O my God and Father! my soul doth bless Thee for this wondrous
revelation of what Thy way and Thy grace is with those whom Thou hast
called 'Holy in Christ.' Thou knowest, O Lord, how continually our
hearts have limited our acceptance with Thee by our attainments, and
conscious shortcoming has wrought condemnation. We knew too little how,
in the Holiness of Him who makes us holy, there is a Divinely infinite
efficacy to cover our iniquities, and give us the assurance of perfect
acceptance. Blessed Father! open our eyes to see, and our hearts to
understand this holy crown of our blessed Jesus, with its wondrous and
most blessed, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.
And when our hearts condemn us, because our prayers are so little
consciously according to the will or to the glory of God, or truly in
the name of Jesus, O most Holy Father, be pleased by Thy Spirit to show
us how bright the smile and how hearty the welcome is we still have with
Thee. Teach us to come in the Holiness of our High Priest, and enter
into Thine, until it take possession of us, and permeate our whole
being, and all that is in us be holy to the Lord. Amen.
1. Holiness is not something I can see or admire in myself: it
is covering myself, losing myself, in the Holiness of Jesus.
How wonderfully this is typified in Aaron and the holy crown.
And the more I see and have apprehended of the Holiness of
Jesus, the less shall I see or seek of holiness in myself.
2. He will make me holy: my tempers and dispositions will be
renewed; my heart and mind cleansed and sanctified; holiness
will be a new nature; and yet there will be all along the
consciousness, humbling and yet full of joy: it is not I;
Christ liveth in me.
3. Let us lie very low and tender before God, that the Holy
Spirit may reveal to us what it is to be holy in the Holiness
of Another, in the Holiness of Jesus, that is, in the Holiness
of God.
4. Do not trouble or weary too much to grasp this with the
intellect. Just believe it, and look in simplicity and trust to
Jesus to make it all right for you.
5. _Holy in Christ._ In childlike faith I take Christ's holiness
afresh as my covering before God. In loving obedience I take it
into my will and life. I trust and I follow Jesus: this is the
path of holiness.
6. If we gather up the lessons we have found in the Word from
Paradise downward, we see that the elements of holiness in us
are these, each corresponding to some special aspect of God's
holiness: deep Restfulness (ch. 3), humble Reverence (ch. 4),
entire Surrender (ch. 5), joyful Adoration (ch. 6), simple
Obedience (ch. 7). These all prepare for the Divine Indwelling
(ch. 8), and this again we have through the Abiding in Jesus
with the Crown of Holiness on His head.
Tenth Day.