is a very general term. I will touch upon two or three things in which
it shows itself. Going where Jesus could not go with you; to do that is
like playing with pitch, or with fire. Keeping company with the wrong
people: some of you lose there; treating Meetings and prayer lightly;
resenting little unkindnesses and persecution; carelessness of speech;
gossiping, frivolity, forgetting that whilst the Holy Ghost is a Spirit
of Joy, He is grieved by lightness and frivolous jesting. These are
some of the little holes through which the blessing drops out. You must
watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.
Then, _holding back from testimony_ is a snare into which some of you
have fallen. Listen to me! Some of you have tried to testify, and your
very backwardness and fear have been holes in your bag through which
the blessing has been lost.
May I once more refer to myself. When, during a long course of years, I
have been bold and outspoken about my possession of the blessing of
Full Salvation and my relations to God, sureness and confidence have
filled my heart; but when I have been tempted to modify and hedge and
hesitate in the terms of my testimony, I have had reason to say, 'Is it
so? Where am I?' Apply what I am saying to your own experience, and
judge ye what I say.
_Failure to walk in the light_ has been the cause of many professors of
Holiness losing their blessing. The path of Holiness brings many
surprises and tests. Demands not previously thought of come upon one;
duties not expected are presented; sacrifices are required: Do this, do
that. Let that go. Follow here, go there. I doubt whether any single
day passes which does not bring its test of our consecration. If you
follow the light, you will be safe; but if you refuse it, you will go
under. Disobedience and a spirit of unwillingness knock holes in the
bag. It has been so with some of you, and loss has been the result.
I want to add a word about _personal prayer_ in this connexion, for I
believe many owe their loss to a neglect of that essential. The lack of
prayer shows over-confidence in oneself, and accounts for many falls.
'Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and
watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.' This is
indeed a necessary condition of keeping the blessing.
My closing question Is a very straight one. Have you got the blessing
of a clean heart now? If you have had it and lost it, seek it once
more. Make haste to the altar; renew your consecration again, claiming
the blessing, and the Lord will restore you.
XV
Fighting Holiness
'_Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life._' (1 Timothy
vi. 12.)
My object, in announcing 'Fighting Holiness' as my subject, is to make
it quite clear that a Full Salvation does not mean a hot-house
emotionalism or glass-case sanctity, but a vigorous, daring, aggressive
religion, on the lines of the Saviour's words, 'The Kingdom of Heaven
suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force'.
If this text, 'Fight the good fight of faith', means anything at all,
it means you must struggle for the thing you believe in. If you do not
fight for it, the inference is either that you have little love for and
confidence in your cause, or that you are indolent and unfaithful to
that cause.
You say you believe in the rightness of God's claims upon the hearts
and lives of men; you believe in the humiliation and passion of Christ
to redeem men; you believe in the necessity for and possibility of
rescuing human souls from the curse of evil and the eternal penalty of
sin; but, believe me, your faith is vain if you do not stand for, and
labour and fight to enforce, God's claims to proclaim Christ's
redeeming grace, and to deliver men from going down to the pit.
The aspects of personal Holiness set out in terms such as 'perfect
peace' and the 'rest of faith' are frequently before us, and I do not
desire to reduce their value, for it is a blessed truth that 'we which
have believed do enter into rest'. If by the 'rest of faith' is meant
that calm confidence in the power and grace of God by which the
believing and obedient soul is kept in perfect peace, then, all right;
that, however, is very different from the only-believe-and-do-nothing
policy of some people who adopt the phrase. Let there be no mistake
about the fact that every consecrated man must take his place in God's
fighting line.
The story of Mary of Bethany, 'who sat at the Lord's feet, and heard
His word', also appeals to me; but the emphasis is not quite as some
people put it. What Christ commended in Mary was not that she sat at
His feet whilst Martha did all the hard work, but that she had 'chosen
the good part--the one thing needful', which her anxious sister seems
to have overlooked.
There is rest for the struggling soul who finds in Jesus a real
deliverer. There is rest for the soul tossed about on waves of doubt
and fear, who, anchoring in the haven of the Saviour's love, finds
peace in believing. For the faithful but tired servant of Christ who
'works whilst it is called day', for the warrior also who has faced the
enemy and braved the danger, there is rest; but the rest comes after
the working and fighting is over.
I like the words 'fight' and 'fighting', because _they involve taking a
side_, and devoting oneself to secure victory for the side one belongs
to. I heard some one remark the other day, 'God wants fighting saints
as well as kissing saints'; truly the phrase is not without its lesson
for us. This is the very opposite to the attitude known as 'sitting on
the fence', or that wretched fear which seems to possess some professed
followers of Jesus Christ, who, outside a church or religious Meeting,
are afraid to declare themselves for Him.' I am for Jesus Christ, and I
want everybody to know it'; that is the line of the true Soldier.
Oh, how the spirit of compromise curses and hinders the work of God! I
think the man who invented the phrase 'out-and-out consecration' was a
benefactor to the cause, seeing it is such a contradiction of the
half-and-half spirit which characterizes so much religious profession
and service.
When reading the history of the American Civil War, I found instances
of strange fraternizing on the part of the soldiers of contending
armies. Sometimes the soldiers of the North would be on one side of a
river when the Southern troops were on the other side. With the evening
came suspension of hostilities, and under cover of darkness men of one
army would cross over to the enemy's camp to smoke and talk with men
who during the day had sought their destruction. That may have seemed
very fine, from a certain point of view, but is regrettable in
religious warfare. When the Soldiers of Jesus cross over to the Devil's
forces for their pleasure and refreshment, it indicates little devotion
to their King or enthusiasm for His cause.
Why should we be friends with the enemies of our Lord? If we have
sincerely chosen His side, let all compromise cease, and each of us
declare and stand for Him at all costs.
Then this idea of Fighting Holiness implies that _the sanctified
Soldier of Christ is an aggressor in the struggle for his Lord's
supremacy_. He cannot be content with following the line of the least
resistance; he is rather in the spirit of the words already quoted,
'The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by
force'.
The business of attack in Spiritual Soldier-ship is quite as important
as the protection of your own soul or defence of your position. It may
involve doing violence to your own feelings, and oft-times to the
feelings of others, but you cannot be faithful to your profession
unless willing to attack the Devil's strongholds, and fight evil in its
own entrenchments.
I was much interested a few days ago in the story of a man connected
with a Corps where there has been a marvellous religious awakening. The
man got truly saved, and became a Salvation Soldier. A month later he
was convinced of his need of a clean heart, his chief conviction being
that he ought to become 'a fisher of men'. He went to the mercy-seat,
made his consecration, claimed the blessing and power, and began
fishing for souls. That was a little over a year ago; recently the
results of that man's personal fishing were ascertained, and it was
seen that since his consecration he had personally induced over 300
persons to go to the mercy-seat for Salvation. That is an illustration
of the aggressive spirit included in Fighting Holiness.
We each find our own particular difficulties with which we should
grapple, and the enemies whom we ought to attack; but, speaking
generally, I point to the evil influences which are around us, cursing
the people, the victims, alas! being multiplied by those who fatten on
the woes and vices and even ruin of their fellows. These influences
must be resisted, the fiends of Hell in human form must be grappled
with, and 'the prey be taken from the mighty'. People must be aroused
from their indifference and selfishness; the cold-blooded carelessness
and worldliness of formal religionists must be assailed as well as help
rendered to those who are ready to perish. Our fighting programme must
include all this, if we are to be consistent professors of holy
consecration to God and His Kingdom.
Then, further, I recognize that _personal spiritual conflicts are
included in Fighting Holiness_. That is to say, our battles and
victories relate not only to resistance of the Devil and the rescue of
his captives, but in the varying phases of personal experiences we have
to fight this good fight of faith.
Spiritual conflicts often have much mystery connected with them. If the
fact had not been recorded, that Christ was tempted in all points like
as we are, and learned obedience in the things which He suffered, we
should wonder whether some of our struggles of faith were not the
result of personal sin. We know, however, that there may be much
temptation without either contracting the guilt or stain of sin.
It is true that spiritual conflicts are all the more dangerous for
those who have not yet found deliverance from their own unsanctified
passions and tendencies. A heart in which such things as pride and evil
desire, lust, worldly ambition, and ill-tempers remain, is like a
citadel in which traitors lurk to respond to the call of outward
enemies. But when the heart is sanctified, and we are equipped with the
armour of which Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the attacks of the enemy
can be continually resisted.
I cannot cover the area of spiritual conflict. As varied as our
characters are our temptations, and with all the changes in
circumstances and physical or mental condition come enticements to
evil. We have never taught that Holiness of heart means freedom from
temptation. In one form or another temptation will come to the holiest
of us, and the fight of faith has to be sustained even up to the very
gates of Heaven.
The fully consecrated soul has not only to resist the temptations to
positive sin, but must manifest its victory in the patient endurance of
physical ills and the trials of life; and that apostolic note of
triumph is also a word of guidance, 'This is the victory which
overcometh ... even your faith'.
Human nature, even with the best of us, is a marvellous combination. We
have nerves which sometimes vibrate like the wires of a highly-strung
harp. Mental clouds at times seem to shut the sun out of the conditions
of life, and dark shadows stretch across or along the pathway. Some of
us have dispositions which, whilst capable of exquisite pleasure, also
expose us to the most acute pain and disappointment. Then comes the
temptation to charge against our spiritual condition weaknesses which
are purely physical. To resist such temptations is indeed the fight of
faith.
Physical depression comes upon some people until, for the time being,
life is a burden and death would be a relief. Measured by their bodily
and mental sensations, their experience is sometimes like a stretch of
arid desert, and in such hours the enemy assails the mind with
difficulties and suggestions to doubt, which can only be conquered by
steady confidence in the love and wisdom and prevailing grace of the
living God. That is the good fight of faith.
I hope that what I have said will not discourage any soul. Remember, if
we are fully given up to God, and seeking to realize His will for us,
we are not fighting a losing battle; 'He that is with us is greater
than they that be against us'. The provision of Divine Grace is such
that, in spite of enemies and dangers, our life can be one of victory;
we can be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. The victor's
palm and the overcomer's crown will more than compensate for the
self-denial and loss of things which the world counts gain.
Many of you know the story of a certain Indian conqueror who, in his
onward march, came to a temple containing a specially sacred idol. This
he was proceeding to destroy, when the priests and others pleaded with
him, and offered a large sum of money if he would only spare that idol;
but, refusing the bribe, the conqueror demolished the image, and found
within it the treasures of the temple, which for safety had been hidden
there. There are many things which we may lose by fighting our battles
faithfully, but the heavenly treasure will more than make up for it
all.
'Be thou faithful unto death' is a strong exhortation; but that which
makes it a positive inspiration to loving and enduring service and
fighting is the added sentence, 'I will give thee a crown of life'.
XVI
Sanctified Commonplaces
'_In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness
unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls
before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be
holiness unto the Lord of hosts._' (Zechariah xiv. 20, 21.)
What I have to say may not strike some of you as setting forth any very
high or exalted truth, but I am satisfied as to its being a very
important matter. I want to talk to you about the sanctification of the
commonplace things in life.
However desirable it may seem, you cannot always be sitting at the
Master's feet in that contemplative, ecstatic mood sometimes attributed
to Mary. Like Martha, we have to do a good deal of serving. Whether we
are _encumbered_ by 'much serving' is a separate question; but if we
are to fulfil the Divine tasks we have to do a great deal of serving as
well as praying and trusting. I may quote, with slight alteration, two
lines of a poem:--
_Who sleeps and dreams that life is beauty,
Will wake to find that life is duty_.
How true that is in practical life many of us know full well.
The most attractive manifestation of God's power is seen in the fact
that He stoops to touch men at the points of their daily need. It is
that aspect of the grace of God--the meeting your need in the daily
battle of life--which makes it so supremely precious. In the same way,
when we, who profess to be followers and imitators of our Heavenly
Father, and to regulate our conduct by the principles of holy living,
bring these principles to bear upon the ordinary relationships of life,
we are most accepted in our witness for Jesus Christ, and exert the
best, the most effective influence upon others.
These are the thoughts that have been in my mind, and which have led me
to the subject upon which I wish to speak: the sanctification of the
commonplace things. My thoughts arise from reading this passage in the
Book of Zechariah: 'In that day shall there be upon the bells of the
horses, _Holiness unto the Lord_; and the pots in the Lord's house
shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem
and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts'.
Now, when we look at these things, these pots and pans and horses and
bridles and things of that sort, having to do with our daily toil, our
cooking and eating, our work at home and in the streets, and compare
them with the glories of the Temple, the golden candlesticks, the
golden vessels, the High Priest's wonderful garments, his breastplate,
and, not least, with the Ark of the Covenant, we feel they are very
commonplace things. And yet, you see, according to this statement the
same stamp of holiness is to be put upon them all. Even the most
commonplace of them comes within the scope of this Divine sanctity, and
there is to be in relation to each of them this sacredness, this
sanctification: 'Holiness unto the Lord', is the stamp for all alike.
As an illustration of how _Jesus did great things by the use of the
commonplace_, look at that narrative of the marriage in Cana of
Galilee. We should probably never have heard of this marriage but for
our Lord's miracle; and yet, apart from His Divine power, the process
of turning the water into wine and transforming the character of the
entire feast, that event was, indeed, a very common one.
Look, first of all, at these clay pots--common enough--jars and jugs,
standing in a corner, or perhaps standing out on the veranda, near
where the Saviour was sitting. These pots are easily broken, and no
great value is attached to them. If Christ had intended to do this
great thing you would have imagined that He would have called for the
best vessels in the house; but He did nothing of the kind. He took the
very meanest vessel of the whole household, and He consecrated and
sanctified it to His Divine use.
Look at the water--that is common enough. Wine is costly, but water is
cheap; it is thrown about, slopped about, and the pails containing it
are often upset because easily filled again. Ordinarily speaking, water
is one of the commonest of the commonplace necessaries of life. And yet
that water was sanctified for a display of the Divine power.
Then there are the servants--never a scarcity in the East, where often
there are three to do one man's work. Christ did not call the master of
the house to stand near and observe Him, or say, 'Ye highly-placed
guests, come and see'. He left the head people, as we should say, and
took the common servants. 'Fill up the jars; draw it out; carry it to
the governor; pass it round', was His simple command. And the water was
turned into wine. Some one has poetically said, 'The modest water saw
its Lord, and blushed'; but it was more than that, for His was the best
wine of the feast.
Christ, you see, sanctified commonplace things and persons to display
His benevolence and power. Make some practical use of them in regard to
your own lives.
It is hardly needful for me to point out that life is very largely made
up of commonplaces--commonplace engagements, commonplace relationships,
and commonplace duties. There are some who are a little better off than
others, but even such people have common things to do before they get
through the routine of life. With some of us it is altogether
so--commonplace in the home, commonplace in the situation, commonplace
in the workshop, commonplace in the office, commonplace in what we do
for our living, and commonplace in the persons with whom we are
associated. Nothing great or dignified about it. It is indeed a case of
'the trivial round, the common task'.
But, whether you are a business man or a road-sweeper, you can live the
sanctified life.
Some of you may be heads of houses or domestic servants, horse-drivers
or laundry-workers, factory hands or the owners of factories; but
whatever you are, as followers of Jesus Christ, God wants you to put
this label upon each and every section of your life--'Holiness unto the
Lord'. He wants you also to conduct yourselves in every way consistent
with that thought. The pots and the pans, and the bridles of the
horses, and whatever we may have to do, must be labelled with that.
'Commissioner, can a man have a clean heart and drive a cab?' a man
recently asked me. 'Of course, he can,' I replied, 'and if you come
with me I will show you how to do it'.
Why, the way in which we use these things is to be a part of our
consecrated service to God. It does not sound very lofty, but that is
just where the highest exhibition of Holiness can be given to the
world. It is not what you do--that may seem very important or may be
very trivial; but it is the manner of doing it and the motive behind it
which is the main thing.
You have all heard the story of the servant-girl who had got the
blessing, and who, when asked how she knew she had it, said that she
knew it because she 'now swept under the mats'. What a very simple
thing, and yet the blessing of Holiness just shows itself in that.
Sweeping round the mat and in the middle of the room only is not
'Holiness'. The girl was quite right; she knew that the sanctifying
Grace of God had made a change in her, because she wanted to clean
where dirt would not have been seen even if left there.
How beautiful the lines of George Herbert, where, after speaking of
doing things 'for Christ's sake', he says:--
_A servant with this clause
Makes drudgery divine;
Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws
Makes that and the action fine._
The fact that you do your work in the spirit of your religion
sanctifies your lives. It transforms them from secular to sacred. Your
work and your worship spring from the same motive, and those who see
this treat you and your work with respect. The Scripture puts it
beautifully in speaking of the Apostles, 'The people took knowledge of
them that they had been with Jesus'.
Observe carefully how Zechariah combines the great and the commonplace.
He says not only that the pots in the Lord's house shall be as sacred
as the bowls before the altar, but that every pot and pan in the city
shall be sanctified. The great point to be learned is that the Holiness
of the home is to be as the Holiness of the Temple. The dedication
which makes the bowls before the altar holy is also to sanctify the
pots of the household, and the bells and trappings of the horses; the
label which was written upon the priest's forehead, 'Holiness unto the
Lord', is to be stamped upon the common things, in the street, in the
shop, in the house--in fact, upon everything.
Get rid for ever of the idea that the affairs of human life are divided
into things secular and things sacred; that business is separate from
religion, and religion separate from business; that the consecration of
certain hours to Meetings, to Bible-reading, or to religious work, is a
different sort of thing from the devotion of other hours to labour, or
eating, or physical necessities. Now, such a division may exist with
some, but it cannot be allowed to exist in the lives of those who
profess to have consecrated themselves to God.
In that case there is only _one label for everything_. For the meanest
act, the commonest duty, the personal and private habits, there is only
one motive, 'Holiness unto the Lord'. God's will, God's honour, God's
service--these are on the labels. And--
_The trivial round, the common task,
Will furnish all we ought to ask,
Room to deny ourselves--a road
To bring us daily nearer God._
Some have not got there yet. They have not made a dedication such as
Zechariah spoke of, one which governs the whole life, the big and the
little, the work and the worship, their associations and pleasures and
methods of business. There are things in their daily work and personal
habits, little indulgences or selfishnesses, to which that label,
'Holiness unto the Lord', cannot be attached.
Oh, I beseech you, make no distinctions. Let there be no reserves.
Body, soul, spirit, as we sometimes sing, lay upon the altar.
Consecrate yourselves to your Lord in simplicity and sincerity, with a
simple faith that God will baptize you, and give you His Holy Spirit to
maintain this consecration.
_What e'er pursuits my time employ,
One thought shall fill my soul with joy;
That silent, secret thought shall be
That all my hopes are fixed on Thee._
XVII
Spiritual Growth
'_Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose waters
fail not._' (Isaiah lviii. 11.)
'_Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ._' (2 Peter iii. 18.)
The truths of the Bible exist in counterpart, having at least two
aspects, each of which must be considered in relation to the other, if
their full meaning is to be understood. That is a very necessary
statement in regard to the aspect of truth which we emphasize under the
general heading of 'Spiritual Growth', or 'Growth in the Divine Life'.
On the one hand, we know that spiritual experience is marked by certain
crises which are in some cases like earthquakes or tidal waves; whilst,
on the other hand, the law of progression must be in constant
operation.