The MASTER'S INDWELLING

ANDREW MURRAY

1953

The following papers were in substance delivered by the author in a seriesof addresses at the Northfield Conference of 1895, but later rewritten andrevised by him for this permanent and authorized publication. 

CONTENTS

I. CARNAL CHRISTIANS

II. THE SELF LIFE

III. WAITING ON GOD

IV. ENTRANCE INTO REST

V. THE KINGDOM FIRST

VI. CHRIST OUR LIFE

VII. CHRIST'S HUMILITY OUR SALVATION

VIII. THE COMPLETE SURRENDER

IX. DEAD WITH CHRIST

X. JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST

XI. TRIUMPH OF FAITH

XII. THE SOURCE OF POWER IN PRAYER

XIII. THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL

CARNAL CHRISTIANS. 

I. 

_1 Corinthians 3: 1_. --_And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as untospiritual, but as unto carnal_. 

The apostle here speaks of two stages of the Christian life, two types ofChristians: "I could not speak unto you as unto _spiritual_, but as unto_carnal_, even as unto babes in Christ. " They were Christians, in Christ, but instead of being spiritual Christians, they were carnal. "I have fedyou with milk, and not with meat, for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet are ye able, for ye are yet carnal. " Here is that word a secondtime. "For whereas"--this is the proof--"there is among you envying, andstrife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? For while onesaith, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?" Fourtimes the apostle uses that word carnal. In the wisdom which the Holy Ghostgives him, Paul feels:--I can not write to these Corinthian Christiansunless I know their state, and unless I tell them of it. If I givespiritual food to men who are carnal Christians, I am doing them more harmthan good, for they are not fit to take it. I cannot feed them with meat, I must feed them with milk. And so he tells them at the very outset of theepistle what he sees to be their state. In the two previous chapters he hadspoken about his ministry being by the Holy Spirit; now he begins to tellthem what must be the state of a people in order to accept spiritual truth, and he says: "I have not liberty to speak to you as I would, for you arecarnal, and you cannot receive Spiritual truth. " That suggests to us thesolemn thought, that in the Church of Christ there are two classes ofChristians. Some have lived many years as believers, and yet always remainbabes; others are spiritual men, because they have given themselves up tothe power, the leading and to the entire rule of the Holy Ghost. If we areto obtain a blessing, we must first decide to which of these classes webelong. Are we, by the grace of God, in deep humility living a spirituallife, or are we living a carnal life? Then, let us first try to understandwhat is meant by the carnal state in which believers may be living. 

We notice from what we find in Corinthians, four marks of the carnal state. First: It is simply a condition of protracted infancy. You know what thatmeans. Suppose a beautiful babe, six months old. It cannot speak, it cannotwalk, but we do not trouble ourselves about that; it is natural, and oughtto be so. But suppose a year later we find the child not grown at all, andthree years later still no growth; we would at once say: "There must besome terrible disease;" and the baby that at six months old was the causeof joy to every one who saw him, has become to the mother and to all asource of anxiety and sorrow. There is something wrong; the child can notgrow. It was quite right at six months old that it should eat nothing butmilk; but years have passed by, and it remains in the same weakly state. Now this is just the condition of many believers. They are converted; theyknow what it is to have assurance and faith; they believe in pardon forsin; they begin to work for God; and yet, somehow, there is very littlegrowth in spirituality, in the real heavenly life. We come into contactwith them, and we feel at once there is something wanting; there is none ofthe beauty of holiness or of the power of God's Spirit in them. This isthe condition of the carnal Corinthians, expressed in what was said to theHebrews: "You have had the Gospel so long that by this time you ought to beteachers, and yet you need that men should teach you the very rudiments ofthe oracles of God. " Is it not a sad thing to see a believer who has beenconverted five, ten, twenty years, and yet no growth, and no strength, andno joy of holiness?

What are the marks of a little child? One is, a little child cannot helphimself, but is always keeping others occupied to serve him. What a tyranta baby in a house often is! The mother cannot go out, there must be aservant to nurse it; it needs to be cared for constantly. God made a man tocare for others, but the baby was made to be cared for and to be helped. Sothere are Christians who always want help. Their pastor and their Christianfriends must always be teaching and comforting them. They go to church, andto prayer-meetings, and to conventions, always wanting to be helped, --asign of spiritual infancy. 

The other sign of an infant is this: he can do nothing to help hisfellow-man. Every man is expected to contribute something to the welfare ofsociety; every one has a place to fill and a work to do, but the babe cando nothing for the common weal. It is just so with Christians. How littlesome can do! They take a part in work, as it is called, but there is littleof exercising spiritual power and carrying real blessing. Should we noteach ask, "Have I outgrown my spiritual infancy?" Some must reply, "No, instead of having gone forward, I have gone backward, and the joy ofconversion and the first love is gone. " Alas! They are babes in Christ;they are yet carnal. 

The second mark of the carnal state is this: that there is sin and failurecontinually. Paul says: "Whereas there is strife and division among you, and envying, are ye not carnal?" A man gives way to temper. He may be aminister, or a preacher of the Gospel, or a Sunday-school teacher, mostearnest at the prayer-meeting, but yet strife or bitterness or envying isoften shown by him. Alas! Alas! In Gal. 3:5 we are told that the works ofthe flesh are specially hatred and envy. How often among Christians, whohave to work together, do we see divisions and bitterness! God have mercyupon them, that the fruit of the Spirit, which is love, is so frequentlyabsent from His own people. You ask, "Why is it, that for twenty years Ihave been fighting with my temper, and can not conquer it?" It is becauseyou have been fighting with the temper, and you have not been fighting withthe root of the temper. You have not seen that it is all because you are inthe carnal state, and not properly given up to the Spirit of God. It may bethat you never were taught it; that you never saw it in God's Word;that you never believed it. But there it is; the truth of God remainsunchangeable. Jesus Christ can give us the victory over sin, and can keepus from actual transgression. I am not telling you that the root of sinwill be eradicated, and that you will have no longer any natural tendencyto sin; but when the Holy Spirit comes not only with His power for serviceas a gift, but when He comes in Divine grace to fill the heart, there isvictory over sin; power not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. And you seea mark of the carnal state not only in unlovingness, self-consciousnessand bitterness, but in so many other sins. How much worldliness, how muchambition among men, how much seeking for the honor that comes from man--allthe fruit of the carnal life--to be found in the midst of Christianactivity! Let us remember that the carnal state is a state of continualsinning and failure, and God wants us not only to make confession ofindividual sins, but to come to the acknowledgment that they are the signthat we are not living a healthy life, --we are yet carnal. 

A third mark which will explain further what I have been saying, is thatthis carnal state may be found in existence in connection with greatspiritual gifts. There is a difference between gifts and graces. The gracesof the Spirit are humility and love, like the humility and love of Christ. The graces of the Spirit are to make a man free from self; the gifts ofthe Spirit are to fit a man for work. We see this illustrated among theCorinthians. In the first chapter Paul says, "I thank God that you areenriched unto all utterance, and all knowledge, and all wisdom. " In the12th and 14th chapters we see that the gifts of prophecy and of workingmiracles were in great power among them; but the graces of the Spirit werenoticeably absent. 

And this may be in our days as well as in the time of the Corinthians. Imay be a minister of the Gospel; I may teach God's Word beautifully; I mayhave influence, and gather a large congregation, and yet, alas! I may be acarnal man; a man who may be used by God, and may be a blessing to others, and yet the carnal life may still mark me. You all know the law that athing is named according to what is its most prominent characteristic. Now, in these carnal Corinthians there was a little of God's Spirit, but theflesh predominated; the Spirit had not the rule of their whole life. Andthe spiritual men are not called so because there is no flesh in them, butbecause the Spirit in them has obtained dominance, and when you meetthem and have intercourse with them, you feel that the Spirit of God hassanctified them. Ah, let us beware lest the blessing God gives us in ourwork deceive us and lead us to think that because he has blessed us, wemust be spiritual men. God may give us gifts that we use, and yet our livesmay not be wholly in the power of the Holy Ghost. 

My last mark of the carnal state is that it makes a man unfit for receivingspiritual truths. That is what the apostle writes to the Corinthians: "Icould not preach to you as unto spiritual; you are not fit for spiritualtruth after being Christians so long; you can not yet bear it; I have tofeed you with milk. " I am afraid that in the church of the nineteenthcentury we often make a terrible mistake. We have a congregation in whichthe majority are carnal men. We give these men spiritual teaching, and theyadmire it, understand it, and rejoice in such ministry; yet their lives arenot practically affected. They work for Christ in a certain way, but we canscarce recognize the true sanctification of the Spirit; we dare not saythey are spiritual men, full of the Holy Spirit. 

Now, let us recognize this with regard to ourselves. A man may become veryearnest, may take in all the teaching he hears; he may be able to discern, for discernment is a gift; he may say, "That man helps me in this line, andthat man in another direction, and a third man is remarkable for anothergift;" yet, all the time, the carnal life may be living strongly in him, and when he gets into trouble with some friend, or Christian worker, or worldly man, the carnal root is bearing its terrible fruit, and thespiritual food has failed to enter his heart. Beware of that. Mark theCorinthians and learn of them. Paul did not say to them, "You can not bearthe truth as I would speak it to you, " because they were ignorant or astupid people. The Corinthians prided themselves on their wisdom, andsought it above everything, and Paul said: "I thank God that you areenriched in utterance, in knowledge, and in wisdom; nevertheless, you areyet carnal, your life is not holy; your life is not sanctified unto thehumility of the life of the Lamb of God, you can not yet take in realspiritual truth. "

We find the carnal state not only at Corinth, but throughout the Christianworld to-day. Many Christians are asking, "What is the reason there is somuch feebleness in the Church?" We can not ask this question too earnestly, and I trust that God Himself will so impress it upon our hearts that weshall say to Him, "It must be changed. Have mercy upon us. " But, ah! thatprayer and that change can not come until we have begun to see that thereis a carnal root ruling in believers; they are living more after the fleshthan the Spirit; they are yet carnal Christians. 

There is a passage "from carnal to spiritual. " Did Paul find any spiritualbelievers? Undoubtedly he did. Just read the 6th chapter of the Epistle tothe Galatians! That was a church where strife, and bitterness, and envywere terrible. But the apostle says in the first verse: "Brethren, if a manbe overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual restore such an one in thespirit of meekness. " There we see that the marks of the spiritual man arethat he will be a meek man; and that he will have power, and love to helpand restore those that are fallen. The carnal man can not do that. If thereis a true spiritual life that can be lived, the great question is: Is theway open, and how can I enter into the spiritual state? Here, again, I havefour short answers. 

First, we must know that there is such a spiritual life to be lived by menon earth. Nothing cuts the roots of the Christian life so much as unbelief. People do not believe what God has said about what He is willing to do forHis children. Men do not believe that when God says, "Be filled withthe Spirit, " He means it for every Christian. And yet Paul wrote to theEphesians each one: "Be filled with the Spirit, and do not be drunk withwine. " Just as little as you may be drunk with wine, so little may you livewithout being filled with the Spirit. Now, if God means that for believers, the first thing that we need is to study, and to take home God's Word, toour belief until our hearts are filled with the assurance that there issuch a life possible which it is our duty to live; that we can be spiritualmen. God's Word teaches us that God does not expect a man to live as heought for one minute unless the Holy Spirit is in him to enable him to doit. 

We do not want the Holy Spirit only when we go to preach, or when we havesome special temptation of the devil to meet, or some great burden to bear;God says: "My child can not live a right life unless he is guided by mySpirit every minute. " That is the mark of the child of God: "As many as areled by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. " In Romans V. We read:"The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit given untous. " That is to be the common, every-day experience of the believer, nothis life at set times only. Did ever a father or mother think, "For to-dayI want my child to love me?" No, they expect the love every day. And soGod wants His child every moment to have a heart filled with love of theSpirit. In the eyes of God, it is most unnatural to expect a man to loveas he should if he is not filled with the Spirit. Oh, let us believe a man_can_ be a spiritual man. Thank God, there is now the blessing waitingus. "Be filled with the Spirit. " "Be led by the Spirit. " There _is_ theblessing. If you have to say, "Oh, God, I have not this blessing, " say it;but say also, "Lord, I know it is my duty, my solemn obligation to haveit, for without it I can not live in perfect peace with Thee all the day;without it I can not glorify Thee, and do the work Thou wouldst have medo. " This is our first step from carnal to spiritual, --to recognize aspiritual life, a walk in the Spirit, is within our reach. How can we askGod to guide us into spiritual life, if we have not a clear, confidentconviction that there is such a life to be had?

Then comes the second step; a man must see the shame and guilt of hishaving lived such a life. Some people admit there is a spiritual life tolive, and that they have not lived it, and they are sorry for themselves, and pity themselves, and think, "How sad that I am too feeble for it! Howsad that God gives it to others, but has not given it to me!" They havegreat compassion upon themselves, instead of saying, "Alas! it has beenour unfaithfulness, our unbelief, our disobedience, that has kept us fromgiving ourselves utterly to God. We have to blush and to be ashamed beforeGod that we do not live as spiritual men. "

A man does not get converted without having conviction of sin. When thatconviction of sin comes, and his eyes are opened, he learns to be afraid ofhis sin, and to flee from it to Christ, and to accept Christ as a mightydeliverer. But a man needs a second conviction of sin; a believer must beconvicted of his peculiar sin. The sins of an unconverted man are differentfrom the sins of a believer. An unconverted man, for instance, is notordinarily convicted of the corruption of his nature; he thinks principallyabout external sins, --"I have sworn, been a liar, and I am on the way tohell. " He is then convicted for conversion. But the believer is in quitea different condition. His sins are far more blamable, for he has had thelight and the love and the Spirit of God given to him. His sins are fardeeper. He has striven to conquer them and he has grown to see that hisnature is utterly corrupt, that the carnal mind, the flesh, within him, ismaking his whole state utterly wretched. When a believer is thus convictedby the Holy Spirit, it is specially his life of unbelief that condemns him, because he sees that the great guilt connected with this has kept him fromreceiving the full gift of God's Holy Spirit. He is brought down in shameand confusion of face, and he begins to cry: "Woe is me, for I am undone. Ihave heard of God by the hearing of the ear; I have known a great deal ofHim and preached about Him, but now mine eye seeth Him. " God comes nearhim. Job, the righteous man, whom God trusted, saw in himself the deep sinof self and its righteousness that he had never seen before. Until thisconviction of the wrongness of our carnal state as believers comes to eachone of us; until we are willing to get this conviction from God, to taketime before God to be humbled and convicted, we never can become spiritualmen. 

Then comes the third mark, which is that out of the carnal state into thespiritual is only one step. One step; oh, that is a blessed message I bringto you--it is only one step. I know many people will refuse to admit thatit is only one step; they think it too little for such a mighty change. Butwas not conversion only one step?

So it is when a man passes from carnal to spiritual. You ask if when I talkof a spiritual man I am not thinking of a man of spiritual maturity, areal saint, and you say: "Does that come in one day? Is there no growth inholiness?" I reply that spiritual maturity cannot come in a day. We can notexpect it. It takes growth, until the whole beauty of the image of Christis formed in a man. But still I say that it needs but one step for a manto get out of the carnal life into the spiritual life. It is when aman utterly breaks with the flesh; when he gives up the flesh into thecrucifixion death of Christ; when he sees that everything about it isaccursed and that he can not deliver himself from it; and then claims theslaying power of Christ's cross within him, --it is when a man does this andsays: "This spiritual life prepared for me is the free gift of my God inChrist Jesus, " that he understands how one step can bring him out of thecarnal into the spiritual state. 

In that spiritual life there will be much still to be learned. There willstill be imperfections. Spiritual life is not perfect; but the predominantcharacteristic will be spiritual. When a man has given himself up to thereal, living, acting, ruling power of God's Spirit, he has got into theright position in which he can grow. You never think of growing out ofsickness into health; you may grow out of feebleness into strength, as thelittle babe can grow to be a strong man; but where there is disease, theremust healing come if there is to be a cure effected. There are Christianswho think that they must grow out of the carnal state into the spiritualstate. You never can. What could help those carnal Corinthians? To givethem milk could not help them, for milk was a proof they were in the wrongstate. To give them meat would not help them, for they were unfit to eatit. What they needed was the knife of the surgeon. Paul says that thecarnal life must be cut out. "They that are Christ's have crucified theflesh. " When a man understands what that means, and accepts it in thefaith of what Christ can do, then one step can bring him from carnal tospiritual. One simple act of faith in the power of Christ's death, one actof surrender to the fellowship of Christ's death as the Holy Spirit canmake it ours, will make it ours, will bring deliverance from the power ofyour efforts. 

What brought deliverance to that poor condemned sinner who was most darkand wretched in his unconverted state? He felt he could do nothing good ofhimself. What did he do? He saw set before him the almighty Saviour and hecast himself into His arms; he trusted himself to that omnipotent love andcried, "Lord, have mercy upon me. " That was salvation. It was not forwhat he did that Christ accepted him. Oh, believers, if any of us who areconscious that the carnal state predominates have to say: "It marks me; Iam a religious man, an earnest man, a friend of missions; I work for Christin my church, but, alas! temper and sin and worldliness have still themastery over my soul, " hear the word of God. If any will come and say: "Ihave struggled, I have prayed, I have wept, and it has not helped me, " thenyou must do one other thing. You must see that the living Christ is God'sprovision for your holy, spiritual life. You must believe that that Christwho accepted you once, at conversion, in His wonderful love is now waitingto say to you that you may become a spiritual man, entirely given up toGod. If you will believe that, your fear will vanish and you will say: "Itcan be done; if Christ will accept and take charge, it shall be done. "

Then, my last mark. A man must take that step, a solemn but blessedstep. It cost some of you five or ten years before you took the step ofconversion. You wept and prayed for years, and could not find peace untilyou took that step. So, in the spiritual life, you may go to teacher afterteacher, and say, "Tell me about the spiritual life, the baptism of theSpirit, and holiness, " and yet you may remain just where you were. Many ofus would love to have sin taken away. Who loves to have a hasty temper? Wholoves to have a proud disposition? Who loves to have a worldly heart? Noone. We go to Christ to take it away, and he does not do it; and we ask, "Why will he not do it? I have prayed very earnestly. " It is because youwanted Him to take away the ugly fruits while the poisonous root was tostay in you. You did not ask Him that the flesh should be nailed to Hiscross, and that you should henceforth give up self entirely to the power ofHis Spirit. 

There is deliverance, but not in the way we seek it. Suppose a painter hada piece of canvas, on which he desired to work out some beautiful picture. Suppose that piece of canvas does not belong to him, and any one has aright to take it and to use it for any other purpose; do you think thepainter would bestow much work on that? No. Yet people want Jesus Christ tobestow His trouble upon them in taking away this temper, or that other sin, though in their hearts they have not yielded themselves utterly to Hiscommand and His keeping. It can not be. But if you will come and give yourwhole life into His charge, Christ Jesus is mighty to save; Christ Jesuswaits to be gracious; Christ Jesus waits to fill you with His Spirit. 

Will you not take the step? God grant that we may be led by His Spirit toa yielding up of ourselves to Him as never before. Will you not come inhumble confession that, alas! the carnal life has predominated too much, has altogether marked you, and that you have a bitter consciousness thatwith all the blessing God has bestowed, He has not made you what you wantto be--a spiritual man? _It is the Holy Spirit alone who by His indwellingcan make a spiritual man_. Come then and cast yourself at God's feet, withthis one thought, "Lord, I give myself an empty vessel to be filled withThy Spirit. " Each one of you sees every day at the tea table an empty cupset there, waiting to be filled with tea when the proper time comes. Sowith every dish, every plate. They are cleansed and empty, ready to befilled. Emptied and cleansed. Oh, come! and just as a vessel is set apartto receive what it is to contain, say to Christ that you desire from thishour to be a vessel set apart to be filled with His Spirit, given up to bea spiritual man. Bow down in the deepest emptiness of soul, and say, "Oh, God, I have nothing!" and then surely as you place yourself before Him youhave a right to say, "My God will fulfill His promise! I claim from Him thefilling of the Holy Spirit to make me, instead of a carnal, a spiritualChristian. " If you place yourself at His feet, and tarry there; if youabide in that humble surrender and that childlike trust, as sure as Godlives the blessing will come. 

Oh, have we not to bow in shame before God, as we think of His whole Churchand see so much of the carnal prevailing? Have we not to bow in shamebefore God, as we think of so much of the carnal in our hearts and lives?Then let us bow in great faith in God's mercy. Deliverance is nigh, deliverance is coming, deliverance is waiting, deliverance is sure. Let ustrust; God will give it. 

THE SELF LIFE. 

II. 

_Matt. 16: 24_. --_If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, andtake up his cross, and follow me_. 

In the 13th verse we read that Jesus at Caesarea Philippi asked Hisdisciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?" When they hadanswered, He asked them, "But whom say ye that I am?" And in verse 16 Peteranswered and said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. " Jesusanswered and said unto him: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas, for fleshand blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in Heaven. And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I willbuild my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. "Then in verse 21 we read how Jesus began to tell His disciples of Hisapproaching death; and in verse 22 how Peter began to rebuke Him, saying, "Be it far from Thee, Lord; this shall not be unto Thee. " But Jesus turnedand said unto Peter, "Get thee behind me, Satan; thou art an offense untome, for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those that be ofmen. " Then said Jesus unto His disciples, "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow me. "

We often hear about the compromise life and the question comes up What liesat the root of it? What is the reason that so many Christians are wastingtheir lives in the terrible bondage of the world instead of living in themanifestation and the privilege and the glory of the child of God? Andanother question perhaps comes to us: What can be the reason that when wesee a thing is wrong and strive against it we cannot conquer it? What canbe the reason that we have a hundred times prayed and vowed, yet herewe are still living a mingled, divided, half-hearted life? To those twoquestions there is one answer: it is _self_ that is the root of the wholetrouble. And therefore, if any one asks me, "How can I get rid of thiscompromise life?" the answer would not be, "You must do this, or that, orthe other thing, " but the answer would be, "A new life from above, thelife of Christ, must take the place of the self-life; then alone can we beconquerors. "

We always go from the outward to the inward; let us do so here; let usconsider from these words of the text the one word, "self. " Jesus said toPeter: "If any man will come after me let him deny _himself_, his own self, and take up the cross and follow me. " That is a mark of the disciple; thatis the secret of the Christian life--deny self and all will come right. Note that Peter was a believer, and a believer who had been taught by theHoly Spirit. He had given an answer that pleased Christ wonderfully: "Thouart the Christ, the Son of the living God. " Do not think that that wasnothing extraordinary. We learn it in our catechisms; Peter did not; andChrist saw that the Holy Spirit of the Father had been teaching him and Hesaid: "Blessed art thou, Simon Barjonas. " But note how strong the carnalman still is in Peter. Christ speaks of His cross; He could understandabout the glory, "Thou art the Son of God;" but about the cross and thedeath he could not understand, and he ventured in his self-confidence tosay, "Lord, that shall never be; Thou canst not be crucified and die. " AndChrist had to rebuke him: "Get thee behind me, Satan. Thou savorest not thethings that be of God. " You are talking like a mere carnal man, and not asthe Spirit of God would teach you. Then Christ went on to say, "Remember, it is not only I who am to be crucified, but you; it is not only I who amto die, but you also. If a man would be my disciple, he must deny self, andhe must take up his cross and follow me. " Let us dwell upon this one word, "self. " It is only as we learn to know what self is that we really knowwhat is at the root of all our failure, and are prepared to go to Christfor deliverance. 

Let us consider, first of all, the nature of this self life, then denotesome of its works and then ask the question: "How may we be delivered fromit?"

Self is the power with which God has created and endowed every intelligentcreature. Self is the very center of a created being. And why did God givethe angels or man a self? The object of this self was that we might bringit as an empty vessel unto God; that He might put into it His life. Godgave me the power of self-determination, that I might bring this self everyday and say: "Oh, God, work in it; I offer it to thee. " God wanted a vesselinto which He might pour out His divine fullness of beauty, wisdom andpower; and so He created the world, the sun, and the moon, and the stars, the trees, and the flowers, and the grass, which all show forth the richesof His wisdom, and beauty, and goodness. But they do it without knowingwhat they do. Then God created the angels with a self and a will, to seewhether they would come and voluntarily yield themselves to Him as vesselsfor Him to fill. But alas! they did not all do that. There was one at thehead of a great company, and he began to look upon himself, and to thinkof the wonderful powers with which God had endowed him, and to delight inhimself. He began to think: "Must such a being as I always remain dependenton God?" He exalted himself, pride asserted itself in separation from God, and that very moment he became, instead of an angel in Heaven, a devil inhell. Self turned to God is the glory of allowing the Creator to revealHimself in us. Self turned away from God is the very darkness and fire ofhell. 

We all know the terrible story of what took place further; God created man, and Satan came in the form of a serpent and tempted Eve with the thoughtof becoming as God, having an independent self, knowing good and evil. Andwhile he spoke with her, he breathed into her, in those words, the verypoison and the very pride of hell. His own evil spirit, the very poison ofhell, entered humanity, and it is this cursed self that we have inheritedfrom our first parents. It was that self that ruined and broughtdestruction upon this world, and all that there has been of sin, and ofdarkness, and of wretchedness, and of misery; and all that there will bethroughout the countless ages of eternity in hell, will be nothing but thereign of self, the curse of self, separating man and turning him away fromhis God. And if we are to understand fully what Christ is to do for us, andare to become partakers of a full salvation, we must learn to know, and tohate, and to give up entirely this cursed self. 

Now what are the works of self? I might mention many, but let us take thesimplest words that we are continually using, --self-will, self-confidence, self-exaltation. Self-will, pleasing self, is the great sin of man, and itis at the root of all that compromising with the world which is the ruin ofso many. Men can not understand why they should not please themselves anddo their own will. Numbers of Christians have never gotten hold of the ideathat a Christian is a man who is never to seek his own will, but is alwaysto seek the will of God, as a man in whom the very spirit of Christ lives. "Lo, I come to do Thy will, oh, my God!" We find Christians pleasingthemselves in a thousand ways, and yet trying to be happy, and good, anduseful; and they do not know that at the root of it all is self-willrobbing them of the blessing. Christ said to Peter, "Peter, deny yourself. "But instead of doing that, Peter said, "I will deny my Lord and notmyself. " He never said it in words, but Christ said to him in the lastnight, "Thou shalt deny Me, " and he did it. What was the cause of this?Self-pleasing. He became afraid when the woman servant charged him withbelonging to Jesus, and three times said, "I know not this man, I havenothing to do with Him. " He denied Christ. Just think of it! No wonderPeter wept those bitter tears. It was a choice between self, that ugly, cursed self, and that beautiful, blessed Son of God; and Peter chose self. No wonder that he thought: "Instead of denying myself, I have denied Jesus;what a choice I have made!" No wonder that he wept bitterly. 

Christians, look at your own lives in the light of the words of Jesus. Doyou find there self-will, self-pleasing? Remember this: every time youplease yourself, you deny Jesus. It is one of the two. You must please Himonly, and deny self, or you must please yourself and deny Him. Then followsself-confidence, self-trust, self-effort, self-dependence. What was itthat led Peter to deny Jesus? Christ had warned him; why did he not takewarning? Self-confidence. He was so sure: "Lord, I love Thee. For threeyears I have followed Thee. Lord, I deny that it ever can be. I am readyto go to prison and to death. " It was simply self-confidence. People haveoften asked me, "What is the reason I fail? I desire so earnestly, and prayso fervently, to live in God's will. " And my answer generally is, "Simplybecause you trust yourself. " They answer me: "No, I do not; I know I amnot good; and I know that God is willing to keep me, and I put my trust inJesus. " But I reply, "No, my brother; no; if you trusted God and Jesus, youcould not fall, but you trust yourself. " Do let us believe that the causeof every failure in the Christian life is nothing but this. I trust thiscursed self, instead of trusting Jesus. I trust my own strength, instead ofthe almighty strength of God. And that is why Christ says, "This self mustbe denied. "

Then there is self-exaltation, another form of the works of self. Ah, how much pride and jealousy is there in the Christian world; how muchsensitiveness to what men say of us or think of us; how much desire ofhuman praise and pleasing men, instead of always living in the presence ofGod, with the one thought: "Am I pleasing to Him?" Christ said, "How can yebelieve who receive honor one of another?" Receiving honor of one anotherrenders a life of faith absolutely impossible. This self started from hell, it separated us from God, it is a cursed deceiver that leads us astray fromJesus. 

Now comes the third point. What are we to do to get rid of it? Jesusanswers us in the words of our text: "If any man will come after me, lethim take up his cross and follow me. " Note it well. --I must deny myself andtake Jesus himself as my life, --I must choose. There are two lives, theself life and the Christ life; I must choose one of the two. "Followme, " says our Lord, "make me the law of your existence, the rule of yourconduct; give me your whole heart; follow me, and I will care for all. " Oh, friends, it is a solemn exchange to have set before us; to come and, seeing the danger of this self, with its pride and its wickedness, to castourselves before the Son of God, and to say, "I deny my own life, I takeThy life to be mine. "

The reason why Christians pray and pray for the Christ life to come in tothem, without result, is that the self life is not denied. You ask, "Howcan I get rid of this self life?" You know the parable: the strong man kepthis house until one stronger than he came in and cast him out. Then theplace was garnished and swept, but empty, and he came back with seven otherspirits worse than himself. It is only Christ Himself coming in that cancast out self, and keep out self. This self will abide with us to the veryend. Remember the Apostle Paul; he had seen the Heavenly vision, and lesthe should exalt himself, the thorn in the flesh was sent to humble him. There was a tendency to exalt himself, which was natural, and it would haveconquered, but Christ delivered him from it by His faithful care for Hisloving servant. Jesus Christ is able, by His divine grace, to prevent thepower of self from ever asserting itself or gaining the upper hand; JesusChrist is willing to become the life of the soul; Jesus Christ is willingto teach us so to follow Him, and to have heart and life set upon Himalone, that He shall ever and always be the light of our souls. Then wecome to what the apostle Paul says; "Not I, but Christ liveth in me. " Thetwo truths go together. First "Not I, " then, "but Christ liveth in me. "

Look at Peter again. Christ said to him, "Deny yourself, and follow me. "Whither had he to follow? Jesus led him, even though he failed; and wheredid he lead him? He led him on to Gethsemane, and there Peter failed, forhe slept when he ought to have been awake, watching and praying; He led himon towards Calvary, to the place where Peter denied Him. Was that Christ'sleading? Praise God, it was. The Holy Spirit had not yet come in His power;Peter was yet a carnal man; the Spirit willing, but not able to conquer;the flesh weak. What did Christ do? He led Peter on until he was brokendown in utter self-abasement, and humbled in the depths of sorrow. Jesusled him on, past the grave, through the Resurrection, up to Pentecost, andthe Holy Spirit came, and in the Holy Spirit Christ with His divine lifecame, and then it was, "Christ liveth in me. "

There is but one way of being delivered from this life of self. We mustfollow Christ, set our hearts upon Him, listen to His teachings, giveourselves up every day, that He may be all to us, and by the power ofChrist the denial of self will be a blessed, unceasing reality. Never forone hour do I expect the Christian to reach a stage at which he can say, "Ihave no self to deny;" never for one moment in which he can say, "I do notneed to deny self. " No, this fellowship with the cross of Christ will be anunceasing denial of self every hour and every moment by the grace of God. There is no place where there is full deliverance from the power of thissinful self. We are to be crucified with Christ Jesus. We are to live withHim as those who have never been baptized into His death. Think of that!Christ had no sinful self, but He had a self and that self He actually gaveup unto death. In Gethsemane He said, "Father, not My will. " That unsinningself He gave up unto death that He might receive it again out of the gravefrom God, raised up and glorified. Can we expect to go to Heaven in anyother way than He went? Beware! remember that Christ descended into deathand the grave, and it is in the death of self, following Jesus to theuttermost, that the deliverance and the life will come. 

And now, what is the use that we are to make of this lesson of the Master?The first lesson will be that we should take time, and that we shouldhumble ourselves before God, at the thought of what this self is in us; putdown to the account of the self every sin, every shortcoming, all failure, and all that has been dishonoring to God, and then say, "Lord, this iswhat I am;" and then let us allow the blessed Jesus Christ to take entirecontrol of our life, in the faith that His life can be ours. 

Do not think it is an easy thing to get rid of self. At a consecrationmeeting, it is easy to make a vow, and to offer a prayer, and to perform anact of surrender, but as solemn as the death of Christ was on Calvary--Hisgiving up of His unsinning self life to God, --just as solemn must it bebetween us and our God--the giving up of self to death. The power ofthe death of Christ must come to work in us every day. Oh, think what acontrast between that self-willed Peter, and Jesus giving up His will toGod! What a contrast between that self-exaltation of Peter, and the deephumility of the Lamb of God, meek and lowly in heart before God and man!What a contrast between that self-confidence of Peter, and that deepdependence of Jesus upon the Father, when He said: "I can do nothing ofmyself. " We are called upon to live the life of Christ, and Christ comes tolive His life in us; but one thing must first take place; we must learn tohate this self, and to deny it. As Peter said, when he denied Christ, "Ihave nothing to do with him, " so we must say, "I have nothing to do withself, " that Christ Jesus may be all in all. Let us humble ourselves at thethought of what this self has done to us and how it has dishonored Jesus;and let us pray very fervently: "Lord, by Thy light discover this self; webeseech Thee to discover it to us. Open our eyes, that we may see what ithas done, and that it is the only hindrance that has been keeping us back. "Let us pray that fervently, and then let us wait upon God until we get awayfrom all our religious exercises, and from all our religious experience, and from all our blessings, until we get close to God, with this oneprayer: "Lord God, self changed an archangel into a devil, and self ruinedmy first parents, and brought them out of Paradise into darkness andmisery, and self has been the ruin of my life and the cause of everyfailure; oh, discover it to me. " And then comes the blessed exchange, thata man is made willing and able to say: "Another will live the life for me, another will live with me, another will do all for me, " Nothing else willdo. Deny self; take up the cross, to die with Jesus; follow Him only. MayHe give us the grace to understand, and to receive, and to live the Christlife. 

WAITING ON GOD

III. 

_Psalms 62: 5_. --_My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation isfrom Him_. 

The solemn question comes to us, "Is the God I have, a God that is tome above all circumstances, nearer to me than any circumstance can be?"Brother, have you learned to live your life having God so really with youevery moment, that in circumstances the most difficult He is always morepresent and nearer than anything around you? All our knowledge of God'sWord will help us very little, unless that comes to be the question towhich we get an answer. 

What can be the reason that so many of God's beloved children complaincontinually: "My circumstances separate me from God; my trials, mytemptations, my character, my temper, my friends, my enemies, anything cancome between my God and me?" Is God not able so to take possession that Hecan be nearer to me than anything in the world? Must riches or poverty, joyor sorrow, have a power over me that my God has not? No. But why, then, doGod's children so often complain that their circumstances separate themfrom Him? There can be but one answer, "They do not know their God. " Ifthere is trouble or feebleness in the Church of God, it is because of this. We do not know the God we have. That is why in addition to the promise, "Iwill be thy God, " the promise is so often added, "And ye shall know that Iam your God. " If I know that, not through man's teaching, not with my mindor my imagination; but if I know that, in the living evidence which Godgives in my heart, then I know that the divine presence of my God will beso wonderful, and my God Himself will be so beautiful, and so near, that Ican live all my days and years a conqueror through Him that loved me. Isnot that the life which we need?

The question comes again: Why is it that God's people do not know theirGod? And the answer is: They take anything rather than God, --ministers, andpreaching, and books, and prayers, and work, and efforts, any exertion ofhuman nature, instead of waiting, and waiting long if need be, until Godreveals Himself. No teaching that we may get, and no effort that we may putforth, can put us in possession of this blessed light of God, all in allto our souls. But still it is attainable, it is within reach, if God willreveal Himself. That is the one necessity. I would to God that every onewould ask his heart whether he has said, and is saying every day: "I wantmore of God. Do not speak to me only of the beautiful truth there is in theBible. That can not satisfy me. I want God. " In our inner Christian life, in our every-day prayers, in our Christian living, in our churches, in ourprayer-meetings, in our fellowship, it must come to that--that God alwayshas the first place; and if that be given Him, He will take possession. Oh, if in our lives as individuals every eye were set upon God, upon the livingGod, every heart were crying, "My soul thirsteth for God, " what power, whatblessing and what presence of the everlasting God would be revealed to us!Let me use an illustration. When a man is giving an illustrated lecturehe often uses a long pointer to indicate places on a map or chart. Do thepeople look at that pointer? No, that only helps to show them the place onthe map, and they do not think of it, --it might be of fine gold; but the_pointer_ can not satisfy them. They want to see what the pointer pointsat. And this Bible is nothing but a pointer, pointing to God; and, --may Isay it with reverence--Jesus Christ came to point us, to show us the way, to bring us to God. I am afraid there are many people who love Christ andwho trust in Him, but who fail of the one great object of His work; theyhave never learned to understand what the Scripture saith: "He died, thatHe might bring us unto God. "

There is a difference between the way and the end which I am aiming at. I might be traveling amid most beautiful scenery, in the most delightfulcompany; but if I have a home to which I want to go, all the scenery, andall the company, and all the beauty and happiness around me can not satisfyme; I want to reach the end; I want my home. And God is meant to be thehome of our souls. Christ came into the world to bring us back to God, andunless we take Christ for what God intended we should, our religion willalways be a divided one. What do we read in Hebrews vii? "He is able tosave to the uttermost. "--Whom? "Them that come to God by Him;" notthem that only come to Christ. In Christ--bless His name--we have thegraciousness, the condescension, and the tenderness of God. But we are indanger of standing there, and being content with that, and Christ wants tobring us back to rejoice as much as in the glory of God Himself, in Hisrighteousness, His holiness, His authority, His presence and His power. Hecan save completely those who come to God through Him!

Now, just a very few thoughts on the way by which I can come to know God asthis God above all circumstances, filling my heart and life every day. Theone thing needful is: I must wait upon God. The original is, --it is in ourDutch version, and it is in the margin, too, --"My soul is silent into God. "What ought to be the silence of the soul unto God? A soul conscious of itslittleness, its ignorance, its prejudices and its dangers from passion, from all that is human and sinful, --a soul conscious of that, and saying, "I want the everlasting God to come in and to take hold of me and to takesuch hold of me that I may be kept in the hollow of His hand for my lifelong; I want Him to take such possession of me that every moment He maywork all in all in me. " That is what is implied in the very nature of ourGod. How we ought to be silent unto Him, and wait upon Him!

May I ask, with reverence: What is God for? A God is for this: to be thelight and the life of creation, the source and power of all existence. Thebeautiful trees, the green grass, the bright sun, God created that theymight show forth His beauty, His wisdom and His glory. The tree of onehundred years old--when it was planted God did not give it a stock of lifeby which to carry on its existence. Nay, verily, God clothes the liliesevery year afresh with their beauty; every year God clothes the tree withits foliage and its fruit. Every day and every hour it is God who maintainsthe life of all nature. And God created us, that we might be the emptyvessels in which He could work out His beauty, His will, His love, and thelikeness of His blessed Son. That is what God is for, to work in us by Hismighty operation, without one moment's ceasing. When I begin to get hold ofthat, I no longer think of the true Christian life as a high impossibility, and an unnatural thing, but I say, "It is the most natural thing increation that God should have me every moment, and that my God should benearer to me than all else. " Just think, for a moment, what folly it is toimagine that I can not expect God to be with me every moment. Just look atthe sunshine; have you ever had any trouble as you were working or as youwere studying or reading a book in the light the sun gives? Have you eversaid, "Oh, how can I keep that light, how can I hold it fast, how can I besure that I shall continue to have it to use?" You never thought that. God has taken care that the sun itself should provide you with light; andwithout your care; the light comes unbidden. And I ask you: What think you?Has God arranged that the light of that sun that will one day be burned up, can come to you unconsciously and abide in you blessedly and mightily; andis God not willing, or is He not able, to let His light and His presence soshine through you that you can walk all the day with God nearer to you thananything in nature? Praise God for the assurance; He can do it. And whydoes He not do it? Why so seldom, and why in such feeble measure? There isbut one answer: you do not let Him. You are so occupied and filled withother things, religious things, preaching and praying, studying andworking, so occupied with your religion, that you do not give God the timeto make Himself known, and to enter in and to take possession. Oh, brother, listen to the word of the man who knew God so well, and begin to say: "Mysoul, wait thou only upon God. "

I might show that this is the very glory of the Creator, the very lifeChrist brought into the world, the life He lived, and the very life Christwants to lift us up to in its entire dependence on the Father. The verysecret of the Christ-life is this: such a consciousness of God's presencethat whether it was Judas, who came to betray Him, or Caiaphas, whocondemned Him unjustly, or Pilate, who gave Him up to be crucified, thepresence of the Father was upon Him, and within Him, and around Him, andman could not touch His spirit. And that is what God wants to be to you andto me. Does not all your anxious restlessness, and futile effort, provethat you have not let God do His work? God is drawing you to Himself. This is not your own wish, and the stirring of your own heart, but theeverlasting Divine magnet is drawing you. These restless yearnings andthirstings, remember, are the work of God. Come and be still, and wait uponGod. He will reveal Himself. 

And how am I to wait on God? In answer I would say: first of all, in prayertake more time to be still before God without saying one word. What is, inprayer, the most important thing? That I catch the ear of Him to whom Ispeak. We are not ready to offer our petition until we are fully consciousof having secured the attention of God. You tell me you know all that. Yes, you know it; but you need to have your heart filled by the Holy Spirit withthe holy consciousness that the everlasting, almighty God is indeed comevery near you. The loving one is longing to have you for His own. Be stillbefore God, and wait, and say: "Oh, God, take possession. Reveal Thyself, not to my thoughts or imaginations, but by the solemn, awe-bringing, soul-subduing consciousness that God is shining upon me bring me to theplace of dependence and humility. "

Prayer may be indeed waiting upon God, but there is a great deal of prayerthat is not waiting upon God. Waiting on God is the first and the bestbeginning for prayer. When we bow in the humble, silent acknowledgmentof God's glory and nearness, ere we begin to pray there will be the veryblessing that we often get only at the end. From the very beginning I comeface to face with God; I am in touch with the everlasting omnipotence oflove and I know my God will bless me. Let us never be afraid to be stillbefore God; we shall then carry that stillness into our work; and when wego to church on Sunday, or to the prayer-meeting on week-days, it will bewith the one desire that nothing may stand betwixt us and God, and thatwe may never be so occupied with hearing and listening as to forget thepresence of God. 

Oh, that God might make every minister what Moses was at the foot of MountSinai; "Moses led the people out to meet God, " and they did meet Him untilthey were afraid. Let every minister ask with all the earnestness hissoul can command, that God may deliver him from the sin of preaching andteaching without making the people feel first of all: "The man wants tobring us to God Himself. " It can be felt, not only in the words, but in thevery disposition of the humble, waiting, worshiping heart. We must carrythis waiting into all our worship; we will have to make a study of it; wewill have to speak about it; we will have to help each other, for the truthhas been too much lost in the Church of Christ; we must wait upon God aboutit. Then we shall be able to carry it out into our daily life. There are somany Christians who wonder that they fail; but think of the ease with whichthey talk and join in conversation, spending hours in it, never thinkingthat all this may be dissipating the soul's power and leading them to spendhours not in the immediate presence of God. I am afraid this is the greatdifficulty: that we are not willing to make the needed sacrifice for a lifeof continual waiting upon God. Are there not some of us who would feel itan impossibility to spend every moment under the covering of the Most High, "in the secret of His pavilion?" Beloved, do not think it too high, or toodifficult. It is too difficult for you and me to attain, but our God willgive it to us. Let us begin even now to wait more earnestly and intenselyupon God. Let us in our homes sometimes bow a little in silence; let us inour closets wait in silence, and make a covenant, it may be, without words, that with our whole hearts we will seek God's presence to come in upon us. 

What is religion? Just as much as you have of God working in you, thatalone is religion. And if you want more religion, more grace, more strengthand more fruitfulness, you must have more of God. Let that be the cry ofour hearts, --More of God! More of God! More of God! And let us say to oursouls, "My soul, wait thou upon God, for my expectation is from Him. "

ENTRANCE INTO REST. 

IV. 

_Hebrews 4: 1_. --_Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us ofentering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. _

_Hebrews 4: 11_. --_Let us labor therefore to enter into that rest, lest anyman fall after the same example of unbelief_. 

I want, in the simplest way possible, to answer the question: "How does aman enter into that rest?" and to point out the simple steps that he takes, all included in the one act of surrender and faith. 

And the first step, I think, is this: that a man learns to say, "I believe, heartily, there is rest in a life of faith. " Israel passed through twostages. This is beautifully expressed in the fifth of Deuteronomy: "Hebrought us out, that He might bring us in"--two parts of God's work ofredemption--"He brought us out from Egypt, that He might bring us intoCanaan. " And that is applicable to every believer. At your conversion, Godbrought you out of Egypt, and the same almighty God is longing to bring youinto the Canaan life. You know how God brought the Israelites out, but theywould not let Him bring them in and they had to wander for forty years inthe wilderness--the type, alas! of so many Christians. God brings them outin conversion, but they will not let Him bring them in into all that He hasprepared for them. To a man who asks me, "How can I enter into the rest?" Isay, first of all, speak this word, "I do believe that there is a rest intowhich Jesus, our Joshua, can bring a trusting soul. " And if you wouldknow what the difference is between the two lives--the life you have beenleading, and the life you now want to lead, just look at the wilderness andCanaan. What are the points of difference? In the wilderness, wandering forforty years, backward and forward; in Canaan, perfect rest in the land thatGod gave them. That is the difference between the life of a Christian whohas, and one who has not entered into Canaan. In wandering backward andforward; going after the world, and coming back and repenting; led astrayby temptation, and returning only to go off again;--a life of ups anddowns. In Canaan, on the other hand, a life of rest, because the soul haslearned to trust: "God keeps me every hour in His mighty power. " There isthe second difference: the life in the wilderness was a life of want; inCanaan, a life of plenty. In the wilderness there was nothing to eat; therewas often no water. God graciously supplied their wants by the manna, andthe water from the rock. But, alas! they were not content with this, andtheir life was one of want and murmurings. But in Canaan God gave themvineyards that they had not planted, and the old corn of the land was therewaiting for them; a land flowing with milk and honey; a land that lived bythe rain of Heaven and had the very care of God Himself. Oh, Christian, come and say to-day, "I believe there is a possibility of such a changeout of that life of spiritual death, and darkness, and sadness, andcomplaining, that I have often lived, into the land of supply of everywant; where the grace of Jesus is proved sufficient every day, every hour. "Say to-day: "I believe in the possibility that there is such a land of restfor me. "

And then, the third difference: In the wilderness there was no victory. When they tried, after they had sinned at Kadesh, to go up against theirenemies, they were defeated. In the land they conquered every enemy; fromJericho onward, they went from victory to victory. And so God waits, andChrist waits, and the Holy Spirit waits, to give victory every day; notfreedom from temptation; no, not that; but in union with Christ a powerthat can say, "I can do all things through Him that strengtheneth me. " "Weare more than conquerors through Him that loved us. " May God help everyheart to say that. 

Then comes the second step. I want you to say not only, "I believe there issuch a life, " but, second, "I have not had it yet. " Say that. "I have neveryet got that. " Some may say, "I have sought it;" some may say, "I havenever heard about it;" some may say, "At times I thought I had found it, but I lost it again. " Let every one be honest with God. 

And now, will all who have never yet found it honestly, begin to say, "Lord, up to this time I have never had it?" And why is it of suchconsequence to speak thus? Because, dear friends, some people want to glideinto this life of rest gradually; and just quietly to steal in; and Godwon't have it. Your life in the wilderness has not only been a life ofsadness to yourself, but of sin and dishonor to God. Every deeper entranceinto salvation must always be by the way of conviction and confession;therefore, let every Christian be willing to say: "Alas! I have not livedthat life, and I am guilty; I have dishonored God; I have been like Israel;I have provoked Him to wrath by my unbelief and disobedience. God havemercy upon me!" Oh, let it go up before God--the secret confession: "Ihaven't it; alas! I have not glorified God by a life in the land of rest. "

Then comes the third word I want you to speak and that is: "Thank God, thatlife is for me. " Some say, "I believe there is such a life, but notfor me. " There are people who continually say: "Oh, my character is sounstable; my will is naturally very weak; my temperament is nervous andexcitable, it is impossible for me always to live without worry, resting inGod. " Beloved brother, do not say that. You say so only for one reason: Youdo not know what your God will do for you. Do begin to look away from self, and to look up to God, Take that precious word: "He brought them out thathe might bring them in. " The God who took them through the Red Sea was theGod who took them through Jordan into Canaan. The God who converted you isthe God who is able to give you every day this blessed life. Oh, begin tosay, with the beginnings of a feeble faith, even before you claim it, begineven intellectually to say: "It is for me; I do believe that. God does notdisinherit any of His children. What He gives is for every one. I believethat blessed life is waiting for me. It is meant for me. God is waiting tobestow it, and to work it in me. Glory be to His blessed name! My soul saysit is for me, too. " Oh, take that little word "me, " and looking up in thevery face of God dare to say: "This inestimable treasure--it is for me, theweakest and the unworthiest; it is for me. " Have you said that? Say it now:"This life is possible to me, too. "

And then comes the next step, and that is: "I can never, by any effort ofmine, grasp it; it is God must bestow it on me. " I want you to be very boldin saying, "It is for me. " But then I want you to fall down very low andsay, "I can not seize it; I can not take it to myself. " And how canyou then get it? Praise God, if once He has brought you down in theconsciousness of utter helplessness and self-despair, then comes the timethat He can draw nigh and ask you, "Will you trust your God to work thisin you?" Dearly beloved Christians, say in your heart: "I never, by anyeffort, can take hold of God, or seize this for myself; it is God mustgive it. " Cherish this blessed impotence. It is He who brought us out, whoHimself must bring us in. It is your greatest happiness to be impotent. Pray God by the Holy Spirit to reveal to you this true impotence, and thatwill open the way for your faith to say, "Lord, Thou must do it, or itwill never be done. " God will do it. People wonder, when they hear so manysermons about faith, and such earnest pleading to believe, and ask why itis they can not believe. There is just one answer: It is self. Self isworking; is trying; is struggling, and self must fail. But when you come tothe end of self and can only cry, "Lord, help me! Lord, help me!"--then thedeliverance is nigh; believe that. It was God brought the people in. It isGod who will bring you in. 

One should be willing, for the sake of this rest, to give up everything. The grace of God is very free. It is given without money and without price. And yet, on the other hand, Jesus said that every man who wants the pearlof great price must sacrifice his all, must sell all that he has to buythat pearl. It is not enough to see the beauty, the attractiveness and theglory, and almost to taste the gladness and the joy of this wonderful lifeas it has been set before you. You must become the possessor, the owner ofthe field. The man who found the field with a treasure, and the man whofound the great pearl, were both glad; but they had not yet got it. Theyhad found it, seen it, desired it, rejoiced in it; but they had not yet gotit. Not until they went and sold all, gave up everything, and bought theground, and bought the pearl. Ah, friends, there is a great deal that hasto be given up: the world, its pleasures, its favor, its good opinion. Youare to stand to the world in the same relation as Jesus did. The worldrejected Him, and cast Him out, and you are to take up the position of yourLord, to whom you belong, and to follow with the rejected Christ. You haveto give up everything. You have to give up all that is good in yourselfand to be humbled in the dust of death. And that is not all. Your pastreligious life and experience and successes--you have to give all up andbecome nothing, that God alone may have the glory. God has brought you outin conversion; it was God's own life given you: but you defiled it withdisobedience and with unbelief. Give it all up. Give up all your ownwisdom, and your own thoughts about God's work. How hard it is for theminister of the Gospel to give up all his wisdom, and to lay it at the feetof Jesus, to become a fool and to say: "Lord, I know nothing as I shouldknow it. I have been preaching the Gospel, and how little I have seen ofthe glory of the blessed land, and the blessed life!"

Why is it that the blessed Spirit can not teach us more effectually? Noreason but this: the wisdom of man prevents it; the wisdom of man preventsthe light of God from shining in. And so we could say of other things;give up all. Some may have an individual sin to give up. There may be aChristian man who is angry with his brother. There may be a Christian womanwho has quarreled with her neighbor. There may be friends who are notliving as they should. There may be Christians holding fast some littledoubtful thing, not willing to surrender and leave behind the whole of thewilderness life and lust. Oh, do take this step and say: "I am readyto give up everything to have this pearl of great price; my time, myattention, my business, I count all subordinate to this rest of God as thefirst thing in my life; I yield all to walk in perfect fellowship withGod. " You can not get that and live every day in perfect fellowship withGod, without giving up time to it. You take time for everything. How manyhours a day has a young lady spent for years and years that she may becomeproficient on the piano? How many years does a young man study to fithimself for the profession of the law or medicine? Hours, and days, andweeks, and months, and years, gladly given up to perfect himself for hisprofession. And do you expect that religion is so cheap that without givingtime you can find close fellowship with God? You can not. But, oh, mybrothers and sisters, the pearl of great price is worth everything. God isworth everything. Christ is worth everything. Oh, come to-day, and say, "Lord, at any cost help me; I do want to live this life. " And if you findit difficult to say this, and if there is a struggle within the heart, never mind; say to God, "Lord, I thought I was willing, but I see how muchunwillingness there is; come and discover what the evil is still in theheart. " By His grace, if you will lie at His feet and trust Him you maydepend upon it deliverance will come. 

Then comes the next step, and that is to say: "I do now give up myself tothe holy and everlasting God, for Him to lead me into this perfect rest. "Ah, friends, we must learn to meet God face to face. My sin has beenagainst God. David felt that when he said, "Against Thee, Thee only, haveI sinned. " It is God on the judgment seat whose face you will have to meetpersonally. It is God Himself, personally, who met you to pardon your sins. Come to-day and put yourself into the hands of the living God. God is love. God is near. God is waiting to give you His blessing. The heart of God isyearning over you. "My child, " God says, "you think you are longing forrest; it is I that am longing for you, because I desire to rest in yourheart as My home, as My temple. " You need your God. Yes, but your God needsyou, to find the full satisfaction of His Father heart in Christ in you. Come to-day and say: "I do now give up myself to Christ. I have made thechoice. I deliberately say, 'Lord God, I am the purchaser of the pearl ofgreat price. I give up everything for it. In the name of Jesus I acceptthat life of perfect rest. '"

And then comes my last thought. When you have said that, then add: "Andnow, I trust God to make it all real to me in my experience. Whether I amto live one year, or thirty years, I have heard it to-day again: 'God isJehovah, the great I AM of the everlasting future, the eternal One; andthirty years hence is to Him just the same as now;' and that God givesHimself to me, not according to my power to hold Him, but according toHis almighty power of love to hold me. " Will you trust God to-day for thefuture? Oh, will you look up to God in Christ Jesus once again? A thousandtimes you have heard, and thought, and thanked--"God has given us His Son;"but will you not to-day say, "How shall He not with Him give me all things, every moment and every day of my life?" Say that in faith. "How shall Godnot be willing to keep me in the light of His countenance, in the fullexperience of Christ's saving power? Did God make the sun to shine sobrightly, and is the light so willing to pour itself into every nook andcorner where it can find entrance? And will not my God, who is love, bewilling all the day to shine into this heart of mine, from morning tonight, from year's end to year's end?" God is love, and longs to giveHimself to us. 

Oh, come, Christians, you have hitherto lived a life in your own strength. Will you not begin to-day? Will you not choose a life in which God shall beall, and in which you rest in Him for all? Will you not choose a life inwhich you shall say: "Oh, God, I ask, I expect, I trust Thee for it. Ienter this day into the rest of God to let God keep me; to let God keep meevery hour. I enter into the rest of God. " Are you ready to say that? Be ofgood courage; fear not, you can trust God. He brings into rest. Listen toGod's word in the Prophets once again: "Take heed, and be quiet. Fear not, neither be faint-hearted. " Joshua brought Israel into the land. God didit through Joshua; and Joshua is Jesus, your Jesus, who washed you in Hisblood; your Jesus, whom you have learned to know as a precious Saviour. Trust Him to-day afresh: "O my Joshua, take me, bring me in and I willtrust Thee, and in Thee the Father. " You may count upon it. He will takeyou and the work will be done. 

THE KINGDOM FIRST. 

V. 

_Matt 6: 33_. --_Seek ye first the kingdom of God_. 

You have heard what need there is of unity in Christian life and Christianwork. And where is the bond of unity between the life of the Church, thelife of the individual believer and the work to be done among the heathen?One of the expressions for that unity is: "Seek first the Kingdom of God, "That does not mean, as many people take it, "Seek salvation; seek to getinto the Kingdom, and then thank God, and rest there. " Ah, no; the meaningof that word is entirely different and infinitely larger. It means: Let theKingdom of God, in all its breadth and length, in all its Heavenly gloryand power; let the Kingdom of God be the one thing you live for, and allother things will be added unto you. "Seek first the Kingdom of God. " Letme just try to answer two very simple questions; the one: "Why should theKingdom of God be first?" and the other: "How can it be?" The one, "Whyshould it be so?" God has created us as reasonable beings, so that themore clearly we see that according to the law of nature, according tothe fitness of things, something that is set before us is proper, and anabsolute necessity, we so much the more willingly accept it, and aim afterit. And now, why does Christ say this: "Seek first the Kingdom of God?" Ifyou want to understand the reason, look at God, and look at man. Look atGod. Who is God? The great Being for whom alone the universe exists; inwhom alone it can have its happiness. It came from Him. It can not find anyrest or joy but in Him. Oh, that Christians understood and believed thatGod is a fountain of happiness, perfect, everlasting blessedness! Whatwould the result be? Every Christian would say, "The more I can have ofGod, the happier. The more of God's will, and the more of God's love, and the more of God's fellowship, the happier. " How Christians, if theybelieved that with their whole heart, would, with the utmost ease, give upeverything that would separate them from God! Why is it that we find it sohard to hold fellowship with God? A young minister once said to me, "Why isit that I have so much more interest in study than in prayer, and howcan you teach me the art of fellowship with God?" My answer was: "Oh, my brother, if we have any true conception of what God is, the art offellowship with Him will come naturally, and will be a delight. " Yes, if webelieved God to be only joy to the one who comes to Him, only a fountain ofunlimited blessing, how we should give up all for Him! Has not joy a farstronger attraction than anything in the world? Is it not in every beauty, or in every virtue, in every pursuit, the joy that is set before us thatdraws? And if we believe that God is a fountain of joy, and sweetness, andpower to bless, how our hearts will turn aside from everything, and say:"Oh, the beauty of my God! I rejoice in Him alone. " But, alas! the Kingdomof God looks to many as a burden, and as something unnatural. It looks likea strain, and we seek some relaxation in the world, and God is not ourchief joy. I come to you with a message. It is right, on account of whatGod is as Infinite Love, as Infinite Blessing; it is right and more, it isour highest privilege to listen to Christ's words, and to seek God and HisKingdom first and above everything. 

And then look at man again; man's nature. What was man created for? To livein the likeness of God, and as His image. Now, if we have been created inthe image and likeness of God, we can find our happiness in nothing exceptthat in which God finds His happiness. The more like Him we are thehappier. And in what does God find His happiness? In two things:Everlasting righteousness and everlasting beneficence. God is righteousnesseverlasting. "He is Light, and in Him is no darkness. " The Kingdom, thedomination, the rule of God will bring us nothing but righteousness. "Seekthe Kingdom of God and His righteousness. " If men but knew what sin is, and if men really longed to be free from everything like sin, what a grandmessage this would be! Jesus comes to lead me to God and His righteousness. We were created to be like God, in His perfect righteousness and holiness. What a prospect! And in His love too. The Kingdom of God means this: thatthere is in God a rule of universal love. He loves, and loves, and neverceases to love; and He longs to bless all who will yield to His pleadings. God is Light, and God is Love. And now the message comes to man. Can youthink of a higher nobility; can you think of anything grander than to takethe position that God takes, and to be one with God in His Kingdom; _i. E. _, to have His Kingdom fill your heart; to have God Himself as your King andportion? Yes, my friends, let us remember that we must not just try to gethere and there one and another of the blessings of the Kingdom. But theglory of the Kingdom is this: that it is the Kingdom of God where God isall in all. The French Empire, when Napoleon lived, had military glory asthe ideal. Every Frenchman's heart thrilled at the name of Napoleon as theman who had given the empire its glory. If we realized what it means, --ourGod takes us up into His Kingdom and puts His Kingdom into us and with theKingdom we have God Himself, that blessed One, possessing us--surely therewould be nothing that could move our hearts to enthusiasm like this. TheKingdom of God first! Blessed be His name I Look at man. I don't speakabout man's sins, and about man's wretchedness, and about man's seekingeverywhere for pleasure, and for rest, and for deliverance from sin, butI just say: Think what man is by creation and think what man is now byredemption; and let every heart say: "It is right. There is no blessednessor glory like that of the Kingdom. The Kingdom of God ought to be first inmy whole life and being. "

But now comes the important question, "How can I attain this?" Here we cometo the great question that is troubling the lives of tens of thousandsof Christians throughout the world. And it is strange that it is so verydifficult for them to find the answer; that tens of thousands are not ableto give an answer; and others, when the answer is given, can not understandit; The day the centurion found his joy in being devoted to the RomanEmpire, it took charge of him with all its power and glory. Dear friends, how are we to attain to this blessed position in which the Kingdom of Godshall fill our hearts with such enthusiasm that it will spontaneously befirst every day? The answer is, first of all give up everything for it. Youhave heard of the Roman soldier who gave up his soul, his affection, hislife, who gave up everything, to be a soldier; and you have often seen, inhistory ancient and modern, how men who were not soldiers gave up theirlives in sacrifice for a king or a country. You have heard how in the SouthAfrican Republic not many years ago the war of liberty was fought. Afterthree years of oppression by the English the people said they would endureit no longer, and so they gathered together to fight for their liberty. They knew how weak they were, as compared with the English power, but theysaid, "We must have our liberty. " They bound themselves together to fightfor it, and when that vow had been made, they went to their homes toprepare for the struggle. Such a thrill of enthusiasm passed through thatcountry that in many cases women, when their husbands might have beenallowed to stay at home, said to them: "No, go, even though you have notbeen commanded. " And there were mothers who, when one son was called out tothe front, said: "No, take two, three. " Every man and woman was ready todie. It was in very deed "Our country first, before everything. " And evenso, friends, must it be with you if you want this wonderful Kingdom ofGod to take possession of you. I pray you by the mercies of God, give upevery-thing for it. You do not know at once what that may mean, buttake the words and speak them out at the footstool of God: "Anything, everything, for the Kingdom of God. " Persevere in that, and by the HolySpirit your God will begin to open to you the double blessing: on the onehand, the blessedness of the Kingdom which comes to possess your heart;and on the other hand, the blessedness of being surrendered to Him, andsacrificing and giving up all for Him. 

"The Kingdom of God first!" How am I to reach that blessed life? The answeris: "Give up everything for it. " And then a second answer would be this:Live every day and hour of your life in the humble desire to maintain thatposition. There are people who hear this test, and who say it is true, andthat they want to obey it. But if you were to ask them how much time theyspend with God day by day, you would be surprised and grieved to hear howlittle time they give up to Him. And yet they wonder that the blessednessof the divine life disappears. We prove the value we attach to things bythe time we devote to them. The Kingdom should be first every day, and allthe day. Let the Kingdom be first every morning. Begin the day with God, and God Himself will maintain His Kingdom in your heart. Do believe that. Rome did its utmost to maintain the authority of the man who gave himselfto live for it. And God, the living God, will He not maintain His authorityin your soul if you submit to Him? He will, indeed. Come to Him; only come, and give yourself up to Him in fellowship through Christ Jesus. Seek tomaintain that fellowship with God all the day. Ah, friends, a man cannothave the Kingdom of God first, and at times, by way of relaxation, throwit off and seek his enjoyment in the things of this world. People have asecret idea life will become too solemn, too great a strain; it will be toodifficult every moment of the day, from morning to evening, to have theKingdom of God first. One sees at once how wrong it is to think thus. Thepresence of the love of God must every moment be our highest joy. Let ussay: "By the help of God, it shall ever be the Kingdom of God first. "

And then, my last remark, in answer to that question, "How can it be?" isthis: it can be only by the power of the Holy Ghost. Let us remember thatGod's Word comes to us with the language, "Be filled with the Spirit;" andif you are content with less of the Spirit than God offers, not utterlyand entirely yielding to be filled with the Spirit, you do not obey thecommand. But listen: God has made a wonderful provision. Jesus Christ camepreaching the Gospel of the Kingdom, and proclaimed "The Kingdom is athand. " "Some, " He said, "are standing here who will not see death untilthey see the Kingdom come in power. " He said to the disciples, "The Kingdomis within you. " And when did the Kingdom come--that Kingdom of God uponearth? When the Holy Ghost descended. On Ascension Day the King went andsat down upon the throne at the right hand of God, and the Kingdom of God, in Christ, the Kingdom of Heaven upon earth, was inaugurated. When the HolyGhost came down He brought God into the heart, and Christ, and establishedthe rule of God in power. I am afraid sometimes, that in speaking of theHoly Spirit we forget one thing. The Holy Spirit is very much spoken of inconnection with power; and it is right that we should seek power. It is notso much spoken of in connection with the graces. And yet these are alwaysmore important than the gifts of power--the holiness, the humility, themeekness, the gentleness, and the lovingness; these are the true marks ofthe Kingdom. We speak rightly of the Holy Spirit as the only one who canbreathe all this into us. But I think there is a third thing almost moreimportant, that we forget, and that is: in the Spirit, the Father and theSon themselves come. When Christ first promised the Holy Spirit, and spokeabout His approaching coming, He said: "In that day ye shall know that Iam in the Father, and ye in me, and I in you. He that loveth me keepeth mycommandments; and my Father will love him, and we will come and make ourabode with him. " Brother, would you have the Kingdom of God first in yourlife, you must have the Kingdom in your hearts. If my heart be set upon athing I may be bound with chains, but the moment the chains are loosened Ifly towards the object of my affection and desire. And just so the Kingdommust be within us, and then it is easy to say: "The Kingdom first. " Butto have the Kingdom within us in truth, we must have God the Father, andChrist the Son, by the Holy Ghost within us too. No Kingdom without theKing. 

You are called to likeness with Christ. Oh, how many Christians striveafter this part and that part of the likeness of Christ, and forget theroot of the whole! What is the root of all? That Christ gave Himself uputterly to God, and His Kingdom and glory. He gave His life, that God'sKingdom might be established. Do you the same to-day and give your life toGod to be every moment a living sacrifice, and the Kingdom will come withpower into your heart. Give yourself up to Christ. Let Christ the Kingreign in your heart, and the heavenly Kingdom will come there and thePresence and the Rule of God be known in power. Oh, think of that wonderfulthing that is going to happen in the great eternity. We read of it in 1stCorinthians: God has entrusted Christ with the Kingdom, but there is cominga day when Christ shall come Himself again to be subjected unto the Father, and He shall give up the Kingdom to the Father, that God may be all, and inthat day Christ shall say before the universe: "This is my glory, I giveback the Kingdom to the Father!" Christians, if your Christ finds His gloryhere on earth in dying and sacrificing Himself for the Kingdom and then ineternity again in giving the Kingdom to God, shall not you and I come toGod to do the same and count anything we have as loss, that the Kingdom ofGod may be made manifest, and that God may be glorified. 

CHRIST OUR LIFE. 

VI. 

_Colossians 3: 4_. --_Christ who is our life_. 

One question that rises in every mind is this: "How can I live that lifeof perfect trust in God?" Many do not know the right answer, or the fullanswer. It is this: "Christ must live it in me. " That is what He became manfor; as a man to live a life of trust in God, and so to show to us how weought to live. When He had done that upon earth, He went to heaven, thatHe might do more than show us, might give us, and live in us that life oftrust. It is as we understand what the life of Christ is and how it becomesours, that we shall be prepared to desire and to ask of Him that He wouldlive it Himself in us. When first we have seen what the life is, then weshall understand how it is that He can actually take possession, and makeus like Himself. I want especially to direct attention to that firstquestion. I wish to set before you the life of Christ as He lived it, thatwe may understand what it is that He has for us and that we can expect fromHim. Christ Jesus lived a life upon earth that He expects us literally toimitate. We often say that we long to be like Christ. We study the traitsof His character, mark His footsteps, and pray for grace to be like Him, and yet, somehow, we succeed but very little. And why? Because we arewanting to pluck the fruit while the root is absent. If we want really tounderstand what the imitation of Christ means, we must go to that whichconstituted the very root of His life before God. It was a life of absolutedependence, absolute trust, absolute surrender, and until we are one withHim in what is the principle of His life, it is in vain to seek here orthere to copy the graces of that life. 

In the Gospel story we find five great points of special importance; thebirth, the life on earth, the death, the resurrection, and the ascension. In these we have what an old writer has called "the process of JesusChrist;" the process by which He became what He is to-day--our glorifiedKing, and our life. In all this life process we must be made like unto Him. Look at the first. What have we to say about His birth? This: He receivedHis _life from God_. What about His life upon earth? He lived that life independence _upon God_. About His death? He gave up His life _to God_. AboutHis resurrection? He was raised from the dead _by God_. And about Hisascension? He lives His life in glory _with God_. 

First, He received His life from God. And why is it of consequence that weshould look to that? Because Christ Jesus had in that the starling-point ofHis whole life. He said: "The Father sent me;" "The Father hath given theSon all things;" "The Father hath given the Son to have life in Himself. "Christ received it as His own life, just as God has His life in Himself. And yet, all the time it was a life given and received. "Because the Fatheralmighty has given this life unto me, the Son of man on earth, I can countupon God to maintain it and to carry me through all. " And that is the firstlesson we need. We need often to meditate on it, and to pray, and tothink, and to wait before God, until our hearts open to the wonderfulconsciousness that the everlasting God has a divine life within us whichcan not exist but through Him. I believe God has given His life, it rootsin Him. I shall feel it must be maintained by Him. We often think that Godhas given us a life which is now our own, a spiritual life, and that weare to take charge; and then we complain that we can not keep it right. No wonder. We must learn to live, learn to live as Jesus did. I havea God-given treasure in this earthen vessel. I have the light of theknowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. I have the life ofGod's Son within me given me by God Himself, and it can only be maintainedby God Himself as I live in fellowship with Him. What does the Apostle Paulteach us in Romans VI. ; there where he has just told us that we must reckonourselves dead unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus? He goes on atonce to say: "Therefore yield, present yourselves unto God, as those thatare alive from the dead. " How often a Christian hears solemn words abouthis being alive to God, and his having to reckon himself dead indeedto sin, and alive to God in Christ! He does not know what to do; heimmediately casts about: "How can I keep it, this death and this life?"Listen to what Paul says. The moment that you reckon yourself dead to sinand alive to God, go with that life to God Himself, and present yourself asalive from the dead, and say to God: "Lord, Thou hast given me this life. Thou alone canst keep it. I bring it to Thee. I cannot understand all. I hardly know what I have got, but I come to God to perfect what He hasbegun. " To live like Christ, I must be conscious every moment that my lifehas come from God, and He alone can maintain it. 

Then, secondly, how did Christ live out His life during the thirty-threeyears in which He walked here upon earth? He lived it in dependence on God. You know how continually He says: "The Son can do nothing of Himself. Thewords that I speak, I speak not of Myself. " He waited unceasingly for theteaching, and the commands, and the guidance of the Father. He prayed forpower from the Father. Whatever He did, He did in the name of the Father. He, the Son of God, felt the need of much prayer, of persevering prayer, ofbringing down from heaven and maintaining the life of fellowship with Godin prayer. We hear a great deal about trusting God. Most blessed! And wemay say: "Ah, that is what I want, " and we may forget what is the verysecret of all, --that God, in Christ, must work all in us. I not only needGod as an object of trust, but I must have Christ within as the powerto trust; He must live His own life of trust in me. Look at it in thatwonderful story of Paul, the Apostle, the beloved servant of God. He is indanger of self-confidence, and God in heaven sends that terrible trial inAsia to bring him down, lest he trust in himself and not in the living God. God watched over his servant that he should be kept trusting. Remember thatother story about the thorn in the flesh, in 2 Corinthians XII. , and thinkwhat that means. He was in danger of exalting himself, and the blessedMaster came to humble him, and to teach him: "I keep thee weak, that thoumayest learn to trust not in thyself, but in Me. " If we are to enter intothe rest of faith, and to abide there; if we are to live the life ofvictory in the land of Canaan, it must begin here. We must be broken downfrom all self-confidence and learn like Christ to depend absolutely andunceasingly upon God. There is a greater work to be done in that than weperhaps know. We must be broken down, and the habit of our souls must beunceasingly: "I am nothing; God is all. I cannot walk before God as Ishould for one hour, unless God keep the life He has given me. " What ablessed solution God gives then to all our questions and our difficulties, when He says: "My child, Christ has gone through it all for thee. Christhath wrought out a new nature that can trust God; and Christ the Living Onein heaven will live in thee, and enable thee to live that life of trust. "That is why Paul said: "Such confidence have we toward God, throughChrist. " What does that mean? Does it only mean through Christ as themediator, or intercessor? Verily, no. It means much more; through Christliving in and enabling us to trust God as He trusted Him. 

Then comes, thirdly, the death of Christ. What does that teach us ofChrist's relation to the Father? It opens up to us one of the deepestand most solemn lessons of Christ life, one which the Church of Christunderstands all too little. We know what the death of Christ means as anatonement, and we never can emphasize too much that blessed substitutionand bloodshedding, by which redemption was won for us. But let us remember, that is only half the meaning of His death. The other half is this: just asmuch as Christ was my substitute, who died for me, just so much He ismy head, in whom, and with whom, I die; and just as He lives for me, tointercede, He lives in me, to carry out and to perfect His life. And if Iwant to know what that life is which He will live in me, I must look at Hisdeath. By His death He proved that He possessed life only to hold it, and to spend it, for God. To the very uttermost; without the shadow of amoment's exception, He lived for God, --every moment, everywhere, He heldlife only for His God. And so, if one wants to live a life of perfecttrust, there must be the perfect surrender of his life, and his will, evenunto the very death. He must be willing to go all lengths with Jesus, evento Calvary. When a boy twelve years of age Jesus said: "Wist ye not that Imust be about my Father's business?" and again when He came to Jordan to bebaptized: "It becometh us to fulfill all righteousness. " So on throughall His life, He ever said: "It is my meat and drink to do the will of myFather. I come not to do my own will, but the will of Him that sent me. ""Lo, I am come to do Thy will, O God. " And in the agony of Gethsemane, Hiswords were: "Not my will, but Thine, be done. "

Some one says: "I do indeed desire to live the life of perfect trust;I desire to let Christ live it in me; I am longing to come to such anapprehension of Christ as shall give me the certainty that Christ willforever abide in me; I want to come to the full assurance that Christ, myJoshua, will keep me in the land of victory. " What is needful for that? Myanswer is: "Take care that you do not take a false Christ, an imaginaryChrist, a half Christ. " And what is the full Christ? The full Christ is theman who said, "I give up everything to the death that God may be glorified. I have not a thought; I have not a wish; I would not live a moment exceptfor the glory of God. " You say at once, "What Christian can ever attainthat?" Do not ask that question, but ask, "Has Christ attained it and doesChrist promise to live in me?" Accept Him in His fullness and leave Him toteach you how far He can bring you and what He can work in you. Make noconditions or stipulations about failure, but cast yourself upon, abandonyourself to this Christ who lived that life of utter surrender to God thatHe might prepare a new nature which He could impart to you and in which Hemight make you like Himself. Then you will be in the path by which He canlead you on to blessed experience and possession of what He can do for you. Christ Jesus came into the world with a commandment from the Father that Heshould lay down His life, and He lived with that one thought in His bosomHis whole life long. And the one thought that ought to be in the heartof every believer is this: "I am in the death with Christ; absolutely, unchangeably given up to wait upon God, that God may work out His purposeand glory in me from moment to moment. " Few attain the victory and theenjoyment and the full experience at once. But this you can do: Take theright attitude and as you look to Jesus and what He was, say: "Father, Thouhast made me a partaker of the divine nature, a partaker of Christ. Itis in the life of Christ given up to Thee to the death, in His power andindwelling, in His likeness, that I desire to live out my life beforeThee. " Death is a solemn thing, an awful thing. In the Garden it costChrist great agony to die that death; and no wonder it is not easy to us. But we willingly consent when we have learned the secret; in death alonethe life of God will come; in death there is blessedness unspeakable. Itwas this made Paul so willing to bear the sentence of death in himself;he knew the God who quickeneth the dead. The sentence of death is oneverything that is of nature. But are we willing to accept it, do wecherish it? and are we not rather trying to escape the sentence or toforget it? We do not believe fully that the sentence of death is on us. Whatever is of nature must die. Ask God to make you willing to believe withyour heart that to die with Christ is the only way to live in Him. You ask, "But must it then be dying every day?" Yes, beloved; Jesus lived every dayin the prospect of the cross, and we, in the power of His victorious life, being made conformable to His death, must rejoice every day in going downwith Him into death. Take an illustration. Take an oak of some hundredyears' growth. How was that oak born? In a grave. The acorn was planted inthe ground, a grave was made for it that the acorn might die. It died anddisappeared; it cast roots downward, and it cast shoots upward, and nowthat tree has been standing a hundred years. Where is it standing? In itsgrave; all the time in the very grave where the acorn died; it has stoodthere stretching its roots deeper and deeper into that earth in which itsgrave was made, and yet, all the time, though it stood in the very gravewhere it had died, it has been growing higher, and stronger, and broader, and more beautiful. And all the fruit it ever bore, and all the foliagethat adorned it year by year, it owed to that grave in which its roots arecast and kept. Even so Christ owes everything to His death and His grave. And we, too, owe everything to that grave of Jesus. Oh! let us live everyday rooted in the death of Jesus. Be not afraid, but say: "To my own will Iwill die; to human wisdom, and human strength, and to the world I will die;for it is in the grave of my Lord that His life has its beginning, and itsstrength and its glory. "

This brings us to our next thought. First, Christ received life from theFather; second, Christ lived it in dependence on the Father; third, Christgave it up in death to the Father; and now, fourth, Christ received itagain raised by the Father, by the power of the glory of the Father. Oh, the deep meaning of the resurrection of Christ! What did Christ do when Hedied? He went down into the darkness and absolute helplessness of death. Hegave up a life that was without sin; a life that was God-given; a life thatwas beautiful and precious; and He said, "I will give it into the handsof my Father if He asks it;" and He did it; and He was there in the gravewaiting on God to do His will; and because He honored God to the uttermostin His helplessness, God lifted Him up to the very uttermost of glory andpower. Christ lost nothing by giving up His life in death to the Father. And so, if you want the glory and the life of God to come upon you, it isin the grave of utter helplessness that that life of glory will be born. Jesus was raised from the dead, and that resurrection power, by the graceof God, can and will work in us. Let no one expect to live a right lifeuntil he lives a full resurrection life in the power of Jesus. Let me statein a different way what this resurrection means. 

Christ had a perfect life, given by God. The Father said: "Will you give upthat life to me? Will you part with it at my command?" And He parted withit, but God gave it back to Him in a second life ten thousand times moreglorious than that earthly life. So God will do to every one of us whowillingly consents to part with his life. Have you ever understood it?Jesus was born twice. The first time He was born in Bethlehem. That was abirth into a life of weakness. But the second time, He was born from thegrave; He is the "first-born from the dead. " Because He gave up the lifethat He had by His first birth, God gave him the life of the second birth, in the glory of heaven and the throne of God. Christians, that is exactlywhat we need to do. A man may be an earnest Christian; a man may be asuccessful worker; he may be a Christian that has had a measure of growthand advance; but if he has not entered this fullness of blessing, then heneeds to come to a second and deeper experience of God's saving power; heneeds, just as God brought him out of Egypt, through the Red Sea, to cometo a point where God brings him through Jordan into Canaan. Beloved, wehave been baptized into the death of Christ. It is as we say: "I have hada very blessed life, and I have had many blessed experiences, and God hasdone many things for me; but I am conscious there is something wrong still;I am conscious that this life of rest and victory is not really mine. "Before Christ got His life of rest and victory on the throne, He had to dieand give up all. Do you it, too, and you shall with Him share His victoryand glory. It is as we follow Jesus in His death, that His resurrection, power and joy will be ours. 

And then comes our last point. The fifth step in His wondrous path was: Hewas lifted up to be forever with the Father. Because He humbled Himself, therefore God highly exalted Him. Wherein cometh the beauty and theblessedness of that exaltation of Jesus? For Himself perfect fellowshipwith the Father; for others participation in the power of God'somnipotence. Yes, that was the fruit of His death. Scripture promises notonly that God will, in the resurrection life, give us joy, and peace thatpasseth all understanding, victory over sin, and rest in God, but He willbaptize us with the Holy Ghost; or, in other words, will fill us with theHoly Ghost. Jesus was lifted to the throne of heaven, that He might therereceive from the Father the Spirit in His new, divine manifestation, to bepoured out in His fullness. And as we come to the resurrection life, thelife in the faith of Him who is one with us, and sits upon the throne--aswe come to that, we too may be partakers of the fellowship with ChristJesus as He ever dwells in God's presence, and the Holy Spirit will fillus, to work in us, and out of us in a way that we have never yet known. 

Jesus got this divine life by depending absolutely upon the Father all Hislife long, depending upon Him even down into death. Jesus got that lifein the full glory of the Spirit to be poured out, by giving Himself up inobedience and surrender to God alone, and leaving God even in the grave towork out His mighty power; and that very Christ will live out His life inyou and me. Oh, the mystery! Oh, the glory! And oh, the Divine certainty. Jesus Christ means to live out that life in you and me. What think you, ought we not to humble ourselves before God? Have we been Christians somany years, and realized so little what we are? I am a vessel set apart, cleansed, emptied, consecrated; just standing, waiting every moment forGod, in Christ, by the Holy Spirit, to work out in me as much of theholiness and the life of His Son as pleases Him. And until the Church ofChrist comes to go down into the grave of humiliation, and confession, andshame; until the Church of Christ comes to lay itself in the very dustbefore God, and to wait upon God to do something new, and somethingwonderful, something supernatural, in lifting it up, it will remainfeeble in all its efforts to overcome the world. Within the Church whatlukewarmness, what worldliness, what disobedience, what sin! How can weever fight this battle, or meet these difficulties? The answer is: Christ, the risen One, the crowned One, the almighty One, must come, and live inthe individual members. But we can not expect this except as we die withHim. I referred to the tree grown so high and beautiful, with its rootsevery day for a hundred years in the grave in which the acorn died. Children of God, we must go down deeper into the grave of Jesus. We mustcultivate the sense of impotence, and dependence, and nothingness, untilour souls walk before God every day in a deep and holy trembling. God keepus from being anything. God teach us to wait on Him, that He may work in usall He wrought in His Son, till Christ Jesus may live out His life in us!For this may God help us!

CHRIST'S HUMILITY OUR SALVATION. 

VII. 

_Philippians 2: 5-8_. --"_Let this mind be in you which was also in ChristJesus. He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death, even the death ofthe cross_. "

All are familiar with this wonderful passage. Paul is speaking about oneof the most simple, practical things in daily life, --humility; and inconnection with that, he gives us a wonderful exhibition of divine truth. In this chapter we have the eternal Godhead of Jesus--He was in the form ofGod, and one with God. We have His incarnation--He came down, and was foundin the likeness of man. We have his death with the atonement--He becameobedient unto death. We have His exaltation--God hath highly exalted Him. We have the glory of His Kingdom, --that every knee shall bow, and everytongue confess Him. And in what connection? Is it a theological study?No. Is it a description of what Christ is? No; it is in connection with asimple, downright call to a life of humility in our intercourse with eachother. Our life on earth is linked to all the eternal glory of the Godheadas revealed in the exaltation of Jesus. The very looking to Jesus, thevery bowing of the knee to Jesus, ought to be inseparably connected with aspirit of the very deepest humility. Consider the humility of Jesus. Firstof all, that humility is our salvation; then, that humility is just thesalvation we need; and again, that humility is the salvation which the HolySpirit will give us. 

Humility is the salvation that Christ brings. That is our first thought. Weoften have very vague, --I might also say visionary--ideas of what Christis; we love the person of Christ, but that which makes up Christ, whichactually constitutes Him the Christ, that we do not know or love. If welove Christ above everything, we must love humility above everything, forhumility is the very essence of His life and glory, and the salvation Hebrings. Just think of it. Where did it begin? Is there humility in heaven?You know there is, for they cast their crowns before the throne of God andthe Lamb. But is there humility on the throne of God? Yes, what was it butheavenly humility that made Jesus on the throne willing to say: "I will godown to be a servant, and to die for man; I will go and live as the meekand lowly Lamb of God?" Jesus brought humility from heaven to us. Itwas humility that brought Him to earth, or He never would have come. Inaccordance with this, just as Christ became a man in this divine humility, so His whole life was marked by it. He might have chosen another form inwhich to appear; He might have come in the form of a king, but He chose theform of a servant. He made Himself of no reputation; He emptied Himself;He chose the form of a servant. He said: "The Son of Man is not come to beministered unto, to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransomfor many. " And you know, in the last night, He took the place of a slave, and girded Himself with a towel, and went to wash the feet of Peter and theother disciples. Beloved, the life of Jesus upon earth was a life of thedeepest humility. It was this gave His life its worth and beauty in God'ssight. And then His death--possibly you haven't thought of it much in thisconnection--but His death was an exhibition of unparalleled humility. "Hehumbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of thecross. " My Lord Christ took a low place all the time of His walk uponearth; He took a very low place when He began to wash the disciples' feet;but when He went to Calvary, He took the lowest place there was to be foundin the universe of God, the very lowest, and He let sin, and the curse ofsin, and the wrath of God, cover Him. He took the place of a guilty sinner, that He might bear our load, that He might serve us in saving us from ourwretchedness, that He might by His precious blood win deliverance for us, that He might by that blood wash us from our stain and our guilt. 

We are in danger of thinking about Christ, as God, as man, as theatonement, as the Saviour, and as exalted upon the throne, and we form animage of Christ, while the real Christ, that which is the very heart of Hischaracter, remains unknown. What is the real Christ? Divine humility, boweddown into the very depths for our salvation. The humility of Jesus is oursalvation. We read, "He humbled Himself, therefore God hath highly exaltedHim. " The secret of His exaltation to the throne is this: He humbledHimself before God and man. Humility is the Christ of God, and now inHeaven, to-day, that Christ, the Man of humility, is on the throne of God. What do I see? A Lamb standing, as it had been slain, on the throne; inthe glory He is still the meek and gentle Lamb of God. His humility is thebadge He wears there. You often use that name--the Lamb of God--and you useit in connection with the blood of the sacrifice. You sing the praise ofthe Lamb, and you put your trust in the blood of the Lamb. Praise God forthe blood. You never can trust that too much. But I am afraid you forgetthat the word "Lamb" must mean to us two things: it must mean not only asacrifice, the shedding of blood, but it must mean to us the meekness ofGod, incarnate upon earth, the meekness of God represented in the meeknessand gentleness of a little Lamb. 

But the salvation that Christ brought is not only a salvation that flowsout of humility; it also leads to humility. We must understand that thisis not only the salvation which Christ brought; but that it is exactly thesalvation which you and I need. What is the cause of all the wretchednessof man? Primarily pride; man seeking his own will and his own glory. Yes, pride is the root of every sin, and so the Lamb of God comes to us in ourpride, and brings us salvation from it. We need above everything to besaved from our pride and our self-will. It is good to be saved from thesins of stealing, murdering, and every other evil; but a man needs aboveall to be saved from what is the root of all sin, his self-will andhis pride. It is not until man begins to feel that this is exactly thesalvation he needs, that he really can understand what Christ is, andthat he can accept Him as his salvation. This is the salvation that we asChristians and believers specially need. We know the sad story of Peter andJohn; what their self-will and pride brought upon them. They needed to besaved from nothing except themselves, and that is the lesson which we mustlearn, if we are to enter the life of rest. And how can we enter that life, and dwell there in the bosom of the Lamb of God, if pride rules? Have wenot often heard complaints of how much there is of pride in the Church ofChrist? What is the cause of all the division, and strife, and envying, that is often found even among God's saints? Why is it that often in afamily there is bitterness--it may be only for half an hour, or half a day;but what is the cause of hard judgments and hasty words? What is the causeof estrangement between friends? What is the cause of evil speaking? Whatis the cause of selfishness and indifference to the feelings of others?Simply this: the pride of man. He lifts himself up, and he claims the rightto have his opinions and judgments as he pleases. The salvation we needis indeed humility, because it is only through humility that we can berestored to our right relation to God. 

"Waiting upon God, "--that is the only true expression for the real relationof the creature to God; to be nothing before God. What is the essentialidea of a creature made by God? It is this: to be a vessel in which He canpour out His fullness, in which He can exhibit His life, His goodness, Hispower, and His love. A vessel must be empty if it is to be filled, and ifwe are to be filled with the life of God we must be utterly empty ofself. This is the glory of God, that He is to fill all things, and moreespecially His redeemed people. And as this is the glory of the creature, so this is the only redemption, and the only glory of every redeemed soul, to be empty and as nothing before God; to wait upon Him, and to let God beall in all. 

Humility has a prominent place in almost every epistle of the NewTestament. Paul says: "Walk with all lowliness and meekness, withlongsuffering, forbearing one another in love; endeavoring to keep theunity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. " The nearer you get to God, andthe fuller of God, the lowlier you will be; and equally before God and man, you will love to bow very low. We know of Peter's early self-confidence;but in his epistles what a different language he speaks! He wrote there:"Let the younger be subject to the elder, and all of you be subject one toanother; humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exaltyou in His own time. " He understood, and he dared to preach, humility toall. It is indeed the salvation we need. What is it that prevents peoplefrom coming to that entire surrender that we speak of? Simply that theydare not abandon themselves, and trust themselves, to God; that they arenot willing to be nothing, to give up their wishes, and their will, andtheir honor to Christ. Shall we not accept the salvation that Jesusoffers? He gave up His own will; He gave up His own honor; He gave up anyconfidence in Himself; He lived dependent upon God as a servant whom theFather had sent. There is the salvation we need, the Spirit of humilitythat was in Christ. 

What is it that often disturbs our hearts, and our peace? It is prideseeking to be something. And God's decree is irreversible, "God resisteththe proud; He gives grace only to the humble. " How often Jesus had to speakto his disciples about it! You will find repeatedly in the Gospel thosesimple words: "He that humbleth Himself shall be exalted; he that exaltethhimself shall be humbled. " He taught His disciples: "He that would bechiefest among you, let him be the servant of all. " This should be our onecry before God: "Let the power of the Holy Ghost come upon me, with thehumility of Jesus, that I may take the place that He took. " Brother, do youwant a better place than Jesus had? Are you seeking a higher place thanJesus? Or will you say: "Down, down, as deep as ever I can go. By the helpof God I will be nothing before God; I will be where Jesus was. "

And now comes the third thought, --This is the salvation the Holy Ghostbrings. You know what a change took place in those disciples. Let us praiseGod for it; the Holy Spirit means this: the life, the disposition, thetemper, and the inclinations of Jesus, brought down from heaven into ourhearts. That is the Holy Ghost. He has His mighty workings to bestow asgifts; but the fullness of the Holy Ghost is this: Jesus Christ in Hishumility coming to dwell in us. When Christ was teaching His disciples, allHis instructions may have helped in the way of preparation, breaking themdown, and making them conscious of what was wrong, and awakening desire;but the instruction could not do it, and all their love to Jesus and theirdesire to please Him could not do it, until the Holy Ghost came. That isthe promise Christ gave. He says, in connection with the coming of the HolyGhost: "I will come again to you. " Christ said to His disciples: "I havebeen three years with you, and you have been in the closest contact withme, and I have done the utmost to reach your hearts; I have sought to getinto your hearts, yet I have failed; but fear not, I will come again. Inthat day ye shall see me, and your hearts shall rejoice, and no man shalltake your joy from you. I will come again to dwell in you, and live my lifein you. " Christ went to heaven that He might get a power which He never hadbefore. And what was that? The power of living in men. God be praised forthis! It was because Jesus, the humble One, the Lamb of God, the meek, thelowly and gentle One, came down in the Holy Spirit into the hearts of Hisdisciples, that the pride was expelled, and that the very breath of Heavenbreathed through Him in the love that made them one heart and one soul. 

Dear friends, Christ is yours. Christ as He comes in the power of the HolySpirit is yours. Are you longing to have Him, to have the perfect ChristJesus? Come, then, and see how, amid the glories of His Godhead--Hishaving been in the form of God, and equal to God; amid the glories ofHis incarnation--His having become a man; amid the glories of Hisatonement--His having been obedient to death; and amid the glories of Hisexaltation, which is the chief and brightest glory, He humbled Himself fromHeaven down to earth and on earth down to the cross. He humbled Himself tobear the name and show the meekness, and die the death of the Lamb of God. And what is it we now need to do? How are we to be saved by this humilityof Jesus? It is a solemn question, but, thank God, the answer can be given. First we must desire it above everything. Let us learn to pray God todeliver us from every vestige of pride, for this is a cursed thing. Let uslearn to set aside for a time other things in the Christian life, and beginto plead with the Lamb of God day by day, "O Lamb of God, I know Thy love, but I know so little of Thy meekness. " Come day after day, and lay yourheart against His heart, and say to Him with strong desire: "Jesus, Lambof God, give, oh, give me Thyself, with Thy meekness and humility, " and Hewill fulfill the desire of them that fear Him. It is not enough to desireit and to pray for it; claim and accept it as yours. This humility is givenyou in Christ Jesus. Christ is our life. What does that mean? Oh, that Godmight give you and me a vision of what that means. The air is our life, andthe air is everywhere, universal. We breathe without difficulty because Godsurrounds us with the air; and is the air nearer to me than Christ is? Thesun gives light to every green leaf and every blade of grass, shining hourby hour and moment by moment. And is the sun nearer to the blade of grassthan Christ is to man's soul? Verily, no; Christ is around us on everyside; Christ is pressing on us to enter, and there is nothing in heaven, or earth, or hell, that can keep the light of Christ from shining into theheart that is empty and open. If the windows of your room were closed withshutters, the light could not enter; it would be on the outside of thebuilding, streaming and streaming against the shutters; but it could notenter. But leave the windows without shutters, and the light comes, itrejoices to come in and fill the room. Even so, children of God, Jesus andHis light, Jesus and His humility, are around you on every side, longing toenter into your hearts. Come and take Him to-day in His blessed meeknessand gentleness. Do not be afraid of Him; He is the Lamb of God. He is sopatient with you, He is so kindly towards you, He is so tender and loving. Take courage to-day and trust Jesus to come into your heart and takepossession of it. And when He has taken possession, there will be a lifeday by day of blessed fellowship with Him, and you will feel a necessityever deeper for your quiet time with Him, and for worshiping and adoringHim, and for just sinking down before Him in helplessness and humility, andsaying: "Jesus, I am nothing, and Thou art all. " It will be a blessed life, because you will be conscious of being at the feet of Jesus. At this momentyou can claim Jesus in His divine humility as the life of your soul. Willyou? Will you not open your heart, and say: "Come in; come in?"

Come to-day, and take Him up afresh in this blessed power of His wonderfulhumility, and say to Him: "Oh, Thou who didst say, 'Learn of me, for I ammeek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls, ' my Lord, I know why it is that I have not the perfect life; it is my pride, butto-day, come Thou and dwell in my heart. Thou who didst lead even Peter andJohn into the blessedness of Thy heavenly humility; Thou wilt not refuseme. Lord, here I am; do Thou, who by Thy wonderful humility alone canstsave, come in. O Lamb of God, I believe in Thee; take possession of myheart, and dwell in me. " When you have said that, go out in quiet, andretire, walking gently as holding the Lamb of God in your heart, and say:"I have received the Lamb of God; He makes my heart His care; He breathesHis humility and dependence on God in me, and so brings me to God. Hishumility is my life and salvation. "

THE COMPLETE SURRENDER. 

VIII. 

_Genesis 39: 1-3_. --_Joseph was brought down to Egypt; and Potiphar, anofficer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard, an Egyptian, bought him at thehands of the Ishmaelites, which had brought him down thither. And the Lordwas with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house ofhis master, the Egyptian, and his master saw that the Lord was with him_. 

We have in this passage an object lesson which teaches us what Christ is tous. Note: Joseph was a slave, but God was with him so distinctly that hismaster could see it. "And his master saw the Lord was with him, and thatthe Lord made all that he did prosper in his hands; and Joseph found gracein his sight, and he served him, "--that is to say, he was his slave abouthis person, --"and he made him overseer over his house, "--that was somethingnew. Joseph had been a slave, but now he becomes a master. "And he made himoverseer over his house, and all that he had he put into his hands. And itcame to pass, from the time that he had made him overseer in his house, and over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house forJoseph's sake, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had in thehouse and in the field. And he left all that he had in Joseph's hand; andhe knew not all he had, save the bread which he did eat. "

We find Joseph in two characters in the house of Potiphar: first as aservant and a slave, one who is trusted and loved, but still entirely aservant; second, as master. Potiphar made him overseer over his house andhis lands, and all that he had, so that we read afterward that he lefteverything in his hands, and he knew of nothing except the bread thatcame upon his table. I want to call your attention to Joseph as a type ofChrist. We sometimes speak in the Christian life, of entire surrender, andrightly, and here we have a beautiful illustration of what it is. First, Joseph was in Potiphar's house to serve him and to help him, and he didthat, and Potiphar learned to trust him, so that he said, "All that I haveI will give into his hands. " Now, that is exactly what is to take placewith a great many Christians. They know Christ, they trust Him, they loveHim, but He is not Master, He is a sort of helper. When there is troublethey come to Him, when they sin they ask Him for pardon in His preciousblood, when they are in darkness they cry to Him; but often and often theylive according to their own will, and they seek help from themselves. Buthow blessed is the man who comes and, like Potiphar, says, "I will giveup everything to Jesus!" There are many who have accepted Christ astheir Lord, but have never yet come to the final, absolute surrender ofeverything. Christians, if you want perfect rest, abiding joy, strength towork for God, oh, come and learn from that poor heathen Egyptian what youought to do. He saw that God was with Joseph and he said, "I will give upmy house to him. " Oh, learn you to do that. There are some who havenever yet accepted Christ, some who are seeking after Him, thirsting andhungering, but they do not know how to find Him. 

Let me direct your attention to four thoughts regarding this surrender toChrist: First, its motives; second, its measures; third, its blessedness;lastly, its duration. 

First of all, its motives. What moved Potiphar to do this? I think theanswer is very easy: he was a trusted servant of the king and he had theking's work to take care of, and he very likely could not take care ofhis own house. All his time and attention were required at the court ofPharaoh. He had his duty there; he was in high honor; but his own house gotneglected. Very likely he had had other overseers, one slave appointed torule the others, and perhaps that one had been unfaithful, or dishonest, and somehow his house was not as he would have it. So he buys anotherslave, just as he had formerly done, but in this case he sees what he hadnever seen before. There is something unusual about the man. He walksso humbly, he serves so faithfully and so lovingly, and withal sosuccessfully. Potiphar begins to look into the reason for this, and finallyconcludes that God is with him. 

It is a grand thing to have a man with whom God is, to entrust one'sbusiness to. The heathen realized this, and between the need of his ownhouse and what he saw in Joseph, he decided to make him overseer. I askyou, do not these two motives plead most urgently that you should say: "Iwill make Jesus master over my whole being?" Your house, Christian, yourspiritual life, the dwelling, the temple of God in your heart, --in whatstate is that? Is it not often like the temple of old, in Jerusalem, thathad been defiled and made a house of merchandise, and afterwards a den ofthieves? Your heart, meant to be the home of Jesus, is it not often fullof sin and darkness, full of sadness, full of vexation? You have done yourvery best to get it changed, and you have called in the help of man, andthe help of means; you have used every method you could think of forgetting it put right; but it will not come right until He whose it is, comes in to take charge. 

If there is any trouble in your heart, if you are in darkness, or in thepower of sin, I bring to you the Son of God, with the promise that He willcome in and take charge. As Potiphar took Joseph, will you not take Jesus?Has He not proven Himself worthy to be trusted? Come and say, "Jesus shallhave entire charge; He is worthy. " Think not only of His Divine power, butthink of His wonderful love; think of His coming from heaven to save you;think of His dying on Calvary and shedding His blood out of intense lovefor you. Oh, think of it; Christ in heaven loves every one who is given toHim, and whom He has made a child of God. "Having loved His own that werein the world, He loved them unto the end. "

Must I plead in the name of the love of the crucified Jesus; must I pleadwith you Christians, and say, Look at Jesus, the Son of God, your Redeemer, and ask you to make Him overseer over all? Give Him charge of your temper, your heart's affections, your thoughts, your whole being, and He will proveHimself worthy of it. Joseph had been for a time just a common slave, andwith the other slaves had served Pharaoh. Alas! many a Christian has usedChrist for his own advancement and comfort, just as he uses everything inthe world. He uses father and mother, minister, money, and all else theworld will give, to comfort and make him happy; there is danger of hisusing Christ Jesus in the same way. But oh, brethren, this is not right. You are His house, and He has a right to dwell therein. Will you not comeand surrender all, and say, "Lord Jesus, I have made Thee overseer overall?"

But now, secondly, the measure of that surrender. We read in the 4th verse:"All that he had he put into his hands. " Then in verse 5: "And it came topass from the time that he made him overseer over all that he had"--thereyou have it the second time--"the Lord blessed the Egyptian's house, andthe blessing of the Lord was upon all that he had"--there the third time. Then in verse 6: "And he left all that he had"--there you have the wordsthe fourth time--"in Joseph's hand, and he knew not all he had, save thebread which he did eat. " What do I see here? That Potiphar actually gaveeverything into Joseph's hands. He made him master over his slaves. All themoney was put into Joseph's hands, for we read that Potiphar had care ofnothing. When dinner was brought upon the table, he ate of it, and thatwas all he knew of what was going on in his house. Is not this entiresurrender?--he gives up everything into the hands of Joseph. Ah, belovedChristians, I want you to ask yourselves: "Have I done that?" You haveoffered more than one consecration prayer, and you have more than oncesaid: "Jesus, all I have I give to Thee. " You have said it, and meant it;but very probably you did not realize fully what it meant. 

With the word surrender there seems always to be a larger and morecomprehensive meaning. We do not succeed in carrying out our intentions, and afterward we take back one thing and another until we have lost sightof our original intention. Beloved Christians, let Christ Jesus have all. Let Him have your whole heart, with its affections; He Himself loves, withmore than the love of Jonathan. Let Him have your whole heart, saying, "Jesus, every fiber of my being, ever power of my soul, shall be devotedto Thee. " He will accept that surrender. He spoke a solemn word: "You musthate father and mother. " Say you to-day: "Lord Jesus, the love to fatherand mother, to wife and child, to brother and sister, I give up to Thee. Teach Thou me how to love Thee. I have only one desire, which is to loveThee. I want to give my whole heart to be full of Thy love. "

But when you have given your heart, there is yet more to give. There is thehead--the brain with its thoughts. I believe Christians do not know howmuch they rob Christ of in reading so much of the literature of the world. They are often so occupied with their newspapers that the Bible gets a verysmall place. Oh, friends, I beseech you bring this noble power which Godhas given you, the power of a mind that can think heavenly, eternal, andinfinite things, and lay it at the feet of Jesus, saying, "Lord Jesus, every faculty of my being I want to surrender to Thee, that Thou shouldstteach me what to think, and how to think, for Thee and Thy Kingdom. " BlessGod, there are men who have given their intellect to Jesus, and it has beenaccepted by Him. And in this connection there is my whole outer life. Thereis my relation to society, my position among men, my intercourse in my ownhome, with friends and family; there is my money, my time, my business; allthese should be put in the hands of Jesus. One cannot know beforehand theblessedness of this surrender, but blessed it surely is. Come, because Heis worthy; come because you know you can not keep things right yourself, and make Christ master over all you have. Give father and mother, wife andchild, house and land, and money, all to Jesus, and you will find that ingiving all you receive it back an hundred fold. 

Thirdly, look at the blessing of the entire surrender. You have here theremarkable words: "And it came to pass from the time that Potiphar madeJoseph overseer over all that he had, that the Lord blessed the Egyptian'shouse for Joseph's sake, and the blessing of the Lord was upon all that hehad in the house, and in the field. " I ask you Christians, If God did thisto that heathen man, because he honored Joseph; if God, for Joseph's sake, blessed that Egyptian in this wonderful way, may a Christian not venture tosay: "If I put my life into the hands of Jesus, I am sure God will blessall that I have?" Oh, dare to say it. Potiphar trusted Joseph implicitlyand absolutely, and there was prosperity everywhere, because God was withJoseph. Beloved friends, if you but surrender everything, depend upon it, the blessing from that time will be yours. There will be a blessing withinyour own inner life, and a blessing in your outer life. He blessed Potipharin the house, in the field, everywhere. 

Oh, Christian, what is that blessing you will get? I can not tell all, butI can tell you this: if you will come to Christ Jesus and surrender all, the blessing of God will be on all that you have. There will be a blessingfor your own soul. "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind isstayed on Thee. " Try that; trust Jesus for everything, and trust everythingto Him, and the blessing of God will come upon you--the sweet rest, therest of faith. It is all in the hands of Jesus; He will guide you; He willteach you; He will work in you; He will keep you; He will be everything toyou. What a blessed rest and freedom from responsibility and from care, because it is all in the hands of Jesus! I do not say trouble and trialwill never come; but in the midst of trial and trouble you will have theall-sufficiency of the presence of Jesus to be your comfort, your help, andyour guide. Joseph was sold by his brethren, but he saw God in it, and hewas quite content. Christ was betrayed by Judas, condemned by Caiaphas, andgiven over to execution by Pilate; but in all that, Christ saw God, andHe was content. Give over your life, in all its phases, into the hands ofJesus; remembering that the very hairs of your head are numbered, and not asparrow falls to earth without the Father's notice. Consent now and say: "Iwill give up everything into the hands of Jesus. Whatever happens is Hiswill regarding me. Whether He comes in the light or in the dark, in thestorm or on the troubled sea, I will rest in that blessed assurance. I giveup my whole life entirely to Him. "

In reading the Book of Jonah, we find God's hand in each step of Jonah'sexperience. It was God who sent the storm when Jonah went aboard the ship, who appointed a whale to swallow him, who ordered the whale to cast himout; and then afterwards it was God who caused the hot wind to blow whenthe sun was sending down its scorching rays, until the soul of Jonah wasgrieved, and made the gourd to grow, and sent the worm to kill the gourd, and set a sea-wind to dry the gourd up quickly. Do we not thus see thatevery circumstance of our living, every comfort and every trial, comes fromGod in Christ? There is nothing can touch a hair of my head. Not a sharpword comes against me; not an unexpected flurry surrounds me, but it is allJesus. With my life in His hands, I need care for nothing. I can be contentwith what Jesus gives. 

God blessed Potiphar in the field; in the visible life outside of hishouse; and God will bless you, that, in your intercourse with men, you maybe a blessing; that by your holy, humble, respectful, quiet walk, you maycarry comfort; that by your loving readiness to be a servant and a helperto all, you may prove what the Spirit of God has done within you. Oh, mybrother, my sister, you have no conception of it, --I have not--how God iswilling to bless the soul utterly given up to Jesus. God can delight innothing but Jesus. God delights infinitely in Jesus. God longs to seenothing in us but Jesus, and if I give up my heart and life to Jesus, andsay, "My God, I want that Thou shouldst see in me nothing but Jesus, " thenI bring to the Father the sacrifice that is the most acceptable of all. Oh, believers, come to-day; come out of all your troubles, and all yourself-efforts and your self-confidence, and let the blessed Son of Godtake possession. 

Let me direct your thoughts, lastly, to the duration of this surrender. Iwant to emphasize this--because in many cases the surrender does not last. Some go away, and for a time have much gladness and joy, but it soon beginsto decrease, and in a few weeks or perhaps months is all gone. Others whodo not lose it entirely, complain sadly at times, that it goes away andcomes again. They say: "My life has been very much blessed since thatsurrender I made to God, but it has not always been on the same level. "What did Potiphar do? We read in the 4th verse: "He made him overseer overhis house, and all that he had he left in Joseph's hands. " What a simpleword! He left it there. 

And oh, children of God, if you will only get to that point and say, "Forall eternity I leave it in the hands of Jesus, " you will find what ablessing it is. Potiphar found now that he could do the king's businesswith two hands and an undivided heart. I might try to rescue a drowning manby holding fast somewhere with one hand, while I reached out the other handto the man, but it is a grand thing for a person to be able to stretch outboth hands, and that person is the one who has left all with Jesus--all hisinner life, all his cares and troubles, and has given himself up entirelyto do the will of God. Will you leave it there? I must press this, becauseI know temptations will come. One temptation will be that the feelings youhad in your act of surrender will pass away; they will not be so bright;another, that circumstances will tempt you. Beloved, temptations will come;God means it for your good. Every temptation brings you a blessing. Dounderstand that. Learn the lesson of giving up everything to Jesus, andletting Jesus take charge of everything. Leave all with Jesus. Do not thinkthat by a surrender to-day or on any day, however powerful, however mighty, things will keep right themselves. You need every morning afresh, whenGod wakes you up out of sleep, to put your heart, and your life, and yourhouse, and your business, into the hands of Jesus. Wait on Him, if need be, in silence, or in prayer, until He gives you the assurance, "My child, forto-day all is safe; I take charge. " And morning by morning He will renew toyou the blessing, and morning by morning you will go out from your quiettime in the consciousness, "To-day I have had fellowship with my King, andit is all right. " Jesus has taken charge. And so, day by day, you can havegrace to leave all in the hands of Jesus. 

In conclusion let me speak to two classes. There are times when your heartis restless; there are times when you are afraid to die. 

There are some true believers who have perhaps never yet understood that itwas their duty to give up everything to Christ. Beloved fellow Christians, I come with a message from your Father, to come and to-day take that wordinto your hearts and upon your lips, even though you do not understand it. "Jesus, I make Thee Master of everything and I will wait at Thy feet, thatThou wilt show me what Thou wouldst have me be and do. " Do it now. Andlet me say to believers who have done it before, and who long with anunutterable longing to do it fully and perfectly, --Child of God, you cando it, for the Holy Spirit has been sent down from Heaven for this onepurpose, to glorify Jesus; to glorify Jesus in your heart, by letting yousee how perfectly Jesus can take possession of the whole heart; to glorifyJesus by bringing Him into your very life, that your whole life may shineout with the glory of Jesus. Depend upon it, the Father will give it to youby the Holy Spirit, if you are ready. Oh, come, and let your intercoursewith God be summed up in a simple prayer and answer--"My God, as much asThou wilt have of me to fill with Christ, Thou shalt have to-day. " "Mychild, as much of Christ as thy heart longeth to have, thou shalt have; forit is My delight that My Son be in the hearts of My children. "

DEAD WITH CHRIST. 

IX. 

_Gal. 2: 20_. --_I am crucified with Christ_. 

The Revised Version properly has the above text "I have been crucifiedwith Christ. " In this connection, let us read the story of a man who wasliterally crucified with Christ. We may use all the narrative of Christ'swork upon earth in the flesh as a type of His spiritual work. Let us takein this instance the story of the penitent thief, Luke 23: 39-43, for Ithink we may learn from him how to live as men who are crucified withChrist. Paul says: "I have been crucified with Christ. " And again: "Godforbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom I have been crucified to the world, and the world to me. " Weoften ask earnestly: How can I be free from the self life? The answer is, "Get another life. " We often speak about the power of the Holy Spiritcoming upon us, but I doubt if we fully realize that the Holy Spirit is aheavenly life come to expel the selfish, and fleshly, and the earthly life. If we want, in very deed, to enjoy fully the rest that there is in Jesus, we can only have it as He comes in, in the power of His death, to slay whatis in us of nature, and to take possession, and to live His own life in thefullness of the Holy Ghost. God's Word takes us to the cross of Christ, andit teaches us about that cross, two things. It tells us that Christ died_for_ sin. We understand what that means, that in His atonement He died asI never die, as I never can die, as I never need die; He died for sin andfor me. But what gave His death such power to atone? It was this: thespirit in which He died, not the physical suffering, not the external actof death, but the spirit in which He died. And what was that spirit? Hedied _unto_ sin. Sin had tempted Him, and surrounded Him, and had broughtHim very nigh to saying, "I cannot die. " In Gethsemane He cried: "Father, is it not possible that the cup pass from me?" But God be praised, He gaveup His life rather than yield to sin. He died to sin, and in dying Heconquered. And now, I can not die for sin like Christ, but I can and I mustdie to sin like Christ. Christ died for me. In that He stands alone. Christdied to sin, and in that I have fellowship with Him. I have been crucified, I am dead. 

And here is the great subject to which I want to lead you. --What it is tobe dead with Christ, and how it is that I can practically enter into thisdeath with Christ. We know that the great characteristic of Christ is Hisdeath. From eternity He came with the commandment of the Father that Heshould lay down His life on earth. He gave Himself up to it, and He set Hisface towards Jerusalem. He chose death, and He lived and walked upon earthto prepare Himself to die. His death is the power of redemption; death gaveHim His victory over sin; death gave Him His resurrection, His new life, His exaltation, and His everlasting glory. The great mark of Christ is Hisdeath. Even in Heaven, upon the throne, He stands as the Lamb that wasslain, and through eternity they ever sing, "Thou art worthy, for Thouwast slain. " Beloved brother, your Boaz, your Christ, your all-sufficientSaviour, is a Man of whom the chief mark and the greatest glory is this: Hedied. And if the Bride is to live with her husband as His wife, then shemust enter into His state, and into His spirit, and into His disposition, and ever be as He is. If we are to experience the full power of what Christcan do for us, we must learn to die with Christ. I ought not, perhaps, touse that expression, "We must learn to die with Christ;" I ought, rather, to say, "We must learn that we _are dead_ with Christ. " That is a gloriousthought in the 6th chapter of Romans; to every believer in the Church ofRome--not to the select ones, or the advanced ones, but to every believerin the Church of Rome, however feeble, Paul writes, "You _are dead_ withChrist. " On the strength of that he says, "Reckon yourselves dead untosin. " What does that mean--You are dead to sin? We can not see it moreclearly than by referring to Adam. Christ was the second Adam. Whathappened in the first Adam? I died, in the first Adam; I died to God; Idied in sin. When I was born, I had in me the life of Adam, which had allthe characteristics of the life of Adam after he had fallen. Adam died toGod, and Adam died in sin, and I inherit the life of Adam, and so I am deadin sin as he was, and dead unto God. But at the very moment I begin tobelieve in Jesus, I become united to Christ, the second Adam, and as reallyas I am united by my birth to the first Adam, I am made partaker of thelife of Christ. What life? That life which died unto sin on Calvary, andwhich rose again; therefore God by his apostle tells us: "Reckon yourselvesindeed dead unto sin and alive unto God in Christ Jesus. " You are to reckonit as true, because God says it--for your new nature is indeed, in virtueof your vital union to Christ, actually and utterly dead to sin. 

If we want to have the real Christ that God has given us, the real Christthat died for us, in the power of His death and resurrection, we must takeour stand here. But many Christians do not understand what the 6th chapterof the Epistle to the Romans teaches us. They do not know that they aredead to sin. They do not know it, and therefore Paul instructs them: "Knowye not that as many of you as are baptized into Christ Jesus, are baptizedinto His death. " How can we who are dead to sin in Christ live any longertherein? We have indeed the death and the life of Christ working withinus. But, alas! most Christians do not know this, and therefore do notexperience or practice it. They need to be taught that their first need isto be brought to the recognition, to the knowledge, of what has taken placein Christ on Calvary, and what has taken place in their becoming unitedto Christ. The man must begin to say, even before he understands it, "InChrist I am dead to sin. " It is a command: "Reckon ye yourselves indeed tobe dead unto sin. " Get hold of your union to Christ; believe in the newnature within you, that spiritual life which you have from Christ, a lifethat has died and been raised again. A man's acts are always in accordancewith his idea of his state. A king acts like a king, otherwise we say, "That man has forgotten his kingship, " but if a man is conscious of beinga king, he behaves like a king. And so I cannot live the life of a truebeliever unless I am filled with a consciousness of this every day: "Ithank God that I am dead in Christ. Christ died unto sin, and I am unitedwith Christ, and Christ lives in me and I am dead to sin. " What is the lifeChrist lives in me? Ask what is the life Adam lives in me? Adam lives in methe death life, a life that has fallen under the power of sin and death, death to God. That life Adam lives in me by nature as an unconverted man. And Christ, the second Adam, has come to me with a new life, and I now livein His life, the death-life of Christ. As long as I do not know it, I cannot act according to it, though it be in me. Praise God, when a man beginsto see what it is, and begins in obedience to say, "I will do what God'sWord says; I am dead, I reckon myself dead, " he enters upon a new life. Onthe strength of God's everlasting Word, and your union to Christ, and thegreat fact of Calvary, reckon, know yourself as dead indeed unto sin. A manmust see this truth; this is the first step. The second is--he must acceptit in faith. And what then? When he accepts it in faith, then there comesin him a struggle, and a painful experience, for that faith is still veryfeeble, and he begins to ask, "But why, if I am dead to sin, do I commit somuch sin?" And the answer God's Word gives is simply this: You do not allowthe power of that death to be applied by the Holy Spirit. What we need isto understand that the Holy Spirit came from Heaven, from the glorifiedJesus, to bring His death and His life into us. The two are inseparablyconnected. That Christ died, He died unto sin, and that He liveth, Heliveth unto God. The death and the life in Him are inseparable; and even soin us the life to God in Christ is inseparably connected with the death tosin. And that is what the Holy Ghost will teach us and work in us. If Ihave accepted Christ in faith by the Holy Ghost, and yield myself toHim, Christ every day keeps possession, and reveals the full power ofmy fellowship in His death and life in my heart. To some this comesundoubtedly in one moment of supreme power and blessing; all at once theysee and accept it, and enter in, and there is death to sin as a Divineexperience. It is not that the tendency to evil is rooted out. No; but thepower of Christ's death keeps from sin, and destroys the power of sin; thepower of Christ's death can be manifested in the Holy Spirit's unceasinglymortifying the deeds of the body. 

Some one asks me if there is still growth needed. Undoubtedly. By the HolySpirit a man can now begin to live and grow, deeper and deeper, into thefellowship of Christ's death. New things are discovered by him in spheresof which he never thought. A man may at times be filled with the HolyGhost, and yet there may be great imperfections in him. Why? For thisreason: because his heart, perhaps, had not been fully prepared by acomplete discovery of sin. There may be pride, or self-consciousness, orforwardness, or other qualities of this nature which he has never noticed. The Holy Spirit does not always cast these out at once. No. There aredifferent ways of entering into the blessed life. One man enters into theblessed life with the idea of power for service; another with the idea ofrest from worry and weariness; another with the idea of deliverance fromsin. In all these aspects there is something limited, and therefore everybeliever is to give himself up after he knows the power of Christ's death, and say continually: "Lord Jesus, let the power of Thy death work through, let it penetrate my whole being. " As the man gives himself unreservedly up, he will begin to bear the marks of a crucified man. The apostle says: "Ihave been crucified, " and he lives like a crucified man. 

What are the marks of a crucified man? The first is, deep, absolutehumility. Christ humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even thedeath of the cross. When the death to sin begins to work mightily, that isone of its chief and most blessed proofs. It breaks a man down, down, andthe great longing of his heart is, "Oh, that I could get deeper down beforemy God, and be nothing at all, that the life of Christ might be exalted. Ideserve nothing but the cursed cross; I give myself over to it. " Humilityis one of the great marks of a crucified man. 

Another mark is impotence, helplessness. When a man hangson the cross, he is utterly helpless, he can do nothing. As long as weChristians are strong, and can work, or struggle, we do not get into theblessed life of Christ; but when a man says, "I am a crucified man, I amutterly helpless, every breath of life and strength must come from myJesus, " then we learn what it is to sink into our own impotence, and say, "I am nothing. "

Still another mark of crucifixion is restfulness. Yes. Christ wascrucified, and went down into the grave, and we are crucified and buriedwith Him. There is no place of rest like the grave; a man can do nothingthere, "My flesh shall rest in hope, " said David, and said the Messiah. Yes, and when a man goes down into the grave of Jesus, it means this: thathe just cries out, "I have nothing but God, I trust God; I am waiting uponGod; my flesh rests in Him; I have given up everything, that I may rest, waiting upon what God is to do to me. " Remember, the crucifixion, and thedeath, and the burial are inseparably one. And remember the grave is theplace where the mighty resurrection power of God will be manifested. And remember those precious words in the 11th of John: "Said I not untothee"--when did Christ say that? It was at the grave of Lazarus--"that ifthou believest, thou shalt see the glory of God?" Where shall I see theglory of God most brightly? Beside the grave. Go down into death believing, and the glory of God will come upon thee, and fill thy heart. 

Dear friends, we want to die. If we are to live in the rest, and the peace, and the blessedness of our great Boaz; if we are to live a life of joy andof fruitfulness, of strength and of victory, we must go down into the gravewith Christ, and the language of our life must be: "I am a crucifiedman. God be praised, though I have nothing but sin in myself, I have aneverlasting Jesus, with His death and His life, to be the life of my soul. "

How can I enter into this fellowship of the cross? We find an illustrationin the story of the penitent thief. Thomas said, before Christ's death, "Let us go and abide with Him. " And Peter said, "Lord, I am ready to gowith Thee to prison, or to death. " But the disciples all failed, and ourLord took a man who was the offscouring of the earth, and he hung him uponthe cross of Calvary beside Himself, and He said to Peter, and to all: "Iwill let you see what it is to die with Me. " And He says that word to-day, to the weakest and the humblest; if you are longing to know what it is toenter into death with Jesus, come and look at the penitent thief. And whatdo we see there? First of all, we see there the state of a heart preparedto die with Christ. We see in that penitent thief, a humble, whole-heartedconfession of sin. There he hung upon the cursed tree, and the multitudeswere blaspheming that man beside him, but he was not ashamed publicly tomake confession: "I am dying a death that I have deserved; I am sufferingjustly; this cross is what I have deserved. " Here is one of the reasons whythe Church of Christ enters so little into the death of Christ; men do notwant to believe that the curse of God is upon everything in them that hasnot died with Christ. People talk about the curse of sin, but they do notunderstand that the whole nature has been infected by sin, and that thecurse is on everything. My intellect, has that been defiled by sin?Terribly, and the curse of sin is on it, and therefore my intellect must godown into the death. Ah, I believe that the Church of Christ suffers moreto-day from trusting in intellect, in sagacity, in culture, and in mentalrefinement, than from almost anything else. The Spirit of the world comesin, and men seek by their wisdom, and by their knowledge, to help theGospel, and they rob it of its crucifixion mark. Christ directed Paul to goand preach the Gospel of the cross, but to do it not with wisdom of words. The curse of sin is on all that is of nature. If there be a minister whohas delighted in preaching, who has done his very best, who has given hisvery best in the way of talent and of thought, and who asks, "Must thatgo down into the grave?" I say, "Yes, my brother, the whole man must becrucified. " And so with the heart's affection. What is more beautiful thanthe love of a child to his mother? In that lovely nature there is somethingunsanctified, and it must be given up to die. God will raise it from thedead and give it back again, sanctified and made alive unto God. So I mightgo through the whole of our life. People often say to me: "But has God madeall things so beautiful, and is it not right that we should enjoy them? Arenot His gifts all good?" I answer, yes, but remember what it says; they aregood, if sanctified by the Word of God and prayer. The curse of sin is onthem; the blight of sin is on everything most beautiful, and it takes muchof God's Word, and much of prayer to sanctify them. It is very hard to giveup a thing to the death, and it is hardest of all to give up my life to thedeath, and I never will until I have learned that everything about thatlife is stamped by sin, and let it go down into the death as the only wayto have it quickened and sanctified. 

The penitent thief confessed his sin, and that he deserved death. Then, next, he had faith in the almighty power of Christ. A wonderful faith. Ithas no parallel in the Bible. There hangs the cursed malefactor with Jesusof Nazareth, and he dares speak, and say: "I am dying here, under the justcurse of my sins, but I believe Thou canst take me into Thy heart, andremember me when Thou comest into Thy Kingdom. " Oh, that we might learn tobelieve in the almighty power of Christ! That man believed that Christ wasa King, and had a Kingdom, and that He would take him up in His arms, andin His heart, and remember him when He came into His Kingdom. He believedthat, and believing that, he died. Brother, you and I need to take time tocome to a much larger and deeper faith in the power of Christ, that thealmighty Christ will indeed take us in His arms and carry us through thisdeath life, revealing the power of His death in us. I cannot live itwithout personal contact with Christ every hour of the day. Christ must doit; Christ can do it. Come therefore and say: "Is He not the Almighty One;did He not come from the throne of God; did He not prove His omnipotence, and did the Father not prove it when He rose from the dead?" Would you beafraid, now that Christ is on the throne, of doing what the malefactor didwhen Christ was upon the cross, and entrusting yourself to Him to live asone dead with Him? Christ will carry you through the very process He wentthrough; will make His death work in you every day of your life. 

I note one thing more in the penitent thief--his prayer. There was hisconviction of sin, and his faith, but there was, further, the utterance ofhis faith in prayer. He turned to Jesus. Remember that the whole world, with perhaps the exception of Mary and the women, was turned against Christthat day. Of the whole world of men as far as I know, there was but thatone praying to Christ. Do not wait to see what others do; if you wait forthat, --alas! I desire to say it in love and tenderness, --you will not findmuch company in the Church of Christ. Pray incessantly: "Lord Christ, letthe power of Thy death come into me. " For God's sake, pray the prayer. Ifyou want to live the life of Heaven, there must be death to sin in thepower of Jesus. There must be personal entrustment of the soul into Hisdeath to sin, personal acceptance of Jesus to do the mighty work. 

We have seen what the preparation is on the part of this man; let us look, secondly, at how Christ met him. He met him, you know, with that wonderfulpromise, with its three wonderful parts: "To-day shalt thou be with me inParadise. " A promise of fellowship with Christ, --"Thou shalt be with me;"a promise of rest in eternity, in the Paradise from which sin had cast manout, --"With me in Paradise;" a promise of immediate blessing, --"To-dayshalt thou be with Me. " With that three-fold blessing Jesus comes to youand me, and He says: "Believer, are you longing to live the Paradise life, where I give souls to eat of the Tree of Life, in the Paradise of God, dayby day? Are you longing for that uninterrupted communion with God thatthere was in Paradise before Adam fell? Are you longing for perfectfellowship with me, longing to live where I am living, in the love of theFather? To-day, to-day; even as the Holy Ghost says: 'To-day shalt thoube with me!' Longest thou for Me? I long more for thee. Longest thou forfellowship? I long unceasingly for thy fellowship, for I need thy love, my child, to satisfy my heart. Nothing can prevent My receiving thee intofellowship. I have taken possession of Heaven for thee, as the Great HighPriest, that thou mightest live the Heavenly life, that thou mightest haveaccess into the holiest of all and an abiding dwelling place there. To-day, if thou wilt, thou shalt be with me in Paradise. " Thank God, the Jesus ofthe penitent thief is my Jesus. Thank God, the cross of the penitent thiefis my cross. I must confess my sinfulness if I want to come into theclosest communion with my blessed Lord. There was not a man upon earthduring the thirty-three years of Christ's life that had such wonderfulfellowship with the Son of God, as the penitent thief, for with the Son ofGod he entered the glory. What made him so separate from others? He was onthe cross with Jesus and entered Paradise with Him. And if I live upon thecross with Jesus, the Paradise life shall be mine every day. 

And now, if Jesus gives me that promise, what have I to do? Let go. When aship is moored alongside the dock, with everything ready for the start andall standing on the quay, the last bell is rung and the order is given, "Let go. " Then the last rope is loosened, and the steamer moves. There arethings that tie us to the earth, to the flesh-life, and to the self-life;but to-day the message comes: "If thou wouldst die with Jesus, let go. "Thou needst not understand all. It may not be perfectly clear; the heartmay appear dull, but never mind; Jesus carried that penitent thief throughdeath to life. The thief did not know where he was going, he did not knowwhat was to happen, but Jesus, the mighty conqueror, took him in His arms, and landed him, in his ignorance, in Paradise. Oh, I have sometimes saidin my soul, bless God for the ignorance of that penitent thief. He knewnothing about what was going to happen, but he trusted Christ; and if I cannot understand all about this crucifixion with Christ, and the death tosin, and the life to God, and the glory that comes into the heart, nevermind, I trust my Lord's promise, I cast myself helpless into His arms, Imaintain my position on the cross. Given up to Jesus, to die with Him, Ican trust Him to carry me through. 

Shall we not each one take the blessed opportunity of doing what Ruth didwhen she, in obedience to the advice of her mother, just cast herself atthe feet of the great Boaz, the Redeemer, to be His? Shall we not come intopersonal contact with Jesus, and shall not each one of us just speak beforethe world these simple words: "Lord, here is this life; there is much in itstill of self, and sinfulness, and self-will, but I come to Thee; I long toenter fully into Thy death; I long to know fully that I have been crucifiedwith Thee; I long to live Thy life every day. " Then say: "Lord Jesus, Ihave seen Thy glory, what Thou didst for the penitent one at Thy side onthe cross; I am trusting Thee, that Thou wilt do it for me. Lord, I castmyself into Thy arms. "

JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST. 

X. 

_Romans 14: 17. _--_For the Kingdom of God is not meat and drink, butrighteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. _

In this text we have the earthly revelation of the work of the Trinity. TheKingdom of God is righteousness; that represents the work of the Father. The foundations of His throne are justice and judgment. Then comes the workof the Son: He is our peace, our Shiloh, our rest. The Kingdom of God ispeace; not only the peace of pardon for the past, but the peace of perfectassurance as to the future. Not only the work of atonement is finished, butthe work of sanctification is finished in Christ, and I may receive andenjoy what is prepared for me. The new man has been created, and I may inHim live out my life; if a kingdom is established in righteousness, if therule is perfect, there can be perfect rest. If there be peace, no warfrom without, and no civil dissension within, a nation can be happy andprosperous. And so there comes here, after righteousness and peace, thejoy, the blessed happiness in which a man can live; "The Kingdom of God isrighteousness and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. " May we regard this joyof the Holy Ghost, not only as a beautiful thing to admire, not only as athing to have beautiful thoughts about, but as a blessing that we are goingto claim. 

We often see a fruiterer's or confectioner's shop, with beautiful fruit orcake temptingly displayed in the window. There is a great pane of plateglass before it, and the hungry little boys stand there and look, and long, but they cannot reach it. If you were to say to one, "Now, little boy, takethat fruit, " he would look at you in surprise. He has learned that there issomething between. If he had never known of glass he might attempt it. Theplate glass is sometimes so clear that even a grown man might for a momentbe deceived and stretch out his hand. But he soon finds there is somethinginvisible between him and the fruit. This represents exactly the life ofmany Christians; they see, but they cannot take. And what now is thisinvisible pane of plate glass, that hinders my taking the beautiful thingsI see? It is nothing but the self-life; I see divine things but cannotreach them, the self-life is the invisible plate glass. We are willing, weare working, we are striving, and yet we are holding back something; we areafraid to give up everything to God. We do not know what the consequencesmay be. We have not yet comprehended that God and Christ Jesus are wortheverything. Whatever is told us of the blessed life of peace and joy, wesay, "Praise God; God's Word is true; I believe the Word;" and yet, day byday, we stand back. When some one says, "Take it, " we say, "I can't takeit; there is something between. " Would we were willing to give up theself-life; would we had the courage to give up to-day, and let the joy ofthe Holy Ghost be our religion. That is the religion God has prepared forus; that is the religion we can claim; not only righteousness, not onlypeace, but the joy of the Holy Ghost. That is the Kingdom of God. 

What is this joy? First of all, it is the joy of the presence of Jesus. We are often inclined to speak most of two other things, the power forsanctification, and the power for service. But I find there is a thing moreimportant than either of those two, and that is that the Holy Ghost camefrom Heaven to be the abiding presence of Christ in His disciples, in theChurch, and in the heart of every believer. The Lord Jesus was going away, and His disciples were very sad; their hearts was sorrowful; but He said tothem, "I will come back again, and I will come to you. Your hearts shallrejoice, and your joy no man shall take from you. " What took place withthem, may take place with us too. The Holy Spirit is given to make thepresence of Jesus an abiding reality, a continual experience. And what wasthat joy that no man could ever touch? It was the joy of Pentecost. Andwhat was Pentecost? The coming of the Lord Jesus in the Holy Ghost to dwellwith His disciples. While Jesus was with His disciples on earth, He couldnot get into their hearts in the right way. They loved Him, but they couldnot take in His teaching, they could not partake of His disposition, andthey could not receive His very spirit into their being. But when He hadascended to Heaven, He came back in the Spirit to dwell in their hearts. It is this alone that will help us to go, the minister to his congregationwith its difficulties, the business man to his counter, the mother to herlarge family with its care, the worker to her Bible class. It is this onlythat will help us to feel, "I can conquer, I can live in the rest of God. "Why? "Because I have the almighty Jesus with me every day. " With God'speople, there seems to be one hindrance, _they do not know their Saviour_. They do not realize that this blessed Christ is an ever present, all-pervading, in-dwelling Christ, who wants to take charge of their entirelives. They do not know, they do not believe that He is an Almighty Christ, and ready in the midst of any difficulties and any circumstances to betheir keeper and their God. This is absolutely true. Many Christians areasked as to how one may have the joy unspeakable, the joy that nothing cantake away, the joy of the friendship and nearness and love of Jesus fillinghis heart. We complain that the rush of competition is so terrible that wecan not get time for private prayer. Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, if Hecomes to you as a brother and a friend and an abiding guest, can give yourheart the joy of the Holy Ghost, so that business will take its right placeunder your feet. Your heart is too holy to have it filled with business;let the business be in the head and under the feet, but let Christ havethe whole heart, and He will keep the whole life. Our glorious, exalted, almighty, ever present Christ! why is it that you and I can not trust Himfully, perfectly to do His work? Shall we not say before God that we dotrust Him, that we will trust Christ to be to us every moment all that wecan desire? On the Cross of Calvary Christ was all alone, and you believeHe did a perfect and a blessed work; and Christ in Heaven is all alone, ashigh priest and intercessor, and you trust Him for His work there. But, praise God! it is equally true, Christ in the heart is able all alone tokeep it all the days. May it please God to reveal to His children thenearness of Christ standing and knocking at the door of every heart, readyto come in and rest forever there and to lead the soul into His rest. 

We all know what the power of joy is; we know there is nothing soattractive as joy, there is nothing can help a man to bear and endure somuch as joy; we know that the Lord Jesus Himself for the joy that was setbefore Him endured the cross. One is not living aright if he is living asighing, trembling, doubting life. Come to-day and believe the joy of theHoly Ghost is meant for you. Does not the Scripture say, "Whom not havingseen we love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing ye rejoicewith joy unspeakable and full of glory. " Do you not believe that thisblessed, adorable, inconceivably beautiful Son of God, the delight of theFather, --do you not believe that this Son of God could fill your heart withdelight day and night, if He were always present? And do you not believethat He loves you more than a bridegroom loves his bride? Do you notbelieve that, having bought you with His blood, Jesus is longing for you?He needs you to satisfy His heart of love. Begin to believe with yourwhole heart, "The joy of the Holy Ghost is my portion, " for the Holy Ghostsecures to me without interruption the presence and the love of Jesus. 

But secondly, there is the joy of deliverance from sin. The Holy Ghostcomes to sanctify us. Christ is our sanctification, and the Holy Ghostcomes to communicate Him to us, to work out all that is in Christ and toreproduce it in us. Let us remember that in the sight of God there issomething more than work. There is Christlikeness--the likeness and thelife of Christ in us. That is what God wants; that will fit us for work. God asks not that Christ should live in us as separate persons; templesfull of filthy, impure, foul creatures, with Christ hidden away somewherethere, --that is not the intention of God, but He wants Christ so formedin us that we are one with Christ, and that in our thinking, feeling andliving, the image of His blessed Son is manifest before Him. The HolySpirit is given to sanctify us. My brother, are you willing to besanctified from every sin, be that sin great or small? I am not asking, doyou feel that you have the power to conquer it? I am not even asking, doyou feel the power to cast it out? It may be that you feel no power; thatwon't hinder if you are willing. I can not cast out sin, but I can get theAlmighty Christ by the Holy Spirit to do it, and it is my work to say toChrist, "There is the sin, there is the evil thing, I lay it at Thy feet, Icast it there, I cast it into Thy very bosom. Lord, I am ready to cut offthe right hand, anything, only deliver me from it. " Then Christ will castout the evil spirit and give deliverance. The Spirit of God is a holyspirit and His work is to make free from the power of sin and death. And ifyou want to live in the joy of the Holy Ghost, the question comes: "Areyou willing to surrender everything that is sinful, even what appearsgood, --but has the stain of sin on it?" You may be involved inrelationships that make your life very difficult. A pastor with his peoplemaybe brought into very difficult relationships; or a business man with hispartner or those with whom he has to associate, may be in an exceedinglytrying position. But is not the blessed Lamb of God worth it all? What isthe Christ worth to you? The question was once asked the disciples, "Whatthink ye of Christ?" I ask, "What is Christ worth to you?" And I beseechyou, whatever prospective difficulties there may be, and whateverperplexities surround you, take the whole world to-day and cast it at Hisfeet. To have Him is worth any difficulty; to have Him will be thesolution of every difficulty. There are not only such external, manifestdifficulties and perplexities, there are a thousand little things that comein our life and that often disturb us, temptations to unloving feelings, and sharp words, and hasty judgments. Oh, come, and believe that the HolySpirit, the sanctifier, can come in and rule, and give grace to passthrough all without sinning, and you shall know what the joy of the HolyGhost is. Our body, we read in 1st Corinthians, is the temple of the HolyGhost. It is to be holy in things like eating and drinking. How oftena Christian comes to the consciousness that he takes or seeks too muchenjoyment in that eating, eating for pleasure, with no self-denial orself-sacrifice in his feeding the body! How often we tempt one another toeat, and how often the believer forgets that this body is the very secrettemple of the Holy Ghost and that every mouthful we eat and drink must befor the glory of God in such a way as to be perfectly well pleasing to Him!Beloved, I bring you a message: There is access for you into the rest ofGod, and the Holy Spirit is given to bring you in, and the Holy Spirit willfill your heart with the unutterable joy of Christ's presence; and with thejoy of deliverance from sin, of victory over sin; the unutterable joy ofknowing that you are doing God's will and are pleasing in His sight; theunutterable joy of knowing that He is sanctifying and keeping the templefor Christ to dwell in. Believers, the joy of the Holy Ghost, the joy ofthat holiness of God, is His blessedness, His purity, His perfection, thatnothing can mar or stain or disturb. The Holy Ghost waits to bring and tomanifest it in our lives. He wants to come so into our hearts that we shalllive, as Holy Ghost men, the sanctified life, with the sanctifying power ofJesus running through our whole beings. 

My third thought is: the joy of the Holy Ghost is the joy of the love ofthe saints. The Holy Ghost was not given to any man on the day of Pentecostseparate from the others; He came and filled the whole company. We know howmuch division and separation and pride there had been among them, buton that day the Holy Ghost so filled their hearts that we find it wasafterward said: "Behold how these men love one another. " There was a lovein the primitive church that the very heathen noticed, and could notunderstand. Why was that? The Holy Spirit is the bond of union between theFather and Son; and that bond is love. The Holy Spirit is just the love ofGod come to dwell in the heart. When He dwells with me and my brother welearn to love each other. Though I be unloving naturally, and though I havevery little grace, if the heart of my brother is full of the Holy Spirit heloves me through it all. You know love is a wonderful thing. As long as aman tries to love it is not real love, but when real love comes, the moreopposition it meets the more it triumphs, for the more it can exerciseitself and perfect itself, the more it rejoices. Take a mother with a sondishonoring her. How her love follows him! When she sees that he has fallendeeper than ever before, how the dear mother heart only loves him the moreintensely through all the wretchedness! Does not the Scripture say, "If Hegave His life for us, we are bound to give our life for the brethren?" TheHoly Spirit comes as a spirit of love, and if you want to know the joy ofthe Holy Ghost, and want Him to lead you into the rest of God and keep youthere, beware above everything on earth or in hell of being unloving. Onesharp word to your brother or sister brings a cloud upon you without yourknowing it. People are so accustomed to talk just as they like about eachother that they say sharp and unkind and unloving things, and when a cloudcomes in consequence they cannot understand it. If there is one thing thatgrieves God, if there is one thing that hinders the Spirit--the fruit ofthe Spirit is love--it is the want of lovingness. If you want to live inthe joy of the Holy Ghost make your covenant with God. "But, " you say, "there is a Christian man who makes me so impatient; he does trouble me andvex me so with his stupidity. And there are those worldly men; how theyhave tempted me in times past and done me harm! And there is that businessman who is trying to ruin me. " Take them all, and your own wife andchildren and every one around you and say, "I understand it, love is rest, and rest is love. God resteth in His love. Love is rest and rest is love, and where there is no love the rest must be disturbed. " And let us sayto-day, "I see what the joy is; it is the joy of always loving, it is thejoy of losing my own life in love to others. " In connection with humility, some one asks, "How about that text, 'In honor preferring one another?'"When a soul comes into perfect humility before God it becomes nothing, andGod becomes all in all. I am nothing. There is no self to be affronted; Ihave said before God: "I am nothing; it is only Thy life and light thatshines. The honor is Thine, and nothing may touch me but what is againstthe glory of my God. "

Beloved, are you living in the joy of the Holy Ghost? Come and accept ablessing and give yourself up to live a life of humility in which you arenothing, and a life of love like Christ's in which you only live for yourfellow-men, for the kingdom of God is the joy of the Holy Ghost. 

My last thought is that the joy of the Holy Ghost is the joy of working forGod. The joy of the presence of Jesus, the joy of deliverance from sin, thejoy of love for the brethren, and then the joy of working for God. Someof us have at times felt what an incomprehensible thing it is that theeverlasting God should work through us; and we have said, "Lord, what isthis, that Thou the Almighty One dost work in me and through me, a vileworm by nature?" It is a mystery that passeth knowledge, and yet it is sotrue. The joy of the Holy Ghost comes when a man gives himself up tothe Christlike work of carrying the love of God to men. Let us seek theperishing, let us live and die for souls, let us live and die that ourfellow-men may be reclaimed and brought back to their God. There is no joylike hearing the joy-song of a new-born soul. But yes, there is another joythat may be as deep. Even if God does not give me the blessing of hearingthe newborn soul sing its song, I may have the joy, the sympathy with Jesusin His rejected life, and the assurance that the Father looks with goodpleasure on me. When I think of the thousands of believers in the Christianworld and then think of the heathen world, the cry comes up in my heart:"What are we doing?" Ah, we need to be crying to God day and night, "LordGod, wake us up. Lord God, let the Holy Spirit burn within us. " Are we thetrue successors of Jesus Christ? Are we indeed the followers and successorsof Christ who went all the way to Calvary to give His blood for men? Dolet us remember the joy of the Holy Ghost is the joy of working for God inChrist. I believe that God has new ways and new leadings and new power forHis people, if they will only wait on Him. But what most of us do is this:we thank God for all He has given, we look at all the ways of working wehave, and we say that we will try to do our work better. But oh, if we hada sense of the need, if we had any sense, by the vision of the Holy Ghost, of the state of the millions around us, I am sure we would fall on ourfaces before God and say, "God help me to something new. Oh that everyfiber of my being may be taken possession of for this great work with God!"The great need is that all Christians should consecrate themselves whollyto God for His work. May God help us to know what is the joy of the HolyGhost. 

Concluding, I ask again: "Do you believe that it is possible for the LordJesus, our Shiloh, of whom Jacob prophesied, our Joshua, our glorious Kingand High Priest, --do you believe it is possible for Christ Jesus to bringyou to-day into the rest of God?" Remember that word in Hebrews, "Even asthe Holy Ghost saith, to-day. " To-day, summon up courage and take up yourministry, and take up your business, and take up your surroundings, andtake up your natural temperament, and take up your home, and take up yourlife for the days to come upon earth, and say, "I do not understand it, I know not what will come, but one thing I know, I do absolutely giveeverything into the hands of the crucified Lamb of God; He shall have me inmy entirety. " And oh, remember, beloved, that Christ will be to you morethan you can think or understand, more than you can ask or desire. 

Come, let us cast ourselves into those blessed, loving arms, and let usbelieve even now that our Joshua leads us into the rest of God, the rest inwhich we are saved from self-care and self-seeking and self-trusting andself-loving, the rest in which we do not think of ourselves, but where Hewho is almighty and omnipresent is always going to be with us and is alwaysgoing to work within us. And let us when we have done that, claim thepromise, that as we have sought first the kingdom and God's righteousness, all things shall be added unto us. Beloved, the kingdom of God is withinyou, and it is righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. Come, letus claim it even now in simple, childlike, humble faith. 

TRIUMPH OF FAITH. 

XI. 

_John 4: 50_. --_And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken untohim_. 

Let me quote from the Gospel according to St. John, the 4th chapter, beginning at the 46th verse: "So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose sonwas sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus was come up out of Judeainto Galilee, he went unto Him, and besought Him that He would come downand heal his son; for he was at the point of death. Then said Jesus untohim, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. " There you havethe word "believe" the first time. "The nobleman saith unto Him, Sir, comedown ere my child die. Jesus saith unto him, Go thy way; thy son liveth. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken unto him, and he wenthis way. " There you have that word the second time. "And as he was nowgoing down, his servants met him, and told him, saying, Thy son liveth. Then inquired he of them the hour when he began to amend. And they saidunto him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the fatherknew that it was at the same hour, in the which Jesus said unto him, Thyson liveth; and himself believed, and his whole house. " There you have theword "faith". 

This story has often been used to illustrate the different steps of faithin the spiritual life. It was this use made of it in an address thatbrought the sainted Canon Battersby into the full enjoyment of rest. He hadbeen a most godly man, but had lived the life of failure. He saw in thestory what it was to rest on the Word and trust the saving power of Jesus, and from that night he was a changed man. He went home to testify of it, and under God, he was allowed to originate the Keswick Convention. 

Let me point out to you the three aspects of faith which we have here:first, faith seeking; then, faith finding; and then, faith enjoying. Or, still better: faith struggling; faith resting; faith triumphing. First ofall, faith struggling. Here is a man, a heathen, a nobleman, who has heardabout Christ. He has a dying son at Capernaum, and in his extremity leaveshis home, and walks some six or seven hours away to Cana of Galilee. Hehas heard of the Prophet, possibly, as one who has made water wine; he hasheard of His other miracles round Capernaum, and he has a certain trustthat Jesus will be able to help him. He goes to Him, and his prayer is thatthe Lord will come down to Capernaum and heal his son. Christ said to him, "Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe. " He saw that thenobleman wanted Him to come and stand beside the child. This man had notthe faith of the centurion--"Only speak a word. " He had faith. It was faiththat came from hearsay, and it was faith that did, to a certain extent, hope in Christ; but it was not the faith in Christ's power such as Christdesired. Still Christ accepted and met this faith. After the Lord had thustold him what He wished--a faith that could fully trust Him--the noblemancried the second time, "Sir, come down ere my child die. " Seeing hisearnestness and his trust, Christ said, "Go thy way; thy son liveth. " Andthen we read that the nobleman believed. He believed, and he went his way. He believed the word that Jesus had spoken. In that he rested and wascontent. And he went away without having any other pledge than the word ofJesus. As he was walking homeward, the servants met him, to tell him hisson lived. He asked at what hour he began to amend. And when they told him, he knew it was at the very hour that Jesus had been speaking to him. Hehad at first a faith that was seeking, and struggling, and searching forblessing; then he had a faith that accepted the blessing simply as it wascontained in the word of Jesus. When Christ said, "Thy son liveth, " he wascontent, and went home, and found the blessing--the son restored. 

Then came the third step in his faith. He believed with his whole house. That is to say, he did not only believe that Christ could do just this onething, the healing of his son; but he believed in Christ as his Lord. Hegave himself up entirely to be a disciple of Jesus. And that not onlyalone, but with his whole house. Many Christians are like the nobleman. They have heard about a better life. They have met certain individuals bywhose Christian lives they have been impressed, and consequently have feltthat Christ can do wonderful things for a man. Many Christians say in theirheart, "I am sure there is a better life for me to live; how I wish I couldbe brought to that blessed state!" But they have not much hope about it. They have read, and prayed, but they have found everything so difficult, Ifyou ask them, "Do you believe Jesus can help you to live this higher life?"they say, "Yes; He is omnipotent. " If you ask, "Do you believe Jesus wishesto do it?" they say, "Yes, I know He is loving. " And if you say, "Do youbelieve that He will do it for you?" they at once say, "I know He iswilling, but whether He will actually do it for me I do not know. I am notsure that I am prepared. I do not know if I am advanced enough. I donot know if I have enough grace for that. " And so they are hungering, struggling, wrestling, and often remain unblessed. This state of thingssometimes goes on for years--they are expecting to see signs and wonders, and hoping that God, by a miracle, will put them all right. They are justlike the Israelites; they limit the Holy One of Israel. Have you evernoticed that it is the very people whom God has blessed so wonderfullywho do that? What did the Israelites say? "God hath provided water in thewilderness. But can He provide the table in the wilderness? We do not thinkHe can. " And so we find believers who say, "Yes, God has done wonders. Thewhole of redemption is a wonder, and God has done wonders for some whom Iknow. But will God take one so feeble as I, and put me entirely right?" Thestruggling and wrestling and seeking are the beginnings of faith in you--afaith that desires and hopes. But it must go on further. And how can thatfaith advance? Look at the second step. There is the nobleman, and Christspeaks to him this wonderful word: "Go thy way; thy son liveth;" and thenobleman simply rests upon that word of the living Jesus. He rests on it, and without any proof of what he is to get, and without one man in theworld to encourage him. He goes away home with the thought, "I havereceived the blessing I sought; I have got life from the dead for my son. The living Christ promised it me, and on that I rest. " The struggling, seeking faith has become a resting faith. The man has entered into restabout his son. 

And now, dear believers, this is the one thing God asks you to do: God hassaid that in Christ you have eternal life, the more abundant life; Christhas said to you, "I live, and ye shall live also. " The Word says to us thatChrist is our Peace, our Victory over every enemy, who leads us into therest of God. These are the words of God, and His message has come to usthat Christ can do for us what Moses could not have done. Moses had noChrist to live in him. But it is told you that you can have what Moses hadnot; you can have a living Christ within you. And are you going to believethat, apart from any experience, and apart from any consciousness ofstrength? If the peace of God is to rule in your heart, it is the God ofpeace Himself must be there to do it. The peace is inseparable from theGod. The light of the sun--can I separate that from the sun? Utterlyimpossible. As long as I have the sun I have the light. If I lose the sun;I lose the light. Take care! Do not seek the peace of God or the peace ofChrist apart from God and Christ. But how does Christ come to me? He comesto me in this precious Word; and just as He said to the nobleman, "Go thyway home; thy son liveth, " so Christ comes to me to-day, and He says, "Gothy way; thy Saviour liveth. " "Lo, I am with you alway. " "I live, and yeshall live also. " "I wait to take charge of your whole life. Will you haveme do this? Trust to me all that is evil and feeble; your whole sinful andperverse nature--give it up to Me; that dying, sin-sick soul--give it up toMe, and I will take care of it. " Will you not listen and hear Him speak toyour soul? "Child, go forward into all the circumstances of life that havetempted you; into all the difficulties that threaten you. " Your soul liveswith the life of God; your soul lives in the power of God; your soul livesin Christ Jesus. Will you not, like the nobleman, take the simple step offaith, and believe the word Jesus hath spoken? Will you not say, "LordJesus, Thou hast spoken: I can rest on Thy Word. I have seen that Christis willing to be more to me than I ever knew; I have seen that Christ iswilling to be my life in the most actual and intense meaning of the words. "All that we know about the Holy Ghost sums itself up in this one thing:The Holy Ghost comes to make Christ an actual, indwelling, always-abidingSaviour. 

Lastly, comes the triumphant faith. The man went home holding fast thepromise. He had only one promise, but he held it fast. When God gives mea promise, He is just as near me as when He fulfills it. That is a greatcomfort. When I have the promise I have also the pledge of the fulfillment. But the whole heart of God is in His promise, just as much as in thefulfillment of it, and sometimes God, the promiser, is more preciousbecause I am compelled to cling more to Him, and to come closer, and tolive by simple faith, and to adore His love. Do not think this is a hardlife, to be living upon a promise. It means living upon the everlastingGod. Who is going to say that is hard? It means living upon the crucified, the loving Christ. Be ashamed to say that is a difficult thing. It is ablessed thing. 

The nobleman went home and found the child living. And what happened then?Two things. First: he gave up his whole life to be a believer in Jesus. Ifthere had been a division among the people of Capernaum, and thousands ofthem had hated Christ, this man would still have stood on His side. Hebelieved in the Lord. This is what must take place with us. Let us goforward with our trust in the living Christ, knowing that He will keep us. Then we will get grace to carry the life of Christ into our whole conduct, into all our walk and conversation. The faith that rests in Jesus, is thefaith that trusts all to Him, with all we have. Do we not read that whenGod had finished His work, and rested, it was only to begin new work? Yes;the great work was to be carried on--watching over and ruling His world andHis church. And is it not so with the Lord Jesus? When He had finished Hiswork, He sat upon the throne to do His work of perfecting the body, throughthe Holy Spirit. And now, the Holy Spirit is carrying on that blessed work, teaching us to rest in Christ, and in the strength of that rest to go on, and to cover our whole life with the power, and the obedience, and thewill, and the likeness of the Lord Jesus. The nobleman gave up his wholelife to be a believer in Christ; and from that day it was a believer inJesus who walked about the streets of Capernaum; not only a man who couldsay, "Once He helped me, " but, "I believe in Him with my whole life. " Letthat be so with us everywhere; let Christ be the one object of our trust. 

One thought more, --he believed with his whole house. That was triumphantfaith. He took up his position as a believer in Christ; and his wife, hischildren, his servants--he gathered them all together, and laid them at thefeet of Christ. And if you want power in your own house, if you want powerin your Bible-class, if you want power in your social circle, if you wantpower to influence the nation and if you want power to influence the Churchof Christ, see where it begins. Come into contact with Jesus in this restof faith that accepts His life fully, that trusts Him fully, and the powerwill come by faith to overcome the world; by faith to bless others; byfaith to live a life to the glory of God. Go thy way, thy soul liveth; forit is Jesus Christ who liveth within you. Go thy way; be not trembling andfearful, but _rest in the word and the power of the Son of God_. "Lo, I amwith you alway. " Go thy way, with the heart open to welcome Him, and theheart believing He has come in. Surely we have not prayed in vain. Christhas listened to the yearnings of our hearts and has entered in. Let usgo our way quietly, restfully, full of praise, and joy, and trust; everhearing the words of our Master, "Go thy way, thy soul liveth;" and eversaying, "I have trusted Christ to reveal His abundant life in my soul; byHis grace I will wait upon Him to fulfill His promise. " Amen. 

THE SOURCE OF POWER IN PRAYER. 

XII. 

_Romans 8: 26-27_. --_Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: forwe know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itselfmaketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And hethat searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, becausehe maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God_. 

Here we have the teaching of God regarding the help the Holy Spirit willgive us in prayer. The first half of this chapter is of much importance inconnection with the teaching of God's word regarding the Spirit. In Romansvi. We read about being dead to sin and alive to God, and in Romans vii. , about being dead to the law and married to Christ, and also about theimpotency of the unregenerate man to do God's will. This is only apreparation to show us how helpless we are; and then in the eighth chaptercomes the blessed work of the Spirit, expressed chiefly in the followingwords: "The Spirit hath made us free from the law of sin and death. " TheSpirit makes us free from the power of sin, and teaches and leads us sothat we walk after the Spirit. In our inner disposition we may becomespiritually minded, and enabled to mortify the deeds of the body. The HolySpirit helps our infirmities. Prayer is the most necessary thing in thespiritual life. Yet we do not know how to pray nor what to pray for as weought. The Spirit, Paul tells us, prays with groanings unutterable. Andagain he tells us that we ourselves often do not know what the Spirit isdoing within us, but there is one, God, who searches the hearts. Wordsoften reveal my thought and my wishes, but not what is deep in my heart, and God comes and searches my heart, and deep down, hidden, what I can notsee and what was to me an unutterable longing, God finds. 

Powerful prayer! The confession of ignorance! Ah, friends, I am oftenafraid for myself as a minister that I pray too easily. I have been prayingfor these forty or fifty years and it becomes, as far as man is concerned, an easy thing to pray. We all have been taught to pray, and when we arecalled upon we can pray, but it gets far too easy, and I am afraid we thinkwe are praying often when there is little real prayer. Now if we are tohave the praying of the Holy Ghost in us one thing is needed; we must beginby feeling, "I can not pray. " When a man breaks down and can not pray, andthere is a fire burning in his heart, and a burden resting upon him, thereis something drawing him to God. "I know not what to pray, "--oh, blessedignorance! We are not ignorant enough. Abraham went out not knowing whitherhe went; in that was an element of ignorance and also an element of faith. Jesus said to His disciples when they came with their prayer for the throne, "You know not what you ask. " Paul says, "No man knoweth the things of Godbut the Spirit of God. " You say, "If I am not to pray the old prayersI learned from my mother or from my professor in college or from myexperience yesterday and the day before, what am I to pray?" I answer, praynew prayers, rise higher into the riches of God. You must begin to feelyour ignorance. You know what we think of a student who goes to collegefancying he knows everything. He will not learn much. Sir Isaac Newtonsaid, "I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seemto have been only like a boy playing on the seashore and diverting myselfin now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell thanordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. "When I see a man who can not pray glibly and smoothly and readily, I saythat is a mark of the Holy Spirit. When he begins in his prayers to say, "Oh, God, I want more, I want to be led deeper in. I have prayed for theheathen, but I want to feel the burden of the heathen in a new way, " it isan indication of the presence of the Holy Spirit. I tell you, beloved, ifyou will take time and let God lay the burden of the heathen heavier uponyou until you begin to feel, "I have never prayed, " it will be the mostblessed thing in your life. And so with regard to the church: We want totake up our position as members of the church of Christ in this land; andas belonging to that great body, to say, "Lord God, is there nothing thatcan be done to bless the church of this land and to revive it and bring itout of its worldliness and out of its feebleness?" We may confer togetherand conclude faithlessly, "No, we do not know what is to be done; we haveno influence and power over all these ministers and their churches. " But onthe other hand, how blessed to come to God and say, "Lord, we know not whatto ask. Thou knowest what to grant. " The Holy Spirit could pray a hundredfold more in us if we were only conscious of our ignorance, because wewould then feel our dependence upon Him. May God teach us our ignorance inprayer and our impotence, and may God bring us to say, "Lord, we can notpray; we do not know what prayer is. " Of course some of us do know in ameasure what prayer is, many of us, and we thank God for what he has beento us in answer to prayer, but oh, it is only a little beginning comparedto what the Holy Spirit of God teaches. 

There is the first thought: our ignorance. "We know not what we should prayfor as we ought;" but "the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us withgroanings which cannot be uttered. " We often hear about the work of God theFather and the Son and the Holy Ghost in working out and completing thegreat redemption, and we know that when God worked in the creation of theworld, He was not weary, and yet we read that wonderful expression in thebook of Exodus about the Sabbath day, "God rested and was refreshed. " Hewas refreshed, the Sabbath day was a refreshment to Him. God had to workand Christ had to work, and now the Holy Spirit works, and His secretworking place, the place where all work must begin, is in the heart whereHe comes to teach a man how to pray. When a man begins to get an insightinto that which is needed and that which is promised and that which Godwaits to perform, he feels it to be beyond his conception; then is the timehe will be ready to say, "I can not limit the holy one of Israel by mythoughts; I give myself up in the faith that the Holy Spirit can be prayingfor me with groanings, with longings, that can not be expressed. " Applythat to your prayers. 

There are different phases of prayer. There is worship, when a man justbows down to adore the great God. We do not take time to worship. Weneed to worship in secret, just to get ourselves face to face with theeverlasting God, that He may overshadow us and cover us and fill us withHis love and His glory. It is the Holy Spirit that can work in us such ayearning that we will give up our pleasures and even part of our business, that we may the oftener meet our God. 

The next phase of prayer is fellowship. In prayer there is not only theworship of a king, but fellowship as of a child with God. Christians takefar too little time in fellowship. They think prayer is just coming withtheir petitions. If Christ is to make me what I am to be, I must tarry infellowship with God. If God is to let his love enter in and shine and burnthrough my heart, I must take time to be with Him. The smith puts his rodof iron into the fire. If he leaves it there but a short time it does notbecome red hot. He may take it out to do something with it and after a timeput it back again for a few minutes, but this time it does not become redhot. In the course of the day he may put the rod into the fire a greatmany times and leave it there two or three minutes each time, but it neverbecomes thoroughly heated. If he takes time and leaves the rod ten orfifteen minutes in the fire the whole iron will become red hot with theheat that is in the fire. So if we are to get the fire of God's holinessand love and power we must take more time with God in fellowship. That waswhat gave men like Abraham and Moses their strength. They were men who wereseparated to a fellowship with God, and the living God made them strong. Oh, if we did but realize what prayer can do!

Another, and a most important phase of prayer is intercession. What a workGod has set open for those who are His priests--intercessors! We find awonderful expression in the prophecy of Isaiah; God says, "Let him takehold of me;" and again, "There is none that stirreth up himself to takehold of thee. " In other passages God refers to the intercessors for Israel. Have you ever taken hold of God? Thank God, some of us have; but oh, friends, representatives of the church of Christ in the United States, if God were to show us how much there is of intense prayer for a revivalthrough the church, how much of sincere confession of the sins of thechurch, how much of pleading with God and giving Him no rest till He makeJerusalem a glory in the earth, I think we should all be ashamed. We needto give up our hearts to the Holy Spirit, that He may pray for us and in uswith groanings that can not be uttered. 

What am I to do if I am to have this Holy Spirit within me? The Spiritwants time and room in the heart; He wants the whole being. He wants allmy interest and influence going out for the honor and the glory of God; Hewants me to give myself up. Beloved friend, you do not know what you coulddo if you would give yourself up to intercession. It is a work that a sickone lying on a bed year by year may do in power. It is a work that a poorone who has hardly a penny to give to a missionary society can do day byday. It is a work that a young girl who is in her father's house and has tohelp in the housekeeping can do by the Holy Spirit. People often ask: Whatdoes the Church of our day do to reach the masses? They ask, though theyask it tremblingly, for they feel so helpless: What can we do against thematerialism and infidelity in places like London and Berlin and New Yorkand Paris? We have given it up as hopeless. Ah, if men and women could becalled out to band themselves together to take hold upon God! I am notspeaking of any prayer union or any prayer time statedly set apart, but ifthe Spirit could find men and women who would give up their lives to cry toGod, the Spirit would most surely come. It is not selfishness and it is notmere happiness that we seek when we talk about the peace and the rest andthe blessing Christ can give. God wants us, Christ wants us, because He hasto do a work; the work of Calvary is to be done in our hearts, we areto sacrifice our lives to pleading with God for men. Oh, let us yieldourselves day by day and ask God that it may please Him to let His HolySpirit work in us. 

Then comes the last thought, that God Himself comes to look withcomplacency upon the attitude of His child. Perhaps that poor man does notknow that he is praying; perhaps he is ashamed of his prayers. So muchthe better. Perhaps he feels burdened and restless, but God hears, Goddiscovers what is the mind of the Spirit, and will answer. Oh, think ofthis wonderful mystery, God the Father on the throne ready to grant untous His blessings according to the riches of His glory; Christ the almightyhigh priest pleading day and night. His whole person is one intercession, and there goes up from Him without ceasing the pleading to the Father, "Bless thy church, " and the answer comes from the Father to the Son, andfrom the Son down to the church, and if it does not reach us, it is becauseour hearts are closed. Let us open and enlarge our hearts and say to God, "Oh that I might be a priest, to enter God's presence continually and totake hold of God and to bring down a blessing to my perishing fellowmen!"God longs to find the intercession of Jesus reflected in the hearts of Hischildren, and where He finds it, it is a delight. And He that searcheth thehearts knoweth the mind of the Spirit, because he prayeth for the saints, according to the will of God. Some one has spoken of that word, "for thesaints, " as meaning the spirit of praise in the believer for the saintsthroughout the world. God's word continually comes to us to pray for allnot to be content with ourselves. Think upon the hundreds of church membersin this land, multitudes unconverted, multitudes just converted, butyet worldly and careless. Think of the thousands of nominalChristians--Christians in name, but robbing God! and can we be happy? Ifwe bear the burden of souls, can we have this peace and joy? God gives youpeace and joy with no other object than that you should be strong to bearthe burden of souls in the joy of Christ's salvation. 

We do not wish to say, "I am trying to be as holy as I can; what have I todo with those worldly people about me?" If there is a terrible disease inmy hand, my body can not say, "I have nothing to do with it. " When thepeople had sinned Ezra rent his garments and bowed in the dust and madeconfession. He repented on the part of the people. And Nehemiah, when thenation sinned, made confession, and cast himself before God, deploringtheir disobedience to the God of their fathers. Daniel did the very same. And think you that we as believers have not a great work to do? Suppose wewere each, persons without a single sin; just suppose it; could we thenmake confession? Look at Christ, without sin! He went down into the watersof baptism with sinners; He made Himself one with them. God has spoken tous to ask us if we realize what we are. He now asks us whether we belong tothe church of this land, whether we have borne the burden of sin aroundus. Let us go to God and may He by the Holy Spirit fill our hearts withunutterable sorrow at the state of the church, and may God give us grace tomourn before Him. And when we begin to confess the sins of the church, wewill begin to feel our own sins as never before. In five of the epistlesto the seven churches in Asia the keynote was "Repent;" there was to be noidea of overcoming and getting a blessing unless they repented. Let us onbehalf of the church of Christ repent, and God will give us courage to feelthat He will revive His work. 

THAT GOD MAY BE ALL IN ALL. 

XIII. 

_1 Corinthians 15: 24-28_. --"_Then cometh the end, when He shall havedelivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have putdown all rule, and all authority and power. For He must reign till He hathput all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed isdeath. For He hath put all things under His feet. But when He saith, Allthings are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted, which did putall things under Him. And when all things shall be subdued unto him, thenshall the Son also Himself be subject unto Him, that God may be all inall_. "

This will be the grand conclusion of the great drama of the world'shistory, and of Christ's redemption. There will come a day--the glory issuch we can form no conception of it, the mystery is so deep we can notrealize it, but there is a day coming, when the Son shall deliver up theKingdom that the Father gave Him, and that He won with His blood, and thatHe hath established and perfected from the throne of His glory. "He shalldeliver up the Kingdom unto the Father. " The Son Himself shall be subjectalso unto the Father, "that God may be all in all. " I cannot understandit--the ever blessed Son equal with God, from eternity, and througheternity; the ever blessed Son on the throne shall be subject unto theFather; and in some way utterly beyond our comprehension, it shall then bemade manifest, as never before, that God is all in all. It is this thatChrist has been working for; it is this that He is working for to-day inus; it is this that He thought it worth while to give His blood for; it isthis that His heart is longing for in each of us; this is the very essenceand glory of Christianity, "that God may be all in all. " And now, if thisis what fills the heart of Christ; if this expresses the one end of thework of Christ, then, if I want to have the spirit of Christ in me, themotto of my life must be: Everything made subject, and swallowed up in Him, "that God may be all in all. " What a triumph it would be if the Church werefighting really with that banner floating over her! What a life ours couldbe if that were really our banner! To serve God fully, wholly, only, tohave Him all in all! How it would ennoble, and enlarge, and stimulate ourwhole being! I am working, I am fighting, "that God may be all in all;"that the day of glory may be hastened. I am praying, and the Holy Spiritmakes His wrestling in me with unutterable longing, "that God may be allin all. " Would that we Christians realized in connection with what a grandcause we are working and praying; that we had some conception of whata Kingdom we are partakers of, and what a manifestation of God we arepreparing for. To illustrate what a grand thing it is to belong to theKingdom of God, and to the glorious Church of Christ on earth, John McNeilltells how when he was a boy twelve years of age, working on a railway lineand earning the grand wages of six shillings a week, he used to go home tohis mother and sisters, who thought no end of their little Johnnie, anddelight them by telling of the position he had. He would say with greatpride, "Oh, our company--it has so many thousands of pounds passingthrough its hands every year; it carries so many hundreds of thousands ofpassengers every year; and it has so many miles of railway, and so manyengines and carriages; and so many thousands in its employ!" And the motherand the sisters had great pride in him, because he was a partner in such animportant business. Christians, if we would only rouse ourselves to believethat we belong to the Kingdom that Christ is preparing to deliver up to theFather, that God may be all in all, how the glory would fill our hearts, and expel everything mean, and low, and earthly! How we should be bornealong in this blessed faith! I am living for this: that Christ may have theKingdom to deliver to the Father. I am living for this, and I will one daysee Him made subject to the Father, and then God all in all. I am livingfor Him, and I shall be there not only as a witness, but I will have a partin it all. The Kingdom delivered up, the Son made subject, and God all inall! I shall have a part in it, and in adoring worship share the glory andthe blessedness. 

Let us take this home to our hearts, that it may rule in our lives--thisone thought, this one faith, this one aim, this one joy: Christ lived, anddied, and reigns; I live and die and in His power I reign; only for thisone thing, "that God may be all in all. " Let it possess our whole heart, and life. How can we do this? It is a serious question, to which I wish togive you a few simple answers. And I say, first of all: Allow God to takeHis place in your heart and life. Luther often said to people, when theycame troubling him about difficulties, "Do let God be God. " Oh, give GodHis place. And what is that place? "That God may be all in all. " Let God beall in all every day, from morning to evening. God to rule and I to obey. Ah, the blessedness of saying, "God and I!" What a privilege that I havesuch a partner! God first, and then I! And yet there might be secretself-exaltation in associating God with myself. And I find in the Bible amore precious word still. It is, "God and not I. " It is not, "God first, and I second;" God is all, and I am nothing. Paul said, "I labored moreabundantly than they all; though I be nothing. " Let us try to give God Hisplace--begin in our closet, in our worship, in our prayer. The power ofprayer depends almost entirely upon our apprehension of who it is with whomI speak. It is of the greatest consequence, if we have but half an hour inwhich to pray, that we take time to get a sight of this great God, in Hispower, in His love, in His nearness, just waiting to bless us. This isof far more consequence than spending the whole half hour in pouring outnumberless petitions, and pleading numberless promises. The great thing isto feel that we are putting our supplications into the bosom of omnipotentLove. Before and above everything, let us take time ere we pray to realizethe glory and presence of God. Give God His place in every prayer. Isay, allow God to have His place. I can not give God His place upon thethrone--in a certain sense I can, and I ought to try. The great thing, however, is for me to feel that I can not realize what that place is, butGod will increasingly reveal Himself and the place He holds. How do I knowanything about the sun? Because the sun shines, and in its light I see whatthe sun is. The sun is its own evidence. No philosopher could have told meabout the sun if the sun did not shine. No power of meditation and thoughtcan grasp the presence of God. Be quiet, and trusting, and resting, and theeverlasting God will shine into your heart, and will reveal Himself. Andthen, just as naturally as I enjoy the light of the sun, and as naturallyas I look upon the pages of a book knowing that I can see the lettersbecause the light shines; just as naturally will God reveal Himself to thewaiting soul, and make His presence a reality. God will take His place asGod in the presence of His child, so that absolutely and actually thechief thing in the child's heart shall be: "God is here, God makes Himselfknown. " Beloved, is not this what you long for--that God shall take a placethat He has never had; and that God shall come to you in a nearness thatyou have never felt yet; and, above all, that God shall come to you in anabiding and unbroken fellowship? God is able to take His place before youall the day. I repeat what I have referred to before, because God hastaught me a lesson by it: As God made the light of the sun so soft, andsweet, and bright, and universal, and unceasing, that it never costs me aminute's trouble to enjoy it; even so, and far more real than the lightshining upon me, the nearness of my God can be revealed to me as my abidingportion. Let us all pray "that God may be all in all, " in our everydaylife. 

"That God may be all in all, " I must not only allow Him to take His place, but secondly, I must accept His will in everything. I must accept His willin every providence. Whether it be a Judas that betrays, or whether it bea Pilate in his indifference, who gives me up to the enemy; whatever thetrouble, or temptation, or vexation, or worry, that comes, I must see Godin it, and accept it as God's will to me. Trouble of any sort that comes tome is God's will for me. It is not God's will that men should do the wrong, but it is God's will that they should be in circumstances of trial. Thereis never a trial that comes to us but it is God's will for us, and if welearn to see God in it, then we bid it welcome. 

Suppose away in South Africa there is a woman whose husband has gone on along journey into the interior. He is to be away for months from all posts. The wife is anxious to receive news. In weeks she has had no letter ortidings from him. One day, as she stands in her door, there comes a great, savage Kafir. He is frightful in appearance, and carries his spears andshield. The woman is alarmed and rushes into the house and closes thedoor. He comes and knocks at the door, and she is in terror. She sends herservant, who comes back and says, "The man says he must see you. " Shegoes, all affrighted. He takes out an old newspaper. He has come a month'sjourney on foot from her husband, and inside the dirty newspaper is aletter from her husband, telling her of his welfare. How that wife delightsin that letter! She forgets the face that has terrified her. And now asweeks are passing away again, how she begins to long for that ugly Kafirmessenger! After long waiting he comes again, and this time she rushesout to meet him because he is the messenger that comes from her belovedhusband, and she knows that with all his repelling exterior, he isthe bearer of a message of love. Beloved, have you learned to look attribulation, and vexation, and disappointment, as the dark, savage-lookingmessenger with a spear in his hand, that comes straight from Jesus? Haveyou learned to say, "There is never a trouble, and never a hurt by whichmy heart is touched or even pierced, but it comes from Jesus, and bringsa message of love?" Will you not learn to say from to-day, "Welcome everytrial, for it comes from God?" If you want God to be all in all, you mustsee and meet God in every providence. Oh, learn to accept God's will ineverything! Come learn to say of every trial, without exception, "It is myFather who sent it. I accept it as His messenger, " and nothing in earth orhell can separate you from God. 

If God is to be all in all in your heart and life, I say not only, AllowHim to take His place, and accept all His will, but, thirdly, Trust in Hispower. Dear friends, it is "God who _worketh to will and to do_ accordingto His good pleasure. " It is "the God of peace, " according to anotherpassage, "who perfects you in every good thing to do His will, _workingin you_ what is well-pleasing in His sight. " You complain of weakness, offeebleness, of emptiness. Never mind; that is what you are made for--to bean emptied vessel, in which God can put His fullness and His strength. Do learn the lesson. I know it is not easy. Long after Paul had been anapostle, the Lord Jesus had to come in a very special way to teach him tosay, "I do gladly glory in my infirmities. " Paul was in danger of beingexalted, owing to the revelations from Heaven, and Jesus sent him a thornin the flesh--yes, Jesus sent it--a messenger of Satan--to buffet him. Paulprayed, and struggled, and wanted to get rid of it. And Jesus came to him, and said, "It is my doing that you may not be free from that. You need it. I will bless you wonderfully in it. " Paul's life was changed from thatmoment in this one respect, and he said, "I never knew it so before, from henceforth I glory in my infirmities; for when I am weak, then am Istrong. " Do you indeed desire God to be all in all? Learn to glory in yourweakness. Take time to say every day as you bow before God, "The almightypower of God that works in the sun, and the moon, and the stars, and theflowers, is working in me. It is as sure as that I live. The almighty powerof God is working in me. I only need to get down, and be quiet; I needto be more submissive, and surrendered to His will; I need to be moretrustful, and to allow God to do with me what He will. " Give God Hisway with you, and let God work, and He will work mightily. The deepestquietness has often been proved to be the inspiration for the highestaction. It has been seen in the experience of many of God's saints, and itis just the experience we need, --that in the quietness of surrender andfaith, God's working has been made manifest. 

Fourthly: If God is to be all in all, sacrifice everything for His kingdomand glory. "That God may be all in all. " This is such a noble, glorious, holy aim that Christ said, "For this I will give my life. For this I willgive my all, even to the death of the cross. For this I will give myself. "If it was worth that to Christ, is it worth less to you? If one had askedJesus of Nazareth, "What is it Thou hast a body for; what is to Thee thehighest use of the body?" He would have said, "The use and the glory of mybody is that I can give it a sacrifice to God. That is every thing. " Whatis the use of having a mind; and what is the use of having money; and whatis the use of having children? That I can give them to God; for God must beall in all in everything. I pray God that He may give us such a sight ofHis kingdom, and His glory, that everything else may disappear. Then, ifyou had ten thousand lives, you would say, "This is the beauty and theworth of life, 'that God may be all in all' to me, and that I may prove tomen that God is more than everything, that life is only worth living as itis given to God to fill. " Do let us sacrifice everything for His kingdomand glory. Begin to live day by day with the prayer, "My God, I am given upto Thee. Be Thou my all in all. " You say, "Am I able to realize that?" Yes, in this way: Let the Holy Spirit dwell in you; let the Holy Spirit burn inyou as a fire, and burn in you with unutterable groanings, crying untoGod, Himself to reveal His presence and His will in you. In the eighth ofRomans, Paul spoke about the groanings of the whole creation. And what isthe whole creation groaning for? For the redemption, the glorious libertyof the children of God. And I am persuaded that was what Paul meant when hespoke of the groanings of the Holy Spirit--the unutterable groaningsfor the coming time of glory when God should be all in all. Christians, sacrifice your time; sacrifice your interests; sacrifice your heart's bestpowers in praying, and desiring, and crying that "God may be all in all. "

And lastly: if God is to be all in all, wait continually on Him all theday. My first point had reference to giving God His place; but I want tobring this out more pointedly in conclusion. Wait continually on God allthe day. If you are to do that, you must live always in His presence. Thatis what we have been redeemed for. Do we not read in the Epistle to theHebrews, "Let us draw near within the veil, through the blood, where thehigh priest is?" The holy place in which we are to live in the heavens isthe immediate presence of God. The abiding presence of God is certainly theheritage of every child of God, as that the sun shines. The Father neverhides His face from His child. Sin hides it, and unbelief hides it, but theFather lets His love shine all the day on the face of His children. The sunis shining day and night. Your sun shall never go down. Begin to seek forthis. Come and live in the presence of God. There is indeed an abidingplace in His presence, in the secret of His pavilion, of which some one hassung very beautifully:

 With me, wheresoe'er I wander, That great Presence goes; That unutterable gladness, Undisturbed repose. 

 Everywhere, the blessed stillness Of that Holy Place; Stillness of the love that worships, Dumb before His face. 

This is the portion of those to whom the prayer is granted--"One thing haveI desired of the Lord, and that will I seek after; that I may dwell all mydays in the house of the Lord; to behold the beauty of the Lord, and toinquire in His temple. " "In the secret of His pavilion He hideth me. " GodHimself will take you up, and will keep you there, so that all your workshall be done in God. Beloved, wait continually upon God. You can not dothis unless you are in His presence. You must live in His presence. Thenthe blessed habit of waiting upon God will be learned. The real difficultyof getting to the point of real waiting upon God, is because mostChristians have not sought to realize the nearness of God, and to give Godthe first place. But let us strive after this, let us trust God to give itto us by His grace, let us wait on God all the day. "My eyes, " says one, "are ever towards Thee. " Wait upon God for guidance, and God, if you waitmuch upon Him, will lead you up into new power for His service, into newgladness in His fellowship. He will lead you out into a larger trust inHim; He will prepare you to expect new things from Him. Beloved, thereis no knowing what God will do for a man who is utterly given up to Him. Praise His name! Let each one of us say, "May my life be to live and die, to labor and to pray continually for this one thing: that in me, and aroundme, and in the church; that throughout the world '_God may be all inall_. '" A little seed is the beginning of a great tree. A mustard seedbecomes a tree in which the birds of the air can nestle. That great day ofwhich the text speaks, when Christ Himself shall be subject to the Father, and deliver up the Kingdom to the Father, and God shall be all in all--thatis the great tree of the Kingdom of God reaching its perfect consummationand glory. Oh, let us take the seed of that glory into our hearts, and letus bow in lowly surrender and submission, and say, "Amen, Lord; this be myone thought. This be my life--to speak and to work, to pray and to existonly that others may be brought to know Him too. This be my life--to yieldmyself to the unutterable yearnings of the Holy Spirit, that I may notrest, but ever keep my eye on that day--the day of glory, when in very deedGod shall be all in all. "

God help every one of us. God help us all to yield ourselves to Him, and toChrist, and to make it our every-day life; for His name's sake. Amen. 

THE END.