manifest to us. That is the whole
teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews:--the veil is rent in
twain; we have access into the holiest of all by the blood of
Jesus; we come into the very presence of God, so that we can live
all the day with that presence resting upon us. That presence is
with us wheresoever we go; and in all kinds of trouble, we have
undisturbed repose and peace. "Son, thou art ever with me."
There are some people who seem to
think that God, by some unintelligible sovereignty, withdraws His
face. But I know that God loves His people too much to withhold
His fellowship from them for any such reason. The true reason of
the absence of God from us is rather to be found in our sin and
unbelief, than in any supposed sovereignty of His. If the child
of God is walking in faith and obedience, the Divine presence
will be enjoyed in unbroken continuity.
Then there is the next blessed
privilege: "All that I have is thine." Thank God, He
has given us His own Son; and in giving Him, He has given us all
things that are in Him, He has given us Christ's life, His love,
His Spirit, His glory. "All things are yours; and ye are
Christ's; and Christ is God's." All the riches of His Son,
the everlasting King, God bestows upon every one of His children.
"Son, thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine."
Is not that the meaning of all those wonderful promises given in
connection with prayer: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name,
ye shall receive."? Yes, there it is. That is the life of
the children of God, as He Himself has pictured it to us.
2. In contrast with this high
privilege of believers, look at
THE LOW EXPERIENCE OF TOO MANY OF US.
The elder son was living with
his father and serving him "these many years," and he
complains that his father never gave him a kid, while he gave his
prodigal brother the fatted calf. Why was this? Simply because he
did not ask it. He did not believe that he would get it, and
therefore never asked it, and never enjoyed it. He continued thus
to live in constant murmuring and dissatisfaction; and the key
note of all this wretched life is furnished in what he said. His
father gave him everything, yet he never enjoyed it; and he
throws the whole blame on his loving and kind father. O beloved,
is not that the life of many a believer? Do not many speak and
act in this way? Every believer has the promise of unbroken
fellowship with God, but he says, "I have not enjoyed it; I
have tried hard and done my best, and I have prayed for the
blessing, but I suppose God does not see fit to grant it."
But why not? One says, it is the sovereignty of God withholding
the blessing. The father withheld not his gifts from the elder
brother in sovereignty; neither does our Heavenly Father withhold
any good thing from them that love Him. He does not make any such
differences between His children. "He is able to make all
grace abound towards you" was the promise equally made to
all in the Corinthian church.
Some think these rich blessings are
not for them, but for those who have more time to devote to
religion and prayer; or their circumstances are so difficult, so
peculiar, that we can have no conception of their various
hindrances. But do not such think that God, if He places them in
these circumstances, cannot make His grace abound accordingly?
They admit He could if He would, work a miracle for them, which
they can hardly expect. In some way, they, like the elder son,
throw the blame on God. Thus many are saying, when asked if they
are enjoying unbroken fellowship with God:--"Alas, no! I
have not been able to attain to such a height; it is too high for
me. I know of some who have it, and I read of it; but God has not
given it to me, for some reason." But why not? You think,
perhaps, that you have not the same capacity for spiritual
blessing that others have. The Bible speaks of a joy that is
"unspeakable and full of glory" as the fruit of
believing; of a "love of God shed abroad in our hearts by
the Holy Ghost given unto us." Do we desire it, do we? Why
not get it? Have we asked for it? We think we are not worthy of
the blessing--we are not good enough; and therefore God has not
given it. There are more among us than we know of, or are willing
to admit, who throw the blame of our darkness, and of our
wanderings on God! Take care! Take care! Take care!
And again, what about that other
promise? The Father says, "All I have is thine." Are
you rejoicing in the treasures of Christ? Are you conscious of
having an abundant supply for all your spiritual needs every day?
God has all these for you in abundance. "Thou never gavest
me a kid!" The answer is, "All that I have is thine. I
gave it thee in Christ."
Dear reader, we have such wrong
thoughts of God. What is God like? I know no image more beautiful
and instructive than that of the sun. The sun is never weary of
shining;--of pouring out his beneficent rays upon both the good
and the evil. You might close up the windows with blinds or
bricks, the sun would shine upon them all the same; though we
might sit in darkness, in utter darkness, the shining would be
just the same. God's sun shines on every leaf; on every flower;
on every blade of grass; on everything that springs out of the
ground. All receive this wealth of sunshine until they grow to
perfection and bear fruit. Would He who made that sun be less
willing to poor out His love and life into me? The sun--what
beauty it creates! And my God,--would He not delight more in
creating a beauty and a fruitfulness in me?--such, too, as He has
promised to give? And yet some say, when asked why they do
not live in unbroken communion with God, "God does not give
it to me, I do not know why; but that is the only reason I can
give you--He has not given it to me." You remember the
parable of the one who said, "I know thou art an hard
master, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou
hast not strawed," asking and demanding what thou hast not
given. Oh! let us come and ask why it is that the believer lives
such a low experience.
3. THE CAUSE OF THIS DISCREPANCY BETWEEN GOD'S
GIFTS, AND OUR LOW EXPERIENCE.
The believer is complaining that
God has never given him a kid. Or, God has given him some
blessing, but has never given the full blessing. He has never
filled him with His Spirit. "I never," he says, "had
my heart, as a fountain, giving forth the rivers of living water
promised in John vii. 38." What is the cause? The elder son
thought he was serving his father faithfully "these many
years" in his father's house, but it was in the spirit of
bondage and not in the spirit of a child, so that his unbelief
blinded him to the conception of a father's love and kindness,
and he was unable all the time to see that his father was ready,
not only to give him a kid, but a hundred, or a thousand kids, if
he would have them. He was simply living in unbelief, in
ignorance, in blindness, robbing himself of the privileges that
the father had for him. So, if there be a discrepancy between our
life and the fulfillment and enjoyment of all God's promises, the
fault is ours. It our experience be not what God wants it to be,
it is because of our unbelief in the love of God, in the power of
God, and in the reality of God's promises.
God's word teaches us, in the story
of the Israelites, that it was unbelief on their part that was
the cause of their troubles, and not any limitation or
restriction on God's part. As Psalm 78th says:--"He clave
the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the
great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused
waters to run down like rivers." Yet they sinned by doubting
His power to provide meat for them--"They spake against God;
they said, can God furnish a table in the wilderness?" (vs.
15-19). Later on, we read in v. 41, "They turned back and
tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel." They kept
distrusting Him from time to time. When they got to Kadesh-Barnea,
and God told them to enter the land flowing with milk and honey
where there would be rest, abundance, and victory, only two men
said, "Yes;" we can take possession, for God can make
us conquer." But the ten spies, and the six hundred thousand
men answered, "No; we can never take the land; the enemies
are too strong for us." It was simply unbelief that kept
them out of the land of promise.
If there is to be any deepening of
the spiritual life in us, we must come to the discovery, and the
acknowledgment of the unbelief there is in our hearts. God grant
that we may get this spiritual quickening, and that we may come
to see that it is by our unbelief that we have prevented God from
doing His work in us. Unbelief is the mother of disobedience, and
of all my sins and short comings--my temper, my pride, my
unlovingness, my worldliness, my sins of every kind. Though these
differ in nature and form, yet they all come from the one root,
viz, that we do not believe in the freedom and fulness of the
Divine gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and strengthen us,
and fill us with the life and grace of God all the day long.
Look, I pray you, at that elder son, and ask what was the cause
of that terrible difference between the heart of the father and
the experience of the son. There can be no answer but that it was
this sinful unbelief that utterly blinded the son to a sense of
his father's love.
Dear fellow believer, I want to say
to you, that, if you are not living in the joy of God's
salvation, the entire cause is your unbelief. You do not believe
in the mighty power of God, and that He is willing by His Holy
Spirit to work a thorough change in your life, and enable you to
live in fulness of consecration to Him. God is willing that you
should so live; but you do not believe it. If men really believed
in the infinite love of God, what a change it would bring about!
What is love? It is a desire to communicate oneself for the good
of the object loved--the opposite to selfishness; as we read in 1
Cor. xiii. "Love seeketh not her own." Thus the mother
is willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her child. So God
in His love is ever willing to impart blessing; and He is
omnipotent in His love. This is true, my friends; God is
omnipotent in love, and He is doing His utmost to fill every
heart in this house. "But if God is really anxious to do
that, and if He is Almighty, why does He not do it now?" You
must remember, that God has given you a will, and by the exercise
of that will, you can hinder God, and remain content, like the
elder son, with the low life of unbelief. Come, now, and let us
see the cause of the difference between God's high, blessed
provision for His children, and the low, sad experience of many
of us in the unbelief that distrusts and grieves Him.
4. THE WAY OF RESTORATION--HOW IS THAT TO BE
BROUGHT ABOUT?
We all know the parable of the
prodigal son; and how many sermons have been preached about
repentance, from that parable. We are told that "he came to
himself and said, I will arise and go to my father, and will say
unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight."
In preaching, we speak of this as the first step in a changed
life--as conversion, as repentance, confession, returning to God.
But, as this is the first step for the prodigal, we must remember
that this is also the step to be taken by His erring children--by
all the ninety-nine "who need no repentance," or think
they do not. Those Christians who do not understand how wrong
their low religious life is, must be taught that this is sin--unbelief;
and that it is as necessary that they should be brought to
repentance as the prodigal. You have heard a great deal of
preaching repentance to the unconverted; but I want to try to
preach it to God's children. We have a picture of so many of
God's children in that elder brother. What the father told him,
to bring about a consideration of the love that He bore him, just
as he loved the prodigal brother, thus does God tell to us in our
contentedness with such a low life:--"You must repent and
believe that I love you, and all that I have is thine." He
says, "By your unbelief, you have dishonoured me, living for
ten, twenty, or thirty years, and never believing what it was to
live in the blessedness of My love. You must confess the wrong
you have done Me in this, and be broken down in contrition of
heart just as truly as the prodigal."
There are many children of God who
need to confess, that though they are His children, they have
never believed that God's promises are true, that He is willing
to fill their hearts all the day long with His blessed presence.
Have you believed this? If you have not, all our teaching will be
of no profit to you. Will you not say, "By the help of God,
I will begin now a new life of faith, and will not rest until I
know what such a life means. I will believe that I am every
moment in the Father's presence, and all that He has is mine?"
May the Lord God work this
conviction in the hearts of all cold believers. Have you ever
heard the expression, "a conviction for sanctification?"
You know, the unconverted man needs a conviction before
conversion. So does the dark-minded Christian need conviction
before, and in order to sanctification, before he comes to a real
insight to spiritual blessedness. He must be convicted a second
time because of his sinful life of doubt, and temper, and
unlovingness. He must be broken down under that conviction; then
there is hope for him. May the Father of mercy grant all such
that deep contrition, so that they may be led into the
blessedness of His presence, and enjoy the fulness of His power
and love!
"And Peter went out and wept bitterly." --Luke 22:62
These words indicate the turning
point in the life of Peter,--a crisis. There is often a question
about the life of holiness. Do you grow into it? or do you come
into it be a crisis suddenly? Peter has been growing for three
years under the training of Christ, but he had grown terribly
downward, for the end of his growing was, he denied Jesus. And
then there came a crisis. After the crisis he was a changed man,
and then he began to grow aright. We must indeed grow in grace,
but before we can grow in grace we must be put right.
You know what the two halves of the
life of Peter were. In God's Word we read very often about the
difference between the carnal and the spiritual Christian. The
word "carnal" comes from the Latin word for flesh. In
Romans viii, and in Gal. v., we are taught that the flesh and the
Spirit of God are the two opposing powers by which we are
dominated or ruled, and we are taught that a true believer may
allow himself to be ruled by the flesh. That is what Paul writes
to the Corinthians. In the 3rd chapter, the first four verses, he
says, four times to them, "You are carnal, and not spiritual."
And just so a believer can allow the flesh to have so much power
over him that becomes "carnal." Every object is named
according to its most prominent characteristic. If a man is a
babe in Christ and has a little of the Holy Spirit and a great
deal of the flesh, he is called carnal, for the flesh is
his chief mark. If he gives way, as the Corinthians did, to
strife, temper, division, and envy, he is a carnal Christian. He
is a Christian, but a carnal one. But if he gives himself over
entirely to the Holy Spirit so that He (the Holy Spirit) can
deliver from the temper, the envy, and the strife, by breathing a
heavenly disposition; and can mortify the deeds of the body; then
God's Word calls him a "spiritual" man, a true
spiritual Christian.
Now, these two styles are
remarkably illustrated in the life of Peter. The text is the
crisis and turning point at which he begins to pass over from the
one side to the other.
The message that I want to bring to
you is this: That the great majority of Christians, alas, are not
spiritual men, and that they may become spiritual men by the
grace of God. I want to come to all who are perhaps hungering and
longing for the better life, and asking what is wrong that you
are without it, to point out that what is wrong is just one
thing,--allowing the flesh to rule in you, and trusting in the
power of the flesh to make you good.
There is a better life, a life in
the power of the Holy Spirit.
Then, I want to tell you a third
thing. The first thing is important, take care of the carnal
life, and confess if you are in it. The second truth is very
blessed, there is a spiritual life; believe that it is a
possibility. But the third truth is the most important,--You can
be one step get out of the carnal into the spiritual state. May
God reveal it to you now through the story of the Apostle Peter!
Look at him, first of all, in the
carnal state. What are the marks of the carnal state in him? Self-will,
self-pleasing, self-confidence. Just remember, when Christ said
to the disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "The Son of Man must
be crucified," Peter said to Him, "Lord, that can never
be!" And Christ had to say to him, "Get thee behind Me,
Satan!" Dear reader, what an awful thing for Peter! He could
not understand what a suffering Christ was. And Peter was so self-willed
and self-confident that he dared to contradict and to rebuke
Christ! Just think of it! Then, you remember, how Peter and the
other disciples, were more than once quarreling as to who was to
be the chief--self-exaltation, self-pleasing;--every one wanted
the chief seat in the Kingdom of God. Then again, remember the
last night, when Christ warned Peter that Satan had desired to
sift him and that he would deny Him; and Peter said twice over,
"Lord, if they all deny Thee, I am ready to go to prison and
to death." What self-confidence! He was sure that his heart
was right. He loved Jesus, but he trusted himself. "I will
never deny my Lord.! Don't you see the whole of that life of
Peter is carnal confidence in himself. In his carnal pride, in
his carnal unlovingness, in the carnal liberty he took in
contradicting Jesus, it was all just the life of the flesh. Peter
loved Jesus. God had by the Holy Spirit, taught him. Christ had
said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but
My Father which is in heaven." God had taught him that
Christ was the Son of God; but with all that, Peter was just
under the power of the flesh; and that is why Christ said at
Gethsemane, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."--"You
are under the power of the flesh, you cannot watch with Me."
Dear reader, what did it all lead to? The flesh led not only to
the sins I have mentioned, but last of all to the saddest of
things, to Peter's actual denial of Jesus. Three times over he
told the lie; and once with an oath, "I know not the man."
He denied his blessed Lord. That is what it comes to with the
life of the flesh. That is Peter.
Now, look in the second place at
Peter after he became a spiritual man. Christ had taught Peter a
great deal. I think, if you count carefully, you will find some
seven or eight times, Christ had spoken to the disciples about
humility; He had taken a little child and set him in the midst of
them; He had said, "He that exalteth himself shall be
abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted; He had
said that three or four times; He had at the last supper washed
their feet; but all had not taught Peter humility. All Christ's
instructions were in vain. Remember that now. A man who is not
spiritual, though he may read his Bible, though he may study
God's Word, cannot conquer sin, because he is not living the life
of the Holy Spirit. God has so ordered it, that man cannot live a
right Christian life unless he is full of the Holy Ghost. Do you
wonder at what I say? Have you been accustomed to think,--"Full
of the Holy Ghost, that is what the Apostles had to be on the day
of Pentecost; that is what the martyrs and the ministers had to
be; but for every man to be full of the Holy Ghost, that is too
high"? I tell you solemnly, unless you believe that, you
will never become thorough-going Christians. I must be full of
the Holy Spirit if I am to be a whole-hearted Christian.
Then, note what change took place
in Peter. The Lord Jesus led him up to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit
came from heaven upon him, and what took place? The old Peter was
gone, and he was a new Peter. Just read his epistle, and note the
keynote of the epistle. "Through suffering to glory."
Peter, who had said, "Of course, Lord, you never can suffer,
or be crucified;" Peter, who, to save himself suffering or
shame, had denied Christ,--Peter becomes so changed that when he
writes his epistle the chief thought is the very thought of
Christ, "Suffering is the way to glory." Do you not see
that the Holy Spirit had changed Peter?
And look at other aspects. Look at
Peter. He was so weak that a woman could frighten him into
denying Christ; but when the Holy Spirit came he was bold, bold,
bold to confess his Lord at any cost, was ready to go to prison
and to death, for Christ's sake. The Holy Spirit had changed the
man. Look at his views of Divine truth. He could not understand
what Christ taught him, he could not take it in. It was
impossible before the death of Christ; but on the day of
Pentecost how he is able to expound the word of God as a
spiritual man! I tell you, beloved, when the Holy Ghost comes
upon a man he becomes a spiritual man, and instead of denying his
Lord he denies himself, just remember that. In the sixteenth
chapter of Matthew when Peter had said, "Lord, be it far
from Thee, this shall never happen that Thou shalt be crucified,"
Christ said to Him: "Peter, not only will I be crucified,
but you will have to be crucified too. If any man is to be My
disciple, let him take up his cross to die upon it, let him deny
himself, and let him follow Me." How did Peter obey that
command? He went and denied Jesus! As long as a man, a Christian,
is under the power of the flesh, he is continually denying Jesus.
You always must do one of the two, you must deny self or you must
deny Jesus, and, alas, Peter denied his Lord rather than deny
himself. On the other hand, when the Holy Spirit came upon him,
he could not deny his Lord, but he could deny himself, and he
praised God for the privilege of suffering for Christ.
Now, how did the change come about?
The words of my text tell us,--"And Peter went out and wept
bitterly." What does that mean? It means this, that the Lord
led Peter to come to the end of himself, to see what was in his
heart, and with his self-confidence to fall into the very deepest
sin that a child of God could be guilty of;--publicly, with an
oath, to deny his Lord Jesus! When Peter stood there in that
great sin, the loving Jesus looked upon him, and that look, full
of loving reproach, loving pity, pierced like an arrow through
the heart of Peter, and he went out and wept bitterly. Praise
God, that was the end of self-confident Peter! Praise God, that
was the turning point of his life! He went out with a shame that
no tongue can express. He woke up as out of a dream to the
terrible reality "I have helped to crucify the blessed Son
of God." No man can fathom what Peter must have passed
through that Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. But, blessed be
God, on that Sunday Jesus revealed Himself to Peter, we know not
how, but "He was seen of Simon;" then in the evening He
came to him with the other disciples and breathed peace, and the
Holy Spirit upon him; and then, later on, you know how the Lord
asked him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"--three
times, until Peter was sorrowful, and said, "Lord, thou
knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." What was
it that wrought the transition from the love of the flesh to the
love of the Spirit? I tell you, that was the beginning,--"Peter
went out and wept bitterly," with a broken heart, with a
heart that would give anything to show its love to Jesus. With a
heart that had learned to give up all self-confidence, Peter was
prepared for the blessing of the Holy Spirit.
And, now, you can easily see the
application of this story. Are there not many just living the
life of Peter, of the self-confident Peter as he was? Are there
not many who are mourning under the consciousness, "I am so
unfaithful to my Lord, I have no power against the flesh, I
cannot conquer my temper, I give way just like Peter to the fear
of man, of company, for people can influence me and make me do
things I do not want to do, and I have no power to resist them?
Circumstances get the mastery over me, and I then say and do
things that I am ashamed of."? Is there not more than one,
who, in answer to the question, "Are you living as a man
filled with the Spirit, devoted to Jesus, following Him, fully
giving up all for Him?"--must say with sorrow, "God
knows I am not. Alas, my heart knows it."? You say it, and I
come, and I press you with the question, Is not your position,
and your character, and your conduct, just like that of Peter?
Like Peter, you love Jesus, like Peter you know He is the Christ
of God, like Peter you are very zealous in working for Him. Peter
had cast out devils in His name, and had preached the gospel, and
had healed the sick. Like Peter you have tried to work for Jesus;
but, oh! under it all, isn't there something that comes up
continually? Oh, Christian, what is it? I pray, and I try, and I
do long to live a holy life, but the flesh is too strong, and sin
gets the better of me, and continually I am pleasing self instead
of denying it, and denying Jesus instead of pleasing Him. Come,
all who are willing to make that confession, and let me ask you
to look quietly at the other life that is possible for you.
Just as the Lord Jesus gave the
Holy Spirit to Peter, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to
you. Are you willing to receive Him? Are you willing to give up
yourself entirely as an empty, helpless vessel, to receive the
power of the Holy Spirit, to live, to dwell, and to work in you
every day? Dear believer, God has prepared such a beautiful and
such a blessed life for every one of us, and God as a Father is
waiting to see why you will not come to Him and let Him fill you
with the Holy Ghost. Are you willing for it? I am sure some are.
There are some who have said often, "O God, why can't I live
that life?--Why can't I live every hour of unbroken fellowship
with God?--Why can't I enjoy what my Father has given me, all the
riches of His grace? It is for me He gave it, and why can't I
enjoy it?" There are those who say, "Why can't I abide
in Christ every day, and every hour, and every moment?--why can't
I have the light of my Father's love filling my heart all the day
long? Tell me, servant of God, what can help me?"
I can tell you one thing that will
help you. What helped Peter? "Peter went out and wept
bitterly." It must come with us to a conviction of sin; it
must come with us to a real downright earnest repentance, or we
never can get into the better life. We must stop complaining and
confessing, "Yes, my life is not what it should be, and I
will try to do better." That won't help you. What will help
you? This,--that you go down in despair to lie at the feet of
Jesus, and that you begin with a very real and bitter shame to
make confession, "Lord Jesus, have compassion upon me! For
these many years I have been a Christian, but there are so many
sins from which I have not cleansed myself,--temper, pride,
jealousy, envy, sharp words, unkind judgments, unforgiving
thoughts." One must say, "There is a friend whom I
never have forgiven for what he has said." Another must say,
"There is an enemy whom I dislike, I cannot say that I can
love him." Another must say, "There are things in my
business that I would not like brought out into the light of man."
Another must say, "I am led captive by the law of sin and
death." Oh, Christians, come and make confession with shame
and say, "I have been bought with the Blood, I have been
washed with the Blood, but just think of what a life I have been
living! I am ashamed of it." Bow before God and ask Him by
the Holy Spirit to make you more deeply ashamed, and to work in
you that Divine contrition. I pray you take the step at once.
"Peter went out and wept bitterly," and that was his
salvation; yes, that was the turning point of his life. And shall
we not fall upon our faces before God, and make confession, and
get down on our knees under the burden of the terrible load, and
say, "I know I am a believer, but I am not living as I
should to the glory of my God. I am under the power of the flesh
and all the self-confidence, and self-will, and self-pleasing
that marks my life."
Dear Christians, do you not long to
be brought nigh unto God? Would you not give anything to walk in
close fellowship with Jesus every day? Would you not count it a
pearl of great price to have the light and love of God shining in
you all the day? Oh, come and fall down and make confession of
sin; and, if you will do it, Jesus will come and meet you and He
will ask you, "Lovest thou Me?" And, if you say, "Yes,
Lord," very quickly He will ask again, "Lovest thou Me?"--and
if you say, "Yes, Lord," again, He will ask a third
time, "Lovest thou Me?"--and your heart will be filled
with an unutterable sadness, and your heart will get still more
broken down and bruised by the question, and you will say, "Lord,
I have not lived as I should, but still I love Thee and I give
myself to Thee." Oh, beloved may God give us grace now,
that, with Peter, we may go out, and, if need be, weep bitterly.
If we do not weep bitterly,--we are not going to force tears--shall
we not sigh very deeply, and bow very humbly, and cry very
earnestly, "O God, reveal to me the carnal life in which I
have been living: reveal to me what has been hindering me from
having my life full of the Holy Ghost"? Shall we not cry,
"Lord, break my heart into utter self-despair, and, oh!
bring me in helplessness to wait for the Divine power, for the
power of the Holy Ghost, to take possession and to fill me with a
new life given all to Jesus?"
And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our Fathers." --Deut. 6:23.
I have spoken of the crisis that
comes in the life of the man who sees that his Christian
experience is low and carnal, and who desires to enter into the
full life of God. Some Christians do not understand that there
should be such a crisis. They think that they ought, from the day
of their conversion, to continue to grow and progress. I have no
objections to that, if they have grown as they ought. If their
life has been so strong under the power of the Holy Ghost that
they have grown as true believers should grow, I certainly have
no objection to this. But I want to deal with those Christians
whose life since conversion has been very much a failure, and who
feel it to be such because of their not being filled with the
Spirit, as is their blessed privilege. I want to say for their
encouragement, that by taking one step, they can get out into the
life of rest, and victory, and fellowship with God to which the
promises of God invite them.
Look at the elder son in the
parable. How long would it have taken him to get out of that
state of blindness and bondage into the full condition of
sonship? By believing in his father's love, he might have gotten
out that very hour. If he had been powerfully convicted of his
guilt in his unbelief, and had confessed like his prodigal
brother, "I have sinned," he would have come that very
moment into the favor of the son's happiness in his father's home.
He would not have been detained by having a great deal to learn,
and a great deal to do; but in one moment, his whole relation
would have been changed.
Remember, too, what we saw in
Peter's case. In one moment, the look of Jesus broke him down and
there came to him the terribly bitter reflection of his sin,
owing to his selfish, fleshly confidence, a contrition and
reflection which laid the foundation for his new and better life
with Jesus. God's word brings out the idea of the Christian's
entrance into the new and better life by the history of the
people of Israel's entrance into the land of Canaan.
In our text, we have these words:--"God
brought us out from thence (Egypt), that He might bring us in"
into Canaan. There are two steps: one was bringing them out; and
the other was bringing them in. So in the life of the believer,
there are ordinarily two steps quite separate from each other;--the
bringing him out of sin and the world; and the bringing him into
a state of complete rest afterward. It was the intention of God
that Israel should enter the land of Canaan from Kadesh-Barnea,
immediately after He had made His covenant with them at Sinai.
But they were not ready to enter at once, on account of their sin
and unbelief, and disobedience. They had to wander after that for
forty years in the wilderness. Now, look how God led the people.
In Egypt, there was a great crisis, where they had first to pass
through the Red Sea, which is a figure of conversion; and when
they went into Canaan, there was, as it were, a second conversion
in passing through the Jordan. At our conversion, we get into
liberty, out of the bondage of Egypt; but, when we fail to use
our liberty through unbelief and disobedience, we wander in the
wilderness for a longer or shorter period before we enter into
the Canaan of victory, and rest, and abundance. Thus God does for
His Israel two things:--He brings them out of Egypt; and He lead
them into Canaan.
My message, then, is to ask this
question of the believer:--Since you know you are converted and
God has brought you out of Egypt, have you yet come into the land
of Canaan? If not, are you willing that he should bring you into
the fuller liberty and rest provided for His people? He brought
Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand, and the same mighty hand
brought us out of our land of bondage; with the same mighty hand,
He brought his ancient people into rest, and by that hand, too,
He can bring us into our true rest. The same God who pardoned and
regenerated us--is waiting to perfect His love in us, if we but
trust Him. Are there many hearts saying:--"I believe that
God brought me out of bondage twenty, or thirty, or forty years
ago; but alas! I cannot say that I have been brought into the
happy land of rest and victory?"
How glorious was the rest of Canaan
after all the wanderings in the wilderness! And so is it with the
Christian who reaches the better promised Canaan of rest, when he
comes to leave all his charge with the Lord Jesus--his
responsibilities, anxieties, and worry; his only work being to
hand the keeping of his soul into the hand of Jesus every day and
hour. and the Lord can keep, and give the victory over every
enemy. Jesus has undertaken not only to cleans our sin, and bring
us to heaven, but also to keep us in our daily life.
I ask again:--Are you hungering to
get free from sin and its power?--Anyone longing to get complete
victory over his temper, his pride, and all his evil
inclinations?--Hearts longing for the time when no clouds will
come between them and their God?--Longing to walk in the full
sunshine of God's loving favour? The very God who brought you
from the Egypt of darkness is ready and able to bring you also
into the Canaan of rest.
And now comes the question again:--What
is the way by which God will bring me to this rest? What is
needed on my part if God is really to bring me into the happy
land? I give the answer first of all by asking another question:--Are
you willing to forsake your wanderings in the wilderness? If you
say "We do not want to leave our wanderings, where we have
had so many wonderful indications of God's presence with us; so
many remarkable proofs of the Divine care and goodness, like that
of the ancient people of God, who had the pillar to guide them,
and the manna given them every day for forty years; Moses and
Aaron to lead and advise them. The wilderness is to us, on
account of these things, a kind of sacred place; and we are loath
to leave it." If the children of Israel had said anything of
this kind to Joshua, he would have said to them (and we all would
have said):--"Oh, you fools: It is the very God who gave you
the pillar of cloud and the other blessings in the wilderness,
who tells you how to come into the land flowing with milk and
honey." And so I can speak to you in the same way; I bring
you the message that He who has brought you thus far on your
journey, and given you such blessings thus far, is the God who
will bring you into the Canaan of complete victory and rest.
The first question, then, that I
would ask you is,
ARE YOU READY TO LEAVE THE WILDERNESS?
You know the mark of Israel's
life in the wilderness--the cause of all their troubles there--was
unbelief. They did not believe that God could take them into the
promised land. And then followed many sins and failures--lusting,
idolatry, murmuring, etc. That has, perhaps, been your life,
beloved; you do not believe that God will fulfill His word. You
do not believe in the possibility of unbroken fellowship with
Him, and unlimited partnership. On account of that, you become
disobedient, and did not live like a child doing God's will,
because you did not believe that God could give you the victory
over sin. Are you willing now to leave that wilderness life?
Sometimes you are, perhaps, enjoying fellowship with God, and
sometimes you are separated from Him; sometimes you have nearness
to Him, and at other times great distance from Him; sometimes you
have a willingness to walk closely with Him, but sometimes there
is even unwillingness. Are you now going to give up your whole
life to Him? Are you going to approach Him and say, "My God,
I do not want to do anything that will be displeasing to Thee; I
want Thee to keep me from all worldliness, from all self-pleasure;
I want Thee, O God, to help me to live like Peter after
Pentecost, filled with the Holy Ghost, and not like carnal Peter."
Beloved, are you willing to say
this? Are you willing to give up your sins, to walk with God
continually, to submit yourself wholly to the will of God, and
have no will of your own apart from His will? Are you going to
live a perfect life? I hop you are, for I believe in such a life;--not
perhaps in the sense in which you understand "perfection"--entire
freedom from wrong-doing and all inclination to it, for while we
live in the flesh the flesh will lust against the Spirit and the
Spirit against the flesh; but the perfection spoken of in the Old
Testament as practiced by some of God's saints, who are said to
have "served the Lord with a perfect heart." What is
this perfection? A state in which your hearts will be set on
perfect integrity without any reserve, and your will wholly
subservient to God's will. Are you willing for such a perfection,
with your whole heart turned away from the world and given to God
alone? Are you going to say, "No, I do not expect that I
will ever give up my self-will."? It is the devil tempting
you to think it will be too hard for you. Oh! I would plead with
God's children just to look at the will of God, so full of
blessing, of holiness, of love; will you not give up your guilty
will for that blessed will of God? A man can do it in one moment
when he comes to see that God can change his will for him. Then
he may say farewell to his old will, as Peter did when he went
out and wept bitterly, and when the Holy Spirit filled his soul
on the day of Pentecost. Joshua "wholly followed the Lord
his God." He failed, indeed, before the enemy at Ai, because
he trusted too much to human agency, and not sufficiently to God;
and he failed in the same manner when he made a covenant with the
Gibeonites; but still, his spirit and power differed very widely
from that of the people whose unbelief drove them before their
enemies and kept them in the wilderness. Let us be willing wholly
to serve the Lord our God, and "make no provision for the
flesh to fulfill the lusts thereof." Let us believe in the
love and power of God to keep us day by day, and put "no
confidence in the flesh."
Then comes the second step:--"I
must believe that such a life in the land of Canaan is a possible
life." Yes, many a one will say, "Ah! what would I give
to get out of the wilderness life! But I cannot believe that it
is possible to live in this constant communion with God. You
don't know my difficulties--my business cares and perplexities; I
have all sorts of people to associate with; have gone out in the
morning braced up by communion with God in prayer, but the
pressure of business before night has driven out of my heart all
that warmth of love that I had, and the world has gotten in and
made the heart as cold as before." But we must remember
again what it was that kept Israel out of Canaan. When Caleb and
Joshua said, "We are able to overcome the enemy," the
ten spies, and the six hundred thousand answered, "We cannot
do it; they are too strong for us." Take care, dear reader,
that we do not repeat their sin, and provoke God as these
unbelievers did. He says, it is possible to bring us into the
land of rest and peace; and I believe it because He has said so,
and because He will do it if I trust Him. Your temper may be
terrible; your pride may have bound you a hundred times; your
temptations may "compass you about like bees," but
there is victory for you if you will but trust the promises of
God.
Looking again at Peter. He had
failed again and again, and went from bad to worse until he came
to denying Christ with oaths. But what a change came over him!
Just study the first epistle of Peter, and you will see that the
very life of Christ had entered into him. He shows the spirit of
true humility, so different from his former self-confidence; and
glorying in God's will instead of in his own. He had made a full
surrender to Christ, and was trusting entirely in Him. Come
therefore to-day and say to God, "Thou didst so change
selfish, proud Peter, and Thou canst change me likewise."
Yes, God is able to bring you into Canaan, the land of rest. You
know the first half of the 8th of Romans. Have you noticed the
expressions that are to be found there--"The law of the
spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of
sin and death". To walk after the spirit; To be after the
spirit; To be in the Spirit; To have the Spirit dwelling in us.
Through the Spirit to mortify the deeds of the body; To be led by
the Spirit; To be spiritually minded. These are all blessings
which come when we bind ourselves wholly to live in the Spirit.
If we live after the Spirit we have the very nature of the Spirit
in us. If we live in the Spirit, we shall be led by Him every day
and every moment. What if you were to open your heart to-day to
be filled with the Holy Spirit? Would He not be able to keep you
every moment in the sweet rest of God? and would not His mighty
arm give you a complete victory over sin and temptation of every
kind, and make you able to live in perpetual fellowship with the
Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ? Most certainly! This,
then, is the second step; this is the blessed life God has
provided for us. First, God brought us out of Egypt; secondly, He
brings us into Canaan. Then comes--
Thirdly, the question,
HOW DOES GOD BRING US IN?
By leading us in a very definite
act, viz., that of committing ourselves wholly to Him;--entrusting
ourselves to Him, that He may bring us into the land of rest, and
keep us in.
You remember that the Jordan at the
time of harvest overflowed its banks. The hundreds of thousands
of Israel were on the side of the river from Canaan. They were
told that tomorrow, God would do wonderful things for them. The
trumpet would sound, and the priests would take up the ark--the
symbol of God's presence--and pass over before the people. But
there lay the swollen river still. If there still unbelieving
children among the the people, they would say, "What fools,
to attempt to cross now! This is not the time to attempt fording
the river, for it is now twenty feet deep." But the
believing people gathered together behind the priests with the
ark. They obeyed the command of Joshua to advance; but they knew
not what God was going to do? The priests walked right into the
water, and the hearts of some began to tremble. They would
perhaps ask, "Where is the rod of Moses?" But, as the
priests walked straight on and stepped into the water, the waters
rose up on the upper side in to a high wall, and flowed away on
the other side, and a clear passage was made for the whole camp.
Now, it was God that did this for the people; and it was because
Joshua and the people believed and obeyed God. The same God will
do it to-day, if we believe and trust Him.
Am I addressing a soul who is
saying:--I remember how God first brought me out of the land of
bondage. I was in complete darkness of soul and was deeply
troubled. I did not at first believe that God could take me out,
and that I could become a child of God. But, at last, God took me
and brought me to trust in Jesus, and He led me out safely."
Friend, you have the same God now who brought you out of bondage
with a high hand; and can lead you into the place of rest. Look
to Him and say, "O God, make an end of my wilderness life--my
sinful and unbelieving life,--a life of grieving Thee. Oh, bring
me to-day into the land of victory and rest and blessing!"
Is this the prayer of your hearts, dear friends? Are you going to
give up yourselves to Him to do this for you? Can you trust Him
that He is able and willing to do it for you. He can take you
through the swollen river this very moment;--yes, this very
moment.
And He can do more: After Israel
had crossed the river, the Captain of the Lord's host had to come
and encourage Joshua, promising to take charge of the army and
remain with them. You need the power of God's Spirit to enable
you to overcome sin and temptation. You need to live in His
fellowship--in His unbroken fellowship, without which you cannot
stand or conquer. If you are to venture to-day, say by faith
"My God, I know that Jesus Christ is willing to be the
Captain of my salvation, and to conquer every enemy for me, He
will keep me by faith and by His Holy Spirit; and though it be
dark to me, and as if the waters would pass over my soul, and
though my condition seem hopeless, I will walk forward, for God
is going to bring me in to-day, and I am going to follow Him. My
God, I follow Thee now into the promised land."
Perhaps some have already entered
in, and the angels have seen them, while they have been reading
these solemn words. Is there anyone still hesitating because the
waters of Jordan look threatening and impassable?
Oh! come, beloved soul; come at
once, and doubt not.
"Be filled with the Spirit."--Ephesians, 5:18.
I may have some air, a little
air, in my lungs, but not enough to keep up a healthy, vigorous
life. But everyone seeks to have his lungs well filled with air,
and the benefit of it will be felt in his blood and through his
whole being. And just so the word of God comes to us, and says,
"Christians, do not be content with thinking that you
have the Spirit, or have a little of the Spirit; but, if
you want to have a healthy life, be "filled with the
Spirit." Is that your life? Or are you ready to cry out,
"Alas, I do not know what it is to be filled with the
Spirit, but it is what I long for." I want to point out to
such the path to come to this great, precious blessing which is
meant for everyone of us.
Before I speak further of it, let
me just note one misunderstanding which prevails. People often
look upon being "filled with the Spirit" as something
that comes with a mighty stirring of the emotions, a sort of
heavenly glory that comes over them, something that they can feel
strongly and mightily; but that is not always the case. I was
recently in Niagara Falls. I noticed, and I was told, that the
water was unusually low. Suppose the river were doubly full, how
would you see that fulness in the Falls? In the increased volume
of water pouring over the cataract, and its tremendous noise. But
go to another part of the river, or to the lake, where the very
same fulness is found, and there is perfect quiet and placidity,
the rise of the water is gentle and gradual, and you can hardly
notice that there is any disturbance as the lake gets full. And
just so it may be with a child of God. To one it comes with
mighty emotion and with a blessed consciousness, "God has
touched me!" To others it comes in a gentle filling of the
whole being with the presence and the power of God by His Spirit.
I do not want to lay down the way in which it is to come to you,
but I want you simply to take your place before God, and say,
"My Father, whatever it may mean, that is what I want."
If you come and give yourself up as an empty vessel and trust God
to fill you, God will do His own work.
And now, the simple question as to
the steps by which we can come to be "filled with the Spirit."
I shall note four steps in the way by which a man can attain this
wonderful blessing. He must say, (1), "I must have
it," then, (2), "I may have it," and, then,
(3) "I will have it," and then, last, Thank God,
"I shall have it."
1. The first word a man must begin
to say, is, "I must have it." He must feel
"It is a command of God, and I cannot live unfilled with the
Spirit without disobeying God." It is a command here in this
text,--"Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the
Spirit." Just as much as a man dare not get drunk, if he
is a Christian, just as much must a man be filled with the Spirit.
God wants it, and oh, that every one might be brought to say,
"I must, if I am to please God, I must be filled with the
Spirit!"
I fear there is a terrible,
terrible self-satisfaction among many Christians,--they are
content with their low level of life. They think they have the
Spirit because they are converted, but they know very little of
the joy of the Holy Ghost, and of the sanctifying power of the
Spirit. They know very little of the fellowship of the Spirit
linking them to God and to Jesus. They know very little of the
power of the Spirit to testify for God, and yet they are content;
and one says, "Oh, it is only for eminent Christians."
A very dear young friend once said to me as I was talking to her--(it
was a niece of my own)--"Oh, Uncle Andrew, I cannot try to
make myself better than the Christians around me. Wouldn't that
be presumptuous?" And I said, "My child, you must not
ask what the Christians around you are, but you must be guided by
what God says." She has since confessed to me how bitterly
ashamed she has become of that expression, and how she went to
God to seek His blessing. Oh, friends, do not be content with
that half Christian life that many of you are living, but say,
"God wants it, God commands it; I must be filled with
the Spirit."
And look not only at God's command,
but look at the need of your own soul. You are a parent, and you
want your children blessed and converted, and you complain that
you haven't power to bless them. You say, "My home must be
filled with God's Spirit." You complain of your own soul, of
times of darkness and of leanness; you complain of watchlessness
and wandering. A young minister once said to me, "Oh, why is
it I have such a delight in study and so little delight in
prayer?"--and my answer was, "My brother, your heart
must get filled with a love for God and Jesus, and then you will
delight in prayer." You complain sometimes that you cannot
pray. You pray so short, you do not know what to pray, something
drags you back from the closet. It is because you are living a
life, trying to live a life, without being filled with the
Spirit. Oh, think of the needs of the church around you. You are
a Sunday School teacher; you are trying to teach a class of ten
or twelve children, not one of them, perhaps, converted, and they
go out from under you unconverted; you are trying to do a
heavenly work in the power of the flesh and earth. Sunday School
teachers, do begin to say, "I must be filled with the
Spirit of God, or I must give up the charge of those young souls;
I cannot teach them."
Or, think of the need of the world.
If you were to send out missionaries full of the Holy Ghost, what
a blessing that would be! Why is it, that many a missionary
complains in the foreign field, "There I learned how weak
and how unfit I am?" It is because the churches from which
they go are not filled with the Holy Ghost. Someone said to me in
England a few weeks ago, "They talk so much about the
volunteer movement and more missionaries; but we want something
else, we want missionaries filled with the Holy Ghost." If
the church is to come right, and the mission field is to come
right, we must each begin with himself. It must begin with you.
Begin with yourself and say, "O God, for Thy sake; O God,
for Thy church's sake; O God, for the sake of the world, help me!
I must be filled with the Holy Ghost."
What folly it would be for a man
who had lost a lung and a half, and had hardly a quarter of a
lung to do the work of two, to expect to be a strong man and to
do hard work, and to live in any climate! And what folly for a
man to expect to live--God has told him he cannot live--a full
Christian life, unless he is full of the Holy Ghost! And what
folly for a man who has only got a little drop of the river of
the water of life to expect to live and to have power with God
and man! Jesus wants us to come and to receive the fulfillment of
the promise, "He that believeth in Me, streams of water
shall flow out from him." Oh, begin to say, "If I am to
live a right life, if I am in every part of my daily life and
conduct to glorify my God, I must have the Holy Spirit--I must be
filled with the Spirit." Are you going to say that? Talking
for months and months won't help. Do submit to God, and as an act
of submission say, "Lord, I confess it, I ought to be
filled, I must be filled; help me!" And God will help
you.
And, then comes the second step, I may
be filled. The first had reference to duty; the second has
reference to privilege--I may be filled. Alas! So many
have got accustomed to their low state that they do not believe
that they may, they can, actually be filled. And what right have
I to say that you ought to take these words into your lips? My
right is this--God wants healthy children. I say to-day a child
of six months old, as beautiful and chubby as you could wish a
child to be, and with what delight the eyes of the father and the
mother looked upon him, and how glad I was to see a healthy child.
And, oh; do you think that God in Heaven does not care for His
children, and that God wants some of His children to live a
sickly life? I tell you, it is a lie! God wants every child of
His to be a healthy Christian; but you cannot be a healthy
Christian unless you are filled with God's Spirit. Beloved, we
have got accustomed to a style of life, and we see good
Christians--as we call them--earnest men and women, full of
failings; and we think, "Well, that is human; that man loses
his temper, and that man is not as kind as he should be, and that
man's word cannot be trusted always as ought to be the case; but--but--"
And in daily life we look upon Christians and think, "Well,
if they are very faithful in going to church and in giving to
God's cause, and in attending the prayer meeting, and in having
family prayers, and in their profession." Of course we thank
God for them and say, "We wish there were more such,"
but we forget to ask, "What does God want?" Oh, that we
might see that "It is meant for me and for everyone else."
My brother, my sister, there is a God in Heaven who has been
longing for these past years, while you never thought about it,
to fill you with the Holy Ghost. God longs to give the fulness of
the Spirit to every child of His.
They were poor heathen Ephesians,
only lately brought out from heathendom, to whom Paul wrote this
letter,--people among whom there still was stealing and lying,
for they had only just come out from heathendom; but Paul said to
every one of these, "Be filled with the Spirit." God is
ready to do it; God wants to do it. Oh, do not listen to the
temptations of the devil, "This is only meant for some
eminent people,--a Christian who has a great deal of free time to
devote to prayer and to seeking after it,--a man of a receptive
temperament,--that is the man to be filled with the Spirit. Who
is there that dare say, "I cannot be filled with the Spirit."
Who will dare to say that? If any of you speak thus it is because
you are unwilling to give up sin. Do not think that you cannot be
filled with the Spirit because God is not willing to give it to
you. Did not the Lord Jesus promise the Spirit? Is not the Holy
Spirit the best part of His salvation? Do you think He gives half
a salvation to any of His redeemed ones? Is not His promise for
all, "He that believeth in me, rivers of water shall flow
out of him"? This is more than fulness- this is overflow;
and this Jesus has promised to everyone who believes in Him. Oh,
cast aside your fears, and your doubts, and your hesitation, and
say at once, "I can be filled with the Spirit; I may
be filled with the Spirit. There is nothing in heaven, or earth,
or hell, can prevent it, because God has promised and God is
waiting to do it for me." Are you ready to say, "I may
I can, I can be filled with the Spirit, for God has
promised it, and God will give it."?
And then we get to the third step,
when a man says, "I will have it; I must have
it; I may have it; I will have it." You know
what this means in ordinary things, "I will have it,"
and he goes and does everything that is to be done to get
permission. Very often a man comes and he wants to buy something,
and he wishes for it; but wishing is not willing. I
want to buy that horse, and a man asks of me $200 for it, but I
don't want to give more than $180. I wish for it, I wish for it
very much, and I can go and say, "Do give it me for the $180;
and he says, "No, $200." I love the horse, it is just
what I want, but I am not willing to give the $200; and at last
he says, "Well, you must give me an answer; I can get
another purchaser;" and at last I say, "No, I won't
have it; I want it very much, I long for it, but I won't give the
price."
Dear friends, are you going to say,
"I will have this blessing?" What does that
mean? It means, first of all, of course, that you are going to
look around into your life, and if you see anything wrong there,
it means that you are going to confess it to Jesus and say,
"Lord, I cast it at Thy feet; it may be rooted in my heart,
but I will give it up to Thee, I cannot take it out, but Jesus,
Thou cleanser of sin, I give it to Thee." Let it be temper,
or pride; let it be money, or lust, or pleasure; let it be the
fear of man; let it be anything;--but, oh, say to Christ at once,
"I will have this blessing at any cost." Oh, give up
every sin to Jesus.
And it means not only giving up
every sin, but--what is deeper than sin, and more difficult to
get at--it means giving up yourself--self, with your will, and
your pleasure, and your honor, and all you have, and saying,
"Jesus, I am from this moment going to give myself up, that
by Thy Holy Spirit Thou mayest take possession of me, and that
Thou mayest by Thy Spirit turn out whatever is sinful, and take
entire command of me." This looks difficult so long as Satan
blinds, and makes us think it would be a hard thing to give up
all that; but if God opens our eyes for one minute to see what a
heavenly blessedness, and what heavenly riches and heavenly glory
it is to be filled with the Spirit out of the heart of Jesus,
then we will say, "I will give anything, anything,
ANYTHING but I will have the blessing."
And then, it means that you are
just to cast yourself at His feet and to say, "Lord, I will
have the blessing."
Ah, Satan often tempts us, and
says, "Suppose God were to ask that of you, would you be
willing to give it?"--and he makes us afraid. But how many
have found, and have been able to tell about it, that when once
they have said, "Lord, anything and everything!" the
light and the joy of heaven filled their hearts.
Last year at Johannesburg, the gold
fields of South Africa, at an afternoon meeting we had one day
testimony, and a woman rose up and told us how her pastor two
months ago had held a consecration service in a tent, and he had
spoken strongly about consecration, and had said, "Now, if
God were to send your husband away to China, or if God were to
ask you to go away to America, would you be willing for it? You
must give yourself up entirely." And the woman said--and her
face beamed with brightness when she spoke,--when, at the close
of the meeting he asked those to rise who were willing to give up
all to be filled with the Spirit, she said, "The struggle
was terrible; God may take away my husband or my children from
me, and am I ready for it? Oh, Jesus is very precious, but I
cannot say I will give up all. But I will tell Him I do want to
do it."--and at last she stood up. She said she went home
that night in a terrible struggle, and she could not sleep, for
the thought was, "I said to Jesus everything, and
could I give up husband or child?" The struggle continued
till midnight, "but," she said, "I would not let
go; I said to Jesus, `everything, but fill me with Thyself.'"
And the joy of the Holy Spirit came down upon her, and her
minister who sat there told me afterwards that the testimony was
a true one, and for the two months her life had been one of
exceeding brightness and of heavenly joy.
Oh, is any reader tempted to say,
"I cannot give up all"? I take you by the hand, my
brother, my sister, and I bring you to the crucified Jesus, and I
say, "Just look at Him, how He loved you on Calvary; just
look at Him." Just look at Jesus! He offers actually to fill
your heart with His Holy Spirit, with the Spirit of His love and
of His fulness, and of His power, actually to make your heart
full of the Holy Spirit; and do you dare to say, "I am
afraid,"--do you dare to say, "I cannot do that for
Jesus"? or will your heart not, at His feet, cry out, "Lord
Jesus, anything, but I must be filled with Thy Spirit!"
Haven't you often prayed for the presence and the abiding
nearness and the love of Jesus to fill you?--but that cannot be
until you are filled with the Holy Spirit. Oh, come and say, in
view of any sacrifice, "I will have it, by God's help!
Not in my strength, but by the help of God, I will have it!"
And then comes my last point. Say,
"I shall have it." Praise God that a man dare
say that, "I shall have it." Yes, when a man has made
up his mind; when a man has been brought to a conviction and a
sorrow for his sinful life; when a man, like Peter, has wept
bitterly or has sighed deeply before God, "Oh, my Lord, what
a life I have been living!"--when a man has felt wretched in
the thought, "I am not living the better life, the Jesus
life, the Spirit life;"--when a man begins to feel that, and
when he comes and makes surrender, and casts himself upon God and
claims the promise, "Lord, I may have it; it is for me,"--what
think you? Hasn't he a right to say, "I shall have it"?
Yes, beloved, and I give to every one of you that message from
God, that if you are willing, and if you are ready, God is
willing and ready to close the bargain at once. Yes, you can have
it now, now! without any outburst of feeling, without any
flooding of the heart with light, you may have it. To some it
comes in that way but to many not. As a quiet transaction of the
surrendered will, you can lift up your heart in faith and say,
"O God, here I do give myself as an empty vessel to be
filled with the Holy Ghost. I give myself up once for all and
forever. `"Tis done, the great transaction's done.'"
You can say it now if you will take your place before God.
Oh, ministers of the gospel, have
you never felt the need of being filled with the Holy Ghost? Your
heart perhaps tells you that you know nothing of that blessing.
Oh, workers for Christ, have you never felt a need, "I must
be filled with the Holy Ghost"? Oh, children of God, have
you never felt a hope rise within you, "I may have this
blessing, I hear of from others"? Will you not take the step
and say, "I will have it"? Say it, not in your own
strength, but in self-despair. Never mind though it appears as if
the heart is all cold and closed up, never mind; but as an act of
obedience and of surrender, as an act of the will, cast yourself
before Jesus and trust Him. "I shall have it, for I
now give up myself into the arms of my Lord Jesus, I shall
have it, for it is the delight of Jesus to give the Holy Spirit
from the Father, into the heart of everyone. I shall have
it, for I do believe in Jesus, and He promised me that out of him
that believeth shall flow rivers of living water. I shall
have it! I SHALL have it! I will cling to the feet of Jesus, I
will stay at the throne of God; I shall have it, for God
is faithful, and God has promised."
"But straightway Jesus spake unto them saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid."--Matt. 14:27.
All we have had about the work
of the blessed Spirit is dependent upon what we think of Jesus,
for it is from Christ Jesus that the Spirit comes to us;
it is to Christ Jesus that the Spirit ever brings us; and the one
need of the Christian life day by day and hour by hour is this,--the
presence of the Son of God. God is our salvation. If I have
Christ with me and Christ in me, I have full salvation. We have
spoken about the life of failure and of the flesh, about the life
of unbelief and disobedience, about the life of ups and downs,
the wilderness life of sadness and of sorrow; but we have heard,
and we have believed, there is deliverance. Bless God, He brought
us out of Egypt, that He might bring us into Canaan, into the
very rest of God and Jesus Christ. He is our peace, He is our
rest. Oh, if I may only have the presence of Jesus as the victory
over every sin: the presence of Jesus as the strength for every
duty, then my life shall be in the full sunshine of God's
unbroken fellowship, and the word will be fulfilled to me in most
blessed experience, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all I
have is thine," and my heart shall answer, "Father, I
never knew it, but it is true,--I am ever with thee and all Thou
hast is mine." God has given all He has to Christ, and God
longs that Christ should have you and me entirely. I come to
every hungry heart and say, "If you want to live to the
glory of God, seek one thing, to claim, to believe that the
presence of Jesus can be with you every moment of your life.
I want to speak about the presence
of Jesus as it is set before us in that blessed story of Christ's
walking on the sea. Come and look with me at some points that are
suggested to us.
1. Think, first, of the presence of
Christ lost. You know the disciples loved Christ, clung to
Him, and with all their failings, they delighted in Him. But what
happened? The Master went up into the mountain to pray, and sent
them across the sea all alone without Him; there came a storm,
and they toiled, rowed, and labored, but the wind was against
them, they made no progress, they were in danger of perishing,
and how their hearts said, "Oh, if the Master only were here!"
But His presence was gone. They missed Him. Once before, they had
been in a storm, and Christ had said, "Peace, be still,"
and all was well; but here they are in darkness, danger, and
terrible trouble, and no Christ to help them. Ah, isn't that the
life of many a believer at times? I get into darkness, I have
committed sin, the cloud is on me, I miss the face of Jesus; and
for days and days I work, worry, and labor; but it is all in
vain, for I miss the presence of Christ. Oh, beloved, let us
write that down,--the presence of Jesus lost is the cause of all
our wretchedness and failure.
2. Look at the second step,--the
presence of Jesus dreaded. They were longing for the
presence of Christ, and Christ came after midnight: He came
walking on the water amid the waves; but they didn't recognize
Him, and they cried out, for fear, "It is a spirit!"
Their beloved Lord was coming nigh, and they knew Him not. They
dreaded His approach. And, ah, how often have I seen a believer
dreading the approach of Christ,--crying out for Him, longing for
Him, and yet dreading His coming. And why? Because Christ came in
a fashion that they expected not.
Perhaps some have been saying,
"Alas, alas! I fear I never can have the abiding presence of
Christ." You have heard what we have said about a life in
the Spirit: you have heard what we have said about abiding ever
in the presence of God and in His fellowship, and you have been
afraid of it, afraid of it; and you have said, "It is too
high and too difficult." You have dreaded the very teaching
that was going to help you. Jesus came to you in the teaching,
and you didn't recognize His love.
Or, perhaps, He came in a way that
you dreaded His presence. Perhaps God has been speaking to you
about some sin. There is that sin of temper, or that sin of
unlovingness, or that sin of unforgivingness, or that sin of
worldliness, compromise, and fellowship with the world, that love
of man and man's honor, that fear of man and man's opinion, or
that pride and self confidence. God has been speaking to you
about it, and yet you have been frightened. That was Jesus
wanting to draw you nigh, but you were afraid. You don't see how
you can give up all that, you are not ready to say, "At any
sacrifice I am going to have that taken out of me, and I will
give it up," and while God and Christ were coming nigh to
bless you, you were afraid of Him.
Oh, believers, at other times
Christ has come to you with affliction, and perhaps you have
said, "If I want to be entirely holy, I know I shall have to
be afflicted, and I am afraid of affliction," and you have
dreaded the thought, "Christ may come to me in affliction."
The presence of Christ dreaded!--oh, beloved, I want to tell you
it is all misconception. The disciples had no reason to dread
that "spirit" coming there, for it was Christ Himself;
and, when God's word comes close to you and touches your heart,
remember that is Christ out of Whose mouth goes the two-edged
sword. It is Christ in His love coming to cut away the sin, that
He may fill your heart with the blessing of God's love. Beware of
dreading the presence of Christ.
3. Then comes the third thought,--the
presence of Christ revealed. Bless God! When Christ heard
how they cried, he spoke the words of the text, "Be of good
cheer; it is I; be not afraid." Ah, what gladness those
words brought to those hearts! There is Jesus, that dark object
appears, that dreaded form. It is our blessed Lord Himself. And,
dear friends, the Master's object, whether it be by affliction or
otherwise, is to prepare for receiving the presence of Christ,
and through it all Jesus speaks, "It is I; be not afraid."
The presence of Christ revealed! I want to tell you that the Son
of God, oh believer, is longing to reveal Himself to you. Listen!
Listen! LISTEN! Is there any longing heart? Jesus says,
"Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
Oh, beloved; God has given us
Christ. And does God want me to have Christ every moment? Without
doubt. God wants the presence of Christ to be the joy of every
hour of my life, and, if there is one thing sure, Christ can
reveal Himself to me every moment. Are you willing to come and
claim this privilege? He can reveal Himself. I cannot reveal Him
to you; you cannot grasp Him; but He can shine into your heart.
How can I see the sunlight tomorrow morning, if I am spared? The
sunlight will reveal itself. How can I know Christ? Christ can
reveal Himself. And, ere I go further, I pray you to set your
heart upon this, and to offer the humble prayer, "Lord, now
reveal Thyself to me, so, that I may never lose the sight of Thee.
Give me to understand that through the thick darkness Thou comest
to make Thyself known." Let not one heart doubt, however
dark it may be,--at midnight,--whatever midnight there be in the
soul,--at midnight, in the dark, Christ can reveal Himself. Ah,
thank God, often after a life of ten and twenty years of dawn,
after a life of ten and twenty years of struggling, now in the
light, and now in the dark, there comes a time when Jesus is
willing just to give Himself to us, nevermore to part. God grant
us that presence of Jesus!
4. And now comes the fourth
thought,--The presence of Jesus lost, was the first; the
presence of Jesus dreaded, was the second; the presence of
Jesus revealed, was the third; the presence of Jesus desired,
is the fourth. What happened? Peter heard the Lord, and yonder
was Jesus, some 30, 40, 50 yards distant, and He made as though
He would have passed them; and Peter,--in a preceding chapter I
spoke about Peter, shewing what terrible failure and carnality
there was in him,--but, bless the Lord, Peter's heart was right
with Christ, and he wanted to claim His presence, and he said,
"Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come upon the water to Thee."
Yes, Peter could not rest; he wanted to be as near to Christ as
possible. He saw Christ walking on the water; he remembered
Christ had said, "Follow Me;" he remembered how Christ,
with the miraculous draught of fishes, had proved that He was
Master of the sea, and of the waters, and he remembered how
Christ had stilled the storm; and, without argument or
reflection, all at once he said, "There is my Lord
manifesting Himself in a new way; there is my Lord exercising a
new and supernatural power, and I can go to my Lord, He is able
to make me walk where He walks." He wanted to walk like
Christ, he wanted to walk near Christ. He didn't say, "Lord,
let me walk around the sea here," but he said, "Lord,
let me come to Thee."
Friends, would you not like to have
the presence of Christ in this way? Not that Christ should come
down,--that is what many Christians want; they want to continue
in their sinful walk, they want to continue in their worldly
walk, they want to continue in their old life, and they want
Christ to come down to them with His comfort, His presence, and
His love; but that cannot be. If I am to have the presence of
Christ, I must walk as He walked. His walk was a supernatural one.
He walked in the love and in the power of God. Most people walk
according to the circumstances in which they are, and most people
say, "I am depending upon circumstances for my religion. A
hundred times over you hear people say, "My circumstances
prevent my enjoying unbroken fellowship with Jesus." What
were the circumstances that were found about Christ? The wind and
the waves,--and Christ walked triumphant over circumstances; and
Peter said, "Like my Lord I can triumph over all
circumstances: anything around me is nothing, if I have Jesus."
He longed for the presence of Christ. Would God that, as we look
at the life of Christ upon earth, as we look how Christ walked
and conquered the waves, every one of us could say, "I want
to walk like Jesus." If that is your heart's desire, you can
expect the presence of Jesus; but as long as you want to walk on
a lower level than Christ, as long as you want to have a little
of the world, and a little of self-will, do not expect to have
the presence of Christ. Near Christ, and like Christ,--the two
things go together. Have you taken that in? Peter wanted to walk
like Christ that he might get near Christ; and it is this I want
to offer every one of you. I want to say to the weakest believer,
"With God's presence you can have the presence and
fellowship of Christ all the day long, your whole life through."
I want to bring you that promise, but I must give God's
condition,--walk like Christ, and you shall always abide near
Christ. The presence of Christ invites you to come and have
unbroken fellowship with Him.
5. Then comes the next thought. We
have just had the presence of Christ desired, and my next thought
is,--the presence of Christ trusted. The Lord Jesus said,
"Come," and what did Peter do? He stepped out of the
boat. How did he dare to do it against all the laws of nature?--how
did he dare to do it? He sought Christ, he heard Christ's voice,
he trusted Christ's presence and power, and in the faith of
Christ he said, "I can walk on the water," and he
stepped out of the boat. Here is the turning point; here is the
crisis. Peter saw Christ in the manifestation of a supernatural
power, and Peter believed that supernatural power could work in
him, and he could live a supernatural life. He believed this
applied to walking on the sea; and herein lies the whole secret
of the life of faith. Christ had supernatural power,--the power
of heaven, the power of holiness, the power of fellowship with
God, and Christ can give me grace to live as He lived. If I will
but, like Peter, look at Christ and say to Christ, "Lord,
speak the word, and I will come," and if I will listen to
Christ saying, "Come," I, too, shall have power to walk
upon the waves.
Have you ever seen a more beautiful
and more instructive symbol of the Christian life? I once
preached on it many years ago, and the thought that filled my
heart then was this,--the Christian life compared to Peter
walking on the waves, nothing so difficult and impossible without
Christ, nothing so blessed and safe with Christ. That is the
Christian life,--impossible without Christ's nearness,--most safe
and blessed, however difficult, if I only have the presence of
Christ. Believers, we have tried in these pages to call you to a
better life in the Spirit, to a life in the fellowship with God.
There is only one thing can enable you to live it,--you must have
the Lord Jesus hold your hand every minute of the day. "But
can that be?" you ask. Yes, it can. "I have so much to
think of. Sometimes for four or five hours of the day I have to
go into the very thick of business and have some ten men standing
around me, each claiming my attention. How can I, how can I
always have the presence of Jesus?" Beloved, because Jesus
is your God and loves you wonderfully, and is able to make His
presence more clear to you than that of ten men who are standing
around you. If you will in the morning take time and enter into
your covenant every morning with Him, "My Lord Jesus,
nothing can satisfy me but Thine abiding presence," He will
give it to you, He will surely give it to you. Oh, Peter trusted
the presence of Christ, and He said, "If Christ calls me I
can walk on the waves to Him." Shall we trust the presence
of Christ? To walk through all the circumstances and temptations
of life is exactly like walking on the water,--you have no solid
ground under your feet, you do not know how strong the
temptations of Satan may come; but do believe God wants you to
walk in a supernatural life above human power. God wants you to
live a life in Christ Jesus. Are you wanting to live that life?
Come then, and say, "Jesus, I have heard Thy promise that
Thy presence will go with me. Thou hast said, "My presence
shall go with thee,"--and, Lord, I claim it; I trust Thee."
6. Now, the sixth step in this
wonderful history. The presence of Christ forgotten. Peter
got out of the boat and began to walk toward the Lord Jesus with
his eyes fixed upon Him. The presence of Christ was trusted by
him, and he walked boldly over the waves; but all at once he took
his eyes off Jesus, and he began at once to sink, and there was
Peter, his walk of faith at an end; all drenched and drowning and
crying, "Lord, help me!" There are some of you saying
in your hearts, I know, "Ah, that's what will come of your
higher-life Christians." There are people who say, "You
never can life that life; do not talk of it; you must always be
failing." Peter always failed before Pentecost. It was
because the Holy Spirit had not yet come, and therefore his
experience goes to teach us, that while Peter was still in the
life of the flesh he must fail somehow or other. But, thank God,
there was One to life him out of the failure; and our last point
will be to prove that out of that failure he came into closer
union with Jesus than ever before, and deeper dependence. But
listen, first, while I speak to you about this failure.
Someone may say, "I have been
trying, to say, `Lord, I will live it;' but, tell me, suppose
failure come, what then?" Learn from Peter what you ought to
do. What did Peter do? The very opposite of what most do. What
did he do when he began to sink? That very moment, without one
word of self-reproach of self-condemnation, he cried, "Lord,
help me!" I wish I could teach every Christian that. I
remember the time in my spiritual life when that became clear to
me; for up to that time, when I failed, my only thought was to
reproach and condemn myself, and I thought that would do me good.
I found it didn't do me good; and I learn from Peter that my work
is, the very moment I fail, to say, "Jesus, Master, help me!"
and the very moment I say that, Jesus does help me. Remember,
failure is not an impossibility. I can conceive more than one
Christian who said, "Lord, I claim the fulness of the Holy
Ghost. I want to live every hour of every day filled with the
Holy Spirit;" and I can conceive that an honest soul who
said that with a trembling faith, yet may have fallen; I want to
say to that soul, Don't be discouraged. If failure comes, at
once, without any waiting, appeal to Jesus. He is always ready to
hear, and the very moment you find there is the temper, the hasty
word, or some other wrong, at once the living Jesus is near, so
gracious, and so mighty. Appeal to Him and there will be help at
once. If you learn to do this, Jesus will lift you up and lead
you on to a walk where His strength shall secure you from failure.
7.And then comes my last thought.
The presence of Jesus was forgotten while Peter looked at the
waves; but now, lastly, we have the presence of Jesus restored.
Yes, Christ stretched out His hand to save him. Possibly--for
Peter was a very proud, self-confident man--possibly he had to
sink there to teach him that his faith could not save him, but it
was the power of Christ. God wants us to learn the lesson that
when we fall then we can cry out to Jesus, and at once He reaches
out His hand. Remember, Peter walked back to the boat without
sinking again. Why? Because Christ was very near him. Remember it
is quite possible, if you use your failure rightly, to be far
nearer Christ after it than before. Use it rightly, I say. That
is, come and acknowledge, "In me there is nothing, but I am
going to trust my Lord unboundedly." Let every failure teach
you to cling afresh to Christ, and He will prove Himself a mighty
and a loving Helper. The presence of Jesus restored! Yes, Christ
took him by the hand and helped him, and I don't know whether
they walked hand in hand those forty or fifty yards back to the
boat, or whether Christ allowed Peter to walk beside Him; but
this I know, they were very near to each other, and it was the
nearness of his Lord that strengthened him.
Remember what has taken place since
that happened with Peter. The cross has been erected, the blood
has been shed, the grave has been opened, the resurrection has
been accomplished, heaven has been opened, and the Spirit of the
Exalted One has come down. Do believe that it is possible for the
presence of Jesus to be with us every day and all the way. Your
God has given you Christ, and He wants to give you Christ into
your heart in such a way that His presence shall be with you
every moment of your life.
Who is willing to lift up his eyes
and his heart and to exclaim, "I want to live according to
God's standard?" Who is willing? Who is willing to cast
himself into the arms of Jesus and to live a life of faith
victorious over the winds and the waves, over the circumstances
and difficulties? Who is willing to say this,--"Lord, bid me
come to Thee upon the water?" Are you willing? Listen! Jesus
says, "Come." Will you step out at this moment? Yonder
is the boat, the old life that Peter had been leading; he had
been familiar with the sea from his boyhood, and that boat was a
very sacred place; Christ had sat beside him there; Christ had
preached from that boat, from that boat of Peter's, Christ had
given the wonderful draught of fishes; it was a very sacred boat;
but Peter left it to come to a place more sacred still,--walking
with Jesus on the water,--a new and a Divine experience. Your
Christian life may be a very sacred thing; you may say, "Christ
saved me by His blood, He has given me many an experience of
grace; God has proved His grace in my heart," but you
confess "I haven't got the real life of abiding fellowship;
the winds and the waves often terrify me, and I sink." Oh,
come out of the boat of past experiences at once; come out of the
boat of external circumstances; come out of the boat, and step
out on the word of Christ, and believe, "With Jesus I can
walk upon the water." When Peter was in the boat, what had
he between him and the bottom of the sea? A couple of planks; but
when he stepped out upon the water what had he between him and
the sea? Not a plank, but the word of the Almighty Jesus. Will
you come, and without any experience, will you rest upon the word
of Jesus, "Lo I am with you alway"? Will you rest upon
His word, "Be of good cheer; fear not; it is I"? Every
moment Jesus lives in heaven; every moment by His Spirit Jesus
whispers that word; and every moment He lives to make it true.
Accept it now, accept it now! My Lord Jesus is equal to every
emergency. My Lord Jesus can meet the wants of every soul. My
whole heart says, "He can, He can do it; He will,
He will do it!" Oh come, believers, and let us
claim most deliberately, most quietly, most restfully,--let us
claim, claim it, claim it, CLAIM it.
Some time ago I read this
expression in an old author:--"The first duty of a clergyman
is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in his
hearers should first be truly and fully done in himself."
These words have stuck to me ever since. What a solemn
application this is to the subject that occupied our attention in
previous chapters--the living and working under the fulness of
the Holy Spirit! And yet, if we understand our calling aright,
every one of us will have to say, That is the one thing on which
everything depends. What profit is it to tell men that they may
be filled with the Spirit of God, if, when they ask us, "Has
God done it for you?" we have to answer, "No, He has
not done it"? What profit is it for me to tell men that
Jesus Christ can dwell within us every moment, and keep us from
sin and actual transgression, and that the abiding presence of
God can be our portion all the day, if I wait not upon God first
to do it truly and full day by day?
Look at the Lord Jesus Christ; it
was of the Christ Himself, when He had received the Holy Ghost
from heaven, that John the Baptist said that "He would
baptize with the Holy Ghost." I can only communicate to
others what God has imparted to me. If my life as a minister be a
life in which the flesh still greatly prevails--if my life be a
life in which I grieve the Spirit of God, I cannot expect but
that my people will receive through me a very mingled kind of
life. But if the life of God dwell in me, and I am filled with
His power, then I can hope that the life that goes out from me
may be infused into my hearers too.
We have referred to the need of
every believer being filled with the Spirit; and what is there of
deeper interest to us now, or that can better occupy our
attention, than prayerfully to consider how we can bring our
congregations to believe that this is possible; and how we can
lead on every believer to seek it for himself, to expect it, and
to accept of it, so as to live it out? But, brethren, the message
must come from us as a witness of our personal experience, by the
grace of God. The same writer to whom I alluded, says elsewhere:--"The
first business of a clergyman, when he sees men awakened and
brought to Christ, is to lead them on to know the Holy Spirit."
How true! Do not we find this throughout the word of God? John
the Baptist preached Christ as the "Lamb of God which taketh
away the sin of the world;" we read in Matthew that he also
said that Christ would "baptize with the Holy Ghost and with
fire." In the gospel by John, we read that the Baptist was
told that upon Whom he would see the Spirit descending and
abiding, He it was who would baptize with the Spirit. Thus John
the Baptist led the people on from Christ to the expectation of
the Holy Ghost for themselves. And what did Jesus do? For three
years, He was with His disciples, teaching and instructing them;
but when He was about to go away, in His farewell discourse on
the last night, what was His great promise to the disciples?
"I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another
Comforter, even the Spirit of truth." He had previously
promised to those who believed on Him, that "rivers of
living water" should flow from them; which the Evangelist
explains as meaning the Holy Ghost:--"Thus spake He of the
Spirit." But this promise was only to be fulfilled after
Christ "was glorified." Christ points to the Holy
Spirit as the one fruit of being glorified. The glorified Christ
leads to the Holy Ghost. So in the farewell discourse, Christ
leads the disciples to expect the Spirit as the Father's great
blessing. Then again, when Christ came and stood at the footstool
of His heavenly throne, on the Mount of Olives, ready to ascend,
what were His words? "Ye shall receive power after that the
Holy Ghost is come upon you, and ye shall be witnesses unto Me."
Christ's constant work was to teach His disciples to expect the
Holy Spirit. Look through the Book of Acts, you see the same
thing. Peter on the day of Pentecost preached that Christ was
exalted, and had received of the Father the promise of the Holy
Ghost; and so he told the people; "Repent and be baptized in
the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." So, when I believe in
Jesus risen, ascended, and glorified, I shall receive the Holy
Ghost.
Look again, after Philip had
preached the gospel in Samaria, men and women had been converted,
and there was great joy in the city. The Holy Spirit had been
working, but something was still wanting; Peter and John came
down from Jerusalem, prayed for the converted ones, laid their
hands upon them, "and they received the Holy Ghost."
Then they had the conscious possession and enjoyment of the
Spirit; but till that came they were incomplete. Paul was
converted by the mighty power of Jesus who appeared to Him on the
way to Damascus; and yet he had to go to Ananias to receive the
Holy Ghost.
Then again, we read that when Peter
went to preach to Cornelius, as he preached Christ, "the
Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word;" which
Peter took as the sign that these Gentiles were one with the Jews
in the favor of God, having the same baptism.
And so we might go through many of
the Epistles, where we find the same truth taught. Look at that
wonderful epistle to the Romans. The doctrine of justification by
faith is established in the first five chapters. Then in the
sixth and seventh, though the believer is represented as dead to
sin and the law, and married to Christ, yet a dreadful struggle
goes on in the heart of the regenerate man as long as he has not
god the full power of the Holy Spirit. But in the eighth chapter,
it is the "law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus"
that maketh us free from "the law of sin and death."
Then we are "not in the flesh, but in the Spirit," with
the Spirit of God dwelling in us. All the teaching leads up to
the Holy Spirit.
Look again at the epistle to the
Galatians. We always talk of this epistle as the great source of
instruction on the doctrine of justification by faith: but have
you ever noticed how the doctrine of the Holy Spirit holds a most
prominent place there? Paul asks the Galatian church:--"Received
ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of
faith?" It was the hearing of faith that led them to the
full enjoyment of the Spirit's power. If they sought to be
justified by the works of the law, they had "fallen from
grace." "For we through the Spirit wait for the
hope of righteousness by faith." And then at the end of the
fifth chapter, we are told:--"If we live in the Spirit, let
us walk in the Spirit."
Again, if we go to the epistles to
the Corinthians, we find Paul asking the Christians in Corinth:--"Know
ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in
you?" If we look into the epistle to the Ephesians, we find
the doctrine of the Holy Spirit mentioned twelve times. It is the
Spirit that seals God's people; "Ye were sealed with the
Holy Spirit of promise." He illumines them; "That God
may give the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of
Him." Through Christ, both Jew and Gentile "have access
by one Spirit unto the Father." They "are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit." They
are "strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man."
With "all lowliness and meekness, with long-suffering,
forbearing one another in love," they "endeavour to
keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." By not
"grieving the Holy Spirit of God," we preserve our
sealing to the "day of redemption." Being "filled
with the Spirit," we "sing and make melody in our
hearts to the Lord," and thus glorify Him. Just study these
epistles carefully, and you will find that what I say is true--that
the apostle Paul takes great pains to lead Christians to the Holy
Ghost as the consummation of the Christian life.
It was the Holy Ghost Who was given
to the church at Pentecost; and it is the Holy Ghost Who gives
Pentecostal blessings now. It is this power, given to bless men,
that wrought such wonderful life, and love, and self-sacrifice in
the early church; and it is this that makes us look back to those
days as the most beautiful part of the Church's history. And it
is the same Spirit of power that must dwell in the hearts of all
believers in our day to give the Church its true position. Let us
ask God then, that every minister and Christian worker may be
endued with the power of the Holy Ghost; that He may search us
and try us, and enable us sincerely to answer the question,
"Have I known the indwelling and the filling of the Holy
Spirit that God wants me to have? Let each one of us ask himself:
"Is it my great study to know the Holy Ghost dwelling in me,
so that I may help others to yield to the same indwelling of the
Holy Spirit; and that He may reveal Christ fully in His divine
saving and keeping power?" Will not every one have to
confess: "Lord, I have all too little understood this; I
have all too little manifested this in my work and preaching"?
Beloved brethren, "The first duty of every clergyman is to
humbly ask God that all that he wants done in his hearers may be
first fully and truly done in himself." And the second thing
is his duty towards those who are awakened and brought to Christ,
to lead them on to the full knowledge of the presence and
indwelling of the Holy Spirit.
Now, if we are indeed to come into
full harmony with these two great principles, then there come to
us some further questions of the very deepest importance. And the
first questions is:--"Why is it that there is in the church
of Christ so little practical acknowledgment of the power of the
Holy Ghost?" I am not speaking to you, brethren, as if I
thought you were not sound in doctrine on this point. I speak to
you as believing in the Holy Ghost as the third person in the
ever-blessed Trinity. But I speak to you confidently as to those
who will readily admit that the truth or the presence and of the
power of the Holy Ghost is not acknowledged in the church as it
ought to be. Then the question is, Why is it not so acknowledged?
I answer because of its spirituality. It is one of the most
difficult truths in the Bible for the human mind to comprehend.
God has revealed Himself in creation throughout the whole
universe. He has revealed Himself in Christ incarnate--and what a
subject of study the person, and word, and works of Christ form!
But the mysterious indwelling of the Holy Spirit, hidden in the
depths of the life of the believer, how much less easy to
comprehend!
In the early pentecostal days of
the church, this knowledge was intuitive; they possessed
the Spirit in power. But soon after the spirit of the world began
to creep into the church and mastered it. This was followed by
the deeper darkness of formality and superstition in the Roman
Catholic Church, when the spirit of the world completely
triumphed in what was improperly styled the Church of Christ. The
Reformation in the days of Luther restored the truth of
justification by faith in Christ; but the doctrine of the Holy
Ghost did not then obtain its proper place, for God does not
reveal all truth at one time. A great deal of the spirit of the
world was still left in the reformed churches; but now God is
awakening the church to strive after a fuller scriptural idea of
the Holy Spirit's place and power. Through the medium of books,
and discussions, and conventions many hearts are being stirred.
Brethren, it is our privilege to
take part in this great movement; and let us engage in the work
more earnestly than ever. Let each of us say my great work is, in
preaching Christ, to lead men to the acknowledging of the Holy
Spirit, who alone can glorify Christ. I may try to glorify Christ
in my preaching, but it will avail nothing without the Spirit of
God. I may urge men to the practice of holiness and every
Christian virtue, but all my persuasion will avail very little
unless I help them to believe that they must have the Holy Ghost
dwelling in them every moment enabling to live the life of Christ.
The great reason why the Holy Spirit was given from heaven was to
make Christ Jesus' presence manifest to us. While Jesus was
incarnate, His disciples were too much under the power of the
flesh to allow Christ to get a lodgement in their hearts. It was
needful, He said, that He should go away, in order that the
Spirit might come; and He promised to those who loved Him and
kept His commandments, that with the Spirit, He would come, and
the Father would also come, and make Their abode with them. It is
thus the Holy Spirit's great work to reveal the Father and the
Son in the hearts of God's people. If we believe and teach men
that the Holy Spirit can make Christ a reality to them every
moment, men will learn to believe and accept Christ's presence
and power, of which they now know far too little.
Then another question presents
itself, viz., What are we to expect when the Holy Spirit is duly
acknowledged and received? I ask this question, because I have
frequently noticed something with considerable interest--and, I
may say, with some anxiety. I sometimes hear men praying
earnestly for a baptism of the Holy Spirit that He may give them
power for their work. Beloved brethren, we need this power, not
only for work, but for our daily life. Remember, we must have it
all the time. In Old Testament times, the Spirit came with power
upon the prophets and other inspired men; but He did not dwell
permanently in them. In the same way, in the church of the
Corinthians, the Holy Spirit came with power to work miraculous
gifts, and yet they had but a small measure of His sanctifying
grace. You will remember the carnal strife, envying, and
divisions there were. They had gifts of knowledge and wisdom, etc.;
but alas! pride, unlovingness, and other sins sadly marred the
character of many of them. And what does this teach us? That a
man may have a great gift of power for work, but very little of
the indwelling Spirit. In 1 Cor. xiii., we are reminded that
though we may have faith that would remove mountains, if we have
not love, we are nothing. We must have the love that brings the
humility and self-sacrifice of Jesus. Don't let us put in the
first place the gifts we may possess; if we do, we shall have
very little blessing. But we should seek, in the first place,
that the Spirit of God should come as a light and power of
holiness from the indwelling Jesus. Let the first work of the
Holy Spirit be to humble you deep down in the very dust, so that
your whole life shall be a tender, broken-hearted waiting on God,
in the consciousness of mercy coming from above.
Do not seek large gifts; there is
something deeper you need. It is not enough that a tree shoots
its branches to the sky, and be covered thickly with leaves; but
we want its roots to strike deeply into the soil. Let the thought
of the Holy Spirit's being in us, and our hope of being filled
with the Spirit, be always accompanied in us with a broken and
contrite heart. Let us bow very low before God, in waiting for
His grace to fill and to sanctify us. We do not want a power
which God might allow us to use, while our inner part is
unsanctified. We want God to give us full possession of Himself.
In due time, the special gift may come; but we want first and
now, the power of the Holy Ghost working something far mightier
and more effectual in us than any such gift. We should seek,
therefore, not only a baptism of power, but a baptism of
holiness; we should seek that the inner nature be sanctified by
the indwelling of Jesus, and then other power will come as needed.
There is a third question:--Suppose
some one says to me:--"I have given myself up to be filled
with the Spirit, and I do not feel that there is any difference
in my condition; there is no change of experience that I can
speak of. What must I then think? Must not I think that my
surrender was not honest?" No, do not think that. "But
how then? Does God give no response?" Beloved, God gives a
response, but that is not always within certain months or years.
"What, then, would you have me do?" Retain the position
you have taken before God, and maintain it every day. Say, "Oh
God, I have given myself to be filled, here I am an empty vessel,
trusting and expecting to be filled by Thee." Take that
position every day and every hour. Ask God to write it across
your heart. Give up to God an empty, consecrated vessel that He
may fill it with the Holy Spirit. Take that position constantly.
It may be that you are not fully prepared. Ask God to cleanse
you; to give you grace to separate from everything sinful--from
unbelief or whatever hindrance there may be. Then take your
position before God and say, "My God, Thou art faithful; I
have entered into covenant with Thee for Thy Holy Spirit to fill
me, and I believe Thou wilt fulfill it." Brethren, I say for
myself, and for every minister of the gospel, and for every
fellow worker, man or woman, that if we thus come before God with
a full surrender, in a bold, believing attitude, God's promise
must be fulfilled.
If you were to ask me of my own
experience, I would say this:--That there have been times when I
hardly knew myself what to think of God's answer to my prayer in
this matter; but I have found it my joy and my strength to take
and maintain my position, and say: "My God, I have given
myself up to Thee. It was Thine own grace that led me to Christ;
and I stand before Thee in confidence that Thou wilt keep Thy
covenant with me to the end. I am the empty vessel; Thou art the
God that fillest all." God is faithful, and He gives the
promised blessing in His own time and method. Beloved, for God's
sake, be content with nothing less than full health and full
spiritual life. "Be filled with the Spirit."
Let me return now to the two
expressions with which I began: "the first duty of every
clergyman is humbly to ask of God that all that he wants done in
those who hear his preaching may be first truly and fully done in
himself." Brethren, I ask you, is it not the longing of your
hearts to have a congregation of believers filled with the Holy
Ghost? Is it not your unceasing prayer for the Church of Christ,
in which you minister, that the Spirit of holiness, the very
Spirit of God's Son, the spirit of unworldliness and of heavenly-mindedness,
may possess it; and that the Spirit of victory and of power over
sin may fill its children? If you are willing for that to come,
your first duty is to have it yourself.
And then the second sentence:--"the
first duty of every clergyman is to lead those who have been
brought to Christ to be entirely filled with the Holy Ghost."
How can I do my work with success? I can conceive what a
privilege it is to be led by the Spirit of God in all that I am
doing. In studying my Bible, praying, visiting, organizing, or
whatever I am doing, God is willing to guide me by His Holy
Spirit. It sometimes becomes a humiliating experience to me that
I am unwatchful, and do not wait for the blessing; when that is
the case, God can bring me back again. But there is also the
blessed experience of God's guiding hand, often through deep
darkness, by His Holy Spirit. Let us walk about among the people
as men of God, that we may not only preach about a book, and what
we believe with our hearts to be true, but may preach what we are
and what we have in our own experience. Jesus calls us witnesses
for Him; what does that mean? The Holy Ghost brought down to
heaven from men a participation in the glory and the joy of the
exalted Christ. Peter and the others who spoke with Him were
filled with this heavenly Spirit; and thus Christ spoke in them,
and accomplished the work for them. O brethren, if you and I be
Christ's we should take our places and claim our privilege. We
are witnesses to the truth which we believe--witnesses to the
reality of what Jesus does and what He is, by His presence in our
own souls. If we are willing to be such witnesses for Christ, let
us go to our God; let us make confession and surrender, and by
faith claim what God has for us as ministers of the gospel and
workers in His service. God will prove faithful. Even at this
very moment, He will touch our hearts with a deep consciousness
of His faithfulness and of His presence; and He will give to
every hungering, trustful one that which we continually need.
"But who am I, and what is
my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after
this sort? for all things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we
given Thee."
To be able to offer anything to
God is a perfect mystery. Consecration is a miracle of grace.
"All things come of Thee, and of Thine own have we given
Thee." In these words there are four very precious thoughts
I want to try and make clear to you: -
1. God is the Owner of all, and
gives all to us.
2. We have nothing but what we
receive--but everything we need we may receive from God.
3. It is our privilege and honour
to give back to God what we receive from Him.
4. God has a double joy in His
possessions when he receives back from us what He gave.
And when I apply this to my life--to
my body, to my wealth, property, to my whole being with all its
powers--then I understand what Consecration ought to be.
1. It is the glory of God, and
His very nature, to be always GIVING. God is the owner of all.
There is no power, no riches, no goodness, no love, outside of
God. It is the very nature of God, that He does not live for
Himself, but for His creatures. His is a love that always
delights to give. Here we come to the first step in consecration.
I must see that everything I have is given by Him; I must learn
to believe in God as the great Owner and Giver of all. Let me
hold that fast. I have nothing but what actually and definitely
belongs to God. Just as much as people say, "this money in
my purse belongs to me," so God is the Proprietor of all. It
is His and His only. And it is his life and delight to be always
giving. Oh, take that precious thought--there is nothing that
God has that He does not want to give. It is His nature, and
therefore when God asks you anything, He must give it first
Himself, and He will. Never be afraid whatever God asks; for God
only asks what is His own; what He asks you to give He will first
Himself give you. The Possessor, and Owner, and Giver of all!
This is our God. You can apply this to yourself and your powers
to all you are and have. Study it, believe it, live in it, every
day, every hour, every moment.
2. Just as it is the nature and
glory of God to be always giving, it is the nature and glory
of man to be always receiving. What did God make us for? We
have been made to be each of us a vessel into which God can pour
out His life, His beauty, His happiness, His love. We are created
to be each a receptacle and a reservoir of divine heavenly life
and blessing, just as much as God can put into us. Have we
understood this, that our great work--the object of our creation--is
to be always receiving? If we fully enter into this, it will
teach some precious things. One thing--the utter folly of being
proud or conceited. What an idea! Suppose I were to borrow a very
beautiful dress, and walk about boasting of it as if it were my
own, you might say, "What a fool!" And here it is the
Everlasting God owns everything we have; shall we dare to exalt
ourselves on account of what is all His? Then what a blessed
lesson it will teach us of what our position is! I have to do
with a God whose nature is to be always giving, and mine to be
always receiving. Just as the lock and key fit each other, God
the Giver and I the receiver fit into each other. How often we
trouble about things, and about praying for them, instead of
going back to the root of things, and saying, "Lord, I only
crave to be the receptacle of what the Will of God means for me;
of the power and the gifts and the love and Spirit of God."
What can be more simple? Come as a receptacle--cleansed,
emptied and humble. Come, and then God will delight to give. If I
may with reverence say it, He cannot help Himself; it is His
promise, His nature. The blessing is ever flowing out of Him. You
know how water always flows into the lowest places. If we would
but be emptied and low, nothing but receptacles, what a blessed
life we could live! Day by day just praising Him--Thou givest and
I accept. Thou bestowest and I rejoice to receive. How many tens
of thousands of people have said this morning: "What a
beautiful day! Let us throw open the windows and bring in the
sunlight with its warmth and cheerfulness!" May our hearts
learn every moment to drink in the light and sunshine of God's
love.
"Who am I, and what is my
people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this
sort? for all things come of Thee, and we have given Thee of
Thine own."
3. If God gives all and I receive
all, then the third thought is very simple--I must give all
back again. What a privilege that for the sake of having me
in loving, grateful intercourse with Him, and giving me the
happiness of pleasing and serving Him, the Everlasting God should
say, "Come now, and bring Me back all that I give." And
yet people say, "Oh, but must I give everything
back?brother, don't you know that there is no happiness or
blessedness except in giving to God! David felt it. He said:
"Lord, what an unspeakable privilege it is to be allowed to
give that back to Thee which is Thine own!" Just to receive
and then to render back in love to Him as God, what He gives. Do
you know what God needs you for? People say, "Does not God
give us all good gifts to enjoy?" But do you know that the
reality of the enjoyment is in the giving back? Just look at
Jesus--God gave Him a wonderful body. He kept it holy and gave it
as a sacrifice to God. This is the beauty of having a body. God
has given you a soul; this is the beauty of having a soul--you
can give it back to God. People talk about the difficulty they
meet with in having so strong a will. You never can have too
strong a will, but the trouble is we do not give that strong will
up to God, to make it a vessel in which God can and will pour His
Spirit, so as to fit it to do splendid service for Himself.
We have now had the three thoughts:
God gives all; I receive all; I give up all. Will you do this
now? Will not every heart say, "My God, teach me to give up
everything?" Take your head, your mind with all its power of
speaking, your property, your heart with its affections--the best
and most secret--take gold and silver, everything, and lay it at
God's feet and say, "Lord, here is the covenant between me
and Thee. Thou delightest to give all, and I delight to give back
all." God teach us that. If that simple lesson were learnt,
there would be an end of so much trouble about finding out the
Will of God, and an end of all our holding back, for it would be
written, not upon our foreheads, but across our hearts, "God
can do with me what He pleases; I belong to Him with all I have."
Instead of always saying to God, "Give, give, give," we
should say, "Yes, Lord, Thou dost give, thou dost love to
give, and I love to give back." Try that life and find out
if it is not the very highest life.
4. God gives all, I receive all, I
give all. Now comes the fourth thought: God does so rejoice in
what we give to Him. It is not only I that am the receiver and
the giver, but God is the Giver and the Receiver too, and, may I
say it with reverence, has more pleasure in the receiving back
than even in giving. With our little faith we often thing they
come back to God again all defiled. God says, "No, they come
back beautiful and glorified"; the surrender of the dear
child of His, with his aspirations and thanksgivings, brings it
to God with a new value and beauty. Ah! child of God you do not
know how precious the gift that you bring to your Father, is in
His sight. Have I not seen a mother give a piece of cake, and the
child comes and offers her a piece to share it with her? How she
values the gift! And your God, oh, my friends, your God, His
heart, His Father's heart of love, longs, longs, longs to have
you give Him everything. It is not a demand. It is a demand, but
it is not a demand of a hard Master, it is the call of a loving
Father, who knows that every gift you bring to God will bind you
closer to Himself, and every surrender you make will open your
heart wider to get more of his spiritual gifts. Oh, friends! a
gift to God has in His sight infinite value. It delights Him. He
sees of the travail of His soul and is satisfied. And it brings
unspeakable blessing to you. These are the thoughts our text
suggests; now comes the practical application. What are the
lessons? We here learn what the true dispositions of the
Christian life are.
To be and abide in continual
dependence upon God. Become nothing, begin to understand that
you are nothing but an earthen vessel into which God will shine
down the treasure of His love. Blessed is the man who knows what
it is to be nothing, to be just an empty vessel meet for God's
use. Work, the Apostle says, for it is God who worketh in you to
will and to do. Brethren, come and take tonight the place of
deep, deep dependence on God. And then take the place of child-like
trust and expectancy. Count upon your God to do for you
everything that you can desire of Him. Honour God as a God who
gives liberally. Honour God and believe that He asks nothing from
you but what he is going first to give. And then come praise and
surrender and consecration. Praise Him for it! Let every
sacrifice to Him be a thank-offering. What are we going to
consecrate? First of all our lives. There are perhaps men and
women--young men and women--whose hearts are asking, "What
do you want me to do--to say I will be a missionary?" No,
indeed, I do not ask you to do this. Deal with God, and come to
Him and say, "Lord of all, I belong to Thee, I am absolutely
at Thy disposal." Yield up yourselves. There may be many who
cannot go as Missionaries, but oh, come, give up yourselves to
God all the same to be consecrated to the work of His Kingdom.
Let us bow down before Him. Let us give Him all our powers--our
head to think for His Kingdom, our heart to go out in love for
men, and however feeble you may be, come and say: "Lord,
here I am, to live and die for Thy Kingdom. Some talk and pray
about the filling of the Holy Spirit. Let them pray more and
believe more. But remember the Holy Spirit came to fit men to be
messengers of the Kingdom, and you cannot expect to be filled
with the Spirit unless you want to live for Christ's Kingdom. You
cannot expect all the love and peace and joy of heaven to come
into your life and be your treasures, unless you give them up
absolutely to the Kingdom of God, and posses and use them only
for Him. It is the soul utterly given up to God that will receive
in its emptying the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Dear friends we
must consecrate not only ourselves--body and soul--but all we
have. Some of you may have children; perhaps you have an only
child, and you dread the very idea of letting it go. Take care,
take care; God deserves your confidence, your love, and your
surrender. I plead with you; take your children and say to Jesus:
"Anything Lord, that pleases Thee." Educate your
children for Jesus. God help you to do it. He may not accept all
of them, but He will accept of the will, and there will be a rich
blessing in your soul for it. Then there is money. When I hear
appeals for money from every Society; when I hear calculations as
to what the Christians of England are spending on pleasure, and
the small amount given for Missions, I say there is something
terrible in it. God's children with so much wealth and comfort,
and giving away so small a portion! God be praised for every
exception! But there are many who give but very little, who never
so give that it costs them something, and they feel it. Oh,
friends! our giving must be in proportion to God's giving. He
gives you all. Let us take it up in our Consecration prayer:
"Lord, take it all, every penny I possess. It is all Thine."
Let us often say "It is all His." You may not know how
much you ought to give. Give up all, put everything in His hands,
and He will teach you if you will wait.
We have heard this precious message
from David's mouth. We Christians of the nineteenth century, have
we learned to know our God who is willing to give everything? God
help us to.
And then the second message. We
have nothing that we do not receive, and we may receive
everything if we are willing to stand before God and take it.
Thirdly. Whatever you have received
from God give it back. It brings a double blessing to your own
soul.
Fourthly. Whatever God receives
back from us comes to Him in Heaven and gives Him infinite joy
and happiness, as he sees His object has been attained. Let us
come in the spirit of David, with the spirit of Jesus Christ in
us. Let us pray our Consecration Prayer. And may the Blessed
Spirit give each of us grace to think and to say the right thing,
and to do what shall be pleasing in the Father's sight.