'If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine.' _There_
is one case of the general principle that wishes and anticipations are
all right and well, but unless they are backed up and verified by
conduct, even wishes and anticipations will not bring God's gift. For
it is possible for a man who, in his better moments of devotion, has
some desires after a loftier range of goodness and a completer
conformity to God than he ordinarily has, to rise from his knees and
rush into the world, and there live in some lust, or uncleanness, or
vice, or indulgence, or absorption in the cares of this life, in such a
way as that desires and anticipations shall vanish. If we fill our
vessels full, before we take them to the source of supply, with all
manner of baser liquids, there will be no room for the oil. We may
contradict and stifle our desires by our conduct, and by it make our
expectations perfectly impossible to be fulfilled. Are our daily doings
of such a nature as that the Spirit of God, which is symbolised by the
oil, can come into our hearts; or are we quenching and grieving Him so
that He
'Can but listen at the gate
And hear the household jar within'?
Desire, Expectancy, and Obedience--these three must never be separated
if we are to receive the gift of Himself, which God delights and waits
to give. All spiritual possessions and powers grow by use, even as
exercised muscles are strengthened, and unused ones tend to be
atrophied. It is possible, by neglect of God and of the gift given to
us, to incur the stern sentence passed on the slothful servant--'Take
it from him.' By disobedience and negligence we choke the channel
through which God's gifts can flow to us. So, brethren, bring these
three vessels, and you will not go away with them empty. 'Open thy
mouth wide, and I will fill it.'