from death unto life'; or, in the Saviour's words, is 'born again'.
Whatever happens before or after, there must be that definite change
before any man can enter the Kingdom of God. Then, happily, many have
experienced another crisis which we speak of as 'getting a clean
heart'. This happens when an enlightened soul fully and absolutely
consecrates itself to God, and, by faith, claims and realizes that 'the
Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin'. A man may be a long
time, in coming to that point; but, sooner or later, he must reach and
pass it if he is to secure that 'holiness, without which no man shall
see the Lord'.
But whilst no amount of improvement in moral character can dispense
with the crises referred to, we cannot rightly magnify the definite
transactions at conversion or cleansing, or any other remarkable point
of religious life, to the detraction of spiritual growth. Each aspect
of the truth, as I have already said, is the counterpart of the other,
and must be viewed in its natural perspective.
People sometimes express themselves in exaggerated language as regards
both aspects of truth. A lady friend, referring to a young person of
beautiful disposition, said to me, 'Ah, you see, in her case there is
no need of conversion. She was born sanctified like her mother.' Quite
a false notion. But it is equally foolish for persons to exclaim, 'I
am converted, and a child of God; now I am all right'; or, 'Now I have
got a clean heart; it is all done'. As a matter of fact, there is no
more important principle to be cultivated than the law of progression
or advance in the Divine life. That principle is certainly in perfect
harmony with Scripture teaching, and is expressed in Peter's
exhortation, 'Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ'.
Paul's words about 'growing up unto Him in all things which is the head
even Christ', express the same thought; whilst John shows the ascending
grades of spiritual experience in directing his words to 'little
children', 'young men', and 'fathers'. These grades are not measured by
years, but by progress in spiritual life and vigour and personal
knowledge of God.
The Bible contains many figures illustrating this idea of growth or
progress, whether applied to character or service. For example, it
refers to the garden as a place where things grow, and thus illustrates
the garden of the soul; to the development of a building in course of
erection, 'all fitly framed together' and growing; to the growth of a
fortune by wise investment, in the use of talents, two becoming four,
five becoming ten, and so forth. The growth of the human body is also
referred to, with its limbs, muscles, and parts developing with the
head; and the growth of the student, as exemplified in the text, 'Add
to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge
temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and
to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity'.
Then the ideas associated with a garden or the field are also used as
illustrations. The Bible parables from nature are very significant and
powerful. They embrace the vine and its branches, the sower and the
seed, the lily among thorns, the trees planted by the rivers of water;
and thus the facts of the spiritual realm are made clear to us.
I often speak of _the garden of the soul_. If I widen the figure, and
apply it to our personal character and general make-up, we shall see
the similitude of a garden which is a place where all sorts of things
grow; things related to the body, and to the mind, and to life
generally.
The gardener studies his ground, and the possible products and
available seed. He seeks to get rid of the weeds and briers and
poisonous plants, in order that the desired products may grow to
perfection. So the ground of our hearts and characters must be purged
from the weeds and hindering things which grow with the affections and
disposition generally. Evil things flourish apace in the garden of
human nature; but if they are removed, sanctified seed may be sown, and
holy plants may be cultivated.
The Bible also speaks of God's saints as being in '_the garden of the
Lord_', as trees which His right hand planted, or growing from seed
which He has sown, blossoming as the rose, fragrant as the honeysuckle
and almond, and bringing forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory
of His name. But whether you look at your souls as a garden, from which
evil plants are to be removed, and in which the plants of God's grace
are to flourish instead, or regard yourselves as trees in God's garden,
the ideas are always connected with growth, enlargement, and
productiveness.
Isaiah gives an illustration which is in striking contrast. Speaking of
God's idea concerning His saints, he says, 'Thou shalt be like a
watered garden, and a spring whose waters fail not'; but he supplies
another picture of those 'who forsake the Lord' after having known Him,
God saying to them, 'Ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a
garden that hath no water'. Let us look well at ourselves, and find out
to which class we belong.
The religion of Jesus Christ is pre-eminently good because it marks
things of evil growth as things to be rooted out, and it produces
qualities in the soul and character which are Christ-like, such as
love, forgiveness of injuries, patience, devotion, and self-sacrifice
for the good of others. These are all things which grow, and must grow,
if we are to be as God wants us to be. Cleansing from evil things we
must definitely seek and secure; but growth in grace and peace and
Divine knowledge, and skill in service, must be sought and cultivated
by us continually.
It may help our understanding of this truth if we study carefully the
process in the growth of a good tree. If there is satisfactory
development, three things in the tree will be discovered; namely,
growth in the root, growth in the branches, and growth in the form of
flowers and fruit.
1. I said _growth in the root_. This means that the tree must strike
deep, deeper, and deeper still, so as to get an increasingly firm grip
on the earth below, from which it draws much of its support. Without
this the tree will fall of its own top-weight, or be uprooted by the
storms which will rage about it. So, in the individual soul and
character there must, below the surface, be a deepening and spreading
and gripping of the spiritual forces and principles and realizations,
those hidden connexions with the Divine Unseen without which one cannot
stand before the storms and scorching tests of life.
One of the sacred writers speaks of a section of God's people in
trouble, and in danger of being wiped out, but reveals God's purpose
for them in these words, 'They shall yet again take root downward, and
bear fruit upward'. It is not difficult to grasp the principle
illustrated; we must cultivate _a religion with roots_, otherwise our
experience will be superficial and shallow, and, like the seed in the
parable, with no depth of earth, and having little root, will
ultimately become dried up.
This really means growth in secret, growth out of sight, and reminds us
of the beautiful words of Jesus: 'When thou prayest, enter into thy
closet; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is
in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall Himself reward
thee openly'. There are many kinds of prayer, but here is one that
helps growth in the very roots of our religion. It fits in with the
Psalmist's word, 'He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty'.
2. I also spoke of _growth in the branches_. It is easy to understand
what the growth of trunk and branches means in a tree; it grows higher,
develops strength, and reaches out farther. It means the same when
applied to growth in grace and character; getting power to grow
stronger in resisting evil and standing for the right; stronger to say
'Yes' and 'No'; stronger to discharge our duty, and to endure hardness
as good soldiers of Christ. Equally it means reaching out, stretching
farther, and extending our efforts to reach and help and bless.
The banyan tree of the East affords us an apt illustration in this
connexion. Its stem shoots up, its branches dip, touch the earth, and
take root, repeating the process of extension until a great area is
covered, and crowds may shelter beneath it. In like manner the extent
of one's influence may at first be small, and the circle affected by
our power be limited; but if it is wisely used and cultivated, it will
stretch and grow, reaching farther and farther, and touching new people
with new power and blessing.
You know the old preacher's reproach to the people who sang, 'Oh, for a
thousand tongues!' and yet would not use the one they each possessed to
witness for their Lord. I knew a man who wanted to go to China as a
missionary, who would not testify for Christ in the neighbourhood where
he lived. That meant declension, not growth. Growth comes by using the
grace, stretching out and reaching forth; the power increases by reason
of use.
3. Finally, there is _growth in the form of flowers and fruit_. God
no more intended His creatures to be barren and unfruitful in religion,
than He intended plants to fail in bloom and fruit. How perfectly clear
Jesus makes this in His Parable of the Vine and the Branches! Of the
branch which abideth in the Vine He says that when purged it shall
experience a certain progression. Observe the order, 'bear fruit--more
fruit--much fruit', and 'fruit which shall remain'. Let us ask
ourselves to which of these stages we have attained, and go on
earnestly to a fuller fruitfulness.
If I had space to speak of the various kinds of Nature's growth, I
should point out how some fruit is for human food, such as apples,
oranges, grain, and vegetables. Some blossoms are for beauty and
fragrance, and in other cases flowers and fruit appear to be chiefly
for seed purposes; but with almost every plant and tree the best
feature is its reproductive power; that is, fruit is produced whose
seed is in itself, and so multiplies its own kind.
Is not that what God wants with us? Beauty and grace and gratification,
certainly, for we must adorn the doctrine; but your sanctified fruit
must have the seed in itself, which drops and takes root, and
reproduces itself in the world around you. Remember my last word,
'Herein is your Father glorified that ye bear much fruit'; fruit now
and fruit always; so that, like the trees planted by rivers of water,
you shall 'bring forth fruit even in old age'.
_Oh, help us, Lord, throughout our time
To test ourselves, by help divine,
To see what fruit we bear;
What promise are we making Thee,
As ripened souls we wish to be,
When harvest home draws near._
XVIII
The Inward Laws
'_I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write
them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more._' (Hebrews x.
16, 17.)
The beginnings of religion lie in the desire to have our sins forgiven,
and to be enabled to avoid doing the wrong things again. It was so with
David when, in the fifty-first Psalm, he not only cried, 'Have mercy
upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions', but 'Wash me, cleanse
me from my sin'.
Sin is a double evil. On the one hand, it creates a record of
wrongdoing which has to be faced; on the other, it creates a disease in
the moral system and spiritual make-up of a man. This disease creates
desires for the evil thing, and so warps and weakens a man's force of
resistance that when the temptation is presented, the inward craving
asserts itself, and makes the man _want_ to go into the temptation.
To deal with this complex character of sin is a greater problem than
human ingenuity and skill are equal to. God, however, has solved the
problem Himself, and His plan of Salvation is addressed to both aspects
of evil. It includes, first, the forgiveness of sins; and then the
introduction of a new governing force and the power to live according
to the will of God. Both these things are set out in the verses quoted,
although the order of statement is reversed.
Let me use two stories to illustrate the separate points. The one
relates to a little boy who, having done wrong in his home, had been
dealt with by his mother. Referring to it afterwards, the boy said,
'Yes, I knew mother had forgiven me for the wrong; but I saw in her
face, although she did not frown, that she remembered all day what I
did in the morning'. There are many, no doubt, who forgive in that
fashion; but it is not God's way. He says, 'Their sins and their
iniquities will I remember no more'. He forgets as well as forgives.
An illustration of the other point came out in the personal testimony
of an eminently religious man who, before his conversion, was addicted
to horse-racing. He said that after his conversion he did not go to the
race-meeting, but very much wanted to do so. Later, when the light came
to him, he got his heart and mind sanctified; and 'Then', said he, 'I
not only did not go, but I had no desires to be there; the Lord had
taken _the want to_ out of my heart'.
It is the knowledge of these two aspects of evil, and of the necessity
for having the double problem dealt with, which causes us to lay such
emphasis upon the 'clean heart' teaching. First, the forgiveness of the
sins; then cleansing from the evil desire, and getting the power to
live the holy life. This is the essence of our Holiness doctrine.
There are, as I have frequently pointed out, other things besides inner
experiences connected with true religion; for instance, we read in this
chapter of its outward tokens, such as witnessing for Christ, holding
fast the profession or confession of our faith without wavering. That
is very important. There is also the association with others who are of
the same mind; 'not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together'.
Combination and outward union seem to be within the Divine plan for
extending religion. Stirring one another up to duty is also emphasized,
'exhorting one another', 'provoking one another to love and good
works'; that is, helping each other in the things which make for the
godly life. All these must be in us and abound, if we are to justify
our religion.
But, after all, _the vital thing about religion is its inward springs
and connexions_; the outer life inspired and regulated by the laws of
God put into our hearts and written in our minds, reproducing
themselves in the activities and relations of daily life.
We would not undervalue the tables of stone, on which God with His own
finger wrote the Commandments, and delivered them to Moses. We would
ever prize the Blessed Bible, with its sacred records of the wonderful
revelations of the Divine mind and purposes concerning men; for, in
producing these, 'holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy
Ghost'. How much more highly, however, do we value the Spirit of God
writing upon the fleshly tables of the heart, bringing the heart and
mind, not only into the knowledge of God's will, but into harmony with
it, and planting and feeding the living principles which produce the
fruit of good living!
It is worth while to inquire what are the laws which God undertakes
to put into the hearts and minds of His willing children. In this
connexion we think of _the law of submission and obedience_. Religion
begins there. When seeking Salvation, either at the penitent-form or
elsewhere, we went down, submitted ourselves to God, so far as we knew
it, and declared that we would do what He wanted us to do.
We saw, felt, and accepted it as the settled thing for us that His will
should be the governing law; that must go on operating all along life's
way. Continuing to follow Him is as important as beginning to do
so--'If any man will deny himself, let him take up his cross, and
follow Me' That means continued submission to His government and
conditions of service.
In the days of Christ's ministry a large number of people gathered
around Him, but when they saw what was involved, 'they went back from
following Him'. We must see that the surrenders of the sanctified life
are not matters of a moment. There is a supreme moment when
consecration lays its all upon the altar, but every day brings its own
tests even to the most advanced among us. As in Abraham's experience,
the birds of temptation and beasts of prey seek to destroy or defile
the offering, and we have to hold on in our obedience, binding the
sacrifice with fresh cords to the altar.
Now, we must not miss the point of the Apostle's teaching, which is,
that when the law of God is stamped in the heart and mind, the spirit
of the law prevailing within us makes us desire to obey and serve, and
so we are empowered to sustain the claims of the consecrated life.
Then, there is _the law of faith_. It is spoken of in these verses. 'We
are to draw near in the full assurance of faith'; that is, with the
confidence that our approaches will not be in vain, because Christ has
opened the way by His own Blood; and we believe that the provisions are
at our disposal.
Now, faith is a law for the mind as well as for the heart. It is with
the heart that a man 'believeth unto righteousness'; but there must be
an intelligent perception of the facts and of the rightness of the
truth; there must be an apprehension of the reasonableness of God's
requirements before a man will happily submit, obey, and follow.
May I touch upon our own family sorrow in the death of a beloved son
and Officer in India? Before my heart could rest in the will of God as
exhibited in that bereavement, I had to reach the point of believing
that a Father's hand prepared that cup, and that His will is the best,
and His power and grace will make all things work together for good.
The heart cried out in its agonizing pain and sense of loss; but,
trusting in the Divine Love, rest and peace came to my bereaved soul.
And so, all along the consecrated way and line of service, it is when
the law of faith is written in the mind, and becomes a settled
perception or conviction, that the sanctified heart is able to find
rest. 'By grace are ye saved through faith', is true at the beginning;
but equally true is the word, 'Kept by the power of God through faith';
and the principle is that the law in the mind and heart constantly
operates as we tread the appointed path of life and service.
I cannot leave the subject without touching specially upon one among
other important laws which deserve our consideration; _the law of
love_. Paul was quite right when, comparing the various qualities of
Christian character he declared, 'The greatest of these is love'. 'Love
is the bond of perfectness.'
Even submission and sacrifice are acts of joy when it is a case of
love's surrender. The blessedness of service is great when love is the
inspiration of that service, and great is the enduring power of true
God-given love. The human will at best is weak; human supports are like
reeds which bend or break when most needed; intellectual capacity or
natural talents are valuable; but, after all, they only stand for so
much in one's life; but 'love never faileth'. I cannot sufficiently
commend to you this law of love in the heart; but, believe me, it
sweetens life's sorrow, lightens life's burdens, and strengthens our
powers of service and endurance.
How far does our experience harmonize with what has been said about the
nature and conditions of true religion? which is only another way of
presenting the blessing of Holiness. The new and living way of which
the Apostle speaks as opened through the Blood of Jesus, is the only
way to the cleansing fountain and the sanctifying grace. Let his words,
therefore, encourage you to 'enter with boldness', to 'draw near with a
true heart', a heart knowing its need, but believing the promises of
God, and He will meet you and make these inward laws of Holiness and
service your abiding experience.
XIX
Worry _versus_ Peace
'_Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication
with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the
peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts
and minds through Christ Jesus._' (Philippians iv. 6, 7.)
Before the full bearing and value of these verses can be realized, I
think they require to be read several times over. Even if the sentences
are read through slowly, just as they stand, a deep sense of blessing
and rest steals into the soul; but the more deeply they are considered,
the richer will the words be found. It would be almost correct for me
to call this a New Testament commentary on Isaiah's beautiful verse,
'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,
because he trusteth in Thee', for the ideas and their relation are very
similar.
If we look at the various phases of this message, we shall see that
they are very important. They imply, first, a perfect surrender or
committal of oneself to God, based on a perfect trust; second, open
access to God; freedom of intercourse; telling Him all about things
which try and burden and distress us. We have also perfect peace; that
is, quietness of spirit, rest of soul, deliverance from inward
conflict, consequent upon God's keeping power through Jesus Christ.
Read carefully this Apostolic message, and observe not only the
different sections, but how they are connected, and how, in their
completeness, they express a most desirable spiritual experience.
Included or connected with Full Salvation are certain blessings to
which we generally refer, such as perfect love and purity, also that
peace to which the Apostle here alludes, as well as a deep, settled
faith in the saving purposes and power of God. But we do not always see
that we may equally include deliverance from that undue anxiety which
we call worry; and yet these verses certainly prescribe a cure for
worry as well as other evils, and it may be helpful for us to look at
that aspect of truth.
Many are tempted to regard this as an ideal condition, something to
long for, and perhaps to aim at; whereas if the teaching of Paul
here--in fact, of the Bible generally--is not a delusion, this is
intended to be a realized experience; and I remind any who say that
Salvation from worry is too high for us, that they have said just the
same when we have talked about a clean heart, and Salvation from sin
and sinning.
A thoughtful author has recently written a book bearing the title of
'Worry, the Disease of the Age'. He takes trouble to show that, owing
to commercial competition, the increased desire for luxurious living,
keeping up appearances, and other developments of modern days, heads of
families and persons in responsible positions do a great deal of
worrying. This writer then goes on to say: 'It is, however, more than a
certainty that true religion is a cure for worry, a preventative of
worry, and is utterly incomparable in its performance of these
functions'. 'The religion which Jesus Christ taught in Galilee', says
the same writer, 'is a casting of one's care upon the Lord, an
acceptance of the ills and lashes of life with a settled faith that God
is too good and wise to err or to be unkind, and that He will make all
things work together for good to them that love Him'.
I know that a state of worry may arise from physical causes. Inflamed
nerves, mental depressions, or hysterical fears, are, in many
instances, quite beyond the control of the sufferer. With others there
is an intense desire to do something or get something done; but I also
know that, as with bad tempers, a good deal is put down to physical and
nervous disorders which ought to be put down to lack of spiritual life
and power.
Now, when I speak of Salvation from worry, I do not mean deliverance
from nervous agitation or shrinking from physical suffering, although I
do not know how to fix a point where God's gracious power is exhausted,
even as regards these things; but 'worry' is that carking care, that
undue anxiety about one's personal affairs which destroys peace of
mind, burdens the heart, and often leads to distrust of God's love and
power. From such things God's grace is sufficient to deliver.