'Freed' and 'Possessed'--The Twofold Result of
Redemption.
(_From an address by Pastor Stockmaiev._)
'Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto Himself _a people for His own possession_, zealous of good
works.'
'In the redemption work of our Saviour Jesus Christ, there are two
definite parts. You will never find the secret of abiding in Christ, so
long as you cannot see these two definite distinct parts. The first is
"Jesus for me," the other "I for Jesus." Blessed be our Saviour that He
came for sinners. _He for us._ Blessed be the Lord that there is
redemption from penalty; but that is not yet all that redemption means.
You must have a clear apprehension of the second part of redemption, by
that same Holy Ghost who is the guide to introduce us into the full
possession of all that Christ, living and dying, has wrought out for us.
He gave Himself that He might redeem us from all iniquity--not that we
might have the pleasure of being pleased with our own purity or
holiness, or such things; but that He might have us altogether for
Himself, to purify _unto Himself_, for Himself, not for Himself and
themselves, but _unto Himself_, a people of His own possession.
'What is now redemption?--freedom from self, even spiritual self. We are
not to be our own centre, the centre of our joy, our progress, having in
our poor weak hands the threads of our spiritual life. There is no real
spiritual life but Christ's life, and He must have the care of it
altogether from the beginning to the end. Lift up your eyes, dear
brethren, you who were creeping on the ground. We are made for the glory
of God, to be possessed by Jesus. The Lord God found a way, in giving
His Son, the Lamb of God, His Lamb, to get such selfish people, who even
in the line of the Christian life found means to seek and to nourish
self, to get such people into His own real practical possession, to be
possessed by Jesus. That is redemption, and that only; that is liberty,
and that is reality; that is what satisfies, not to be satisfied with
any experiences of your own, but to let go your experiences, and to say,
I am free, so free as the people of Israel were coming out of Egypt,
free to serve God. "Let my people go, that they may serve me." You are
free, free through the blood of Christ, free through the power of the
Holy Ghost--no flesh, no hand, no self being able to keep you back. The
Lord has stretched out His arms upon all the powers who had kept us in
the bondage of Egypt, and He triumphed over them. You are free as the
bird of the air to live in Jesus--that is freedom; you are free in your
daily life, free in the deepest, inmost depths of your being, free for
Jesus, possessed by Him, a people of His own possession. Let my people
go, said God. So, I have given my blood, said Jesus; and no flesh, no
sin, no self can claim against the blood of Jesus. He has redeemed unto
Himself, not for us, a people of His own possession....
'You are inquiring about the secret of abiding in Jesus. Have you not
seen this in the 15th of John, that abiding and bearing fruit are
inseparable? You cannot abide in Jesus for His joy, _and your inward
satisfaction_. The secret of abiding is to stand as a redeemed one, as
firmly in the second part of redemption as the first. I am now living
for Jesus, and I have only to ask, Lord, what wilt Thou have done now? I
am for Thee. I am for Jesus. I have only to follow, to follow as a
sanctified one, as a possessed one, as one who is no more living for
himself, who has given his life up into the hands of Jesus. Oh, how
these questions of abiding become simple! It is not mysticism; it is not
some special experience. It is simply a fact. I need Jesus for every
moment, and my temptations as well as my duties become opportunities of
realizing this life of fellowship with Christ. Oh, yes, this is
redemption! Oh, mighty power of God the Father, God the Son, God the
Holy Ghost, engaged to keep such a weak, helpless, unfaithful thing as
you and myself in the centre of life! Sealed by the Holy Ghost, and God
will never break His own seal.'