One? Who is this who dares class Himself with the supreme God within
the limits of a common pronoun, that challenges the love and trust and
obedience of man, that poses as King? The meekest and humblest of men.
The One who, above all others of the human family, seemed to have least
to disturb or darken the incidence of the rays of truth upon His soul;
who has cast a light on all the dark problems of human life, and could
not possibly have been deceived in respect to His own nature. His
conceptions of the holiness, greatness, and purity of God have stood
out in unrivalled magnificence from all others whatsoever; yet it is He
who couples in one small word His humanity with Deity, His meekness
with the Infinite Majesty, His personality with God's. Is not this
proof enough that He was conscious of His Divine nature? Is not the
fact of His not counting it robbery to be equal with God evidence that
He was God? What can they make of this _We_, who hold that He was only
a good man and a great teacher? Good men are humble men, great
teachers know best their own limitations!
It is in, and with, and through the Son, and by the Spirit, that the
Father comes to indwell.
(2) _It is the Immanence of the Son. To be loved by Him were
much!_--"I will love Him." His love is of the rarest quality. Most
free of the soil of selfishness, of any human love. True and tender,
strong and sweet, inexorable in its demands upon Himself, inexhaustible
in its outflow toward the objects of His affectionate regard. Such
love as He gave to John, who grew like Him beneath the magic power of
that environment; as He gave to Mary, who perhaps most deeply
understood Him; as He gave to Peter, winning him back from his
waywardness--brings with it a heaven of bliss, for which a man may well
be prepared to count all things but loss. But there is a bliss beyond
all this. The Lover of men would indwell them.
_It were much that He should seek our love._--"He that loveth Me." We
might have supposed that He would have been satisfied with the vastness
of His dominion, and the myriad bright spirits that wait on His word!
But no, the thirst for love cannot be satisfied with gold, or bright
angelic servants. As Isaac could not find a companion among those who
tended the cattle that browsed over the wolds of Canaan, or the troops
of slaves that gathered round his father's tents, but Eliezer must
bring a bride from across the desert; so the Son of God must needs come
as a suitor to our world to find His Bride, who can share His inner
thoughts and purposes. Here is a marvel indeed. As the village
becomes famous which provides the emperor's bride, so earth, though it
be least among her sister-spheres, shall have the proud preëminence of
having furnished from her population the Spouse of the Lamb. But,
great as this marvel is, it is followed by the greater, that the
Immortal Lover is willing to tenant the poor hearts, whose love at the
best is so faint and cold.
_It were much that He should give us manifestations of His love._--"I
will manifest Myself unto him." Have you not sometimes taken up a
daisy, and looked into its little upturned eye, and thought and thought
again, till through the gate of the flower you have passed into an
infinite world of life, beauty, and mystery? There are moments when
even a flower is transfigured before us, and manifests itself to us as
a thought of God, a ray of His glory, the frail product of His infinite
mind, the wick around which trembles the fire of the Shekinah! Have
you not sometimes stood alone amid mountains, glaciers, wooded valleys,
and rushing streamlets, till nature has dropped her veil, and revealed
herself in a phase of beauty and a depth of meaning which struck you as
altogether unique and singular? So there are moments in the life of
the believer, when Christ, who is ever with us, manifests Himself as He
does not to the world. There is borne in upon the spirit a
consciousness that He is near; there is a waft of His breath, a savor
of His fragrant dress, fresh from the ivory palaces.
All this is much: but how much more to be told that this glorious
Christ, the Fellow of Jehovah, who with the Father and the Spirit is
God; the Organ of creation; the Mouthpiece of the Godhead; the Mediator
of Redemption; the Monarch of all worlds; the Supreme Teacher, Guide,
and Saviour of men--is prepared to repeat the experiences of Bethlehem,
and make His abode in man! "_We_ will come unto Him, and make our
abode with Him."
(3) _Learn to revere the work of God in the souls of others._--"For thy
meat," said the apostle, "destroy not the soul for whom Christ died."
He might have added, "and in whom Christ lives." Weak and erring,
trying and vexatious, that fellow-believer may be, yet there is a
chamber in his nature in which God has already taken up His abode. The
conflict between the light and darkness, the Christ-spirit and the
self-spirit, may be long and arduous, but the issue is certain. Help,
but do not hinder the process. Be reverent, careful, mindful of the
presence of God.
_Be hopeful for thyself._--When an art-student asked Mr. Ruskin whether
he would ever be able to paint like Turner, the great critic replied,
"It is more likely that you will become Emperor of all the Russias!"
But God never daunts a soul with such discouragement. He first sets
before it a great ideal--the faith of Abraham, the meekness of Moses,
the prayer of an Elijah, the love of a John--and then, as the source of
all perfection, enters the soul, to be in it all that He has taught it
to desire.
_Count on the indwelling of His power._--The merchant of to-day has
facilities granted to no previous age. The cablegram, telegram, and
telephone put him in communication with the markets of the world: steam
and electricity are his willing slaves in manufacture: machinery with
its unwearying iron fingers toils for him. A single human brain, which
knows how to avail itself of these resources, can multiply its
conceptions indefinitely. How vast the space between the untutored
savage, doing everything with his hands, and the merchant prince, who
has but to press the ivory-plated pushes fixed upon the walls of his
room! But not less is the difference between the work we can
accomplish by our natural resources, and that which we achieve when we
recognize that what is impossible to us is possible to Him who has come
in to abide. I cannot; but God is within me, and He can.
II. THE CONDITIONS OF THE DIVINE IMMANENCE.--(1) Love to Christ.--"He
that loveth Me shall. . . ." We would love Him, but how? Do not think
of your love, but of His. "Love is of God." Open the shutters of your
being toward the love of God; we love because He first loves. Love is
the reflection from us of what we have first received from God.
Love is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the
Spirit is Love. Seek the in-filling and in-working of the Spirit; be
careful to obey His promptings to love; avoid grieving Him by
bitterness, wrath, or evil speaking; sit as His willing pupil in the
school of love; cast on Him the responsibility of securing in your
nature obedience to the primal law which is fulfilled in the one word,
"Thou shalt love."
Beneath the nurturing grace of the Spirit, we shall be led to meditate
much on the love of Jesus to us, especially as manifested in the death
of the cross; and as we muse, the fire will burn, love will glow, and
afford the condition of soul which is infinitely attractive to the
Divine Lover, who requires our love, and produces the love which He
requires.
(2) Obedience to Christ.--Where there is true love, there will be
obedience. This rather than emotion. Many a sincere soul who
questions its love, because its emotions are low or fluctuating, would
rather die than disobey the least jot or tittle of His commandments.
Such a one loves. "He that hath My commandments" (treasured in memory
and heart), "he it is that loveth Me." Why do ye call Him, Lord, Lord,
and do not the things that He says? There may be the luscious language
of the lip, but it does not deceive Him. He looks under the leaves for
fruit.
Disobedience robs the soul of the sweet sense of Christ's indwelling.
Nothing can compensate for failure to obey. Whatever the
protestations, there is no real love to Christ where His commands are
knowingly disregarded and set at nought. But each time we dare to step
out in simple obedience to His will, it seems as though the inner light
shines deeper down into the hidden places of our being, and the
residence of Christ extends to new chambers of the heart.
XIII
Christ's Legacy and Gift of Peace
"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it
be afraid."--JOHN xiv. 27.
It seems a little anomalous to talk of peace at a time when the
war-clouds are being swiftly blown up from the horizon, the sea
roaring, and men's hearts failing them for fear: and yet, in the
deepest aspects, this is of all times the most suitable. It is when
the storm rattles on the window-panes that the family draws closer
round the fire, and the mother clasps her babe to her breast.
The word Peace is the Eastern salutation and benediction. When one
stranger encounters another, as they meet and part, they wish each
other peace. It was befitting, therefore, that at Christ's entrance
into our world, the first salutation to men, as conveyed by the angels,
should be, "Peace on earth"; and that His parting words should be,
"Peace be unto you." But with what a wealth of meaning does the Lord
invest familiar words when they issue from His lips! Let us draw nigh,
and allow His sweet and soothing consolations to have their full effect.
I. LET US DISTINGUISH BETWEEN "PEACE" AND "MY PEACE."--"Peace I leave
with you, My peace I give unto you." There is a distinction between
these two. The former refers to the result of His work for us on the
cross: "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ"; the latter refers to _His_ indwelling, who is our
Peace. The one He has bequeathed as a legacy to all men: the testator
died, and left in His will a perfect reconciliation between God and
man, which is for all who are willing to avail themselves of it; the
other is a _gift_, which must be appropriated and used, or it will be
ineffectual.
_The order of these two varieties of peace is invariable._--We must
have peace _with_ God before we can enjoy the peace _of_ God. We must
receive the atonement, with all its blessed comfort, before we can
enter upon our heritage in Christ Jesus. A believer, whose feet were
dipping in the chill waters of the river, said to me recently, when
speaking of her enjoyment of some of the deeper aspects of Christian
experience, "I am afraid I have been building from the top. I see now,
as I come near eternity, that one's foundations must be strong and sure
before one can build on them. I need now more than ever the blood of
Christ." This, perhaps, is one of the perils of the present day. The
Church is arraying herself in her beautiful garments. The gold pieces
of Christian thought and life are becoming current coin, taken from the
coffers, where they have too long lain, and distributed broadcast.
Treatises and tractlets on the innermost aspects of the blessed life
are plentiful as flowers in May. There is a danger, therefore, of
young converts and others occupying themselves with such themes, and
not paying sufficient attention to the Divine order.
Christ dying _for_ us on the cross must precede Christ living _in_ us
by His Spirit; justification with its evidences must be well
apprehended before sanctification with its fruits; the peace _with_ God
must shed its benediction over the soul before it can enter upon the
peace _of_ God. Ah soul! thou hast experienced the former; dost thou
know the latter? Dost thou know what it is for Christ to enter into
the closed doors of the inner chamber of the heart, and say, "Peace be
unto thee"? what it is to hear His voice speaking above the tumult of
the inland lake of thy soul, and making a great calm? what it is for
Him to deal with the springs of the inner life, which lie deeper than
emotion or fancy, and pour in His infinite serenity, so that the
outflow may be pellucid and tranquil?
Christ lays stress on _His_ peace. He must mean the very peace that
filled His own heart; not something like it, but the same, always
keeping the heart with the affections, and the mind with its thoughts.
This being so, we infer--
_That His peace is consistent with a perfect knowledge of coming
sorrow._--He knew all things that awaited Him (John xviii. 4): the
treachery of Judas, the denial by Peter, the forsaking by all, the
shame and spitting, the cross and grave; and yet He spoke serenely of
His peace. It is therefore consistent with the certain outlook toward
darkness and the shadow of death. You may know from certain symptoms
that cancer has struck its fangs into your flesh, and that paralysis
has begun to creep along your spine, that your dearest is barked by the
Woodsman for felling, that your means of subsistence will inevitably
dry up; but, facing all these, as Jesus faced the cross, you may still
be conscious of a peace that passeth understanding.
_That it is consistent with energetic action._--Men are disposed to
think that peace is one of the last fruits of the tree of life, which
drops into the hand of the aged. A man says to himself, I shall have
to relinquish this active life, to settle in some quiet country home in
the midst of nature, and then perhaps I shall know what peace means. A
snug home and a competence, the culture of flowers, the slow march of
the seasons, tender home-love, far away from the hustling throng of the
world--these are the conditions of peace. Not so, says Christ: "Arise,
let us go hence." Let us leave this quiet harbor, and launch out into
the stormy deep. Let us leave this still chamber, around the windows
of which the vines cling, and go forth into the garden where the cedars
fight with the tempest, and amidst it all we shall find it possible to
enjoy the peace that passeth knowledge. Let men and women immersed in
the throng of daily toil, young men, busy men, understand that Christ's
peace is for those who hear the bugle note of duty summoning them to
arise, and go hence.
_That the chief evidence of this peace is in the leisureliness of the
heart._--Christ's possession of peace was very evident through all the
stormy scenes that followed. With perfect composure He could heal the
ear of Malchus, and stay the impetuosity of Peter; could reason quietly
with the slave that smote Him, and bid the daughters of Jerusalem not
to weep; could open paradise to the dying thief, and the door of John's
home to the reception of His mother. Few things betray the presence of
His peace more than the absence of irritability, fretfulness, and
feverish haste, which expend the tissues of life.
Oh that you may now receive from Christ this blessed gift! Let the
peace of Christ rule in your heart; it is your high privilege, be not
backward in availing yourself of it. It will be as oil to the
machinery of life.
II. THE SOURCES OF CHRIST'S PEACE.--(1) _The vision of the
Father._--"If ye loved Me, ye would rejoice because I said, I go unto
the Father."
Throughout these closing chapters He seems able to speak of nothing
else. His mind ranges from the disciples whom He was leaving to the
Father to whom He was going. Almost unconsciously He gives us a
glimpse of His self-repression in staying so long away from His
Father's manifested presence, when He says that if we loved Him we
would be glad to lose His bodily presence because He had gone to be
with the Father. He gives us to understand how real and near the
Father was to Him, and how He longed to be again in His bosom! He was
so occupied with this thought, that He reckoned little of what lay
between. Hail! ye stormy waters of death, stormy winds, and boisterous
waves, ye do but waft my soul nearer its haven in the Father's love!
It is the thought of the Father that gives peace, because it robs life
of its terrors and death of its sting. Why fear what life may bring
when the Father has arranged each successive step of its pathway! Why
dread Judas or Caiaphas, Herod or Pilate since the Father lies between
the soul and them as a rampart of rock! Why lose heart amid the
perplexities and discouragements, whose dark shadows lie heavily on the
hills, when in the green pastures of the valley the Father's love tends
the sheep! Ask Christ to reveal the Father to you. Live in His
everlasting love, and learn what He can be amid the storm and tumult as
a very present help.
(2) _Disentanglement from the world._--"The prince of this world
cometh, and hath nothing in Me." He came first at the beginning of the
Saviour's life, with temptations to his ambitions; he came again at its
close, with temptations to that natural shrinking from pain which is
characteristic of a highly organized nature. "Back, Son of Man! Thou
canst not bear the cross and spear, the nail and thorn! Thy tender
flesh will ill sustain Thee when the sorrows of death and the pains of
hell get hold upon Thee!" So Satan came; but there was no response in
the heart of Christ, no answering voice from the depths of His soul, no
traitor within to join hands with the tempter without. There was no
square inch of territory in all Christ's nature which the devil could
claim, or from which he could operate.
This is a clue to Christ's peace, which we do well to follow till it
lead us out into the open. As long as we are entangled with this
world, peace evades us, just as sleep, which comes easily to the
laboring man who has nothing beyond his daily wage, vanishes from the
pillow of the merchant, who on stormy nights thinks uneasily of the
vessels which carry his wealth far out at sea. We must stand clear of
the ambitions of the world, of the fear or favor of man, of the
avaricious craving for wealth, or the fear of poverty. We must put the
cross of Christ between us and the world, which was judged at Calvary.
We must be able to say truly that our treasure is in heaven and our
heart also, and that we seek the things where Christ sitteth at the
right hand of God. Then the stock-market may fluctuate, riches go or
come, men praise or hate, nought will affect our peace, any more than
the tumults of a continental city, in which we are spending a night in
transit, can cause us serious disturbance.
(3) _Supreme love._--"I love the Father." I have so often noticed how
a supreme love in a young girl's life seems to calm and quiet her,
because it draws the whole of her nature in one strong flow toward the
man of her choice. Before that, there was a waywardness, a
vacillation, a nervous excitement, which passed away as soon as love
dawned upon her soul. So long as the heart is subject to every
influence, it quivers and wavers as the magnet needle when swept by
streams of electricity. A strong uniting love does for us what the
strong attraction of the pole does for the needle. Christ loved the
Father. There was no difficulty in bearing what He sent, or doing what
He bade. There were no rival claimants, no questionings or debate
within the palace of His heart. Every passion and emotion of His human
nature was quieted and stilled in the set of His whole being toward the
Father. If you too would have peace, you must love; you must love
supremely Him who alone is worthy, who can never disappoint or fail.
And in proportion as you love God, you will find pleasure in all
beautiful things, in all lovely persons, in all the fair gifts of
nature and life. Oh, love the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within
me, love His holy name!
(4) _A supreme source of authority._--"As the Father gave Me
commandment, even so I do." Every soul must have a supreme source of
authority in its life, if it is to have peace. Its own whim, the
suggestion of passion, the vagrant impulse of the moment, are
inconsistent with tranquillity. There must be for each of us one voice
which is imperative, one command which is indisputable, one authority
which admits of no gainsaying. If you will search your heart you will
see that this is so. Compare the restlessness of the Book of Judges
with the tranquillity of the reign of Solomon, and you will have an apt
illustration of your own experience before consecration put Christ on
His throne, and afterward. When the true Melchizedek established his
reign within you, at once your heart became Salem, the city of peace.
When you put the government upon His shoulder, He set up His reign
within you as the Prince of Peace. Happy for you, if to the increase
of His government there is no end; for of the increase of your peace
there will be no end either.
Combine these four--the sense of God's presence and providence in the
details of life; detachment from the world; a supreme love to God; the
recognition in everything that you are His slave--and you will comply
with the conditions of participating in the peace of Christ which He
offers. Some persons have a marvellous faculty of imparting their own
tranquillity in an accident, a storm, an illness; their aspect, tones,
manner, are like the repose of a summer's evening after a sultry day:
so shall Christ be to you, and you to others.
III. CHRIST'S GIVING CONTRASTED WITH THE WORLD'S.--"Not as the world
giveth, give I unto you."
The world wishes peace, but lightly speaks the word; frequently wishing
it when there is least warrant for it; wishing it without doing
anything to produce it; wishing it whilst glorying over a wrong,
healing slightly a wound, covering with the turf the crater of a
volcano. Christ, on the other hand, lays the foundations of peace in
suitable conditions of a holy and healthy life.
With the world, peace is a passing emotion; with Christ, a settled
principle of action--the perfect balance and equilibrium of the soul,
out of which comes all that is fair, strong, wholesome.
The world's peace consists in the absence of untoward circumstances;
Christ's is altogether independent of circumstances, and consists in
the state of the heart. It matters nothing to Him that in the world we
have tribulation. He bids us be of good cheer, because in Him we shall
have peace. The wildest conjunction of outward things cannot break the
perfect peace which nestles to His heart, as Noah's dove to the hand
which plucked it in from the weltering waters.
"Let not your heart be troubled," the Master says again. You may be
troubled on every side, but be not troubled. Do not let the trouble
come inside. Watch carefully against its intrusion, as you would
against that of any other form of temptation. Let My peace, like a
sentinel, keep you; and as you look forward to the unknown future, out
of which spectral figures emerge, do not be afraid. There is a part
for you to do, as well as for Me. I can give you My peace, but you
must avoid any and everything that will militate against its possession
and growth.
XIV
The Story of the Vine
"I am the true Vine, and My Father is the Husbandman."--JOHN xv. I.
We have now a story to tell which, in the eye of heaven, will make our
world forever memorable and wonderful among her sister spheres. It is
the story of the Vine, and how it was the Divine purpose our earth
should be its fruitful soil, and our race intimately associated with
its growth and history.
"I am the _true_ Vine," said our Lord. Not improbably, as He was
passing forth with His disciples into the moonlit air, He perceived a
vine clustering around the window or door; and with an eye ever awake
to each touch of natural beauty, and a heart always alert for spiritual
lessons, He turned to them and said, What that vine is in the world of
nature I am in relation to all true and faithful souls. I am the
_true_ Vine--true, not as opposed to false, but true in the sense of
real, substantial, and enduring. The essential, as distinguished from
the circumstantial; the eternal, as distinct from the temporary and
transient.