"Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon
you."
JUST as the moss and the oak are higher in the order of creation
than the clod of clay and the rock, the bird and beast than the
moss and the oak, the man than the bird and the beast, so the
spiritual man is a higher being than the natural man. The sons of
God are a new order of being. The Christian is a "new creation."
Just as there are laws governing the life of the plant, and other
and higher laws that of the bird and beast, so there are higher
laws for man, and still higher for the Christian. It was with
regard to one of these higher laws that govern the heavenly life
of the Christian that Jesus said to Peter, "Put up thy sword."
Jesus said to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world; if My
kingdom were of this world, then would My servants fight." The
natural man is a fighter. It is the law of his carnal nature. He
fights with fist and sword, tongue and wit. His kingdom is of
this world, and he fights for it with such weapons as this world
furnishes. The Christian is a citizen of Heaven, and is subject
to its law, which is universal, wholehearted love. In his kingdom
he conquers not by fighting, but by submitting. When an enemy
takes his coat, he overcomes him, not by going to law, but by
generously giving him his cloak also. When his enemy compels him
to go a mile with him, he vanquishes the enemy by cheerfully
going two miles with him. When he is smitten on one cheek, he
wins his foe by meekly turning the other cheek. This is the law
of the new life from Heaven, and only by recognising and obeying
it can that new life be sustained and passed on to others. This
is the narrow way which leads to life eternal, "and few there be
that find it," or, finding it, are willing to walk in it.
A Russian peasant, Sutajeff, could get no help from the religious
teachers of his village, so he learned to read, and while
studying the Bible he found this narrow way, and walked gladly in
it. One night neighbours of his stole some of his grain, but in
their haste or carelessness they left a bag. He found it, and ran
after them to restore it, "for," said he, "fellows who have to
steal must be hard up." And by this Christlike spirit he saved
both himself and them, for he kept the spirit of love in his own
heart, and they were converted and became his most ardent
disciples.
A beggar woman, to whom he gave lodging, stole the bedding and
ran away with it. She was pursued by the neighbours, and was just
about to be put in prison when Sutajeff appeared, became her
advocate, secured her acquittal, and gave her food and money for
her journey.
He recognised the law of his new life and gladly obeyed it, and
so was not overcome of evil, but persistently and triumphantly
overcame evil with good (Romans xii. 21).
This is the spirit and method of Jesus; and by men filled with
this spirit and following this method He will yet win the world.
He came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His
life a ransom for many. His spirit is not one of self-seeking, but
of self-sacrifice. Some mysterious majesty of His presence or voice
so awed and overcame His foes that they went back and fell to the
ground before Him in the Garden of His agony, but He meekly
submitted Himself to them; and when Peter laid to with his sword,
and cut off the ear of the high priest's servant, Jesus said to him,
"Put up thy sword into the sheath; the cup which My Father hath
given Me, shall I not drink it?"
This was the spirit of Isaac. When he digged a well, the
Philistines strove with his servants for it; so he digged
another; and when they strove for that, he removed and digged yet
another, "and for that they strove not: and he called the name of
it Rehoboth" (margin, _room_): "and he said, For now the
Lord hath made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the
land.... And the Lord appeared unto him the same night, and said,
I am the God of Abraham, thy father: fear not, for I am with
thee, and will bless thee, and multiply thy seed" (Genesis xxvi.
22, 24).
This was the spirit of David, when Saul was hunting for his life;
twice David could have slain him, and when urged to do so, he
said, "As the Lord liveth, the Lord shall smite him; or his day
shall come to die; or he shall descend into battle and perish.
The Lord forbid that I should stretch forth my hand against the
Lord's anointed" (1 Samuel xxvi. 10, 11).
This was the spirit of Paul. He says, "Being reviled, we bless;
being persecuted, we suffer it; being defamed, we intreat" (1
Cor. iv. 12, 13). "The servant of the Lord must not strive,"
wrote Paul to Timothy, "but be gentle unto all men." This is the
spirit of our King, this is the law of His Kingdom.
Is this your spirit? When you are reviled, bemeaned and
slandered, and are tempted to retort, He says to you, "Put up thy
sword into the sheath." When you are wronged and illtreated, and
men ride rough-shod over you, and you feel it but just to smite
back, He says, "Put up thy sword into the sheath." "Live
peaceably with all men." Your weapons are not carnal, but
spiritual, now that you belong to Him, and have your citizenship
in Heaven. If you fight with the sword; if you retort and smite
back when you are wronged, you quench the Spirit; you get out of
the narrow way, and your new life from Heaven will perish.
An Officer went to a hard Corps, and after a while found that his
predecessor was sending back to friends for money which his own
Corps much needed. He felt it to be an injustice, and, losing
sight of the Spirit of Jesus, he made a complaint about it, and
the money was returned. But he got lean in his soul. He had
quenched the Spirit. He had broken the law of the Kingdom. He had
not only refused to give his cloak, but had fought for and
secured the return of the coat. He had lost the smile of Jesus,
and his poor heart was sad and heavy within him. He came to me
with anxious inquiry as to what I thought of his action. I had to
admit that the other man had transgressed, and that the money
ought to be returned, but that he should have been more grieved
over the unchristlike spirit of his brother than over the loss of
the five dollars, and that like Sutajeff he should have said,
"Poor fellow! he must be hard up; I will send him five dollars
myself. He has taken my coat, he shall have my cloak too." When I
told him that story, he came to himself very quickly, and was
soon back in the narrow way and rejoicing in the smile of Jesus
once again.
"But will not people walk over us, if we do not stand up for our
rights?" you ask. I do not argue that you are not to stand up for
your rights; but that you are to stand up for your higher rather
than your lower rights, the rights of your heavenly life rather
than your earthly life, and that you are to stand up for your
rights in the way and spirit of Jesus rather than in the way and
spirit of the world.
If men wrong you intentionally, they wrong themselves far worse
than they wrong you; and if you have the spirit of Jesus in your
heart you will pity them more than you pity yourself. They nailed
Jesus to the cross and hung Him up to die; they gave Him gall and
vinegar to drink; they cast votes for His seamless robe, and
divided His garments between them, while the crowd wagged their
heads at Him and mocked Him. Great was the injustice and wrong
they were inflicting upon Him, but He was not filled with anger,
only pity. He thought not of the wrong done Him, but of the wrong
they did themselves, and their sin against His Heavenly Father,
and He prayed not for judgment upon them, but that they might be
forgiven, and He won them, and is winning and will win the world.
Bless God!
"By mercy and truth iniquity is purged," wrote Solomon. "Put up
thy sword into the sheath, "and take mercy and truth for your
weapons, and God will be with you and for you, and great shall be
your victory and joy. Hallelujah!
"HAVE YE RECEIVED THE HOLY GHOST SINCE YE BELIEVED?"