"But I was afraid to do this, and told them so. They related how that
same jacket had caused them much trouble. They further said that no one
could unbuckle it but me, as there was a secret lock on each jacket that
no one but the wearer could work.
"After this I got back to the main highway again. But the first thing I
knew was that old Giant Doubt was with me again [Matthew 14:28-31]. And
he began to talk to me just as if he had never said anything to me before.
I wondered what I should do if he attempted to carry me away. And then
I remembered what I read on a monument just after crossing the Jordan:
'Every pilgrim must overcome the giants for himself.' But just how to
do this I did not know. So I had another encounter with him.
"'Do you still think you are a pilgrim in Canaan?' he said. 'More than
likely you will never find rest. I doubt it very much. See how bad you
feel. And you are always saying or doing something that hurts you.
Pilgrims should live better than you do.' And with that he grabbed me in
his big, burly arms and nearly squeezed the life out of me. I couldn't
fight at all. The jacket held me so rigid that I could not even use the
sword or hold up the shield. In fact, Mr. Legality told me his
straight-jacket was a better protection than any sword or shield; and I
had gradually grown into dependency on it.
"Next day Giant Doubt assailed me again. This time he unmercifully beat
me with his wormwood club. And after cuffing me about until I was nearly
dead, he again left me. Then he came every day. It is peculiar how long
he kept my company. Or, rather, it is strange how long I allowed him to
be with me. And every day I found myself weaker; and when the old giant
threatened to throw me into the sea of the dead, I had very little
resistance in me--just enough to keep him from his purpose.
"I found that every time I used the sword ever so little it scared the
old giant; and when he shot hot darts, I found that the shield would
stop them if I held it up. But that old jacket was very much in my way.
"At last I said to myself, 'I believe this jacket is a nuisance. Off
with it!' and I pulled it off and threw it as far as I could down into
the crevasse of Worn Out Laws [James 1:25].
"After this, I met Giant Doubt again. But my wounds had become well, and
I determined to fight for my life and my liberty. I told the giant that,
Immanuel helping me, I should not let him travel with me another step of
the way.
"'Oh, yes I will!' he said. 'You can not travel without me. I'm your
friend.'
"'You are no friend,' I cried, 'but an enemy. You have made my journey
miserable. You have driven away my peace; you have killed my joy; you
have beaten me, deceived me, and threatened me with death, and have
indeed nearly killed me. Go! Get behind me! you enemy of my soul' [Matthew
4:1-11].
"And at this I smote him with the sword of truth. He ran away and got
out his arrows to shoot at me as before; but I simply held up the shield,
and not one hurt me [Romans 16:20]. Then I ran after him with all my
might and chased him away--and I haven't had a real encounter with him
since."
* * * * *
The cure for doubts is faith; not prayer, nor fasting, nor working--
just faith. Faith is believing God, believing just what God says. God
has said many things and made many promises. Faith expects God to fulfill
His word. Trust is faith holding on and waiting.
We are sanctified by faith; we enter into complete soul-rest by faith.
There is no other way. We must come to God and simply ask Him to work
His complete redemption in our hearts and fill us with the Spirit. After
we give ourselves wholly to Him, after we lay all on the altar, there
is nothing more that we can do except trust and obey. It is God's part
to complete in us the work for salvation; our business is to trust Him
to do it. We trust carpenters and builders to build our houses, we trust
bankers with our money, we trust men every day and hour of our lives;
shall we not trust God?
In all battles with doubt, go back to basic facts. Allow no confusion
of mind, no agitation of spirit; calm every fear and find out just where
and how you are. First, ask yourself if you are all the Lord's. Do you
now lay on His altar your all? Do you now choose His will? Do you intend
to serve Him? Do you answer, "Yes"? Put that down then as a settled fact.
Never allow yourself to doubt a point that has been settled. Let it stay
settled. Next ask yourself if you believe God is true to His word, if
you believe He will do what He promised. If you say, "Yes," let that
point be settled also. Stand by it. If you have met the conditions upon
which God promised to cleanse and fill you, you must believe that God
does these things for you.
Doubts have a way of coming in early in the morning. They are like bad
neighbors, they come when they are not wanted. Doubts may arise because
you do not "feel" as you should like to, or because you have made mistakes;
or simply because you have been sorely tempted. You must learn that
feeling is no true gage of your spiritual experience.
An encounter with doubts may be something like this: You awake in the
morning and are possessed of a feeling that is utterly non-religious.
You do not feel one whit as though you are fully saved and trusting, but
just the opposite. Not having learned to pay no attention to this, but
instead to jump up and praise and thank God for all His goodness, you
begin to question, "Am I really and truly consecrated? Where are all my
joyful feelings? Why do I feel this way? Surely something is wrong."
The longer you think, the more doubtful you become, and at last
discouragement takes charge of your whole soul.
There is no harm, but good, in examining ourselves; it is all right to
put hard and searching questions to our hearts as to our standing with
God. But when doubts lead to such an examination, the result is usually
disastrous.
Doubting gets to be a bad habit; one very hard to break. It is a sort
of self-depreciating, self-deprecating, self-condemning habit. Doubting
becomes easy and natural after the habit is formed. A chronic state of
discouragement follows. You are as miserable as you can be. And yet the
idea of abruptly cutting off the whole bad thing fills you with dismay.
You are afraid to do it. A sort of up-and-down life seems preferable to
a bold, upstanding victorious life. A sort of weakness or spiritual
cowardice follows, too; and one habitually doubting prefers to be a
pygmy, a dwarf, for Christ, rather than a real man, a warrior in Him.
Doubt has a dreadful reaction on the soul and mind. Its influence is
deadening and damning. It shrivels and dries up the joy and spontaneity
of service. It makes one feel inferior and weak. Instead of causing one
to fight, doubts lead one to give up the fight; instead of prompting
resistance, doubts make one lie down and get wounded and bruised. Doubts
make us failures. They blight, mar, and drag down. They are the devil's
own poison to kill off God's people.
There is only one thing to do to overcome doubts: have faith in God.
Kill the doubts, or they will kill you. "This is the victory that
overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4).
CHAPTER TWELVE
THE WINE OF PRAYER
I am troubled with listlessness in prayer. When I kneel to pray, my mind
wanders here and there out over the world--to my business, or probably
to some trifling thing that amounts to nothing. I feel chagrined and
disappointed. Jesus is so loyal to me, so worthy of praise and prayer,
that to feel thus in prayer is mortifying. I have confessed it, but have
not obtained a satisfactory deliverance, nor a solution of the matter.
Can you give me any help? It will be much appreciated if you can teach
me how to feel unction in prayer, and how to pray the fervent prayer of
the righteous. Oh, do help me! My heart longs, yea yearns, for that
nearness to God in prayer that will draw out my soul in mighty petitions
for others, especially for the suffering and the lost.
* * * * *
We heard of the fruits of Canaan long before we arrived. There were
grapes of Eschol, pomegranates, milk and honey, and the old corn and
wine of the land. Back in the Wilderness we were told of fruits so
wonderful that they made the pilgrims strong and valiant for Immanuel,
and of course we were eager to pluck them for ourselves. But we found
that every one must grow or gather his own fruit, and also that the
finest food is obtained from the most unlikely places, on hard, stony
soil, and in rather inaccessible spots.
For instance, the honey. Hardly any of this delightful food was obtainable
except in the crags of Hard Trials Mountains. And the Wine of Prayer was
pressed from grapes that grew best in the Valley of Sore Temptation.
Do you suppose Caleb could tell us how to obtain these fruits? We are
specially interested in the Wine of Prayer, suppose we go and see Caleb
today. He received us so graciously on our former visit, he probably
would be glad to see us again. Let us go!
Yes, he is at home today. See, there he is now. Oh, he is on his knees!
Dear old saint of Canaan! And what is that he is doing? Oh, see, he seems
to be drawing something from a cask in the shades of his beautiful garden!
Yes, indeed, that must be Wine of Prayer he is drawing! What a blessed
favor to call upon Him on such an occasion. He does not see us. Let us
wait here, apart from his sanctuary.
Caleb seems lost in earnest communion with Immanuel. Note the heavenly
smile that lights up his weather-beaten old face! He seems animated by
the draughts he takes from his wine-cask. When his devotions and communions
are over, we shall greet him. See, he rises! What a glory emanates from
his face! It causes me to feel eager to slake my thirst at the same holy
place! My life seems so earthly, so lacking in heavenliness and
saintliness!
"Pilgrim Caleb, do tell us what you were drinking and how we may obtain
some of the same wine."
"Most gladly. First, I must tell you a secret. The grapes from which the
best Wine of Prayer is made come from the Valley of Sore Temptation.
That is not a pleasant place, by any means. Several bad giants
rendezvous there. Old Giants Lust, Pride, Persecution, Worldliness,
Covetousness, and others make it a sort of headquarters. They never
bother the grape-vines; it is only the pilgrims that they annoy. The
soil is rocky and hard to subdue and cultivate. I wanted the very best
fruits the land had; so I, too, was obliged to take a plot of ground in
the Valley of Sore Temptation and make a beginning.
"No sooner had I marked off my little plot than the giants haunted me.
They buffeted me about rather rudely. Old Giant Pride tried to make me
think I was one of the greatest men who ever came into Canaan. Old Giant
Covetousness told me all about a silver-mine which Balaam opened and
Demas worked in. I could easily get rich, he said, if I would abandon
the cultivation of grapes and follow him to the mine. He certainly told
a plausible story, and tried hard to influence me to go. Giant Lust
pointed out ways and means to capture silly souls, and tried hard to
attract my attention toward a valley that leads down into Egypt; I had
had enough of Egypt, and resisted him with all my might. But no matter
how hard I resisted or rebuked these giants, they stayed in that valley.
No one, it seems, can rout them completely from it. Their presence there
goes with the cultivation of grapes.
"Well, I grew a small crop the first season. Then I made a wine-press
out of pieces of faith, patience, and obedience, and placed a heavy
weight on top made of perseverance. I got a little wine, and, oh, it was
delicious and refreshing! Since then I have learned more about raising
the fruit and making wine. I can get more wine out of the grapes, too,
than formerly, by getting a heavier weight and using larger pieces of
material in the press.
"Nothing is so refreshing as the Wine of Prayer. The whole soul is caught
up, invigorated, revitalized, inspired. It gives mighty strength. Giants
tremble and quake and run for their lives when they see a pilgrim fresh
from his wine-cask move upon them. Blessed be Immanuel! Glory, praise,
and honor, hallelujah to His high name, forever and ever! Oh, He provides
such power and unction and sweetness! Never rest, pilgrims, till you get
your vineyard started. And may Immanuel bless you!"
Thanks to Caleb for his words!
Listlessness in prayer is the result of a lack of interest; no one is
listless about things he is vitally interested in. The thing to do is,
not work against listlessness, for listlessness is only a symptom, but
work up a real interest in the object of prayer. Find something to pray
for, and pray for it with all your might.
Mind-wandering during secret prayer can also be attributed to lack of
interest in the right thing. If your mind wanders, it is no sin, but a
sign that you have nothing very pressing to pray for. If you were wanting
something which you needed very much--if you were sorely and severely
tempted, or were sick and suffering, or if you were persecuted and needed
help--you would pray earnestly enough. Or, if you had in mind a friend
or relative who was in need of help, then you could pray earnestly.
The cure for listlessness and mind-wandering, therefore, is in feeling
and knowing the need, either of ourselves or of others, for which we
engage in prayer. There is too much need for any listlessness in prayer.
To be sure, no one can always feel the same degree of fervor and unction
in prayer; but there may always be enough to make prayer a really
refreshing season to the soul.
Prayer is more than asking; it is praise, thanksgiving, communion. We
are exhorted "to be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and
supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God"
(Philippians 4:6). Prayer, then, is partly thanksgiving.
Begin with thanksgiving. If the Lord has done anything for you, thank
Him for it. Count your blessings as you kneel. Remember the pit of sin
you were taken out of; consider how often you have been helped and
protected. Exercising the soul in this way produces the most favorable
state of mind for further prayer, for making requests.
Give God a chance to talk to you while you are in prayer. Ask for a
conversation. Be still and listen for God's voice; expect Him to speak.
In making requests, be willing for God to have His way. Ask, and you
shall receive; but not always as soon as you ask.
Importunity in prayer is needed as well as perseverance and patience.
It is a blessed thing, this life of trust, the life of prayer. In daily
communion with Christ we may travel life's road and enjoy a fellowship
too rich, too deep, too holy to describe adequately. Enter in and see
and taste for yourself.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
PILGRIMS OF THE VICTORIOUS LIFE
Please tell me, will you, if a really victorious life is possible to me;
I mean a day-by-day, year-in-and-year-out experience? I have so much of
struggle and battle in my life that a life of constant victory seems a
vague, faraway dream. It seems to me that the only ones capable of
obtaining and retaining this blissful state are those living very sheltered
lives and with few obstacles in their way. These may live victoriously;
but as for me, with my toils and troubles of various kinds, how can it
be possible? I have met many victorious Christians. Of course I do not
know how it is with them; but I believe their sweet temper pointed plainly
to the fact that their lives had fallen in very pleasant places. Can you
give me any clue to this matter? If a victorious life is possible for
me, I want it. Will you help me? Thank you!
* * * * *
Well, upon my word! There goes Pilgrim Serene, who lives in Poverty Vale,
close by Caleb's fair Hebron home! Shall we engage her in conversation?
They say she is one of the sweetest-tempered pilgrims in Canaan, and yet
we are told that her home is in one of the poorest spots in the land.
And who is that walking by her side! She seems to be very happy. Oh,
yes, that is Pilgrim Joyful! And where does she live? They say she lives
in Trouble Hollow, close by Offense Mountain. My, those names sound
ominous, don't they! Do let us engage them in conversation; for it seems
sweeter faced pilgrims we never have seen.
"May we walk with you in the way? And may we inquire about your home in
Canaan, and why it is you seem so happy and calm? We are only a few days
over the Jordan, and are trying to learn all we can of the land. Where
did you get those beautiful flowers in your hands? Tell us your
experiences! Please do!"
"You are welcome to our company, gladly. I am Pilgrim Serene; my companion
is Pilgrim Joyful. These flowers came from the garden of Patient Endurance,
which is situated on Mount Calm. The flowers are free to all pilgrims;
but the road to the garden is a very rough road, and thorn-bushes fringe
it for a considerable distance. Some pilgrims once organized a band to
clear out the thorns; but the bushes have such a tough bark that no knife
was able to cut through them. So they stand there still. Another band
gathered out all the stones; but new stones fall from the cliffs above
all the time, and some of the new stones are worse to cut the feet of
pilgrims than the old ones were. So it is thought best to let the path
alone. Just smell how sweet these are!"
"Where do you live, Pilgrim Serene?"
"I live in Poverty Vale. The floor of the valley is very hard and poor.
But Immanuel walks and talks with me. Every day He comes and helps me;
every day He lifts burdens off my back. Showers of blessing fall every
day or two."
"You never have any trouble do you, Pilgrim Serene? I am sure you do
not; for you look so free from care and worry."
"My dear pilgrim, I have a struggle all the time. I never know what it
is to be free from pain or poverty. If it were not for Honey Rock, I
certainly should have famished long ago."
"Where is Honey Rock?"
"Oh, it borders the Vale, high up in the mountains. Only a faint path
leads to it; for it seems only a few pilgrims know where it is. And
besides, it is the roughest path I ever tried to follow. But once one
is at the Rock, all one has to do to feast on the nectar is to smite the
Rock in the name of Immanuel, and forthwith there comes out the most
delicious honey in all the world."
"Oh, we wish to eat of it! But, there is that rough foot-path. I don't
know whether we can walk it or not!"
"Have you been to Honey Rock too, Pilgrim Joyful?"
"Yes, pilgrims, I have. I was there yesterday."
"Is it that which caused the scratches and blood stains on your feet and
hands and which tore your garments?"
"Yes, pilgrims. As to my home, it is in Trouble Hollow. Offense Mountain
rises high on two sides of it. Not many pilgrims like my home; but
Immanuel gave it to me, and any home in Canaan is preferable to the best
spot in the Wilderness, better than the grandest mansion in Egypt. It
is true my home is in a dark valley, and old Offense Mountain has continual
landslides that I have to help clear away; but, glory and praises to
Immanuel! a bare existence in Canaan surpasses anything I ever enjoyed
before. Hallelujah! Angels in bands visit me often. Heaven seems in
sight!"
"Thank you Serene and Joyful. We shall be glad to meet you again."
These two pilgrims whose lives are spent in Canaan's most troubled spots
have a holy serenity that shames us when we think of how we complain at
a few hard things that we have met. Thank God for such pilgrims!
Here is a true story. Mrs. B---- is a cripple woman who walks with a
crutch. Years ago she was converted and later was wholly sanctified. Her
husband was a wicked man who gave her a great deal of trouble and at
last died and left her with several children. They were miserably poor.
She took her family overland for a hundred miles to another place, walking
and carrying their effects as best they could. She is still poor, though
her children have now become self-supporting. No one could think of
anything harder to go through with than this woman had. Her physical
handicap prevented her doing many things she could otherwise have done,
she was compelled to work at the hardest jobs, and had to see her children
grow up without schooling. All was hard; just plain, hard living. If the
family had enough to eat, it was a thing to be thankful for. And yet,
in those years this woman has always been cheerful, and gives a brilliant
testimony to the grace of God to keep her sweet and joyful.
Another case is that of "Brother H," we shall call him. Brother H was
afflicted with tuberculosis. He was called to the ministry, was a splendid
singer, mightily gifted in prayer, and was used of God in working several
remarkable miracles of healing. His family was numerous, much more so
than his afflicted condition made possible for him to support. He lived
in a small three-room house, with eight or nine children and an
overburdened wife. He could do no work. His neighbors frowned on him and
persecuted him mildly for not working. His home was the very picture of
poverty; nothing could be worse in that line, scarcely. Yet he was a man
of the highest Christian integrity and faith, and was one of the happiest
Christians one could meet. And his happiness was not that of the careless
man, not the happiness of a callous, uneducated person; for he felt
keenly the poverty to which he was subjected and was always embarrassed
at his state and the condition of his home. He had that fine intuition
and grace of a gentleman of the highest order; and yet he was happy in
the Lord. His happiness was the genuine joy of full salvation in his
heart, born of a faith that believed all things were working together
for his good.
Entire sanctification is not something that takes troubles out of the
life, neither does it change one's outward circumstances; but it does
lift the soul above all earthly troubles and let it soar in God's free
air of victory.
To the fully consecrated soul there are no "second causes"; that is, no
one is between him and God who can harm him or affect him in any way
apart from God's will. It may be that others will mistreat us grievously,
and their acts be wrong and utterly opposed to God's will; but those
acts have had to pass God's will in getting to us. By this they become
the will of God to us. For instance, some one may persecute us. The
spirit of persecution is wicked and God has nothing to do with it; but
before that persecution reaches us it must pass God's will; so the
persecution becomes God's will to us, and we bear it for His sake. God
may put some bad medicine in human bottles and cause us to drink of them
for our good.
This victorious life is a life on wings. We are to mount up with wings
as eagles. The wings are faith and consecration. When troubles come, we
flap our wings and fly over them. Since we are God's, it is His place
to bring us out and help us over, hence the fully consecrated soul trusts,
and lets God work matters out. Of course, this does not mean that we
shall not help ourselves. In fact, little trust can be exercised until
we have done all we can do to help ourselves; but if we can not avail
or prevail, we carry it to the Lord and leave it with Him to work out.
David speaks of the Lord's hiding him in His secret place, in His pavilion,
under His wings. Jesus has said that not a hair of our head shall fall
without our Father's notice. Peter says we are to cast all our care upon
God, for God careth for us. And Paul exhorts us to be careful for nothing,
but with prayer and thanksgiving let our requests be known to God.
The greatest of all comforts is this, "We know that all things work
together for good to them that love God" (Romans 8:28). "All things"
means _all things_. The Christian who gives up all is certain of God's
continual care and protection. He can not expect to escape trouble or
trial or temptation; but he is kept in these things. "Thou wilt keep him
in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee." "Great peace have they
which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them." That is, nothing
shall cause them to fall. They may be hurt, and be wounded by the
inconsiderate or deliberate acts or words of others; but they will sail
on in peace in God.
The will of God surrounds us like a wall, and nothing can penetrate that
wall and touch our consecrated souls unless God so wills, or permits.