hill-tops--Calvary and Olivet. Calvary--sin conquered through the blood
of Jesus, a matter of history. Olivet--sin conquered through the power
of Jesus, a matter of experience. When the subject is spoken of, we are
apt to say: "Yes, that is correct. I understand that." But _do_ we
understand it in our _experience_? So certainly as I must trust Jesus as
my Saviour so certainly must I constantly yield my life to the control
of the Spirit of Jesus if I am to find real the practical power of His
salvation.
As surely as men are now urged to accept Jesus as the great step in
life, so surely should they be instructed to yield themselves to the
Holy Spirit's control that Jesus' plan for their lives may be carried
through.
You remember in the olden time the Hebrew men were required to appear
before God in the appointed place three times during the year. At the
Passover, and at Pentecost, and again at the harvest home feast of
Tabernacles. So it is required of every man of us who would fit his
life into God's plan that he shall first of all come to the Passover
feast, where Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. And then that he
shall as certainly come to the great Pentecost feast, or feast of first
fruits where a glorified Passover Lamb breathes down His Spirit of power
into the life. And then he is sure to have a constant attendance at a
first-fruits feast all his days, with a great harvest home festival at
the end.
I said there were two central truths. Will you notice that the gospels
put it also in this way, that _Jesus came to do two things_--not one
thing, but _two_ things--in working out our salvation. That the first is
dependent for its practical power upon the second, and the second is the
completing or carrying into effect of the power of the first. That the
first--let me say it with great reverence--is valueless without the
second.
What _was_ Jesus' mission? Would you not expect His forerunner to
understand it? Listen, then, to his words. When questioned specifically
by the official deputation sent from the national leaders at Jerusalem,
he pointed to Jesus, and declared that He had come for a two-fold
purpose. Listen: "Behold the Lamb of God who beareth away the sin of the
world"; and then he added, and the word comes to us with the peculiar
emphasis of repetition by each of the four gospel scribes--"this is He
that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." That was spoken to them originally
without doubt in a national sense. It just as surely applies to every
one of us in a personal sense.
Mark also the emphasis of _Jesus' own teachings_ regarding this second
part of His mission. At the very beginning He spoke the decided words
about the necessity of being born of the Spirit. And we are all
impressed with that fact. But observe that several times, in the brief
gospel record, He refers the disciples to the overshadowing importance
of the _Spirit's control in the life_. And that He devotes a large part
of that last long confidential talk which John records, to this special
subject, pointing out the new experiences to come with the coming of the
Spirit, and holding out to them as the greatest evidence of His own love
_the promise of power_.
It adds intense emphasis to all this to note that Jesus Himself, very
Son of God, was in that wonderful human life of His utterly dependent
upon the Holy Spirit. At the very outset, before venturing upon a single
act or word of His appointed ministry, He waits at the Jordan waters,
until the promised anointing of power came. What a picture does that
prayerfully waiting Jesus present to powerless men to-day! From that
moment every bit and part of His life was under the control of that Holy
Spirit. Impelled into the wilderness for that fierce set-to with Satan,
coming back to Galilee within the power of the Spirit, He himself
clearly stated more than once, that it was through this anointing that
He preached, and taught, and healed, and cast out demons. The writer to
the Hebrews assures us that it was through the power of the Eternal
Spirit that He was enabled to go through the awful experiences of
Gethsemane and Calvary. And Luke adds that it was through the same
empowering Spirit that He gave commandment to the apostles for the
stupendous task of world-wide evangelization. And then at the very last
referring them to that life of His, He said: "As the father hath sent Me
even so send I you." Let me ask if He, very God of very God, yet in His
earthly life intensely human, needed that anointing, do not we? If He
waited for that experience before venturing upon any service, shall not
you and I?
But we must turn to the book of Acts to get fully within the grip of
this truth. For it, with the epistles fitting into it, is peculiarly the
_Holy Spirit book_, even as the Old Testament is the _Jehovah book_ and
the gospels with Revelation the _Jesus book_. The climax of the gospels
is in the Acts. What is promised in the gospels is _experienced_ in the
Acts.
Jesus is dominant in the gospels; the Spirit of Jesus in the Acts. He is
the only continuous personality from first to last. He is the common
denominator of the book. The first twelve chapters group about Peter,
the remaining sixteen about Paul, but distinctly above both they all
group about the Holy Spirit. He is the one dominant factor throughout.
The first fourth of the book is fairly aflame with His presence at the
center--Jerusalem. Thence out to Samaria, and through the Cornelius
door to the whole outer non-Jewish world; at Antioch the new center, and
thence through the uttermost parts of the Roman empire into its heart,
His is the presence recognized and obeyed. He is ceaselessly guiding,
empowering, inspiring, checking, controlling clear to the abrupt end.
His is the one mastering personality. And everywhere His presence is a
transforming presence. Nothing short of startling is the change in
Peter, in the attitude of the Jerusalem thousands, in the persecutor
Saul, in the spirit of these disciples, in the unprecedented and
unparalleled unselfishness shown. It is revolutionary. Ah! it was meant
to be so. This book is the living illustration of what Jesus meant by
His teaching regarding His successor. It becomes also an acted
illustration of what the personal christian life is meant to be.
The Spirit's presence and the necessity of His control is deep-grained
in the consciousness of the leaders in this book. Leaving the stirring
scenes at the capital the eighth chapter takes us down to Samaria.
Multitudes have been led to believe through the preaching of a man who
has been chosen to look after the business matters of the church. Peter
and John are sent down to aid the new movement. Note that their very
first concern is to spend time in prayer that this great company may
receive the Holy Spirit.
The next chapter shifts the scene to Damascus. A man unknown save for
this incident is sent as God's messenger to Saul. As he lays his hand
upon this chosen man and speaks the light-giving words he instinctively
adds, "and be filled with the Holy Spirit." That is not recorded as a
part of what he had been told to do. But plainly this humble man of God
believes that that is the essential element in Saul's preparation for
his great work.
In the tenth chapter the Holy Spirit's action with Cornelius completely
upsets the life-long, rock-rooted ideas of these intensely national, and
intensely exclusive Jews. Yet it is accepted as final.
With what quaint simplicity does the thirteenth chapter tell of the Holy
Spirit's initiation of those great missionary journeys of Paul from the
new center of world evangelization? "the Holy Spirit said, etc." And how
like it is the language of James in delivering the judgment of the first
church council:--"it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."
Paul's conviction is very plain from numerous references in those
wonderful heart-searching and heart-revealing letters of his. But one
instance in this Book of Acts will serve as a fair illustration of his
teaching and habit. It is in the nineteenth chapter. In his travels he
has come as far as to Ephesus, and finds there a small company of
earnest disciples. They are strangers to him. He longs to help them, but
must first find their need. At once he puts a question to them. A
question may be a great revealer. This one reveals his own conception
of what must be the pivotal experience of every true follower of Jesus.
He asks: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?"
But they had been poorly instructed, like many others since, and were
not clear just what he meant. They had received the baptism of John--a
baptism of repentance; but not the baptism of Jesus--a baptism of power.
And Paul at once gives himself up to instructing and then praying with
them until the promised gift is graciously bestowed. That is the last we
hear of those twelve persons. Some of them may have been women. Some may
have come to be leaders in that great Ephesian Church. But of that
nothing is said. The emphasis remains on the fact that in Paul's mind
because they were followers of the Lord Jesus they must have this
empowering experience of the Holy Spirit's infilling.
Plainly in this Book of Acts the pivot on which all else rests and turns
is the unhindered presence of the Holy Spirit.
Five Essentials.
If you will stop a while to think into it you will find that a rightly
rounded christian life has five essential characteristics. I mean
essential in the same sense as that light is an essential to the eye.
The eye's seeing depends wholly on light. If it does not see light, by
and by, it cannot see light. The ear that hears no sound loses the
power to hear sound. Light is essential to the healthful eye: sound to
the ear: air to the lungs: blood to the heart. Just as really are these
five things essential to a strong healthful christian life.
The _second_ of these is a heart-love for the old Book of God. Not
reading it as a duty--taking a chapter at night because you feel you
must. I do not mean that just now. But reading it because you _love_ to;
as you would a love letter or a letter from home. Thinking about it as
the writer of the one hundred and nineteenth psalm did. Listen to him
for a moment in that one psalm, talking about this book: "I delight," "I
will delight," "My delight"--in all nine times. "I love," "Oh! how I
love," "I do love," "Consider how I love," "I love exceedingly," again
nine times in all. "I have longed," "My eyes fail," "My soul breaketh,"
speaking of the intensity of his desire to get alone with the book.
"Sweeter than honey," "As great spoil," "As much as all riches," "Better
than thousands of gold," "Above gold, yea, above fine gold." And all
that packed into less than two leaves. Do you love this Book like that?
Would you like to? Wait a moment.
The _third_ essential is right habits of prayer. Living a veritable life
of prayer. Making prayer the chief part not alone of your life, but of
your service. Having answers to prayer as a constant experience. Being
like the young man in a conference in India, who said, "I used to pray
three times a day: Now I pray only once a day, and that is _all_ day."
Feet busy all the day, hands ceaselessly active, head full of matters of
business, but the heart never out of communication with Him. Has prayer
become to you like that? Would you have it so? Wait a moment.
The _fourth_ essential is a pure, earnest, unselfish life. Our lives are
the strongest part of us--or else the weakest. A man knows the least of
the influence of his own life. Life is not mere length of time but the
daily web of character we unconsciously weave. Our thoughts,
imaginations, purposes, motives, love, will, are the under threads: our
words, tone of voice, looks, acts, habits are the upper threads: and the
passing moment is the shuttle swiftly, ceaselessly, relentlessly,
weaving those threads into a web, and that web is life. It is woven, not
by our wishing, or willing, but irresistibly, unavoidably, woven by what
we _are_, moment by moment, hour after hour. What is your life weaving
out? Is it attractive because of the power in it of _His_ presence?
Would you have it so? Would you know the secret of a life marked by the
strange beauty of humility, and fragrant with the odor of _His_
presence? Wait just a moment.
The _fifth_ essential is a passion for winning others one by one to the
Lord Jesus. A passion, I say. I may use no weaker word than that. A
passion burning with the steady flame of anthracite. A passion for
_winning_: not driving, nor dragging, but drawing men. I am not talking
about preachers just now, as preachers, but about every one of us. Do
you know the peculiar delight there is in winning the fellow by your
side, the girl in your social circle, to Jesus Christ? No? Ah, you have
missed half your life! Would you have such an intense passion as that,
thrilling your heart, and inspiring your life, and know how to do it
skillfully and tactfully?
Let me tell you with my heart that the secret not only of this, but of
all four of these essentials I have named lies in the first one which I
have not yet named, and grows out of it. Given the first the others will
follow as day follows the rising sun.
What is the first great essential? It is this--the unrestrained,
unhindered, controlling presence in the heart of the Holy Spirit. It is
allowing Jesus' other Self, the Holy Spirit, to take full possession and
maintain a loving but absolute monopoly of all your powers.
Tarry.
My friend, have you received this promised power? Is there a growing up
of those four things within you by His grace? Does the Holy Spirit have
freeness of sway in you? Are you conscious of the fullness of His love
and power--conscious enough to know how much there is beyond of which
you are not conscious? Does your heart say, "No." Well, things may be
moving smoothly in that church of which you are pastor, and in that
school over which you preside. Business may be in a satisfactory
condition. Your standing in society may be quite pleasing. Your plans
working out well. The family may be growing up around you as you had
hoped. But let me say to you very kindly but very plainly _your life
thus far is a failure_. You have been succeeding splendidly it may be in
a great many important matters, but they are _the details_ and in the
main issue you have failed utterly.
And to you to-night I bring one message--the Master's Olivet
message--"_tarry ye_." No need of tarrying, as with these disciples, for
_God_ to do something. His part has been done, and splendidly done. And
He waits now upon you. But tarry until you are willing to put out of
your life what displeases Him, no matter what that may mean to you.
Tarry until your eyesight is corrected; until your will is surrendered.
Tarry that you may start the habit of tarrying, for those two Olivet
words, "Go" and "tarry," will become the even-balancing law of your new
life. A constant going to do His will; a continual tarrying to find out
His will. Tarry to get your ears cleared and quieted so you can learn to
recognize that low voice of His. Tarry earnestly, steadily until that
touch of power comes to change, and cleanse, and quiet, and to give you
a totally new conception of what power is. Then you can understand the
experience of the one who wrote:--
"My hands were filled with many things
That I did precious hold,
As any treasure of a king's--
Silver, or gems, or gold.
The Master came and _touched_ my hands,
(The scars were in His own)
And at His feet my treasures sweet
Fell shattered, one by one.
'I must have empty hands,' said He,
'Wherewith to work My works through thee.'
"My hands were stained with marks of toil,
Defiled with dust of earth;
And I my work did ofttimes soil,
And render little worth.
The Master came and _touched_ my hands,
(And crimson were His own)
But when, amazed, on mine I gazed,
Lo! every stain was gone.
'I must have cleansed hands,' said He,
'Wherewith to work My works through thee.'
"My hands were growing feverish
And cumbered with much care!
Trembling with haste and eagerness,
Nor folded oft in prayer.
The Master came and _touched_ my hands,
(With healing in His own)
And calm and still to do His will
They grew--the fever gone.
'I must have quiet hands,' said He,
'Wherewith to work My works for Me.'
"My hands were strong in fancied strength,
But not in power divine,
And bold to take up tasks at length,
That were not His but mine.
The Master came and _touched_ my hands,
(And might was in His own!)
But mine since then have powerless been,
_Save His are laid thereon_.
'And it is only thus,' said He,
'That I can work My works through thee.'"
FOOTNOTES:
[3] Gal., 5:22.
THE CHANNEL OF POWER.
A Word that Sticks and Stings.
I suppose everyone here can think of three or four persons whom he loves
or regards highly, who are not christians. Can you? Perhaps in your own
home circle, or in the circle of your close friends. They may be nice
people, cultured, lovable, delightful companions, fond of music and good
books, and all that; but this is true of them, that they do not trust
and confess Jesus as a personal Savior. Can you think of such persons in
your own circle? I am going to wait a few moments in silence while you
recall them to mind, if you will--Can you see their faces? Are their
names clear to your minds?
Now I want to talk with you a little while to-night, not about the whole
world, but just about these three or four dear friends of yours. I am
going to suppose them lovely people in personal contact, cultured, and
kindly, and intelligent, and of good habits even though all that may not
be true of all of them. And, I want to ask you a question--God's
question--about them. You remember God put His hand upon Cain's arm,
and, looking into his face, said: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" I want
to ask you that question. Where are these four friends? Not where are
they socially, nor financially, nor educationally. These are important
questions. But they are less important than this other question: Where
are they as touching _Him_? Where are they as regards the best life
here, and the longer life beyond this one?
And I shall not ask you what you think about it. For I am not concerned
just now with what you think. Nor shall I tell you what I think. For I
am not here to tell you what I think, but to bring a message from the
Master as plainly and kindly as I can. So I shall ask you to notice what
this old book of God says about these friends of yours. It is full of
statements regarding them. I can take time for only a few.
Turn, for instance, to the last chapter of Mark's Gospel, and the
sixteenth verse, and you will find these words: "He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be--." You know
the last word of that sentence. It is an ugly word. I dislike intensely
to think it, much less repeat it. It is one of those blunt, sharp,
Anglo-Saxon words that stick and sting. I wish I had a tenderer tone of
voice, in which to repeat it, and then only in a low whisper--it is so
awful--"_damned_."
Let me ask you very gently: Does the first part of that sentence--"he
that believeth--trusteth--not," does that describe the four friends you
are thinking of now? And please remember that that word "believeth"
does not mean the assent of the mind to a form of creed: never that: but
the assent of the heart to a person: always that. "Yes," you say "I'm
afraid it does: that is just the one thing. He is thoughtful and
gentlemanly; she is kind and good; but they do not trust Jesus Christ
personally." Then let me add, very kindly, but very plainly, if the
first part is an accurate description of your friends, the second part
is meant to apply to them, too, would you not say? And that is an awful
thing to say.
What a strange book this Bible is! It makes such radical statements, and
uses such unpleasant words that grate on the nerves, and startle the
ear. No man would have dared of himself to write such statements.
I remember one time visiting a friend in Boston, engaged in christian
work there; an earnest man. We were talking one day about this very
thing and I recall saying: "Do you really believe that what the Bible
says about these people can be true? Because if it is you and I should
be tremendously stirred up over it." And I recall distinctly his reply,
after a moment's pause, "Well, their condition certainly will be
unfortunate." _Unfortunate!_ That is the Bostonese of it. That is a much
less disagreeable word. It has a smoother finish--a sort of polish--to
it. It does not jar on your feelings so. But this book uses a very
different word from that, a word that must grate harshly upon every ear
here.
I know very well that some persons have associated that ugly word with a
scene something like this: They have imagined a man standing with fist
clenched, and eyes flashing fire, and the lines of his face knotted up
hard, as he says in a harsh voice, "He that believeth not shall be
damned," as though he found pleasure in saying it. If there is _one_
person here to-night who ever had such a conception, will you kindly cut
it out of your imagination at once? For it is untrue. And put in its
place the true setting of the word.
Have you ever noticed what a difference the manner, and expression of
face, and tone of voice, yes, and the character of a person make in the
impression his words leave upon your mind? Now mark: It is Jesus talking
here. _Jesus_--the tenderest-hearted, the most mother-hearted man this
world ever listened to. Look at Him, standing there on that hilltop,
looking out toward the great world He has just died for, with the tears
coming into His eyes, and His lips quivering with the awfulness of what
He was saying--"he that believeth not shall be damned," as though it
just broke his heart to say it. And it did break His heart that it might
not be true of us. For He died literally of a broken heart, the walls of
that great, throbbing muscle burst asunder by the strain of soul. That
is the true setting of that terrific statement.
Please notice it does not say that God damns men. You will find that
nowhere within the pages of this book. But it is love talking; love that
sees the end of the road and speaks of it. And true love tells the truth
at all risks when it must be told. And Jesus because of His dying and
undying love seeks to make men acquainted with the fact which _He_ sees
so plainly, and _they_ do not.
Now turn for a moment to a second statement. You will find it in
Galatians, third chapter, tenth verse. Paul is quoting from the book of
Deuteronomy these words: "Cursed"--there is another ugly word--"cursed
is everyone who continueth not in all the words of the book of this law
to do them." Let me ask: Does that describe your friends? Well, I guess
it describes us all, does it not? Who is there here that has continued
in all the words of the book of this law to do them? If there is some
one I think perhaps you would better withdraw, for I have no message for
you to-night. The sole difference between some of us, and these friends
you have in your mind is that _we_ are depending upon Another who bore
the curse for us. But these friends decline to come into personal touch
with Him. Do they not? And this honest spoken book of God tells us
plainly of that word "cursed" which has been written, and remains
written, over their faces and lives.
The Bible is full of such statements. There is no need of multiplying
them. And I am sure I have no heart in repeating any more of them. But
I bring you these two for a purpose. This purpose: of asking you one
question--whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Some one is at fault.
There is blame somewhere. This thing is all wrong. It is no part of
God's plan, and when things go wrong, some one is to blame. Now I ask
you: _Who_ is to blame?
A Mother-Heart.
Well, there are just four persons, or groups of persons concerned. There
is God; and Satan; and these friends we are talking about; and,
ourselves, who are not a bit better in ourselves than they--not a
bit--but who are trusting some One else to see us through. Somewhere
within the lines of those four we must find the blame of this awful
state of affairs. Well, we can say very promptly that Satan is to blame.
He is at the bottom of it all. And that certainly is true, though it is
not all of the truth. Then it can be added, and added in a softer voice
because the thing is so serious, and these friends are dear to us, that
these people themselves are to blame. And that is true, too. Because
they _choose_ to remain out of touch with Him who died that it might not
be so. For there is no sin charged where there is no choice made. Sin
follows choice. Only where one has known the wrong and has chosen it is
there sin charged.