subdivision, that is, of its multiplication; and in the spiritual world
the corresponding necessity is to multiply and reproduce the image of
God in Jesus Christ. There was a similar difficulty in the early days
of photography; they could take one picture, but did not know how to
produce copies from it. The Christian religion has in it the means of
producing not only one Light of the world but many--a church of men and
women of whom it may be said, as to the disciples at the first, "Ye are
the light of the world." But will something within us object and say,
"Shining means burning up and burning out: the candle will grow
shorter, and the battery weaker"? Now here we get at the root of the
matter. Truly it is impossible to offer any real devotion to God, or
perform any real service to man, unless we are willing to pay the cost.
We are not to offer, either to God or man, of that which costs us
nothing. The noblest thing in God's world is a lavished life; whereof
God has given us plain proof in this--that "He so loved the world that
He gave His Son"; and which Paul confirms as he says to some of those
to whom he had been the means of bringing light, "I will most gladly
spend and be spent for you." "I will burn up for you, and then when I
am burnt out, I will be content with the mere candle-end of a life,
extinct for the love of Jesus." And let us remember, too, that old
proverb, that "You can't burn a candle at both ends." If our life has
been lighted at one end for God, we must not burn it at the other for
selfish enjoyments and ambitions. The work that God has called you to
do is a burner that will take all the gas that you can supply.
Now suppose that every time a candle is lighted here, a star were to
shine out up yonder. How eager we should all be to make the face of
heaven sparkle! we should take every candle and lamp that we could lay
hands on, light them up, and watch for the gleaming of the new wonder
in the sky. Does that seem strange? Did you never read that "They
that are wise shall shine as the sun, and they that turn many to
righteousness as the stars for ever and ever"? The lamps and candles
in God's world do become suns and stars; the illumination that you will
have by and by will depend on the little candle that you are to-day;
and if you curtail your service for God and man down here, you will
clip the wings and shear away the strength of the angel that you hope
to be.
O Lord, that I could waste my life for others,
With no ends of my own!
That I could pour myself into my brothers,
And live for them alone!
XV
OVER-OVERCOMING
"We are more than conquerors."--ROMANS viii. 37.
The Apostle coins a word to suit his experience. We should render it
exactly by saying, "In these things we over-conquer," imitating the
formation of similar words in our language, such as "over-master,"
"over-do." More forcibly we might say, "In all these things we
over-overcome." Coverdale gives the sense of it well in his
translation, "We conquer far." Observe some of the ways in which this
excess and extravagance of victory may take place, for it is as if one
should win a victory over a foe in such a way as to prevent him from
ever troubling us again. Our conquest over special sin is to be of
this character. We are not to be content with winning the field while
the foe retires to some more secure position from which he will have to
be dislodged. It is never meant that we should sin the same sin twice,
the Lord's purpose concerning us being shown in the Exodus of the
children of Israel: "The Egyptians which ye see to-day, ye shall see
them no more again for ever." "Let him that stole steal no more."
"Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more." There is a passage in
Miss Havergal's life which narrates how, after having been angry with a
servant, the word of comfort came to her through a friend: "Perhaps
this may be the last time that you will ever be so overcome."
And then our victories are to leave us stronger than before. This will
seem quite contrary to the order of nature, in which seldom is there a
battle without garments rolled in blood, and where the victory often
costs as much to the victors as to the vanquished. A great general has
said that nothing is half so terrible as a battle lost, except a battle
gained. But to be more than conquerors! to rise the stronger for the
strife even while we strive! this is what is involved in the Christian
song of jubilee in the Eighth of Romans.
We over-overcome because of the completeness of the victory. In most
campaigns it is by the balance of battles fought that the war is
decided. Seldom does it happen that all the victory is on one side:
and even then there will be virgin fortresses that never have been
stormed, over which no alien flag has ever floated, which may be
yielded indeed by treaty, but not taken by force. The over-conquering
Christian can say with the invading Israelites, "There was not one city
too strong for us: the Lord God delivered all unto us."
And in the strength of this I rode....
. . . . . . . .
And brake through all, and in the Strength of this come victor.
The triumphant scenes of the Apocalypse are not all future; but even
now we know something of living and reigning with Christ in a
fellowship above sin and above sorrow. For it was of sorrow rather
than of sin that the Apostle was speaking. Our principle is one of
holy indifference--an experience far removed from mere apathy. We do
not simply say with Buddha that sorrow drops off from him who has
finished the path, as water drops from a lotus leaf. We are not sure
whether the sorrows always do disappear from the burdened life like
that. But when they do not so pass away, the drop is turned to honey
in the cup of the flower; it is really the richer for its burden, and
so may well be content.
And now how do we come to this place of triumph? By what means is it
granted us to enter so fully into the songs which shall one day resound
through the universe? "Through Him that loved us." It is alliance
with God that is the secret. The three steps of the mystics are
_Purification_, _Illumination_, and _Union_; and simple as the
statement is, it is a better theology than many another of much larger
dimensions. Many people do not understand this alliance in which we
are led into union with God, through the Holy Spirit. They think it is
more like the old story of the dwarf and the giant, who went a warfare
together, in which expedition the dwarf lost his arms and legs, and was
only saved from imminent death in each conflict by the happy arrival of
the giant. One can scarcely blame the dwarf for breaking up the
partnership. We must understand that in Christianity the dwarf is the
giant, that the despised deformed puny child of faith is, when he
recognises his own weakness and leans upon his own God, big with the
force that rolls the stars along. The might of God is in him: and
though he may have no armour nor sword to match the Philistine, he will
come home carrying his head for all that; for
Man's weakness leaning upon God,
Its end can never miss.
THE END
The Devotional Library
1. THE KEY OF THE GRAVE. A Book for the Bereaved.
By W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, M.A., LL.D.
2. MEMORANDA SACRA.
By Professor J. RENDEL HARRIS, M.A.,
Fellow of Clare College, Cambridge.
STUDIES IN MYSTICISM
AND CERTAIN ASPECTS OF THE SECRET TRADITION.
By ARTHUR EDWARD WAITE.
LITTLE BOOKS ON RELIGION.
Edited by the Rev. W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, LL.D.
1. CHRIST AND THE FUTURE LIFE.
By R. W. DALE, LL.D.
2. THE SEVEN WORDS FROM THE CROSS.
By the Rev. W. ROBERTSON NICOLL, LL.D.
3. THE VISIONS OF A PROPHET. Studies in Zechariah.
By the Rev. Professor MARCUS DODS, D.D.
4. THE FOUR TEMPERAMENTS.
By the Rev. ALEXANDER WHYTE, D.D.
5. THE UPPER ROOM.
By the Rev. JOHN WATSON, M.A., D.D.
WORKS BY THE REV. J. R. MILLER, D.D.
A MESSAGE FOR THE DAY. A Year's Daily Readings.
DR. J. R. MILLER'S NEW YEAR BOOKLETS.
1. SECRETS OF A HAPPY HOME LIFE.
2. THE BLESSING OF CHEERFULNESS.
Dr. Miller's "Silent Times" Series.
1. MAKING THE MOST OF LIFE.
2. THE EVERY-DAY OF LIFE.
3. SECRETS OF A BEAUTIFUL LIFE.
4. SILENT TIMES.
5. WEEK-DAY RELIGION.
WORKS BY DR. JAMES STALKER.
THE TRIAL AND DEATH OF JESUS CHRIST.
A Devotional History of our Lord's Passion.
By JAMES STALKER, M.A., D.D.
IMAGO CHRISTI.
The Example of Christ.
THE FOUR MEN.
THE PREACHER AND HIS MODELS.
Yale Lectures on Preaching
LONDON: HODDER AND STOUGHTON.