When I think of all the struggles and difficulties and failures of which
many complain, and know that many are trying to make a new effort to
begin a holy life, their hearts fearing all the time that they would
fail again, owing to so many difficulties and temptations and the
natural weakness of their character, my heart longs to be able to tell
them in words so simple that a little child could understand,
_What the secret is of the Christian life._
And then the thought comes to me, Can I venture to hope that it will be
given to me to take that glorious, heavenly, divine Lord Jesus and to
show Him to these souls, so that they can see Him in His glory? And can
it be given to me to open their eyes to see that there is a Divine,
Almighty Christ, who does actually come into the heart and who
faithfully promises, "I will come and dwell with you, and I will never
leave you?" No; my words cannot do that. But then I thought, my Lord
Jesus can use me as a simple servant to take such feeble ones by the
hand and encourage and help them; to say, Oh, come, come, come, into the
presence of Jesus and wait on Him, and He will reveal Himself to thee. I
pray God that He may use His precious Word. It is simply
_The presence of the Lord Jesus._
That is the secret of the Christian's strength and joy. You know that
when He was upon earth, He was present in bodily form with his
disciples. They walked about together all day, and at night they went
into the same house, and sometimes slept together and ate and drank
together. They were continually together. It was the presence of Jesus
that was the training school of His disciples. They were bound to Him by
that wonderful intercourse of love during three long years, and in that
intercourse they learned to know Christ, and Christ instructed and
corrected them, and prepared them for what they were afterward to
receive. And now when He is going away, He says to them: "Lo, behold, I
am with you always--all the days--even unto the end of the world."
What a promise! And just as really as Christ was with Peter in the boat,
just as Christ sat with John at the table, as really can I have Christ
with me. And more really, for they had their Christ in the body and He
was to them a man, an individual separate from them, but I may have
glorified Christ in the power of the throne of God, the omnipotent
Christ, the omnipresent Christ.
What a promise! You ask me, How can that be? And my answer is, Because
Christ is God, and because Christ after having been made man, went up
into the throne and the Life of God. And now that blessed Christ Jesus,
with His loving, pierced heart; that blessed Jesus Christ, who lived
upon earth; that same Christ glorified into the glory of God, can be in
me and
_Can be with me all the days._
You say, Is it really possible for a man in business, for a woman in the
midst of a large and difficult household, for a poor man full of care;
is it possible? Can I always be thinking of Jesus? Thank God, you need
not always be thinking of Him. You may be the manager of a bank, and
your whole attention may be required to carry out the business that you
have to do. But thank God, while I have to think of my business, Jesus
will think of me, and He will come in and will take charge of me. That
little child, three months old, as it sleeps in its mother's arms, lies
helplessly there; it hardly knows its mother, it does not think of her,
but the mother thinks of the child. And this is the blessed mystery of
love, that Jesus the God-man waits to come in to me in the greatness of
His love; and as He gets possession of my heart, He embraces me in those
divine arms and tells me, "My child, I the Faithful One, I the Mighty
One will abide with thee, will watch over thee and keep thee all the
days." He tells me He will come into my heart, so that I can be a happy
Christian, a holy Christian, and a useful Christian. You say, Oh! if I
could only believe that, if I could think that it is possible to have
Christ always, every hour, every moment with me,
_Taking and keeping charge of me!_
My brother, my sister, it is just literally this that is my message to
you. When Jesus said to His disciples, "Lo, I am with you always," He
meant it in the fullness of the divine Omnipresence, in the fullness of
the divine love, and he longs to-night to reveal Himself to you and to
me as we have never seen Him before.
And now just think a moment what a blessed life that must be--the
presence of Jesus always abiding. Is not that the secret of peace and
happiness? If I could just attain (that is what each heart says) to that
blessed state in which every day and all the day I felt Jesus to be
watching and ever keeping me, oh, what peace I would have in the
thought, "I have no care if He cares for me, and I have no fear if He
provides for me." Your heart says that this is too good to be true, and
that it is too glorious to be for you. Still you acknowledge it must be
most blessed. Fearful one, erring one, anxious one, I bring you God's
promise, it is for me and for you. Jesus will do it; as God, He is able,
and Jesus is willing and longing as the Crucified One to keep you in
perfect peace. This is a wonderful fact, and it is the secret of joy
unspeakable.