"Jesus Himself. " BY THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY. _Author of "Abide in Christ. "_ FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY. NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO. _Publishers of Evangelical Literature. _ COPYRIGHT 1893 BY FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY. PREFACE. The following brief messages comprise a revision of two addresses, whichoriginally appeared in the _South African Pioneer_, the organ of the"Cape General Mission" (Rev. Andrew Murray, Pres. ), and are published byarrangement, the Mission participating in the proceeds. "Jesus Himself. " "_Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. _" I The words, from which I want to present a simple message, will be foundin the Gospel according to St. Luke, the 24th chapter and the 31stverse: "_And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him. _" Some timesince, I preached a sermon with the words "Jesus Himself" as the text;and as I went home I said to those who were walking with me: "Howpossible it is to have Jesus Himself with us and never to know it, andhow possible to preach of, and to listen to, all the truth about JesusHimself and yet not to know Him. " I cannot say what a deep impressionwas made upon me as I thought over it. Now these disciples had spent a most blessed time with Jesus, but ifthey had gone away before He revealed Himself that evening, they wouldnever have been sure that it was Jesus, for their eyes were holden thatthey should not know Him. That is, alas, the condition of a greatmultitude in the Church of Christ. They know that Christ has risen fromthe dead. They believe, and they very often have blessed experiencesthat come from the risen Christ. Very often in a time of Convention, orin time of silent Bible reading, or in a time of the visitation of God'sgrace, their hearts burn; and yet it can be said of a people whosehearts are burning within them, that they did not know it was JesusHimself. And now if you ask me what is to be the great blessing to be sought, myanswer is this: Not only should we think about Jesus Himself and speakabout Him and believe in Him, but we should come to the point that thedisciples in the text arrived at, "and they knew Him. " Everything is tobe found in that. If I read that story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus, I get fromit four stages in the Christian life. Just think! How did they begin themorning that day? With _Hearts sad and troubled_, because they thought Jesus was dead. They did not know that He wasalive, and that is the state of very many Christians. They look to theCross, and they struggle to trust Christ, but they have never yetlearned the blessedness of believing that there is a living Christ to doeverything for them. Oh! that word of the angel to the women! "Why seekye the living among the dead?" What is the difference between a deadChrist, whom the women went to anoint, and a living Christ? A deadChrist, I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything forme. The disciples began the morning with a sad heart. I fancy very possiblythey spent a sleepless night. Oh! the terrible disappointment! They hadhoped that Christ would be the Deliverer of Israel, and they had seenHim die an accursed death. On the morning of that first day of the week, they rose with sad hearts--the bitter sadness cannot be expressed. Thatis just the life of many Christians. They try to believe in Jesus and totrust Him, and to hope in Him, but there is no joy. Why? Because they donot know that there is a living Christ to reveal Himself. Then there is the second stage. What is that? The stage of which Christspeaks: "_Slow of heart to believe. _" They had the message from the women. They told the stranger who walkedwith them: "Certain women have astonished us, telling us they have seenan angel, who says He is alive. " And Christ replied to them: "Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe. " Yes! there are many Christians to-day whohave heard and who know that they must not only believe in a crucifiedChrist, but in a living Christ, and they try to grasp it and take itin, but it does not bring them a blessing, and why? Because they want tofeel it and not to believe it. They want to work for it, and withefforts get hold of it, instead of just quietly sinking down andbelieving, "Christ, the living Jesus, He will do _everything_ for us. "That is the second stage. The first stage is that of ignorance, thesecond stage is that of unbelief--the doubting heart that cannot take inthe wonderful truth that Jesus lives. Then comes the third stage-- _The burning heart. _ Jesus came to the two disciples, and after He had reproved them andsaid: "Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe, " He began to open theScriptures to them, and to tell them of all the wonderful things theprophets had taught. Then their eyes were opened, and they began tounderstand the Scriptures. They saw that it was true that it wasprophesied that Christ must rise. As He talked, there came out fromHim--the living risen One--a mighty influence, and it rested upon them, and they began to feel their hearts burn within them with joy andgladness. You still say perhaps: "That is the stage we want to come to. " No; Godforbid you should stop there. You may get in that third stage--theburning heart--and yet something is still wanting--the revelation ofChrist. The disciples had had a blessed experience of His divine powers, but He had not revealed Himself, and oh! how often it is that atConventions and in churches, and in meetings and in blessed fellowshipwith God's saints, our hearts burn within us. These are preciousexperiences of the working of God's grace and Spirit, and yet there issomething wanting. What is that? Jesus Himself has been working upon us, and the power of his risen life has touched us, but we cannot say, "Ihave met Him. He has made Himself known to me. " Oh, the differencebetween a burning heart, which becomes cold after a time, which comes byfits and starts, and the blessed revelation of Jesus Himself as mySaviour, taking charge of me and blessing me and keeping me every day!This is the stage of _The satisfied heart. _ Oh my brother, my sister! It is what I ask for you, and it is what I amsure you ask for yourself. I ask it for myself. Lord Jesus! may we knowThee in thy divine glory as the risen One, our Jesus, our Beloved andour mighty One. Oh! if there are any sad ones who cannot take this in, and who say, "I have never known the joy of religion yet"--listen, weare going to tell you how you can. All will center round this one thing, that just as a little child lives day by day in the arms of its mother, and grows up year by year under a mother's eye, it is a possibility thatyou can live every day and hour of your life in fellowship with the HolyJesus. _He will do it for you. _ Come, and let your sad heart begin to hope. Will He reveal Himself? Hedid it to the disciples and He will do it to you. Perhaps there aresome who have got beyond the sad heart and who yet feel, "I have notgot what I want. " If you throw open your heart and give up everythingbut just believing and allowing Him to do what He wants, it will come. God be praised! it will come. _Jesus will reveal Himself. _ Perhaps you have arrived at the stage of the burning heart, and can tellof many blessed experiences, but somehow there is a worm at the root. The experiences do not last, and the heart is so changeable. Oh come, mybeloved! Follow Christ. Say, "Jesus, reveal Thyself that we may knowThee Thyself. We ask not only to drink of the living water, we want thefountain. We ask not only to bathe ourselves in the light, we want theSun of Righteousness within our hearts. We ask not only to know Thee, who hast touched us and warmed our hearts and blessed us, but we want toknow that we have the unchangeable Jesus dwelling within our hearts andabiding with us forevermore. " Now comes the question which I really wanted to put, --What are theconditions under which our blessed Lord reveals Himself? Or, put it thisway, --To whom is it that Jesus will reveal Himself? We have only to seehow he dealt with these disciples, and we get the answer. What is theanswer? First of all I think I find here that Christ revealed Himself tothose disciples _Who had given up everything for Him. _ He had said to them: "Forsake all and follow Me, " and they had done it. With all their feebleness and all their unfaithfulness they followedChrist to the end. He said to them: "Ye have continued with Me in Mytemptations, and I appoint you a kingdom, as I have received a kingdomfrom My Father. " They were not perfect men, but they would have died forHim. They loved Him, they obeyed Him, they followed Him. They had leftall, and for three years they had been following hard after Christ. Yousay "Tell me what Christ wants of me, if I am to have his wonderfulpresence. Tell me what is the character of the man to whom Christ willreveal Himself in this highest and fullest way?" I answer: "It is theone who is ready to forsake all and to follow Him. " If Christ is to giveHimself wholly to me, He must know that He has me wholly for Himself;and I trust God will give grace that these words spoken about theconsecration and the surrender, not only of all evil, but of many lawfulthings, and even, if necessary, of life itself, may lead us tounderstand what the demand is that Jesus makes upon us. The motto of the Cape General Mission is, "_God first. _" In one sense that is a beautiful motto, and yet I am not alwayssatisfied with it, because it is a motto that is often misunderstood. God first may mean "I" second, something else third, and something elsefourth. God is thus first in order, but still God becomes one of aseries of powers, and that is not the place God wants. The meaning ofthe words, "God first" is really "God all; God everything;" and that iswhat Christ wants. To be willing to give up everything, to submit toChrist to teach him what to say and what to do, is the first mark of theman to whom Christ will come. Are you not ready to take this step andsay: "Jesus! I do give up everything; I have given up everything; revealThyself. " Oh, brother! oh, sister! do not hesitate. Speak it out in your heart, and let this be the time in which a new sacrifice shall be laid at thefeet of the blessed Lamb of God. There is a second thought. There is first the idea of having forsakenall to follow Him; of having given up everything in obedience to Him, and living just a life of simple love and obedience. But there is asecond thing needed in the man who is to have this full revelation ofChrist. He must be _Convicted of his unbelief. _ "Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe what the prophets have said. "Oh! brother, sister, if we could have a sight of the amount of unbeliefin the hearts of God's children, barring the door and closing the heartagainst Christ, how we should stand astonished and ashamed! When thereis not unbelief but where there is faith, Christ cannot help coming in. He cannot help coming where there is a living faith, a full faith. Theheart is opened, the heart is prepared; and as naturally as water runsinto a hollow place, so naturally Christ must come into a heart that isfull of faith. What is the hindrance with some earnest souls, who say:"I have given myself up to the Lord Jesus. I have done it often, and byHis grace I am doing it every day, and God knows how earnestly andreally I am doing it, and I have the sanction of God upon it, I know Godhas blessed me"? They have not been convicted of their unbelief. "Oh!fools, and slow of heart to believe. " Do you know what Christ said abouta man calling his brother a fool? Yet here the loving Son of God couldfind no other word to speak to His beloved disciples: "Oh! fools, andslow of heart to believe. " You want the Lord Jesus to give you this fullrevelation of Himself? Are you willing to acknowledge that you are afool for never having believed in Him? "Lord Jesus, it is my own fault. There Thou art, longing to have possession of me. There Thou hast beenwith Thy faithful promises waiting to reveal Thyself. " Did you ever hear of a man loving another and not longing to revealhimself? Christ longs to reveal Himself, but He cannot on account ofour unbelief. May God convict us of our unbelief that we may getutterly ashamed and broken down, and cry, "Oh, my God, what is this, this heart of unbelief actually throwing a barrier across the doorthat Christ cannot step in, blinding my eyes that I cannot see Jesus, though he is so near? Here He has been for ten or twenty years, fromtime to time giving me the burning heart, enjoying the experience of alittle of His love and grace, and yet I have not had the revelation ofHim, taking possession of my heart and dwelling with me in unbrokencontinuity. " Oh! may God convict us of unbelief. Do let us believebecause all things are possible to him that believes. That is God'sword, and this blessing, receiving the revelation of Jesus, can comeonly to those who learn to believe and to trust him. There is another mark of those to whom this special revelation of Christwill come, and that is, _They do not rest until they obtain it. _ You know the story. Their hearts were burning as they drew nigh to theplace they were going to, and Christ made as if He were going farther. He put them to the test, and if they had allowed Him quietly to go on, if they had been content with the experience of the burning heart, theywould have lost something infinitely better. But they were not contentwith it. They were not content to go home to the disciples that nightand say, "Oh, what a blessed afternoon we have had! What wonderfulteaching we have had!" No! The burning heart and the blessed experiencejust made them say, "Lord, abide with us, " and they compelled Him tocome in. They constrained Him to come in. It always reminds me of the story of Jacob, "I will not let Thee go, except Thou bless me. " That is the spirit that prepares us for therevelation of Jesus. Oh! my dear friend, has this been the spirit inwhich we have looked upon the wonderful blessing that we have sometimesheard of? "Oh! my Lord Jesus, though I do not understand it, though Icannot grasp it, though my struggles avail nothing, I am not going tolet Thee go. If it is possible for a sinner on earth to have Jesusevery day, every hour, and every moment in resurrection power dwellingin his heart, shining within him, filling him with love and joy, --ifthat is possible, I want it. " _Is that your language?_ Oh! come then and say: "Lord Jesus, I cannot let Thee go except Thoubless me. " The question is asked so often: "What is the cause of thefeeble life of so many Christians?" What is really the matter? What isactually the want? How little the Church responds to Christ's call! how little the Churchis what Christ would have her to be! What is the cause of all thetrouble? Various answers may be given, but there is one answer whichincludes all the other answers, and that is, each believer wants thepersonal _Full revelation of a personal Christ_ as an indwelling Lord, as a satisfying portion. When the Lord Jesus washere upon earth, what was it that distinguished His disciples from otherpeople? He took them away from their fish-nets, and from their homes, and He gathered them about Himself, and they knew Jesus. He was theirMaster, and guarded them, and they followed Him. And what is to make adifference between Christ's disciples--not those who are just hoping toget to heaven, but Christ's whole-hearted disciples--what is to make adifference between them and other people? It is this, to be infellowship with Jesus--every hour of the day; and just as Christ uponearth was able to keep those people with Him for three years, day byday, so _Christ is able_ in heaven now to do what He could not do when He was on earth--to keepin the closest fellowship with every believer throughout the wholeworld. Glory be to God! You know that text in Ephesians: "He thatdescended is the same also that ascended, that He might fill allthings. " Why was my Lord Jesus taken up to heaven away from the life ofearth? Because the life of earth is a life confined to localities, butthe life in heaven is a life in which there is no limit and no bound andno locality, and Christ was taken up to heaven, that, in the power ofGod, of the omnipresent God, He might be able to fill every individualhere and be with every individual believer. That is what my heart wants to realize by faith; that is a possibility, that is a promise, that is my birthright, and I want to have it, and Iwant by the grace of God to say, "Jesus, I will not rest until Thou hastrevealed Thyself fully to my soul. " There are often very blessed experiences in the Christian life in what Icall the third stage--the stage of the burning heart. Do you know whatanother great mark of that stage is? Delight in God's word. How did thedisciples get their burning hearts? By that strange opening of theScripture to them. He made it all look different, --new, --and they sawwhat they had never seen before. They could not help feeling, _How wonderful_, how heavenly was that teaching. Oh! there are many Christians who findthe best time of the day is the time when they can get with theirBibles, and who love nothing so much as to get a new thought; and as adiamond digger rejoices when he has found a diamond, or a gold diggerwhen he has found a nugget, they delight when they get from the Biblesome new thought, and they feed upon it. Yet with all that interest inGod's word, and with all that stirring of the heart with joy, when theygo into business or attend to their daily duties, there is stillsomething wanting. We must come away from all the manifold and multifarious blessings thatJesus can bestow from time to time, to the blessed unity of thatone--that Jesus makes Himself known, Jesus Himself is willing to makeHimself known. Oh! if I were to ask, "Is not this just what you and Iwant, and what many of us have been longing for?" I am sure you wouldanswer, "_That is what I want. _" Think what the blessedness will be that comes from it. You often sing:-- "Oh! the peace my Saviour gives! Peace I never knew before, And my way has brighter grown, Since I've learnt to trust Him more. " I recently had a letter from some one in the Free State saying what awonderful comfort and strength that little verse was in the midst ofdifficulties and troubles. Yes; but how can that peace be kept? It wasthe presence of Christ that brought the peace. When the storm wasthreatening to swallow up the disciples, it was the presence of ChristHimself that gave the peace. Oh! Christian, do you want peace and rest? You must have Jesus Himself. You talk of purity, you talk of cleansing, you talk of deliverance fromsin. Praise God, here is the deliverance and the cleansing, when theliving Jesus comes and gives power. Then we have this resurrection ofChrist, this heavenly Christ upon the throne, making Himself known tous. Surely that will be the secret of purity and the secret of strength. Where does the strength of so many come from? From the joy of a personalfriendship with Jesus. Those disciples, if they had gone away with theirburning hearts to the other disciples, could have told them wonderfulthings of a man who had explained to them the Scriptures and thepromises, but they could not have said, "We have seen Jesus. " They mighthave said, "Jesus is alive. We are sure of that, " but that would nothave satisfied the others. But they could now go and say, "_We have seen Himself. _ He has revealed Himself to us. " We are all glad to work for Christ, butthere is a complaint throughout the Church of Christ, from the ministersin the pulpit down to the feeblest worker, of lack of joy and lack ofblessedness. Let us try and find out whether this is not the place wherethe secret will be discovered--that the Lord Jesus comes and showsHimself to us as our Master and speaks to us. When we have Jesus withus, and when we go every footstep with the thought that it is Jesuswants us to go, it is Jesus who sends us and is helping us, then therewill be brightness in our testimony, and it will help other believers, and they will begin to understand; "I see why I have failed. I took theword, I took the blessing, and I took, as I thought, the life, but I waswithout the living Jesus. " And if you now ask, "How will this revelation come?" Brother, sister, that is the secret that no man may tell, that Jesus keeps to Himself. Itis _In the power of the Holy Ghost_; Christ, the risen One, entered into a new life. His resurrection life isentirely different from His life before His death. You know what weread: "They knew Him. " He revealed Himself, and then He passed away. Andwas that vision of Christ worth so much? It was lost in a moment. Itwas worth heaven, eternity, everything. Why? Because henceforth Christwas no longer to be known after the flesh. Christ was henceforth in thepower of the Spirit, which fills Heaven; in the power of the Spiritwhich is the power of the Godhead; in the power of the Spirit, whichfills our hearts. Christ was henceforth to live in the life of Heaven. Thank God, Christ can by the power of the Holy Ghost reveal Himself toeach one of us; but oh! brother, it is a secret thing between Christ andyourself. Take this assurance, "Their eyes were opened and they knewHim, " and believe that it is written for you. You say, "I have known the other three stages; the stage of the sadheart, mourning that I knew no living Christ; I have known the stage ofthe slow heart to believe, when I struggled with my unbelief; and I knowthe stage of the burning heart, when there are great times of joy andblessedness. " You say that? Oh come then and know the fourth stage of _The satisfied heart_, of the heart made glad for eternity, of the heart that cannot keep itsjoy in, but goes away back to Jerusalem, and says, "It is true. Jesushas revealed Himself. I know it, I feel it. " Oh! brother, oh! sister, how will this revelation come? Jesus will tell you. Just come to theLord Jesus and breathe up before Him a simple child-like prayer, and I, His servant, will come and take you by the hand and say: "Come, now, mywork is done. I have pointed to the Lamb of God, to the risen One. Mywork is done. " Let us enter into the Holy Presence and begin, if you have never yetsought it before, begin to plead: "Oh! Saviour, that I might have thisblessedness every moment present with me--Jesus Himself, my portionforever. " "_Jesus Himself. _" "_Lo, I am with you alway. _" II When I think of all the struggles and difficulties and failures of whichmany complain, and know that many are trying to make a new effort tobegin a holy life, their hearts fearing all the time that they wouldfail again, owing to so many difficulties and temptations and thenatural weakness of their character, my heart longs to be able to tellthem in words so simple that a little child could understand, _What the secret is of the Christian life. _ And then the thought comes to me, Can I venture to hope that it will begiven to me to take that glorious, heavenly, divine Lord Jesus and toshow Him to these souls, so that they can see Him in His glory? And canit be given to me to open their eyes to see that there is a Divine, Almighty Christ, who does actually come into the heart and whofaithfully promises, "I will come and dwell with you, and I will neverleave you?" No; my words cannot do that. But then I thought, my LordJesus can use me as a simple servant to take such feeble ones by thehand and encourage and help them; to say, Oh, come, come, come, into thepresence of Jesus and wait on Him, and He will reveal Himself to thee. Ipray God that He may use His precious Word. It is simply _The presence of the Lord Jesus. _ That is the secret of the Christian's strength and joy. You know thatwhen He was upon earth, He was present in bodily form with hisdisciples. They walked about together all day, and at night they wentinto the same house, and sometimes slept together and ate and dranktogether. They were continually together. It was the presence of Jesusthat was the training school of His disciples. They were bound to Him bythat wonderful intercourse of love during three long years, and in thatintercourse they learned to know Christ, and Christ instructed andcorrected them, and prepared them for what they were afterward toreceive. And now when He is going away, He says to them: "Lo, behold, Iam with you always--all the days--even unto the end of the world. " What a promise! And just as really as Christ was with Peter in the boat, just as Christ sat with John at the table, as really can I have Christwith me. And more really, for they had their Christ in the body and Hewas to them a man, an individual separate from them, but I may haveglorified Christ in the power of the throne of God, the omnipotentChrist, the omnipresent Christ. What a promise! You ask me, How can that be? And my answer is, BecauseChrist is God, and because Christ after having been made man, went upinto the throne and the Life of God. And now that blessed Christ Jesus, with His loving, pierced heart; that blessed Jesus Christ, who livedupon earth; that same Christ glorified into the glory of God, can be inme and _Can be with me all the days. _ You say, Is it really possible for a man in business, for a woman in themidst of a large and difficult household, for a poor man full of care;is it possible? Can I always be thinking of Jesus? Thank God, you neednot always be thinking of Him. You may be the manager of a bank, andyour whole attention may be required to carry out the business that youhave to do. But thank God, while I have to think of my business, Jesuswill think of me, and He will come in and will take charge of me. Thatlittle child, three months old, as it sleeps in its mother's arms, lieshelplessly there; it hardly knows its mother, it does not think of her, but the mother thinks of the child. And this is the blessed mystery oflove, that Jesus the God-man waits to come in to me in the greatness ofHis love; and as He gets possession of my heart, He embraces me in thosedivine arms and tells me, "My child, I the Faithful One, I the MightyOne will abide with thee, will watch over thee and keep thee all thedays. " He tells me He will come into my heart, so that I can be a happyChristian, a holy Christian, and a useful Christian. You say, Oh! if Icould only believe that, if I could think that it is possible to haveChrist always, every hour, every moment with me, _Taking and keeping charge of me!_ My brother, my sister, it is just literally this that is my message toyou. When Jesus said to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always, " Hemeant it in the fullness of the divine Omnipresence, in the fullness ofthe divine love, and he longs to-night to reveal Himself to you and tome as we have never seen Him before. And now just think a moment what a blessed life that must be--thepresence of Jesus always abiding. Is not that the secret of peace andhappiness? If I could just attain (that is what each heart says) to thatblessed state in which every day and all the day I felt Jesus to bewatching and ever keeping me, oh, what peace I would have in thethought, "I have no care if He cares for me, and I have no fear if Heprovides for me. " Your heart says that this is too good to be true, andthat it is too glorious to be for you. Still you acknowledge it must bemost blessed. Fearful one, erring one, anxious one, I bring you God'spromise, it is for me and for you. Jesus will do it; as God, He is able, and Jesus is willing and longing as the Crucified One to keep you inperfect peace. This is a wonderful fact, and it is the secret of joyunspeakable. And this is also _The secret of Holiness. _ Instead of indwelling sin, an indwelling Christ conquering it; insteadof indwelling sin, the indwelling life and light and love of the blessedSon of God. He is the secret of holiness. "Christ is made unto ussanctification. " Remember that it is Christ Himself who is made unto ussanctification. Christ coming into me, taking charge of my whole being;my nature and my thoughts and my affections and my will; ruling allthings. It is this that will make me holy. We talk about holiness, butdo you know what holiness is? You have as much holiness as you have ofChrist, for it is written, "Both he that sanctifieth and they who aresanctified are all of one;" and Christ sanctifies by bringing God's lifeinto me. We read in Judges, "The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon. " But you knowthat there is in the New Testament an equally wonderful text, where weread, "Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, " that is, clothe yourself withChrist Jesus. And what does that mean? It does not only mean, byimputation of righteousness outside of me, but to clothe myself with theliving character of the living Christ, with the living love of theliving Christ. _Put on the Lord Jesus. _ Oh! what a work. I cannot do it unless I believe and understand that Hewhom I have to put on is as a garment covering my whole being. I have toput on a living Christ who has said, "Lo, I am with you all the days. "Just draw the folds closer round you, of that robe of light with whichChrist would array you. Just come and acknowledge that Christ is withyou, on you, in you. Oh, put Him on! And when you look at onecharacteristic of His after another; and you hear God's word, "Let thismind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ, " and it tells you He wasobedient unto the death; and then you answer, Christ the obedient one, Christ whose whole life was obedience, it is that Christ whom I havereceived and put on. He becomes my life and His obedience rests upon me, until I learn to whisper as Jesus did, "My Father, Thy will be done; lo, I come to do Thy will. " This, too, is the secret of influence in witness and work. How comes itthat it is so _Difficult to be obedient_, and how comes it that I so often sin? People sing, "Oh, to be whollyThine, " and sing it from their hearts. How comes it then that they aredisobedient again? Where does the disobedience come from? And the answercomes, It is because I am trying to obey a distant Christ, and thus Hiscommands do not come with power. Look what I find in God's Word. WhenGod wanted to send any man upon His service, He first met him andtalked with him and cheered him time after time. God appeared toAbraham seven or eight times, and gave to him one command after another;and so Abraham learned to obey Him perfectly. God appeared to Joshua andto Gideon, and they obeyed. And why are we not obedient? Because we haveso little of this near intercourse with Jesus. But, oh, if we knew _This blessed, heavenly secret_ of having the presence of Christ with us every day, every hour, everyminute, what a joy it would be to obey! We could not walk in thisconsciousness, --My Lord Jesus is with me and around me, --and not obeyHim! Oh, do you not begin to long and say, This is what I must have, theever-abiding presence of Jesus! There are some Christians who try not tobe disobedient, who come to their Sunday and week-day duties mostfaithfully, and pray for grace and a blessing, and they complain of solittle blessing and power, so little power! And why? Because there isnot enough of the living Jesus in their hearts. I sometimes think ofthis as a most solemn truth. There is a great diversity of gifts amongstministers and others who speak; but I am sure of this, that a man'sgifts are not the measure of his real power. I am sure of this, that Godcan see what neither you nor I can see. Sometimes people feel somethingof it; but in proportion as a man has in reality, not as a sentiment oran aspiration, or a thought, but in reality, the very spirit andpresence of Jesus upon him, there comes out from him an unseen silentinfluence. That secret influence is the _Holy presence of Jesus. _ "Lo, I am with you always. " And now, if what I have said has sufficedjust to indicate what a desirable thing it is, what a blessed thing itis to live for, then let me now give you an answer to the question thatarises in more than one heart. I can hear some one say, "Tell me how Ican get this blessed abiding presence of Jesus; and when I have got it, how I can ever keep it. I think if I have this, I have all. The LordJesus has come very near to me. I have tried to turn away fromeverything that can hinder, and have had my Lord very near. But how canI know that He will be with me always?" If you were to ask the Lord, "Oh, my blessed Lord Christ, what must I do, how can I enjoy Thynever-failing presence?" His first answer would be, "Only believe. Ihave said it often, and you only partly understood it, but I will say itagain-- _My child, only believe. _" It is by faith. We sometimes speak of faith as trust, and it is a veryhelpful thing to tell men that faith is trust: but when people say, asthey sometimes do, that it is nothing else but trust, that is not thecase. It is a far wider word than trust. It is by faith that I learn toknow the invisible One, the invisible God, and that I see Him. Faith ismy spiritual eye-sight for the unseen and heavenly. You often try hardto trust God, and you fail. Why? Because you have not taken time firstto see God. How can you trust God fully until you have met Him andknown Him? You ask, "Where ought I to begin?" You ought to begin withfirst believing; with presenting yourself before this God in theattitude of silent worship, and asking Him to let a sense of Hisgreatness and His presence come upon you. You must ask Him to let yourheart be covered over with his holy presence. You must seek to realizein your heart the presence of an Almighty and all-loving God, anunspeakably loving God. Take time to worship Him as the omnipotent God, to feel that the very power that created the world, the very power thatraised Jesus from the dead, is at this moment working in your heart. Wedo not experience it because we do not believe. We must take time tobelieve. Jesus says, "Oh, my child, shut your eyes to the world, andshut out of your heart all these thoughts about religion, and begin tobelieve in God Himself. " That is the first article of the Creed--"Ibelieve in God. " _By believing I open my heart_, to receive this glorious God, and I bow and worship. And then as Ibelieve this, I look up and I see the Lamb upon the Throne, and Ibelieve that the Almighty power of God is in Jesus for the very purposeof revealing His presence to my heart. Why are there two upon theThrone? Is not God enough? The Lamb of God is upon the Throne in yourinterest and in mine; the Lamb upon the Throne is Christ Himself, withpower as God to take possession of me. Oh, do not think you cannot getthat realization. And do not think of it as now only within your reach;but cultivate the habit of faith. "Jesus, I believe in Thy glory; Ibelieve in Thine omnipotence; I believe in Thy power working within me. I believe in Thy living, loving presence with me, revealing itself inDivine power. " Do not be occupied with feelings or experiences. You will find it farsimpler and easier just to trust and say, "I am sure He is all for me. "Get rid of yourself for the time; don't think or speak about yourself;but _Think what Jesus is. _ And then remember it is believe always. I sometimes feel that I cannotfind words to tell how God wants His people to believe from morning tillnight. Every breath ought to be just believing. Yes, it is indeed true;the Lord Jesus loves us to be just believing from morning to evening, and you must begin to make that the chief thing in life. In the morningwhen you wake, let your heart go forth with a large faith in this; andin the watches of the night let this thought be present with you--mySaviour Jesus is round me and near me, and you can look up and say, "Iwant to trust Thee always. " You know what trust is. It is so sweet totrust. And now cannot you trust Jesus; this presence, this keepingpresence? He lives for you in Heaven. You are marked with His blood, andhe loves you; and cannot you say, "My King, my King, He is with me allthe days?" Oh, trust Jesus to fulfill His own promises. There is a second answer that I think Christ would give if we come toHim believing, and say, "Is there anything more, my blessed Master?" Ithink I can hear His answer: "_My child, always obey. _" Do not fail to understand the lesson contained in this one word. Youmust distinctly and definitely take that word OBEY and obedience, andlearn to say for yourselves: "Now I have to obey, and by the grace ofGod I am going to obey in everything. " At our recent exhibition at theCape, Mr. Rhodes, our Prime Minister, went to the gate, thinking he hadgot the fee in his pocket. When he got to the gate, however, he found hehad not enough money, and said to the door-keeper, "I am Mr. Rhodes; letme in and I will take care you do not suffer. " But the man said, "Icannot help that, sir, I have my orders, " and he refused to let Mr. Rhodes in. He had to borrow from a friend, and pay before he could passthe gate. At a dinner afterward Mr. Rhodes spoke about it, and said itwas a real joy to see a man stick to his order like that. That is it. The man had his orders, and that was enough to him, and whoever came tothe gate had to pay his fee before he could enter. God's children oughtto be like soldiers, and be _Ready to say, "I must obey. "_ Oh! to have that thought in our hearts--"Jesus, I love to obey Thee. "There must be personal intercourse with the Saviour, and then comes thejoy of personal service and allegiance. Are you ready to obey in allfeebleness and weakness and fear? Can you say, "Yes, Lord Jesus, I willobey?" If so, then give yourself up absolutely. Then your feeling willbe, "I am not going to speak one word if I think that Jesus would notlike to hear it. I am not going to have an opinion of my own, but mywhole life is to be covered with the purity of His obedience to theFather and His self-sacrificing love to me. I want Christ to have mywhole life, my whole heart, my whole character. I want to be like Christand to obey. " Give yourself up to this loving obedience. The third thought is this: If I say, "My Master, blessed Saviour, tellme all, I will believe, I do obey, and I will obey. Is there anythingmore I need to secure the enjoyment of Thine abiding presence?" And Icatch this answer: "_My child, close intercourse with me every day. _" Ah, there is the fault of many who try to obey and try to believe; theydo it in their own strength, and they do not know that if the Lord Jesusis to reign in their hearts, they must have close communion with Himevery day. You cannot do all He desires, but Jesus will do it for you. There are many Christians who fail here, and on that account do notunderstand what it is to have fellowship with Jesus. Do let me try andimpress this upon you: God has given you a loving, living Saviour, andhow can He bless if you do not meet Him? The joy of friendship is foundin intercourse; and Jesus asks for this every day, that he may have timeto influence me, to tell me of Himself, to teach me, to breathe HisSpirit unto me, to give me new life and joy and strength. And remember, intercourse with Jesus _Does not mean half-an-hour_ or an hour in your closet. A man may study his Bible or his commentarycarefully; he may look up all the parallel passages in the chapter; whenhe comes out of his closet he may be able to tell you all about it, andyet he has never met Jesus that morning at all. You have prayed for fiveor ten minutes, and you have never met Jesus. And so we must rememberthat though the Bible is most precious, and the reading of it mostblessed and needful; yet prayer and Bible reading are not fellowshipwith Jesus. What we need every morning is to meet Jesus, and to say, "Lord, here is the day again, and I am just as weak in myself as ever Iwas; do Thou come and feed me this morning with Thyself and speak to mysoul. " Oh, friends, it is not your faith that will keep you standing, but it is a living Jesus, met _Every day in fellowship_ and worship and love. Wait in His presence, however cold and faithlessyou feel. Wait before Him and say: "Lord, helpless as I am, I believeand rest in the blessed assurance that what Thou hast promised Thou wiltdo for me. " I ask my Master once again, "Lord Jesus, is that all?" And his answeris: "No, my child; I have one thing more. " "And what is that? Thou hasttold me to believe, and to obey, and to abide near to Thee: what wouldstThou have more?" "_Work for me my child. _ Remember, I have redeemed thee for My service; I have redeemed thee tohave a witness to go out into the world confessing Me before men. " Oh, do not hide your treasure, or think that if Jesus is with you, you canhide it. One of two things will happen--either you must give all up, orit must come out. You have perhaps heard of the little girl, who, afterone of Mr. Moody's meetings, was found to be singing some of the hymnswe all know. The child's parents were in a good position in society, andwhile singing those hymns in the drawing-room her mother forbade her. One day she was singing the hymn "Oh, I'm so glad that Jesus loves me, "when her mother said, "My child, how is it that you sing this when Ihave forbidden it?" She replied, "Oh, mother, I cannot help it; itcomes out of itself. " If Jesus Christ be in the heart, He must come out. Remember, it is not only our duty to confess Him; it is that, but it issomething more. If you do not do it, it is just an indication that youhave not given yourself up to Jesus; your character, your reputation, your all. You are holding back from Him. You must confess Jesus in theworld, in your home; and in fact everywhere. You know the Lord'scommand, "Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to everycreature;" "and, lo, I am with you, " meaning, "Any one may work for Me, and I will be with him. " It is true of the minister, the missionary, andevery believer who works for Jesus. The presence of Jesus is intimatelyconnected with work for Him. You say, "I have never thought of thatbefore. I have my Sunday work, but during the week I am not doing workfor Him. " You cannot have the presence of Jesus, and let this continueto be the case. I do not believe you could have the presence of Jesusall the week and yet do nothing for Him; therefore my advice is, workfor Him who is worthy, His blessing and His presence will be found inthe work. It is _A blessed privilege to work for Christ_ in this perishing world. Oh, why is it that our hearts often feel socold and closed up, and so many of us say, "I do not feel called toChrist's work"? Be willing to yield yourself for the Lord's service, andHe will reveal Himself to you. Christ comes with His wondrous promise, and what He says, He says to allbelievers: "Lo, I am with you always; that is My promise; this is what Iin My power can do; this is what I faithfully engage to perform; willyou have it? _I give Myself to thee, O soul. _" To each of those who have come to Him, Christ says, "I give Myself tothee, to be absolutely and wholly thine every hour of every day; to bewith thee and in thee every moment, to bless thee and sustain thee, andto give thee each moment the consciousness of My presence; I will bewholly, wholly, wholly thine. " And now, what is the other side? He wants me to be wholly His. Are youready to take this as your motto now, "_Wholly for God_"? O God, breathe Thou Thy presence in my heart that Thou mayest shineforth from my life. "Wholly for God, " let this be our motto. Come let uscast ourselves on our faces before His feet. Our missionary fromNyassaland says he has often been touched by seeing how the nativeChristians, when they are brought to Jesus, do not stand in prayer; theydo not kneel; but they cast themselves upon the earth with theirforeheads to the ground, and there they lie, and with loud voices cryunto God. I sometimes feel that I wish we could do that ourselves; butwe need not do it literally. Let us do it in spirit, for the everlastingSon of God has come into our hearts. Are you going to take Him and tokeep Him there, to give Him glory and let Him have His way? Come nowand say, "I will seek Thee with my whole heart; I am wholly Thine. "Yield yourself entirely to Him to have complete possession. He will takeand keep possession. Come now. Jesus delights in the worship of HisSaints. Our whole life can become one continuous act of worship and workof love and joy, if we only remember and value this, that Jesus hassaid, "Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world. "