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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20731-8.txt b/20731-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..cc31353 --- /dev/null +++ b/20731-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5445 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Quiet Talks on Power, by S.D. Gordon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Quiet Talks on Power + +Author: S.D. Gordon + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20731] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUIET TALKS ON POWER *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Karina Aleksandrova and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + QUIET TALKS + ON _POWER_ + + BY + S. D. GORDON + + [Illustration] + + NEW AND REVISED EDITION + + CHICAGO NEW YORK TORONTO + FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY + LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY + FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY + + Chicago: 63 Washington Street + New York: 158 Fifth Avenue + Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W + London: 21 Paternoster Square + Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +CHOKED CHANNELS 9 + +THE OLIVET MESSAGE 33 + +THE CHANNEL OF POWER 61 + +THE PRICE OF POWER 87 + +THE PERSONALITY OF POWER 117 + +MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS 147 + +THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER 173 + +FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER 199 + + + + +CHOKED CHANNELS. + +An Odd Distinction. + + +A few years ago I was making a brief tour among the colleges of +Missouri. I remember one morning in a certain college village going over +from the hotel to take breakfast with some of the boys, and coming back +with one of the fellows whom I had just met. As we walked along, +chatting away, I asked him quietly, "Are you a christian, sir?" He +turned quickly and looked at me with an odd, surprised expression in his +eye and then turning his face away said: "Well, I'm a member of church, +but--I don't believe I'm very much of a christian." Then I looked at him +and he frankly volunteered a little information. Not very much. He did +not need to say much. You can see a large field through a chink in the +fence. And I saw enough to let me know that he was right in the +criticism he had made upon himself. We talked a bit and parted. But his +remark set me to thinking. + +A week later, in another town, speaking one morning to the students of a +young ladies' seminary, I said afterwards to one of the teachers as we +were talking: "I suppose your young women here are all christians." That +same quizzical look came into her eye as she said: "I think they are +all members of church, but I do not think they are all christians with +real power in their lives." There was that same odd distinction. + +A few weeks later, in Kansas City visiting the medical and dental +schools, I recall distinctly standing one morning in a disordered +room--shavings on the floor, desks disarranged--the institution just +moving into new quarters, and not yet settled. I was discussing with a +member of the faculty, the dean I think, about how many the room would +hold, how soon it would be ready, and so on--just a business talk, +nothing more--when he turned to me rather abruptly, looking me full in +the face, and said with quiet deliberation: "I'm a member of church; I +_think_ I am a deacon in our church"--running his hand through his hair +meditatively, as though to refresh his memory--"but I am not very much +of a christian, sir." The smile that started to come to my face at the +odd frankness of his remark was completely chased away by the distinct +touch of pathos in both face and voice that seemed to speak of a hungry, +unsatisfied heart within. + +Perhaps it was a month or so later, in one of the mining towns down in +the zinc belt of southwestern Missouri, I was to speak to a meeting of +men. There were probably five or six hundred gathered in a Methodist +Church. They were strangers to me. I was in doubt what best to say to +them. One dislikes to fire ammunition at people that are absent. So +stepping down to a front pew where several ministers were seated, I +asked one of them to run his eye over the house and tell me what sort of +a congregation it was, so far as he knew them. He did so, and presently +replied: "I think fully two-thirds of these men are members of our +churches"--and then, with that same quizzical, half-laughing look, he +added, "but you know, sir, as well as I do, that not half of them are +christians worth counting." "Well," I said to myself, astonished, "this +is a mining camp; this certainly is not anything like the condition of +affairs in the country generally." + +But that series of incidents, coming one after the other in such rapid +succession, set me thinking intently about that strange distinction +between being members of a church on the one hand, and on the other, +living lives that count and tell and weigh for Jesus seven days in the +week. I knew that ministers had been recognizing such a distinction, but +to find it so freely acknowledged by folks in the pew was new, and +surely significant. + +And so I thought I would just ask the friends here to-day very frankly, +"What kind of Christians are you?" I do not say what kind you are, for I +am a stranger, and do not know, and would only think the best things of +you. But I ask you frankly, honestly now, as I ask myself anew, what +kind are you? Do you know? Because it makes such a difference. The +Master's plan--and what a genius of a plan it is--is this, that the +world should be won, not by the preachers--though we must have these +men of God for teaching and leadership--but by everyone who knows the +story of Jesus _telling someone_, and telling not only with his lips +earnestly and tactfully, but even more, _telling with his life_. That is +the Master's plan of campaign for this world. And it makes a great +difference to Him and to the world outside whether you and I are +_living_ the story of His love and power among men or not. + +Do you _know_ what kind of a christian you are? There are at least three +others that do. First of all there is Satan. He knows. Many of our +church officers are skilled in gathering and compiling statistics, but +they cannot hold a tallow-dip to Satan in this matter of exact +information. He is the ablest of all statisticians, second only to one +other. He keeps careful record of every one of us, and knows just how +far we are interfering with his plans. He knows that some of us--good, +respectable people, as common reckoning goes--neither help God nor +hinder Satan. Does that sound rather hard? But is it not true? He has no +objection to such people being counted in as christians. Indeed, he +rather prefers to have it so. Their presence inside the church circle +helps him mightily. _He_ knows what kind of a christian you are. Do +_you_ know? + +Then there is the great outer circle of non-christian people--_they +know_. Many of them are poorly informed regarding the christian life; +hungry for something they have not, and know not just what it is; with +high ideals, though vague, of what a christian life should be. And they +look eagerly to us for what they have thought we had, and are so often +keenly disappointed that our ideals, our life, is so much like others +who profess nothing. And when here and there they meet one whose acts +are dominated by a pure, high spirit, whose faces reflect a sweet +radiance amid all circumstances, and whose lives send out a rare +fragrance of gladness and kindliness and controlling peace, they are +quick to recognize that, to them, intangible something that makes such +people different. The world--tired, hungry, keen and critical for mere +sham, appreciative of the real thing--the world knows what kind of +christians we are. Do _we_ know? + +There is a third one watching us to-day with intense interest. The Lord +Jesus! Sitting up yonder in glory, with the scar-marks of earth on face +and form, looking eagerly down upon us who stand for Him in the world +that crucified Him--_He knows_. I imagine Him saying, "There is that one +down there whom I died for, who bears my name; _if_ I had the _control_ +of that life what power I would gladly breathe in and out of it, but--he +is _so absorbed in other things_." The Master is thinking about you, +studying your life, longing to carry out His plan if He could only get +permission, and sorely disappointed in many of us. He knows. Do _you_ +know? + + +The Night Visitor. + +After that trip I became much interested in discovering in John's Gospel +some striking pictorial illustrations of these two kinds of christians, +namely, those who have power in their lives for Jesus Christ and those +who have not. Let me speak of only a few of these. The first is sketched +briefly in the third chapter, with added touches in the seventh and +nineteenth chapters. There is a little descriptive phrase used each +time--"the man who came to Jesus by night." That comes to be in John's +mind the most graphic and sure way of identifying this man. A good deal +of criticism, chiefly among the upper classes, had already been aroused +by Jesus' acts and words. This man Nicodemus clearly was deeply +impressed by the young preacher from up in Galilee. He wants to find out +more of him. But he shrank back from exposing himself to criticism by +these influential people for his possible friendship with the young +radical, as Jesus was regarded. So one day he waits until the friendly +shadows will conceal his identity, and slipping quietly along the +streets, close up to the houses so as to insure his purpose of not being +recognized, he goes up yonder side street where Jesus has lodgings. He +knocks timidly. "Does the preacher from up the north way stop here?" +"Yes." "Could I see him?" He steps in and spends an evening in earnest +conversation. I think we will all readily agree that Nicodemus +_believed_ Jesus after that night's interview, however he may have +failed to understand all He said. Yes, we can say much more--he _loved_ +Him. For after the cruel crucifixion it is this man that brings a box of +very precious spices, weighing as much as a hundred pounds, worth, +without question, a large sum of money, with which to embalm the dead +body of his friend. Ah! he loved Him. No one may question that. + +But turn now to the seventh chapter of John. There is being held a +special session of the Jewish Senate in Jerusalem for the express +purpose of determining how to silence Jesus--to get rid of Him. This man +is a member of that body, and is present. Yonder he sits with the +others, listening while his friend Jesus is being discussed and His +removal--by force if need be--is being plotted. What does he do? What +would you expect of a friend of Jesus under such circumstances? I wonder +what you and I would have done? I wonder what we do do? Does he say +modestly, but plainly, "I spent a whole evening with this man, +questioning Him, talking with Him, listening to Him. I feel quite sure +that He is our promised Messiah; and I have decided to accept Him as +such." Did he say that? That would have been the simple truth. But such +a remark plainly would have aroused a storm of criticism, and he dreaded +that. Yet he felt that something should be said. So, lawyer-like, he +puts the case abstractly. "Hmm--does our law judge a man without giving +him a fair hearing?" That sounds fair, though it does seem rather feeble +in face of their determined opposition. But near by sits a burly +Pharisee, who turns sharply around and, glaring savagely at Nicodemus, +says sneeringly: "Who are you? Do you come from Galilee, too? Look and +see! No prophet comes out of Galilee"--with intensest contempt in the +tone with which he pronounces the word Galilee. And poor Nicodemus seems +to shrink back into half his former size, and has not another word to +say, though all the facts, easily ascertainable, were upon his side of +the case. He loved Jesus without doubt, but he had _no power_ for Him +among men _because of his timidity_. Shall I use a plainer, though +uglier, word--his cowardice? That is not a pleasant word to apply to a +man. But is it not the true word here? He was so afraid of what _they_ +would think and say! Is that the sort of christian _you_ are? Believing +Jesus, trusting Him, saved by Him, loving Him, but shrinking back from +speaking out for Him, tactfully, plainly, when opportunity presents or +can be made. A christian, but without positive power for Him among men +because of cowardice! + +I can scarcely imagine Nicodemus walking down the street in Jerusalem, +arm in arm with another Pharisee-member of the Sanhedrin and saying to +him quietly, but earnestly: "Have you had a talk with this young man +Jesus?" "No, indeed, I have not!" "Well, do you know, I spent an +evening with Him down at His stopping place, and had a long, careful +talk with Him. I am quite satisfied that He is our long-looked-for +leader; I have decided to give Him my personal allegiance; won't you get +personally acquainted with Him? He is a wonderful man." I say I have +difficulty in thinking that this man worked for Jesus like that. And yet +what more natural and proper, both for him and for us? And what a +difference it might have made in many a man's life. _Powerless_ for +Jesus because of timidity! Is that the kind _you_ are? Possibly some one +thinks that rather hard on this man. Maybe you are thinking of that +other member of the Sanhedrin--Joseph of Arimathea--who was also a +follower of Jesus, and that quite possibly he may have been influenced +by Nicodemus. Let us suppose, for Nicodemus' sake, that this is so, and +then mark the brief record of this man Joseph in John's account: "A +disciple _secretly_ for _fear_ of the Jews." If we may fairly presume +that it was Nicodemus' influence that led his friend Joseph to follow +Jesus, yet he had led him no nearer than he himself had gone! He _could_ +lead him no higher or nearer than that. + +John in his gospel makes plain the fact that Jesus suffered much from +these secret, timid, cowardly disciples whose fear of men gripped them +as in a vise. Five times he makes special mention of these people who +believed Jesus, but cravenly feared to line up with Him.[1] He even says +that _many_ of the _rulers_--the very class that plotted and voted His +death--believed Jesus, but that _fear_ of _the others_ shut their lips +and drove them into the shadow when they could have helped Him most. +These people seem to have left numerous descendants, many of whom +continue with us unto this day. + + +Tightly Tied Up. + +Turn now to the eleventh chapter and you will find another pictorial +suggestion of this same sort of _powerless christian_, though in this +instance made so by another reason. It is the Bethany Chapter, the +Lazarus Chapter. The scene is just out of Bethany village. There is a +man lying dead in the cave yonder. Here stands Jesus. There are the +disciples, and Martha, and Mary, and the villagers, and a crowd from +Jerusalem. The Master is speaking. His voice rings out clear and +commanding--"Lazarus, come forth"--speaking to a dead man. And the +simple record runs, "He that _was_ dead"--life comes between those two +lines of the record--"came forth, bound hand and foot with +grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin." Will you +please take a look at Lazarus as he steps from the tomb? Do you think +his eyes are dull, or his cheeks hollow and pale? I think not! When +Jesus, the Lord of life, gives life, either physical or spiritual, He +gives abundant life. That face may have been a bit spare. There had been +no food for at least four days and likely longer. But there is the +flash of health in his eye and the ruddy hue of good blood in his cheek. +He has life. But look closer. He is bound hand and foot and face. He can +neither walk nor work nor speak. + +I have met some christian people who reminded me forcibly of that scene. +They are christians. The Master has spoken life, and they have responded +to His word. But they are so tied up with the grave-clothes of the old +life that there can be none of the power of free action in life or +service. May I ask you very kindly, but very plainly, are you like that? +Is that the reason you have so little power with God, and for God? +Perhaps some one would say, "Just what do you mean?" I mean this: that +there may be some personal habit of yours, or perhaps some society +custom which you practice, or it may be some business method, or +possibly an old friendship which you have carried over into the new life +from the old that is seriously hindering your christian life. It may be +something that goes into your mouth or comes out of it that prevents +those lips speaking for the Master. Perhaps it is some organization you +belong to. If there is lack of freedom and power for Christ you may be +sure there is _something_ that is blighting your life and dwarfing your +usefulness. It may possibly be that practically in your daily life you +are exerting no more power for God than a dead man! A christian, indeed, +but _without power because of compromise_ with something questionable +or outrightly wrong! Is that so with you? I do not say it is, for I do +not know. But _you_ know. The hungry, critical world knows. Subtle, keen +Satan knows. The Lord Jesus knows. Do you know if that describes you? +You may know with certainty within twenty-four hours if you wish to and +will to. May we be willing to have the Spirit's searchlight turned in +upon us to-night. + + +The Master's Ideal. + +There is another kind of christian, an utterly different kind, spoken of +and illustrated in this same Gospel of John, and I doubt not many of +them also are here. It is _Jesus' ideal_ of what a christian should be. +Have you sometimes wished you could have a few minutes of quiet talk +with Jesus? I mean face to face, as two of us might sit and talk +together. You have thought you would ask Him to say very simply and +plainly just what He expects of you. Well, I believe He would answer in +words something like those of this seventh chapter of John. It was at +the time of Feast of Tabernacles. There was a vast multitude of Jews +there from all parts of the world. It was like an immense convention, +but larger than any convention we know. The people were not entertained +in the homes, but lived for seven days in leafy booths made of branches +of trees. It was the last day of the feast. There was a large concourse +of people gathered in one of the temple areas; not women, but men; not +sitting, but standing. Up yonder stand the priests, pouring water out of +large jars, to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the +nation of Israel. Just then Jesus speaks, and amid the silence of the +intently watching throng His voice rings out: "If any man thirst let him +come unto Me and drink; he that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, +_out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water_." Mark that +significant closing clause. That packs into a sentence Jesus' ideal of +what a true christian down in this world should be, and may be. Every +word is full of meaning. + +The heart of the sentence is in the last word--"water." _Water_ is an +essential of life. Absence of water means suffering and sickness, dearth +and death. Plenty of good water means _life_. All the history of the +world clusters about the water courses. Study the history of the rivers, +the seashores, and lake edges, and you know the history of the earth. +Those men who heard Jesus speak would instinctively think of the Jordan. +It was their river. Travelers say that no valley exceeded in beauty and +fruitfulness that valley of the Jordan, made so by those swift waters. +No hillside so fair in their green beauty, nor so wealthy in heavy loads +of fruit as those sloping down to the edge of that stream. Now plainly +Jesus is talking of something that may, through us, exert as decided an +influence upon the lives of those we touch as water has exerted, and +still exerts, on the history of the earth, and as this Jordan did in +that wonderful, historic Palestine. Mark the quantity of +water--"rivers." Not a Jordan merely, that would be wonderful enough, +but Jordans--a Jordan, and a Nile, and a Euphrates, a Yang Tse Kiang, +and an Olga and a Rhine, a Seine and a Thames, and a Hudson and an +Ohio--"_rivers_." Notice, too, the _kind_ of water. Like this racing, +turbulent, muddy Jordan? No, no! "rivers of _living_ water," "water of +_life_, clear as crystal." You remember in Ezekiel's vision which we +read together that the waters constantly increased in depth, and that +everywhere they went there was healing, and abundant life, and +prosperity, and beauty, and food, and a continual harvest the year +round, and all because of the waters of the river. They were veritable +waters of life. + +Now mark that little, but very significant, phrase--"_Out of_"--not +_into_, but "out of." All the difference in the lives of men lies in the +difference between these two expressions. "Into" is the world's +preposition. Every stream turns in; and that means _a dead sea_. Many a +man's life is simply the coast line of a dead sea. "Out of" is the +Master's word. His thought is of others. The stream must flow in, and +must flow through, if it is to flow out, but it is judged by its +direction, and Jesus would turn it outward. There must be good +connections upward, and a clear channel inward, but the objective point +is outward toward a parched earth. But before it can flow out it must +_fill up_. An _out_flow in this case means an _over_flow. There must be +a flooding inside before there can be a flowing out. And let the fact be +carefully marked that it is only the overflow from the fullness within +our own lives that brings refreshing to anyone else. A man praying at a +conference in England for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit said: "O, +Lord, we can't hold much, but we can overflow lots." That is exactly the +Master's thought. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." + +Do you remember that phrase in the third chapter of Joshua--"For Jordan +overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest." When there was a +flood in the river, there was a harvest in the land. Has there been a +harvest in your life? A harvest of the fruit of the spirit--love, joy, +peace, long-suffering; a harvest of souls? "No," do you say, "not much +of a harvest, I am afraid," or it may be your heart says "none at all." +Is it hard to tell why? Has there been a flood-tide in your heart, a +filling up from above until the blessed stream had to find an outlet +somewhere, and produce a harvest? A harvest outside means a rising of +the tide inside. A flooding of the heart always brings a harvest in the +life. A few years ago there were great floods in the southern states, +and the cotton and corn crops following were unprecedented. Paul +reminded his Roman friends that when the Holy Spirit has free swing in +the life "the love of God _floods_ our hearts."[2] + +Please notice, too, the _source_ of the stream--"out of his belly." Will +you observe for a moment the rhetorical figure here? I used to suppose +it meant "out of his _heart_." The ancients, you remember, thought the +heart lay down in the abdominal region. But you will find that this book +is very exact in its use of words. The blood is the life. The heart +pumps the blood, but the stomach makes it. The seat of life is not in +the heart, but in the stomach. If you will take down a book of +physiology, and find the chart showing the circulation of the blood, you +will see a wonderful network of lines spreading out in every direction, +but all running, through lighter lines into heavier, and still blacker, +until every line converges in the great stomach artery. _And everywhere +the blood goes there is life._ Now turn to a book of physical geography +and get a map showing the water system of some great valley like the +Mississippi, and you will find a striking reproduction of the other +chart. And if you will shut your eyes and imagine the reality back of +that chart, you will see hundreds of cool, clear springs flowing +successively into runs, brooks, creeks, larger streams, river branches, +rivers, and finally into the great river--the reservoir of all. _And +everywhere the waters go there is life._ The only difference between +these two streams of life is in the direction. The blood flows from the +largest toward the smallest; the water flows from the smallest toward +the largest. Both bring life with its accompaniments of beauty and vigor +and fruitfulness. There is Jesus' picture of the Christian down in the +world. As the red stream flows out from the stomach, and, propelled by +the force-pump of the heart, through a marvelous network of minute +rivers takes life to every part of the body, so "he that believeth on +Me"--that is the vital connecting link with the great origin of this +stream of life--out of the very source of life within him shall go _a +flood-tide of life_, bringing refreshing, and cleansing, and beauty, and +vigor everywhere within the circle of his life, even though, like the +red streams and the water streams, he be unconscious of it. + + +An Unlikely Channel. + +What a marvelous conception of the power of life! How strikingly it +describes Jesus' own earthly life! But there is something more marvelous +still--He means that ideal to become real in you, my friend, and in me. +I doubt not there are some here whose eager hearts are hungry for just +such a life, but who are tremblingly conscious of their own weakness. +Your thoughts are saying: "I wish I _could_ live such a life, but +certainly this is not for _me_; this man talking doesn't know _me_--no +special talent or opportunity: such strong tides of temptation that +sweep me clean off my feet--not for me." Ah, my friend, I verily believe +you are the very one the Master had in mind, for He had John put into +his gospel a living illustration of this ideal of His that goes down to +the very edge of human unlikeliness and inability. He goes down to the +lowest so as to include all. What proved true in this case may prove +true with you, and much more. The story is in the fourth chapter. It is +a sort of advance page of the Book of Acts. A sample of the power of +Pentecost before the day of Pentecost. You and I live on the flood-side +of Pentecost. This illustration belongs back where the streams had only +just commenced trickling. It is a miniature. You and I may furnish the +life-size if we will. + +It is the story of a woman; not a man, but a woman. One of the _weaker_ +sex, so called. She was ignorant, prejudiced, and without social +standing. She was a woman of no reputation. Aye, worse than that, of bad +reputation. She probably had less moral influence in her town than any +one here has in his circle. Could a more unlikely person have been used? +But she came in touch with the Lord Jesus. She yielded herself to that +touch. There lies the secret of what follows. That contact radically +changed her. She went back to her village and commenced speaking about +Jesus to those she knew. She could not preach; she simply told plainly +and earnestly what she knew and believed about Him. And the result is +startling. There are hundreds of ministers who are earnestly longing +for what came so easily to her. What modern people call a revival began +at once. We are told in the simple language of the Gospel record that +"_many believed on Him because of the word of the woman._" They had not +seen Jesus yet. He was up by the well. They were down in the village. +She was an ignorant woman, of formerly sinful life. But there is the +record of the wonderful result of her simple witnessing--they believed +on Jesus because of the word of that woman. There is only one way to +account for such results. Only the Holy Spirit speaking through her lips +could have produced them. She had commenced drinking of the living water +of which Jesus had been talking to her, and now already the rivers were +flowing out to others. + +What Jesus did with her, He longs to do with you, _and far more_, if you +will let Him; though his plan for using you may be utterly different +from the one He had for her, and so the particular results different. +Now let me ask very frankly why have we not all such power for our +Master as she? The Master's plan is plain. He said "ye shall have +power." But so many of us do not have! Why not? Well, possibly some of +us are like Nicodemus--there is no power because of timidity, cowardice, +fear of what _they_ will think, or say. Possibly some of us are in the +same condition spiritually that Lazarus was in physically. We are tied +up tight, hands and feet and face. Some sin, some compromise, some +hushing of that inner voice, _something_ wrong. Some little thing, you +may say. Humph! as though anything _could_ be little that is wrong! _Sin +is never little!_ + + +A Clogged Channel. + +Out in Colorado they tell of a little town nestled down at the foot of +some hills--a sleepy-hollow village. You remember the rainfall is very +slight out there, and they depend much upon irrigation. But some +enterprising citizens ran a pipe up the hills to a lake of clear, sweet +water. As a result the town enjoyed a bountiful supply of water the year +round without being dependent upon the doubtful rainfall. And the +population increased and the place had quite a western boom. One morning +the housewives turned the water spigots, but no water came. There was +some sputtering. There is apt to be noise when there is nothing else. +The men climbed the hill. There was the lake full as ever. They examined +around the pipes as well as possible, but could find no break. Try as +they might, they could find no cause for the stoppage. And as days grew +into weeks, people commenced moving away again, the grass grew in the +streets, and the prosperous town was going back to its old sleepy +condition when one day one of the town officials received a note. It was +poorly written, with bad spelling and grammar, but he never cared less +about writing or grammar than just then. It said in effect: "Ef you'll +jes pull the plug out of the pipe about eight inches from the top you'll +get all the water you want." Up they started for the top of the hill, +and examining the pipe, found the plug which some vicious tramp had +inserted. Not a very big plug--just big enough to fill the pipe. It is +surprising how large a reservoir of water can be held back by how small +a plug. Out came the plug; down came the water freely; by and by back +came prosperity again. + +_Why_ is there such a lack of power in our lives? The reservoir up +yonder is full to overflowing, with clear, sweet, life-giving water. And +here all around us the earth is so dry, so thirsty, cracked open--huge +cracks like dumb mouths asking mutely for what we should give. And the +connecting pipes between the reservoir above and the parched plain below +are there. Why then do not the refreshing waters come rushing down? The +answer is very plain. You know why. _There is a plug in the pipe._ +Something in us clogging up the channel and nothing can get through. How +shall we have power, abundant, life-giving, sweetening our own lives, +and changing those we touch? The answer is easy for me to give--it will +be much harder for us all to do--_pull out the plug_. Get out the thing +that you know is hindering. + +I am going to ask every one who will, to offer this simple prayer--and I +am sure every thoughtful, earnest man and woman here will. Just bow +your head and quietly under your breath say to Him: "Lord Jesus, show +me what there is in my life that is displeasing to Thee; what there is +Thou wouldst change." You may be sure He will. He is faithful. He will +put His finger on that tender spot very surely. Then add a second clause +to that prayer--"By Thy grace helping me, _I will put it out_ whatever +it may cost, or wherever it may cut." Shall we bow our heads and offer +that prayer, and hew close to that line, steadily, faithfully? It will +open up a life of marvelous blessing undreamed of for you and everyone +you touch. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] John 3:1. 7:50. 12:42 with 9:22. 19:38, 39. + +[2] Rom. 5:5. + + + + +THE OLIVET MESSAGE. + +Searchlight Sights. + + +Coming into Cleveland harbor one evening, just after nightfall, a number +of passengers were gathered on the upper deck eagerly watching the +colored breakwater lights and the city lights beyond. Suddenly a general +curiosity was aroused by a small boat of some sort, on the left, +scudding swiftly along in the darkness like a blacker streak on the +black waters. A few of us who chanced to be near the captain on the +smaller deck above, heard him quietly say, "Turn on the searchlight." +Almost instantly an intense white light shone full on the stranger-boat, +bringing it to view so distinctly that we could almost count the +nail-heads, and the strands in her cordage. + +If some of us here to-night have made the prayer suggested in our last +talk together--Lord Jesus, show me what there is in my life that is +displeasing to Thee, that Thou wouldst change--we will appreciate +something of the power of that Lake Erie searchlight. There is a +searchlight whiter, intenser, more keenly piercing than any other. Into +every heart that desires, and will hold steadily open to it, the Lord +Jesus will turn that searching light. Then you will begin to see things +_as they actually are_. And that sight may well lead to discouragement. +Many a hidden thing, which you are glad enough to have hidden, will be +plainly seen. How is it possible, you will be ready to ask, for me to +lead the life the Master's ambition has planned for me, with such mixed +motives, selfish ambitions, sinfulness and weakness as I am beginning to +get a glimpse of--how is it possible? + +There is one answer to that intense heart-question, and only one. _We +must have power_, some supernatural power, something outside of us, and +above us, and far greater than we, to come in and win the victory within +us and for us. + +If that young man whose inner life is passion-swept, one tidal wave of +fierce temptation, hot on the heels of the last, until all the moorings +are snapped, and he driven rudderless out to sea--if he is to ride +masterfully upon that sea _he must have power_. + +If that young woman is to be as attractive, and womanly winsome in the +society circle where she moves, as she is meant to be, and yet able to +shape her lips into a gently uttered, but rock-ribbed _no_ when certain +well-understood questionable matters come up, _she must have power_. If +society young people are to remain in the world, and yet not be swayed +by its spirit: on one side not prudish, nor fanatical, nor extreme, but +cheery, and radiant, and full-lived, and yet free of those compromising +entanglements that are common to society everywhere, _they must have a +rare pervasive power_. + +For that business man down in the sharp competition of the world where +duty calls him, to resist the sly temptations to overreach, to keep +keenly alert not to be overreached; and through all to preserve an +uncensorious spirit, unhurt by the selfishness of the crowd--tell me, +some of you men--_will that not take power_? Aye, more power than some +of us know about, yet. + +For that same man to go through his store and remove from shelf or +counter some article which yields a good profit, but which he knows his +Master would not have there--Ah! _that'll take power_. + +_It takes power_ to keep the body under control: the mouth clean and +sweet, both physically and morally: the eye turned away from the thing +that should not be thought about: the ear closed to what should not +enter that in-gate of the heart: to allow no picture to hang upon the +walls of your imagination that may not hang upon the walls of your home: +to keep every organ of the body pure for nature's holy function +only--_that takes mighty power_. + +For that young man to be wide-awake, a pusher in business, and yet +steadily, determinedly to hold back any crowding of the other side of +his life: the inner side, the outer-helpful side, the Bible-reading- +and secret-prayer- and quiet personal-work-side of his life, _that will +take real power_. + +_It will take a power_ that some of us have not known to let that glass +go untouched, and that quieting drug untasted and unhandled. If the rear +end of some pharmacies could speak out, many a story would startle our +ears of struggles and defeats that tell sadly of utter lack of power. + +_It takes power_ for the man of God in the pulpit to speak plainly about +particular sins before the faces of those who are living in them; and +_still more power_ to do it with the rare tactfulness and tenderness of +the Galilean preacher. _It takes power_ to stick to the Gospel story and +the old book, when literature and philosophy present such fine +opportunities for the essays that are so enjoyable and that bring such +flattering notice. _It takes power_ to leave out the finely woven +rhetoric that you are disposed to put in for the sake of the compliment +it will bring from that literary woman down yonder, or that bright, +brainy young lawyer in the fifth pew on the left aisle. _It takes power_ +to see that the lips that speak for God are thoroughly clean lips, and +the life that stands before that audience a pure life. + +_It takes power_ to keep sweet in the home, where, if anywhere, the +seamy side is apt to stick out. How many wooden oaths could kicked +chairs and slammed doors tell of! After all the home-life comes close to +being the real test of power, does it not? _It takes power_ to be +gracious and strong, and patient and tender, and cheery, in the +commonplace things, and the commonplace places, does it not? + +Now, I have something to tell you to-night that to me is very +wonderful, and constantly growing in wonder. It is this--_the Master has +thought of all that!_ He has thought into your life. Yes, I mean _your +particular life_, and made an arrangement to fully cover all your need +of power. He stands anew in our midst to-day, and putting His pierced +hand gently upon your arm, His low, loving, clear voice says quietly, +but very distinctly, "_You--you shall have power._" For every subtle, +strong temptation, for every cry of need, for every low moan of +disappointment, for every locking of the jaws in the resolution of +despair, for every disheartened look out into the morrow, for every +yearningly ambitious heart there comes to-night that unmistakable +ringing promise of _His_--_ye shall have power_. + + +The Olivet Message. + +Our needs argue the necessity of power. And the argument is strengthened +by the peculiar emphasis of the Master's words. Do you remember that +wondrous Olivet scene? In the quiet twilight of a Sabbath evening a +group of twelve young men stand yonder on the brow of Olives. The last +glowing gleams of the setting sun fill all the western sky, and shed a +halo of yellow glory-light over the hilltop, through the trees, in upon +that group. You instantly pick out the leader. No mistaking Him. And +around Him group the eleven men who have lived with Him these months +past, now eagerly gazing into that marvelous face, listening for His +words. He is going away. They know that. Coming back soon, they +understand. But in His absence the work He has begun is to be entrusted +to their hands. And so with ears and eyes they listen intently for the +good-bye word--His last message. It will mean so much in the coming +days. + +Two things the Master says. The first is that ringing "go ye" so +familiar to every true heart. The second is a very decisive, distinct +"_but tarry ye_." What, wait still longer! Tarry, now, when your great +work is done! Listen again, while His parting words cut the air with +their startling distinctness "_but tarry ye--until ye be endued with +power_." + +I could readily imagine impulsive Peter quickly saying, "What! shall we +_tarry_ when the whole world is dying! Do we not _know_ enough now?" And +the Master's answer would come in that clear, quiet voice of His, "yes, +tarry: you have knowledge enough, but _knowledge is not enough_, there +must be power." + +There is knowledge enough within the christian church of every +land--aye, knowledge enough within the walls of this building to-night +to convert the world, if knowledge would do it. Into many a life, +through home training, and school, and college, has come knowledge, +while power lingers without--a stranger. Knowledge--the twin idol with +gold to American hearts--is essential, but, let it be plainly said, is +not _the_ essential. Knowledge is the fuel piled up in the fireplace. +The mantel is of carved oak, and the fenders so highly polished they +seem almost to send out warmth, but the thermometer is working down +toward zero, and the people are shivering. The spark of living fire is +essential. Then how all changes! There must be fire from above to kindle +our knowledge and ourselves before any of the needed results will come. + +There is no language strong enough to tell how absolutely needful it is +that every follower of Jesus Christ from the one most prominent in +leadership down to the very humblest disciple, shall receive this +promised power. + +Look at these men Jesus is talking to. There is Peter, the man of rock, +and John and James, the sons of thunder. They were with the Lord on the +Transfiguration Mount, and when He raised the dead. They were near by +during the awful agony of Gethsemane. They were admitted nearer to the +Master's inner life than any others. There is quiet matter-of-fact +Andrew, who had a reputation for bringing others to Jesus. There is +Nathanael, in whom is no guile. It is to these men that there comes that +positive command to tarry. If _they_ needed such a command, do not we? + +"Yes," someone says, "I understand that this power you speak of is +something the leaders and preachers must have, but you scarcely mean +that there is the same necessity for us people down in the ranks, and +that we are to expect the same power as these others, do you?" Will you +please call to mind that original Pentecost company? There were one +hundred and twenty of them. And while there was a Peter being prepared +to preach that tremendous sermon, and a John to write five books of the +New Testament and probably a James to preside over the affairs of the +Jerusalem Church, and possibly a Stephen, and a Philip, yet these are +only a few. By far the greater number, both men and women, are unnamed +and unknown. Just the common, every-day folk, the filling-in of society; +aye, the very foundation of all society. They had no prominent part to +play. But they accepted the Master's promise of power, and His command +to wait, _as made to them_. And as a result _they, too_, were filled +with the Holy Spirit, that wonderful morning. I think, very likely, "the +good man of the house" whose guest Jesus was that last night was there, +and all the Marys, including the Bethany Mary, who simply sat at His +feet, and the Magdalene Mary, and housekeeper Martha, and maybe that +little lad whose loaves and fishes had been used about a year before. +That was the sort of company that prayerfully, with one accord, not only +waited but _received_ that never-to-be-forgotten filling of the Holy +Spirit. + +Certainly, as some of you think, the preacher must have this power +peculiarly for his leadership. But just as really he needs it _because +he is a man for his living_, to make him sweet and gentle and patient +down in his home: to make him sympathetic and strong in his constant +contact with the hungry hearts he must meet. That young mechanic must +have this promised power if he is to live an earnest, manly life in that +shop. That school girl, whose home duties crowd her time so; that +keen-minded student working for honors amid strong competition; these +society young people; these all need, above all else, this promised +power that in, and through, and around and above all of their lives may +be a wholesomely sweet, earnest Christliness, pervading the life even as +the odor of flowers pervades a room. + +Do you remember Paul's list of the traits of character that mark a +christian life--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, +meekness, faithfulness, self-control?[3] Suppose for a moment you think +through a list of the opposites of those nine +characteristics--bitterness, envy, hate, low-spiritedness, sulkiness, +chafing, fretting, worrying, short-suffering, quick-temper, hot-temper, +high-spiritedness, unsteadiness, unreliability, lack of control of +yourself. May I ask, have you any personal acquaintance with some of +these qualities? Is there still some need in your life for the other +desirable traits? Well, remember that it is only as the Holy Spirit has +_control_ that this fruit of His is found. For notice that it is not we +that bear this fruit, but He in us. We furnish the soil. He must have +free swing in its cultivation if He is to get this harvest. And notice, +too, that it does not say "the _fruits_ of the Spirit," as though _you_ +might have one or more, and _I_ have some others. But it is +"fruit"--that is, it is all one fruit and all of it is meant to be +growing up in each one of us. And let the fact be put down as settled +once for all that only as we tarry and receive the Master's promise of +power can we live the lives He longs to have us live down here among men +for Him. + +If that father is so to live at home before those wide-awake, growing +boys that he can keep up the family altar, and instead of letting it +become a mere irksome form, make it the green, fresh spot in the home +life, he must have this promised power, for he cannot do it of himself. +I presume _some_ of you fathers know that. + +There is that mother, living in what would be reckoned a humble home, +one of a thousand like it, but charged with the most sacred trust ever +committed to human hands--_the molding of precious lives_. If there be +hallowed ground anywhere surely it is there, in the life of that home. +What patience and tirelessness, and love and tact and wisdom and wealth +of resource does that woman not need! Ah, mothers! if any one needs to +tarry and receive the power promised by the Son of that Mary, who was +filled with the Holy Spirit from before His birth for her sacred trust, +_surely you do_. + +Here sits one whose life plans seem to have gone all askew. The thing +you love to do, and had fondly planned over, removed utterly beyond +your reach and you compelled to fit in to something for which you have +no taste. It will take nothing less than the power the Master promised +for you to go on faithfully, cheerfully just where you have been placed, +no repining, no complaining, even in your innermost soul, but, instead, +a glad, joyous fitting into the Father's plan with a radiant light in +the face. Only His power can accomplish that victory! But _His can_. And +His may be yours for the tarrying and the taking. + +Let me repeat then with all the emphasis possible that as certainly as +you need to trust Jesus Christ for your soul's salvation, you also need +to receive this power of the Holy Spirit to work that salvation out _in +your present life_. + + +A Double Center. + +It has helped me greatly in understanding the Master's insistent +emphasis upon the promise of power to keep clearly in mind that the +christian system of truth revolves around a double center. It is +illustrated best not by a circle with its single center, but by an +ellipse with its twin centers. There are two central truths--not one, +but two. The first of the two is grained deep down in the common +Christian teaching and understanding. If I should ask any group of +Sabbath school children in this town, next Sabbath morning, the +question: What is the most important thing we christians believe? Amid +the great variety in the form of answer would come, in substance, +without doubt, this reply: "_The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from +all sin._" And they would be right. But there is a second truth--very +reverently and thoughtfully let me say--of _equal importance_ with that; +namely, this: _the Holy Spirit empowereth against all sin, and for life +and service_. These two truths are co-ordinate. They run in parallel +lines. They belong together. They are really two halves of the one great +truth. But this second half needs emphasis, because it has not always +been put into its proper place beside the other. + +Jesus died on the cross to make freedom from sin _possible_. The Holy +Spirit dwells within me to make freedom from sin _actual_. The Holy +Spirit does _in_ me what Jesus did _for_ me. The Lord Jesus makes a +deposit in the bank on my account. The Spirit checks the money out and +puts it into my hands. Jesus does in me now by His Spirit what He did +for me centuries ago on the cross, in His person. + +Now these two truths, or two parts of the same truth, go together in +God's plan, but, with some exceptions, have not gone together in men's +experience. That explains why so many christian lives are a failure and +a reproach. The Church of Christ has been gazing so intently upon the +hill of the cross with its blood-red message of sin and love, that it +has largely lost sight of the Ascension Mount with its legacy of power. +We have been so enwrapt with that marvelous scene on Calvary--and what +wonder!--that we have allowed ourselves to lose the intense significance +of Pentecost. That last victorious shout--"It is finished"--has been +crowding out in our ears its counterpart--the equally victorious cry of +Olivet--"_All power hath been given unto Me._" + +The christian's range of vision must always take in two +hill-tops--Calvary and Olivet. Calvary--sin conquered through the blood +of Jesus, a matter of history. Olivet--sin conquered through the power +of Jesus, a matter of experience. When the subject is spoken of, we are +apt to say: "Yes, that is correct. I understand that." But _do_ we +understand it in our _experience_? So certainly as I must trust Jesus as +my Saviour so certainly must I constantly yield my life to the control +of the Spirit of Jesus if I am to find real the practical power of His +salvation. + +As surely as men are now urged to accept Jesus as the great step in +life, so surely should they be instructed to yield themselves to the +Holy Spirit's control that Jesus' plan for their lives may be carried +through. + +You remember in the olden time the Hebrew men were required to appear +before God in the appointed place three times during the year. At the +Passover, and at Pentecost, and again at the harvest home feast of +Tabernacles. So it is required of every man of us who would fit his +life into God's plan that he shall first of all come to the Passover +feast, where Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. And then that he +shall as certainly come to the great Pentecost feast, or feast of first +fruits where a glorified Passover Lamb breathes down His Spirit of power +into the life. And then he is sure to have a constant attendance at a +first-fruits feast all his days, with a great harvest home festival at +the end. + +I said there were two central truths. Will you notice that the gospels +put it also in this way, that _Jesus came to do two things_--not one +thing, but _two_ things--in working out our salvation. That the first is +dependent for its practical power upon the second, and the second is the +completing or carrying into effect of the power of the first. That the +first--let me say it with great reverence--is valueless without the +second. + +What _was_ Jesus' mission? Would you not expect His forerunner to +understand it? Listen, then, to his words. When questioned specifically +by the official deputation sent from the national leaders at Jerusalem, +he pointed to Jesus, and declared that He had come for a two-fold +purpose. Listen: "Behold the Lamb of God who beareth away the sin of the +world"; and then he added, and the word comes to us with the peculiar +emphasis of repetition by each of the four gospel scribes--"this is He +that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." That was spoken to them originally +without doubt in a national sense. It just as surely applies to every +one of us in a personal sense. + +Mark also the emphasis of _Jesus' own teachings_ regarding this second +part of His mission. At the very beginning He spoke the decided words +about the necessity of being born of the Spirit. And we are all +impressed with that fact. But observe that several times, in the brief +gospel record, He refers the disciples to the overshadowing importance +of the _Spirit's control in the life_. And that He devotes a large part +of that last long confidential talk which John records, to this special +subject, pointing out the new experiences to come with the coming of the +Spirit, and holding out to them as the greatest evidence of His own love +_the promise of power_. + +It adds intense emphasis to all this to note that Jesus Himself, very +Son of God, was in that wonderful human life of His utterly dependent +upon the Holy Spirit. At the very outset, before venturing upon a single +act or word of His appointed ministry, He waits at the Jordan waters, +until the promised anointing of power came. What a picture does that +prayerfully waiting Jesus present to powerless men to-day! From that +moment every bit and part of His life was under the control of that Holy +Spirit. Impelled into the wilderness for that fierce set-to with Satan, +coming back to Galilee within the power of the Spirit, He himself +clearly stated more than once, that it was through this anointing that +He preached, and taught, and healed, and cast out demons. The writer to +the Hebrews assures us that it was through the power of the Eternal +Spirit that He was enabled to go through the awful experiences of +Gethsemane and Calvary. And Luke adds that it was through the same +empowering Spirit that He gave commandment to the apostles for the +stupendous task of world-wide evangelization. And then at the very last +referring them to that life of His, He said: "As the father hath sent Me +even so send I you." Let me ask if He, very God of very God, yet in His +earthly life intensely human, needed that anointing, do not we? If He +waited for that experience before venturing upon any service, shall not +you and I? + +But we must turn to the book of Acts to get fully within the grip of +this truth. For it, with the epistles fitting into it, is peculiarly the +_Holy Spirit book_, even as the Old Testament is the _Jehovah book_ and +the gospels with Revelation the _Jesus book_. The climax of the gospels +is in the Acts. What is promised in the gospels is _experienced_ in the +Acts. + +Jesus is dominant in the gospels; the Spirit of Jesus in the Acts. He is +the only continuous personality from first to last. He is the common +denominator of the book. The first twelve chapters group about Peter, +the remaining sixteen about Paul, but distinctly above both they all +group about the Holy Spirit. He is the one dominant factor throughout. +The first fourth of the book is fairly aflame with His presence at the +center--Jerusalem. Thence out to Samaria, and through the Cornelius +door to the whole outer non-Jewish world; at Antioch the new center, and +thence through the uttermost parts of the Roman empire into its heart, +His is the presence recognized and obeyed. He is ceaselessly guiding, +empowering, inspiring, checking, controlling clear to the abrupt end. +His is the one mastering personality. And everywhere His presence is a +transforming presence. Nothing short of startling is the change in +Peter, in the attitude of the Jerusalem thousands, in the persecutor +Saul, in the spirit of these disciples, in the unprecedented and +unparalleled unselfishness shown. It is revolutionary. Ah! it was meant +to be so. This book is the living illustration of what Jesus meant by +His teaching regarding His successor. It becomes also an acted +illustration of what the personal christian life is meant to be. + +The Spirit's presence and the necessity of His control is deep-grained +in the consciousness of the leaders in this book. Leaving the stirring +scenes at the capital the eighth chapter takes us down to Samaria. +Multitudes have been led to believe through the preaching of a man who +has been chosen to look after the business matters of the church. Peter +and John are sent down to aid the new movement. Note that their very +first concern is to spend time in prayer that this great company may +receive the Holy Spirit. + +The next chapter shifts the scene to Damascus. A man unknown save for +this incident is sent as God's messenger to Saul. As he lays his hand +upon this chosen man and speaks the light-giving words he instinctively +adds, "and be filled with the Holy Spirit." That is not recorded as a +part of what he had been told to do. But plainly this humble man of God +believes that that is the essential element in Saul's preparation for +his great work. + +In the tenth chapter the Holy Spirit's action with Cornelius completely +upsets the life-long, rock-rooted ideas of these intensely national, and +intensely exclusive Jews. Yet it is accepted as final. + +With what quaint simplicity does the thirteenth chapter tell of the Holy +Spirit's initiation of those great missionary journeys of Paul from the +new center of world evangelization? "the Holy Spirit said, etc." And how +like it is the language of James in delivering the judgment of the first +church council:--"it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." + +Paul's conviction is very plain from numerous references in those +wonderful heart-searching and heart-revealing letters of his. But one +instance in this Book of Acts will serve as a fair illustration of his +teaching and habit. It is in the nineteenth chapter. In his travels he +has come as far as to Ephesus, and finds there a small company of +earnest disciples. They are strangers to him. He longs to help them, but +must first find their need. At once he puts a question to them. A +question may be a great revealer. This one reveals his own conception +of what must be the pivotal experience of every true follower of Jesus. +He asks: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" + +But they had been poorly instructed, like many others since, and were +not clear just what he meant. They had received the baptism of John--a +baptism of repentance; but not the baptism of Jesus--a baptism of power. +And Paul at once gives himself up to instructing and then praying with +them until the promised gift is graciously bestowed. That is the last we +hear of those twelve persons. Some of them may have been women. Some may +have come to be leaders in that great Ephesian Church. But of that +nothing is said. The emphasis remains on the fact that in Paul's mind +because they were followers of the Lord Jesus they must have this +empowering experience of the Holy Spirit's infilling. + +Plainly in this Book of Acts the pivot on which all else rests and turns +is the unhindered presence of the Holy Spirit. + + +Five Essentials. + +If you will stop a while to think into it you will find that a rightly +rounded christian life has five essential characteristics. I mean +essential in the same sense as that light is an essential to the eye. +The eye's seeing depends wholly on light. If it does not see light, by +and by, it cannot see light. The ear that hears no sound loses the +power to hear sound. Light is essential to the healthful eye: sound to +the ear: air to the lungs: blood to the heart. Just as really are these +five things essential to a strong healthful christian life. + +The _second_ of these is a heart-love for the old Book of God. Not +reading it as a duty--taking a chapter at night because you feel you +must. I do not mean that just now. But reading it because you _love_ to; +as you would a love letter or a letter from home. Thinking about it as +the writer of the one hundred and nineteenth psalm did. Listen to him +for a moment in that one psalm, talking about this book: "I delight," "I +will delight," "My delight"--in all nine times. "I love," "Oh! how I +love," "I do love," "Consider how I love," "I love exceedingly," again +nine times in all. "I have longed," "My eyes fail," "My soul breaketh," +speaking of the intensity of his desire to get alone with the book. +"Sweeter than honey," "As great spoil," "As much as all riches," "Better +than thousands of gold," "Above gold, yea, above fine gold." And all +that packed into less than two leaves. Do you love this Book like that? +Would you like to? Wait a moment. + +The _third_ essential is right habits of prayer. Living a veritable life +of prayer. Making prayer the chief part not alone of your life, but of +your service. Having answers to prayer as a constant experience. Being +like the young man in a conference in India, who said, "I used to pray +three times a day: Now I pray only once a day, and that is _all_ day." +Feet busy all the day, hands ceaselessly active, head full of matters of +business, but the heart never out of communication with Him. Has prayer +become to you like that? Would you have it so? Wait a moment. + +The _fourth_ essential is a pure, earnest, unselfish life. Our lives are +the strongest part of us--or else the weakest. A man knows the least of +the influence of his own life. Life is not mere length of time but the +daily web of character we unconsciously weave. Our thoughts, +imaginations, purposes, motives, love, will, are the under threads: our +words, tone of voice, looks, acts, habits are the upper threads: and the +passing moment is the shuttle swiftly, ceaselessly, relentlessly, +weaving those threads into a web, and that web is life. It is woven, not +by our wishing, or willing, but irresistibly, unavoidably, woven by what +we _are_, moment by moment, hour after hour. What is your life weaving +out? Is it attractive because of the power in it of _His_ presence? +Would you have it so? Would you know the secret of a life marked by the +strange beauty of humility, and fragrant with the odor of _His_ +presence? Wait just a moment. + +The _fifth_ essential is a passion for winning others one by one to the +Lord Jesus. A passion, I say. I may use no weaker word than that. A +passion burning with the steady flame of anthracite. A passion for +_winning_: not driving, nor dragging, but drawing men. I am not talking +about preachers just now, as preachers, but about every one of us. Do +you know the peculiar delight there is in winning the fellow by your +side, the girl in your social circle, to Jesus Christ? No? Ah, you have +missed half your life! Would you have such an intense passion as that, +thrilling your heart, and inspiring your life, and know how to do it +skillfully and tactfully? + +Let me tell you with my heart that the secret not only of this, but of +all four of these essentials I have named lies in the first one which I +have not yet named, and grows out of it. Given the first the others will +follow as day follows the rising sun. + +What is the first great essential? It is this--the unrestrained, +unhindered, controlling presence in the heart of the Holy Spirit. It is +allowing Jesus' other Self, the Holy Spirit, to take full possession and +maintain a loving but absolute monopoly of all your powers. + + +Tarry. + +My friend, have you received this promised power? Is there a growing up +of those four things within you by His grace? Does the Holy Spirit have +freeness of sway in you? Are you conscious of the fullness of His love +and power--conscious enough to know how much there is beyond of which +you are not conscious? Does your heart say, "No." Well, things may be +moving smoothly in that church of which you are pastor, and in that +school over which you preside. Business may be in a satisfactory +condition. Your standing in society may be quite pleasing. Your plans +working out well. The family may be growing up around you as you had +hoped. But let me say to you very kindly but very plainly _your life +thus far is a failure_. You have been succeeding splendidly it may be in +a great many important matters, but they are _the details_ and in the +main issue you have failed utterly. + +And to you to-night I bring one message--the Master's Olivet +message--"_tarry ye_." No need of tarrying, as with these disciples, for +_God_ to do something. His part has been done, and splendidly done. And +He waits now upon you. But tarry until you are willing to put out of +your life what displeases Him, no matter what that may mean to you. +Tarry until your eyesight is corrected; until your will is surrendered. +Tarry that you may start the habit of tarrying, for those two Olivet +words, "Go" and "tarry," will become the even-balancing law of your new +life. A constant going to do His will; a continual tarrying to find out +His will. Tarry to get your ears cleared and quieted so you can learn to +recognize that low voice of His. Tarry earnestly, steadily until that +touch of power comes to change, and cleanse, and quiet, and to give you +a totally new conception of what power is. Then you can understand the +experience of the one who wrote:-- + + "My hands were filled with many things + That I did precious hold, + As any treasure of a king's-- + Silver, or gems, or gold. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (The scars were in His own) + And at His feet my treasures sweet + Fell shattered, one by one. + 'I must have empty hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works through thee.' + + "My hands were stained with marks of toil, + Defiled with dust of earth; + And I my work did ofttimes soil, + And render little worth. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (And crimson were His own) + But when, amazed, on mine I gazed, + Lo! every stain was gone. + 'I must have cleansed hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works through thee.' + + "My hands were growing feverish + And cumbered with much care! + Trembling with haste and eagerness, + Nor folded oft in prayer. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (With healing in His own) + And calm and still to do His will + They grew--the fever gone. + 'I must have quiet hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works for Me.' + + "My hands were strong in fancied strength, + But not in power divine, + And bold to take up tasks at length, + That were not His but mine. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (And might was in His own!) + But mine since then have powerless been, + _Save His are laid thereon_. + 'And it is only thus,' said He, + 'That I can work My works through thee.'" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Gal., 5:22. + + + + +THE CHANNEL OF POWER. + +A Word that Sticks and Stings. + + +I suppose everyone here can think of three or four persons whom he loves +or regards highly, who are not christians. Can you? Perhaps in your own +home circle, or in the circle of your close friends. They may be nice +people, cultured, lovable, delightful companions, fond of music and good +books, and all that; but this is true of them, that they do not trust +and confess Jesus as a personal Savior. Can you think of such persons in +your own circle? I am going to wait a few moments in silence while you +recall them to mind, if you will--Can you see their faces? Are their +names clear to your minds? + +Now I want to talk with you a little while to-night, not about the whole +world, but just about these three or four dear friends of yours. I am +going to suppose them lovely people in personal contact, cultured, and +kindly, and intelligent, and of good habits even though all that may not +be true of all of them. And, I want to ask you a question--God's +question--about them. You remember God put His hand upon Cain's arm, +and, looking into his face, said: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" I want +to ask you that question. Where are these four friends? Not where are +they socially, nor financially, nor educationally. These are important +questions. But they are less important than this other question: Where +are they as touching _Him_? Where are they as regards the best life +here, and the longer life beyond this one? + +And I shall not ask you what you think about it. For I am not concerned +just now with what you think. Nor shall I tell you what I think. For I +am not here to tell you what I think, but to bring a message from the +Master as plainly and kindly as I can. So I shall ask you to notice what +this old book of God says about these friends of yours. It is full of +statements regarding them. I can take time for only a few. + +Turn, for instance, to the last chapter of Mark's Gospel, and the +sixteenth verse, and you will find these words: "He that believeth and +is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be--." You know +the last word of that sentence. It is an ugly word. I dislike intensely +to think it, much less repeat it. It is one of those blunt, sharp, +Anglo-Saxon words that stick and sting. I wish I had a tenderer tone of +voice, in which to repeat it, and then only in a low whisper--it is so +awful--"_damned_." + +Let me ask you very gently: Does the first part of that sentence--"he +that believeth--trusteth--not," does that describe the four friends you +are thinking of now? And please remember that that word "believeth" +does not mean the assent of the mind to a form of creed: never that: but +the assent of the heart to a person: always that. "Yes," you say "I'm +afraid it does: that is just the one thing. He is thoughtful and +gentlemanly; she is kind and good; but they do not trust Jesus Christ +personally." Then let me add, very kindly, but very plainly, if the +first part is an accurate description of your friends, the second part +is meant to apply to them, too, would you not say? And that is an awful +thing to say. + +What a strange book this Bible is! It makes such radical statements, and +uses such unpleasant words that grate on the nerves, and startle the +ear. No man would have dared of himself to write such statements. + +I remember one time visiting a friend in Boston, engaged in christian +work there; an earnest man. We were talking one day about this very +thing and I recall saying: "Do you really believe that what the Bible +says about these people can be true? Because if it is you and I should +be tremendously stirred up over it." And I recall distinctly his reply, +after a moment's pause, "Well, their condition certainly will be +unfortunate." _Unfortunate!_ That is the Bostonese of it. That is a much +less disagreeable word. It has a smoother finish--a sort of polish--to +it. It does not jar on your feelings so. But this book uses a very +different word from that, a word that must grate harshly upon every ear +here. + +I know very well that some persons have associated that ugly word with a +scene something like this: They have imagined a man standing with fist +clenched, and eyes flashing fire, and the lines of his face knotted up +hard, as he says in a harsh voice, "He that believeth not shall be +damned," as though he found pleasure in saying it. If there is _one_ +person here to-night who ever had such a conception, will you kindly cut +it out of your imagination at once? For it is untrue. And put in its +place the true setting of the word. + +Have you ever noticed what a difference the manner, and expression of +face, and tone of voice, yes, and the character of a person make in the +impression his words leave upon your mind? Now mark: It is Jesus talking +here. _Jesus_--the tenderest-hearted, the most mother-hearted man this +world ever listened to. Look at Him, standing there on that hilltop, +looking out toward the great world He has just died for, with the tears +coming into His eyes, and His lips quivering with the awfulness of what +He was saying--"he that believeth not shall be damned," as though it +just broke his heart to say it. And it did break His heart that it might +not be true of us. For He died literally of a broken heart, the walls of +that great, throbbing muscle burst asunder by the strain of soul. That +is the true setting of that terrific statement. + +Please notice it does not say that God damns men. You will find that +nowhere within the pages of this book. But it is love talking; love that +sees the end of the road and speaks of it. And true love tells the truth +at all risks when it must be told. And Jesus because of His dying and +undying love seeks to make men acquainted with the fact which _He_ sees +so plainly, and _they_ do not. + +Now turn for a moment to a second statement. You will find it in +Galatians, third chapter, tenth verse. Paul is quoting from the book of +Deuteronomy these words: "Cursed"--there is another ugly word--"cursed +is everyone who continueth not in all the words of the book of this law +to do them." Let me ask: Does that describe your friends? Well, I guess +it describes us all, does it not? Who is there here that has continued +in all the words of the book of this law to do them? If there is some +one I think perhaps you would better withdraw, for I have no message for +you to-night. The sole difference between some of us, and these friends +you have in your mind is that _we_ are depending upon Another who bore +the curse for us. But these friends decline to come into personal touch +with Him. Do they not? And this honest spoken book of God tells us +plainly of that word "cursed" which has been written, and remains +written, over their faces and lives. + +The Bible is full of such statements. There is no need of multiplying +them. And I am sure I have no heart in repeating any more of them. But +I bring you these two for a purpose. This purpose: of asking you one +question--whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Some one is at fault. +There is blame somewhere. This thing is all wrong. It is no part of +God's plan, and when things go wrong, some one is to blame. Now I ask +you: _Who_ is to blame? + + +A Mother-Heart. + +Well, there are just four persons, or groups of persons concerned. There +is God; and Satan; and these friends we are talking about; and, +ourselves, who are not a bit better in ourselves than they--not a +bit--but who are trusting some One else to see us through. Somewhere +within the lines of those four we must find the blame of this awful +state of affairs. Well, we can say very promptly that Satan is to blame. +He is at the bottom of it all. And that certainly is true, though it is +not all of the truth. Then it can be added, and added in a softer voice +because the thing is so serious, and these friends are dear to us, that +these people themselves are to blame. And that is true, too. Because +they _choose_ to remain out of touch with Him who died that it might not +be so. For there is no sin charged where there is no choice made. Sin +follows choice. Only where one has known the wrong and has chosen it is +there sin charged. + +But that this awful condition goes on unchanged, that those two ugly +words remain true of our dear friends, day after day, while we meet +them, and live with them, is there still blame? There are just two left +out of the four: God, and ourselves who trust Him. Let me ask very +reverently, but very plainly: Is it God's fault? You and I have both +heard such a thing hinted at, and sometimes openly said. I believe it is +a good thing with reverence to ask, and attempt to find the answer, to +such a question as that. And for answer let me first bring to you a +picture of the God of the Old Testament whom some people think of as +being just, but severe and stern. + +Away back in the earliest time, in the first book, Genesis, the sixth +chapter, and down in verses five and six are these words: "And the Lord +saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and"--listen to +these words--"that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was +only evil continually." + +What an arraignment! "Every imagination," "evil," "_only_ evil;" no +mixture of good at all; "only evil _continually_," no occasional spurts +of good even--the whole fabric bad, and bad clear through, and all the +time. Is not that a terrific arraignment? But listen further: "And it +repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and"--listen to +these last pathetic words--"_it grieved Him at His heart_." + +Will you please remember that "grieve" is always a love word? There can +be no grief except where there is love. You may annoy a neighbor, or +vex a partner, or anger an acquaintance, but you cannot grieve except +where there is love, and you cannot be grieved except wherein you love. + +I have sometimes, more often than I could wish, seen a case like this. A +young man of good family sent away to college. He gets in with the wrong +crowd, for they are not all angels in colleges yet, quite. Gets to +smoking and drinking and gambling, improper hours, bad companions, and +all that. His real friends try to advise him, but without effect. By and +by the college authorities remonstrate with him, and he tries to +improve, but without much success after the first pull. And after a +while, very reluctantly, he is suspended, and sent home in disgrace. He +feels very bad, and makes good resolutions and earnest promises, and +when he returns he does do much better for a time. But it does not last +long. Soon he is in with the old crowd again, the old round of habits +and dissipations, only now it gets worse than before; the pace is +faster. And the upshot of it all is that he is called up before the +authorities and expelled, sent home in utter disgrace, not to return. + +And here is his chum who roomed with him, ate with him, lived with him. +He says, "Well, I declare, I am all broken up over Jim. It's too bad! He +was "hail-fellow, well met," and now he has gone like that. I'm awfully +sorry. It's too bad! too bad!!" And by and by he forgets about it +except as an unpleasant memory roused up now and then. And here is one +of his professors who knew him best perhaps, and liked him. "Well," he +says, "it is too bad about young Collins. Strange, too, he came of good +family; good blood in his veins; and yet he seems to have gone right +down with the ragtag. It's too bad! too bad!! I am so sorry." And the +matter passes from his mind in the press of duties and is remembered +only occasionally as one of the disagreeable things to be regretted, and +perhaps philosophized over. + +And there is the boy's father's partner, down in the home town. "Well," +he soliloquizes, "it is too bad about Collins' boy. He is all broken up +over it, and no wonder. Doesn't it seem queer? That boy has as good +blood as there is: good father, lovely mother, and yet gone clean to the +bad, and so young. It is too bad! I am awfully sorry for Collins." And +in the busy round of life he forgets, save as a bad dream which will +come back now and then. + +But down in that boy's home there is a woman--a mother, +heart-broken--secretly bleeding her heart out through her eyes. She goes +quietly, faithfully about her round of life, but her hair gets thinner, +and the gray streaks it plainer, her form bends over more, and the lines +become more deeply bitten in her face, as the days come and go. And if +you talk with her, and she will talk with you, she will say, "Oh, yes, I +know other mothers' boys go wrong; some of them going wrong all the +time; but to think of _my Jim_--that I've nursed, and loved so, and done +everything for--to think that my Jim--" and her voice chokes in her +throat, and she refuses to be comforted. _She grieves at her heart._ Ah! +that is the picture of God in that Genesis chapter. He saw that the +world He had made and lavished all the wealth of His love upon had gone +wrong, and it grieved Him at His heart. + +This world is God's prodigal son, and He is heartbroken over it. And +what has He done about it. Ah! what has He done! Turn to Mark's twelfth +chapter, and see there Jesus' own picture of His Father as He knew Him. +In the form of a parable He tells how His Father felt about things here. +He sent man after man to try and win us back, but without effect, except +that things got worse. Then Jesus represents God talking with Himself. +"What _shall_ I do next, to win them back?--there is My son--My only +boy--Jesus--I believe--yes, I believe I'll send Him--then they'll _see_ +how badly I feel, and how much I love them; that'll touch them surely; +I'll do it." You remember just how that sixth verse goes, "He had yet +one, a beloved Son; He sent Him _last_ unto them, saying, they will +_reverence_ my Son." And you know how they treated God's Son, His love +gift. And I want to remind you to-night that, speaking in our human +way--the only way we can speak--God suffered more in seeing His Son +suffer than though He might have suffered Himself. Ask any mother here: +Would you not gladly suffer pain in place of your child suffering if you +could? And every mother-heart answers quickly, "Aye, ten times over, if +the child could be spared pain." Where did you get that marvelous +mother-heart and mother-love? Ah, that mother-heart is a bit of the +God-heart transferred. That is what God is like. Let me repeat very +reverently that God suffered more in giving His Son to suffer than +though He had Himself suffered. And that is the God of the Old +Testament! Let me ask: Is _He_ to blame? Has He not done His best? + +Let it be said as softly as you will, and yet very plainly, that those +awful words, "damned" and "cursed," whatever their meaning may be, are +true of your friends. Then add: It is not so because of God's will in +the matter, but in spite of His will. Remember that God exhausted all +the wealth of His resource when He gave His Son. There can come nothing +more after that. + + +Your Personality Needed. + +Then there is a second question from God's side to ask about those ugly +words: thoughtfully, and yet plainly--Is it the fault of Jesus, the Son +of God? And let anyone here listen to Him speaking in that tenth chapter +of John. "I lay down My life for the sheep. No man taketh it from Me. I +lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and power to take it +again." And then go out yonder to that scene just outside the Jerusalem +wall. There hangs Jesus upon that cross, suspended by nails through +hands and feet. He is only thirty-three. He is intensely human. Life was +just as sweet to Him that day as it is to you and me to-night. Aye, more +sweet: for sin had not taken the edge off his relish of life. Plainly He +could have prevented them. For many a time had He held the murderous mob +in check by the sheer power of His presence alone. Yet there He hangs +from nine until noon and until three--six long hours. And He said He did +it for you, for me. Do not ask me to tell _how_ His dying for us saves. +I do not know. No one statement seems to tell all the truth. When I +study into it I always get clear beyond my depth. In a tremendous way it +tells a double story; of the damnable blackness of sin; and of the +intensity of love. I do know that _He said_ He did it for us, and for +our salvation, and that it had to be done. But as we look to-day on that +scene, again the question: does any of the blame of the awful statements +this book makes regarding your friends belong to Him, do you think? And +I think I hear your hearts say "surely not." + +Well, the Father has done His best. No blame surely attaches there. The +Son has gone to the utmost limit. No fault can be found there. There is +just one other left up yonder, of the divine partnership--the Holy +Spirit. What about Him. Listen. Just as soon as the Son went back home +with face and form all scarred from His brief stay upon the earth, He +and the Father said, "now We will send down the last one of Us, the Holy +Spirit, and He will do His best to woo men back," and so it was done. +The last supreme effort to win men back was begun. The Holy Spirit came +down for the specific purpose of telling the world about Jesus. His work +down here is to convict men of their terrible wrong in rejecting Jesus, +and of His righteousness, and of the judgment passed upon Satan. Only He +can convince men's minds and consciences. A thousand preachers with the +logic of a Paul and the eloquence of an Isaiah could not convince one +man of sin. Only the Spirit can do that. But listen to me as I say very +thoughtfully--and this is the one truth I pray God to _burn_ into our +hearts to-night--that to do His work among men _He needs to use men_. He +needs you. "Oh!" you say, "it is hardly possible that you mean that: I +am not a minister: I have no special ability for christian work: I am +just an obscure, humble christian: I have no gift in that direction." +Listen with your heart while I remind you that He needs not your special +abilities or gifts, though He will use all you have, and the more the +better, but _He needs your personality as a human channel_ through which +to touch the men you touch. And I want to say just as kindly and +tenderly as I can and yet with great plainness that if you are refusing +to let Him use you as He chooses--shall I say the unpleasant +truth?--the practical blame for those ugly words, and the uglier truth +back of them come straight home to _you_. + +That is a very serious thing to say, and so I must add a few words to +make it still more clear and plain. The Spirit of God in working among +men seeks embodiment _in men_, through whom He acts. The amazing truth +is that not only is He willing to enter into and fill you with His very +presence, but He seeks for, He wants, yes, _He needs your personality_ +as a channel or medium, that living in you He may be able to do His work +among the men you touch even though you may not be conscious of much +that He is doing through you. Is not that startling? He wants to live in +your body, and speak through your lips, and look out of your eyes, and +use your hands, really, actually. Have you turned your personality over +to Him as completely as that? + +Remember the law of God's communication with men; namely, He speaks _to_ +men _through_ men. Run carefully through the Bible, and you will find +that since the Cain disaster, which divided all men into two great +groups, whenever God has a message for a man or a nation out in the +world He chooses and uses a man in touch with Himself as His messenger. + +Listen to Jesus' own words in that last night's long talk in John's +Gospel, chapter fourteen, verse seventeen. Speaking about the coming +Spirit, He says, "Whom the world cannot receive." That is a strange +statement. Though an important part of the Spirit's great mission is to +the world yet it cannot receive Him. But chapter sixteen, verses seven +and eight gives the explanation: "I will send Him _unto you_, and He +when He is come (unto you) will convince," and so on. That is to say, a +message from God to one who has come within the circle of personal +relation with Jesus--that message comes along a straight line without +break or crook. But a message to one who remains outside that circle +comes along an _angled_ line--two lines meeting at an angle--and the +point of that angle is in some christian heart. The message He sends out +to the outer circle passes through some one within the inner circle. To +make it direct and personal: He needs to use you to touch those whom you +touch. + + +God's Sub-Headquarters. + +Let me bring you a few illustrations of how God uses men, though the +_fact_ of His using them is on almost every page of this Bible. Back in +the old book of Judges is a peculiar expression which is not brought out +as clearly as it might be in our English Bibles. The sixth chapter and +thirty-fourth verse might properly read: "_the Spirit of Jehovah clothed +Himself with Gideon_." It was a time of desperate crisis in the nation. +God chose this man for leadership among his fellows. If you take his +life throughout you will not think him an ideal character. But he seems +to be the best available stuff there was. He became the general guiding +an army in what, to human eyes, was a perfectly hopeless struggle. Men +saw Gideon moving about giving orders. But this strangely significant +phrase lets us into the secret of his wise strategy and splendid +victory. "The Spirit of Jehovah clothed Himself with Gideon." Gideon's +personality was merely a suit of clothes which God wore that day in +achieving that tremendous victory for His people. The same expression is +used of Amasai, one of David's mighty chieftains,[4] and of Zechariah, +one of the priests during Joash's reign.[5] + +A New Testament illustration is found in the book of Acts in the account +of Philip and the Ethiopian stranger. This devout African official had a +copy of the old Hebrew Scriptures, but needed an interpreter to make +plain their newly acquired significance. The Holy Spirit, _the_ +interpreter of Scripture, longs to help him. For that purpose He seeks +out a man, of whom He has control, named Philip. He is directed to go +some distance over toward the road where this man is journeying. We are +told of Philip that he was "full of the Spirit." And a reading of that +eighth chapter makes plain the controlling presence of the Spirit in +Philip's personality. In the beginning He gives very explicit direction. +"The Spirit (within Philip) said, go near, join thyself to this +chariot." And at the close "the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip." + +These are a few illustrations of what seems to be a common law of God's +intercourse with men. The language of the Bible throughout fits in with +this same conception. Strikingly enough the same seems to be true in the +opposing camp, among the forces of the Evil One. Repeatedly in the +gospels we come across the startling expressions--"possessed with +demons," "possessed of demons," evidently speaking of men whom demons +had succeeded in getting possession of, and clothing themselves with. It +seems to be a law of _spirit_ life that a spirit needs to be embodied in +dealing with embodied beings. And God conforms to this law in His +dealings with men. + +My friend, will you ask your heart, has the Holy Spirit gotten +possession of you like that? With reverence I repeat that He is seeking +for men in whom He may set up a sort of sub-headquarters, from which He +may work out as He pleases. Has He been able to do that with you? Or, +have you been holding back from Him, fearing He might make some changes +in you or your plans? If that is so, may I say just as kindly as these +lips can speak it, but also as plainly, that then _the practical blame_ +for those cutting words about your friends comes straight back to _you_. + +Hugh McAllister Beaver, son of the former governor of Pennsylvania, and +one of the rarest christian young men that ever lived, felt impelled at +a conference of students at Northfield, in '97, to tell this bit of his +inner experience, though naturally reluctant to do so. While at college, +arrangements were made for a series of meetings every night for a week. +"One day going down the hallway of the college building," he said, "I +met a boy we all called Dutchy, one of the toughest fellows in school. I +said to him, 'Dutch, come to the meeting to-night.'" Instead of laughing +or swearing, to Beaver's surprise, he paused a moment as though such a +thing was possible, and Beaver said, "I prayed quietly to myself, and +urged him to come." And he said, "Well, I guess I will." And that night +to every one's surprise Dutch came to the meeting. When Beaver rose to +speak, to his surprise this fellow was not simply intensely interested +but his eyes were full of tears. And Beaver said "a voice as distinct as +an audible voice said to me, 'Speak to Dutchy!' But _I did not_." Again +the next night Dutchy came of his own accord, and one of the boys +putting his arm on Beaver's shoulder said, "Speak to Dutchy. We boys +never saw him like this before." And he said he would. But _he did not_. +And some time after he had a dream and thought he would not walk this +earth any more. It did not trouble him except that his brother was +crying. But he thought he met the Master, who looked into his face, and +said, "Hugh, do you remember, I asked you to speak to Dutchy?" "Yes." +"And you did not." "No." "Would you like to go back the earth and win +him?" And he finished the story by saying, "it's hard work, but he's +coming now." + +I wonder if the Master has ever tried to use your lips like that, and +you have refused? + +A prominent clergyman in New England tells this experience of his. In +the course of his pastoral work he was called to conduct the funeral +service of a young woman who had died quite unexpectedly. As he entered +the house he met the minister in charge of the mission church, where the +family attended, and asked him, "Was Mary a christian?" To his surprise +a pained look came into the young man's face as he replied, "Three weeks +ago I had a strong impulse to speak to her, but _I did not_; and I do +not know." A moment later he met the girl's Sunday school teacher and +asked her the same question. Quickly the tears came, as she said, "Two +weeks ago, Doctor, a voice seemed to say to me, 'Speak to Mary,' and I +knew what it meant, and I intended to, but _I did not_, and I do not +know." Deeply moved by these unexpected answers, a few minutes later he +met the girl's mother, and thinking doubtless to give her an opportunity +to speak a word that would bring comfort to her own heart, he said +quietly, "Mary was a christian girl?" The tears came quick and hot to +the mother's eyes, as she sobbed out, "One week ago a voice came to me +saying, 'Speak to Mary,' and I thought of it, but I did not at the +time, and you know how unexpectedly she went away and I do not know." + +Well, please understand me, I am not saying a word about that girl. I do +not know anything to say. I would hope much and can understand that +there is ground for hope. But this is what I say: How pathetic, beyond +expression, that the Spirit tried to get the use of the lips of three +persons, a pastor, a teacher, aye, _a mother!_ to speak the word that +evidently He longed to have spoken to her, _and He could not_! + +Has He tried to use you _like that_? + + +The Highest Law of Action. + +But these two illustrations are narrower than the truth. They speak of +the lips. He wants to use your lips; but, even more, He wants to use +your _life_. Much as He may use your lips, He will use your personality, +your presence, your life ten times more, when you are wholly unconscious +of it. He loves men so much. He longs to save them. But He needs us--you +and me--as channels through which His power shall flow to touch and +mightily influence those whom we touch. How often has He turned away +disappointed because the channel had broken connections, or could not be +used? + + "He was not willing that any should perish; + Jesus, enthroned in the glory above, + Saw our poor fallen world, pitied our sorrows, + Poured out His life for us, wonderful love. + Perishing, perishing, thronging our pathway, + Hearts break with burdens too heavy to bear; + Jesus would save, but there's no one to tell them, + No one to save them from sin and despair." + +Someone says: "You are putting an awful responsibility upon us. Would +you have us go out and begin speaking to everyone we meet?" No, that is +not what I am saying just now. Though there is a truth there. But this: +Surrender yourself to Jesus as your _Master_, for Him to take +possession. Turn the channel over to Him, that He may tighten the +connections, upward and outward, and clean it out, and then use as He +may choose. He has a passion for winning men, and He has marvelous tact +in doing it. Let Him have His way in you. Keep quiet and close to Him, +and _obey_ Him, gladly, cheerily, constantly, and _He will assume all +responsibility for the results_. + +There is a law of personal service. It is this: Contact means +opportunity; opportunity means responsibility. To come into personal +contact with a man gives an opportunity of influencing him for Christ, +and with opportunity goes its twin partner--responsibility. + +There is another law--a higher law--the highest law of the christian +life. It is this: In everything hold yourself subject to the _Holy +Spirit's leading_. Whenever these two laws come into conflict remember +that the lower law always yields to the higher. It is a law of life that +where two laws come into conflict the lower law always gives way to the +higher. That is a supreme law both of nature and in legislation. Now, +the highest law of the christian life is to yield constantly to the +leading of our Companion--the Holy Spirit. Then quiet time alone with +the Master daily over His word for the training of the ear, and the +training of the judgment, and the training of the tongue becomes the +great essential. + +But to-night the great question is: Have you turned the channel of +power--your personality--over to Him to be flushed and flooded with His +power? Will you? + + "Only a smile, yes, only a smile, + That a woman o'erburdened with grief + Expected from you; 'twould have given relief, + For her heart ached sore the while. + But, weary and cheerless, she went away, + Because, as it happened that very day, + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a word, yes, only a word, + That the Spirit's small voice whispered, 'Speak'; + But the worker passed onward, unblessed and weak, + Whom you were meant to have stirred + To courage, devotion and love anew, + Because, when the message came to you, + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a note, yes, only a note, + To a friend in a distant land; + The Spirit said, 'Write,' but then you had planned + Some different work, and you thought + It mattered little. You did not know + 'Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe-- + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a song, yes, only a song, + That the Spirit said, 'Sing to-night; + Thy voice is thy Master's by purchased right.' + But you thought, ''Mid this motley throng, + I care not to sing of the City of God'; + And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold-- + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a day, yes, only a day, + But oh! can you guess, my friend, + Where the influence reaches and where it will end + Of the hours that you frittered away? + The Master's command is, 'Abide in Me'; + And fruitless and vain will your service be + If _out of touch_ with your Lord." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] 1 Chron. xii: 18. + +[5] 2 Chron. xxiv: 20. + + + + +THE PRICE OF POWER. + +Law of Exchange. + + +Every man needs power. Every earnest man covets power. Every willing man +has the Master's promise of power. But every man does not possess the +promised power. And many, it is to be feared, never will. Many a man's +life to-day is utterly lacking in power. Some of us will look back at +the close of life with a sense of keen disappointment and of bitter +defeat. And the reason is not far to seek, nor hard to see through. If +we do not have power it is because _we are not willing to pay the +price_. + +Everything costs. There is a law of exchange that rules in every sphere +of life. It is this, "to get, you must give." It rules in the business +world. If I want a house or a hat I must give the sum agreed upon. It +rules in the intellectual world. If a young man wants a disciplined mind +he must give time, and close application, and some real, hard work. It +holds true in the spirit realm. If you and I wish to have business +transactions in this upper world of spirit-life we must be governed by +this same law. To have power in our lives over sin and selfishness, and +passion, and appetite; over tongue, and temper, and self-seeking +ambition; to have power in prayer, and in winning others over from sin +to Jesus Christ, one must first lay down the required price. + +What is the price of power? Turn to Jesus' talk with Peter and the +others in the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew's gospel. +Jesus has been telling them of the awful cross-experiences which He +clearly saw ahead. Peter probably fearful that whatever came to his +Master might possibly come to himself also, and shrinking back in horror +from that, has the hardihood to rebuke Jesus. The Master, recognizing +the suggestion as coming from a far subtler individual than Peter, who +is using ignorant Peter's selfishness to repeat the suggestion of the +wilderness, again bids _him_ begone. Then in a few simple words of +far-reaching significance, He states first the standard of power, and +then the price to be paid by one who would reach that standard. Listen +to Him: "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take +up his cross and follow Me." + + +In the Footprints of Jesus. + +Let us look a little into these familiar words. "If any man _would come +after Me_"--that is the standard set before us. Not to be regarded as a +pillar in the church, a leader in religious circles, a good Bible +student, a generous giver, an earnest speaker, an energetic worker, a +spiritually minded person, but, what _may_ not be coupled with any or +all of these admirable things, _to tread in the footprints of Jesus_. + +Think back into that marvelous life. A human life, remember. For though +He was Son of God He lived His life down here as a son of man. Think of +His power over temptation, not alone at the outset in the fierce +wilderness struggle, but through those succeeding years of intense +conflict; His power over Satan, over man-possessing demons, over +disease; His power in dealing with the subtle schoolmen trying their +best to trip Him up, as well as over His more violent enemies who would +have dashed Him over yon Nazareth precipice, or later stoned the life +out of His body in Jerusalem. Recall the power of His rare +unselfishness; His combined plainness and tenderness of speech in +dealing with men; His unfailing love to all classes; His power as a soul +winner, as a man of prayer, as a popular preacher, lovingly wooing men +while unsparingly rebuking their sins. _There_ is the suggestion of +Jesus' standard of power. Would you go _after Him_? You may. For as the +Father sent Him even so sends He us, to do the same work and live the +same life. + +But wait a moment before answering that question. There is another side +in His life to that "come-after-me." Opposites brought into contact +produce a violent disturbance. Such a life as that of Jesus, down in the +atmosphere of this world will of necessity provoke bitter enmities, both +then and now. Listen. He was criticized and slandered. They said He was +peculiar and fanatical. His friends thought Him "beside Himself," swept +off His feet by excessive, hot-headed enthusiasm. They "laughed Him to +scorn," and reviled Him. They picked His words, and nagged His kindliest +acts, and dogged His steps. Repeated attempts were made upon His life, +both at Nazareth and by stoning at Jerusalem. A determined conspiracy +against His life was planned by the Jerusalem officials six months +before the end actually came. He was practically a fugitive for those +months. At the last He was arrested and mocked and _spit_ upon, struck +with open hand and clenched fist, derisively crowned with thorns, and +finally killed--a cruel, lingering, tortured death. + +"If any man would _come after Me_." Plainly this language of Jesus put +back into its original setting begins to assume a new significance. + + +A Fixed Purpose. + +But look at these words a little more closely. "_If_"--it is an open +question, this matter of following Jesus. It is kept open by many people +who want to be known as christian, but who hesitate over what a plain +understanding of Jesus' words may involve. Some of us may be disposed to +shrink back from the simple meaning these words will yet disclose. + +"If any man _would_"--would is the past tense of will. The word will is +one of the strongest in our language. A man's will is the imperial part +of him. It is the autocrat upon the throne; the judge upon the bench of +final appeal. Jesus is getting down to the root of matters here. He is +appealing to the highest authority. No mere passing sentiment is this. +Not attending a meeting and being swept along with the crowd by the +hour's influence. But _a fixed purpose_, calmly, resolutely settled +upon, rooted away down deep in the very vitals of the will to follow +Jesus absolutely, no matter what it may cost or where it may cut. + +I wonder how many of us would form such a purpose, to follow Jesus +_blindly_, utterly regardless of what it might be found to mean as the +days come and go? "Oh, well," I hear some one say, "why talk like that. +Nobody is required to suffer to-day as He did." Do you think not? I am +not so sure about that. There is a young man in Southern India, bright +fellow, full of power, of high class family, who heard of Jesus, and +felt the personal appeal to himself of that marvelous story. He thought +a good while of what it meant, and what it might involve, and at length +resolutely formed his decision to accept and follow Jesus. As he had +anticipated, his dear ones remonstrated with him, coaxed, pleaded, +threatened, and finally, his own father violently put him out of his +life-long home, and he has remained since _an outcast_ from home and +loved ones. These words of Jesus surely are full of significance to +him. + +"But that was in India, far off, heathen India," you say. Well, here is +something of a similar sort at home. I knew a young woman in a certain +New England town visiting away from home. She attended some meetings +where she was visiting, and decided to be a christian. She was betrothed +to a young man, not a christian, in her home town. At once she wrote him +explaining her new step thinking, doubtless how glad he would be. For +most men seem very willing to have their _wives_ christian. But he wrote +back that if she were determined to be a christian that must put an end +to their engagement. He was not a christian and did not want his wife to +be one. Every one here must know how serious a question that brought up +for decision. For she was a true woman, and love's tendrils twine with +wondrous tenacity about a woman's heart. And I presume, too, that +everyone of you has already thought while I am speaking, of the +temptation that, quick as a flash, went through her mind. "You need not +make a public matter of this. Just be a true christian in heart and +life, and in that way _you'll win him over afterwards_." I imagine some +of you have heard something like that before. But she remembered that +her new Master said "Confess" as well as "believe." It was a crisis; a +severe struggle of soul. But she felt she must follow her Master's +leading regardless of what it involved. And so she decided. You are not +surprised to know that she was ill for a time. The intense strain of +spirit affected her body. "If--any--man--would--come--after--Me" meant +much to her. Did it not? + +Without doubt if some of _us_ listening to-day were to follow Jesus +quietly, but absolutely, in all things as His own Spirit plainly led, we +would find as sharp a line of separation drawn against us, as did He in +Palestine, and these young people in India and America. + +Many a social door would be shut in our faces. O, shut _politely_ of +course! Society thinks it in very bad form to get unduly excited about +mere matters of religious opinion. But the door is _shut_, and barred, +too. Some of us would possibly be searching for other business positions +before to-morrow's light faded away if we were determined to go only +where _He_ clearly pointed the way. + +But we have only begun to get at the meaning of Jesus' words. Is there +still a _fixed purpose_ to follow regardless of what meaning these words +may yet disclose? Not impossibly the company of those willing to go +straight through this verse with a calm, determined "yes" to every word +of Jesus, will grow smaller as we go on. + + +A Character Sketch. + +Let us go a little farther. "If any man would come after Me let him +_deny himself_." "Deny himself"--what does that mean? Well, deny means +to say "no," plainly and positively. Himself is the smoother English +word for his self. Let him say "no" to his self. Please notice that +Jesus is not speaking of what is commonly called self-denial. That is, +repressing some desire for a time, sacrificing something temporarily in +order to gain an advantage later. That sort of thing is not peculiar to +the christian life, but is practiced by all classes, even among the +lowest. He is not speaking of that, but of something far more radical. +Reading the verse through again, it will be seen that there are three +distinct persons referred to by Jesus. First, the "any man" He speaks +of, and then the two others represented by these words "himself" and +"Me," either one or the other of whom is influencing this "any man's" +life. "Say no to his self" is coupled with "follow Me." And the opposite +is implied--if any man will not do as _I_ desire, he will continue to do +as he is now doing, namely, deny Me and follow his self. + +These two persons self and Jesus are placed here in sharpest contrast. +An uncompromising antagonism exists between them. They are sworn foes, +and every man must decide to which he will yield his allegiance. To +agree with either one is to oppose the other one. For a man to settle +some matter that comes up for decision by saying "yes" to the desires or +demands of his self involves his saying "no" to Jesus. And on the other +hand his yielding assent to the plans and wishes of this "me," namely +Jesus, is plainly equivalent to saying "no" to his self. + +What is this self in each of us that Jesus sets in such antagonism to +Himself, and instructs us to say a hard, uncompromising, unceasing "no" +to? There are a few words in common use that give some suggestion of its +character. There is the word selfish, that is, being absorbed in one's +own self; in getting every stream to flow by his own door. That is +commonly regarded, even in absolutely worldly circles, as a detestable +trait. Its opposite, self-forgetful, being full of forgetting one's self +in thinking of others, is as commonly regarded in all circles as a +charming, winsome trait of character. The words self-centered, and +self-willed, are as familiar and suggestive. + +The fact is, there is an individual living inside each one of us whom +Jesus refers to, by this word "his self." This individual takes on the +degree of intensity and other local coloring of the person it inhabits. +It may be polished, scholarly, cultured; or, coarse, ignorant and +ill-mannered. But "scratch a Russian and you find a Tartar." Scratch +through the veneering here and, whether coarse or highly polished, you +will find the same individual--self. + +There are some quite marked characteristics by which its presence may be +recognized. They may not all be noticeable together in any one person. +But one or more will be found in every person whom it succeeds in +influencing and dominating. One characteristic is this: _it covets +praise_. It feeds and fattens on commendation. It constantly seeks to +be highly esteemed, to have its worth properly appraised. It is +immensely impressed with its own importance, its value to society, its +keenness, wisdom or aptness, and wishes others to be so impressed also. +It is fond of a mirror, especially one made to magnify. It seeks +recognition. It presses forward, rudely or politely, according as its +habitat has been trained in rude or polite circles. It may put on the +garb of humility, and use the language of depreciation. But its ear is +none the less keenly alert to hear the agreeable things and to cherish +them. + +Another characteristic, which really is simply the other side of this +first named one, is this: _it shrinks from criticism_. How it writhes +and twists at the least touch of unfavorable criticism! It is always on +the defensive. The cheek colors at the suggestion of its being wrong, or +having blundered, or of being peculiar. + +How quickly it explains and defends and brings evidence of its being in +the right. It is extremely sensitive. "It is that _touchy_ thing in +you." It is chronically troubled with "the disease of _touchiness_." Its +feelings are readily hurt. It is easily slighted. It remembers +grievances. It has an interrogation point constantly on sentinel duty, +namely, What will _they_ think? What will _they_ say? It lives in +constant fear, under the lash of that huge, vague, awful _they_. + +I remember knowing a Sunday school teacher who had a mission class of +rather rough boys from non-christian homes. I asked one day how she was +getting along with them. "Going to give them up," she replied. "Is that +so? They have all become christians?" No, none of them were christians, +and they liked her, and said they would not come if she gave them up, +but she felt discouraged, and anyway she had decided to give them up. +Lawyers and women do not always give their reasons, very wisely. I +ventured to suggest that before giving them up, she have the boys come +up to her home, one at a time, perhaps for tea; have a pleasant chatty +time at tea and afterwards, and then before the boy left have a quiet +friendly talk with him by himself about being a christian, and, a few +words of prayer with him. Wouldn't she try that before giving them up? +And I remember distinctly that her face blushed as red as a bright red +rose, as she replied, "Why, Mr. Gordon, _he'd laugh at me_!" And she +could not bear the possible chance of being laughed at for the other +more likely possibility of winning a soul--a man--a life. That was +"self" in her, shrinking back from a laugh; dreading that look of +possibly contemptuous surprise that _might_ come. + +Another person, speaking about certain recreations very common in +society, and which he was in the habit of joining, though freely +questioning the propriety of so doing, said, "O, I don't care much for +those things. I could easily give them up, but people think you are so +queer if you decline, and you feel as if you were a back number." Ah! +there was the rub. The desire to be thought well of; the dislike of +being considered peculiar; the fear of that thinly veiled sneering curl +on the lip--that was _self_ in him asserting its presence, and even +more, ruling his action. Do you recognize the individual inside of you +that Jesus is speaking of? + +There is a third tell-tale ear-mark of self that is difficult to +conceal--_it is assertive_. It dearly loves to have its own way. It has +plans and ambitions, and proposes to carry them through regardless of +man, or--let the plain truth be spoken softly--of God. Its opinions are +held tenaciously. Its favorite pronoun is I, capitalized, with +variations of my and me. The personal equation is extremely powerful and +persuasive. + +The true follower of Jesus holds every plan subject to change from +above. But this self, if allowed to rule, takes the bit in its +tightly-shut teeth, and drives determinedly ahead, reckless of either +man's or God's preferences, even though religious phraseology may be +upon its tongue. + +Still another trait of character of this self whose closer acquaintance +we are making is this: _It has an insatiable appetite_. It grows +hungrier by that on which it feeds. Its capacity is beyond the measuring +line. If given free rein it will debase the holiest functions of the +body, and degrade the highest powers of the mind to appease its gnawing, +passion-bitten hunger. The noblest gifts, the purest emotions, the most +sacred relationships, are dragged down to the slimy gutter to tempt and +temporarily stay its jaded palate. + + +Unmasked. + +_That_ is something of a suggestion of the character of this other +master than Jesus, who seeks to get control of us, and from whose +relentless, vise-like grip Jesus would fain free us. He says there is +only one thing to do with it. No half-way compromise--the great American +expedient--will do here. The Master says plainly it is to be denied, +repressed, put determinedly down, starved, strangled. To every +suggestion or demand there is to be a prompt, positive, jaw-locked no. + +There is war to the knife, and the knife clear up to the hilt, between +these two claimants for the control of our powers--self and Jesus. Paul +understood this antagonism thoroughly. It comes out repeatedly in his +writings. His name for this inner enemy, by an accidental turn in +English, is Jesus' word "self" spelled backwards with the letter "h" +added--f-l-e-s-h. His remarks in Romans, eighth chapter, verses four to +eight, and twelve to thirteen, are simply an enlargement of these words +in the sixteenth of Matthew's gospel. If one will read these verses, +substituting Jesus' word "self" for Paul's word he will be surprised to +find how strikingly Paul is expressing this very thought of Jesus. A +free translation of part of these verses would read like this: Verse +five--"They that choose to walk after self (as a slave walked after, or +behind, his master) will show their choice by obeying the desires of +self, and they that choose to walk after the Spirit will obey the +desires of the Spirit." Verse seven--"For the purposes of self are +opposed to God's purposes; for it does not hold itself subject to God's +wishes; indeed, in its very nature it cannot; and they that choose to +obey self cannot please God." Verse thirteen--"If by the Holy Spirit's +aid ye kill off the plans and doings of self, ye shall therein find real +true life, and only so." + +Plainly, the deep searching experiences of Paul's great soul, and his +wide observation of others, in his ceaseless travels, confirm the +statements already made, that there is the intensest hatred, the +bitterest antagonism, between these two personalities represented by +Jesus' words, "himself" and "me." There can be no patched-up truce here. +The only way the lion and the lamb can lie down together in this case is +for the one to lie down underneath the other--conquered; or inside the +other--devoured. + +In his other letters Paul sometimes uses still another name, "the old +man," and names the characteristics of this omnipresent self, which crop +out with varying degrees of prominence, in different persons, and under +different circumstances. Notice only a few of these: In Galatians, fifth +chapter, nineteenth verse: "The deeds of self are ... improper sexual +intercourse, impurity, shameless looseness...." It will, wherever +possible, debase the holiest functions of the body. In Colossians, third +chapter, fifth verse, speaking of the "old man": "And covetousness, +which is reckoning of highest worth that which is less worthy than God." +That is to say, the ambitious longings of self, will if unchecked become +the ruling passion, thrusting all else ruthlessly aside and degrading +the highest powers of the mind to satisfying its feverish desire. In +Ephesians, fourth chapter, thirty-first verse: "Bitterness, passion, +anger, loud disputing, evil-speaking ... malice." Its assertiveness, and +demand for a due recognition of its worth, its rights, its opinions, its +proper place, bring bitterest burnings, and worse. It will not be +needful to review congressional, and political, and society life for +illustrations. They may be found much nearer one's own door. + +Was there ever such a list? Such a being whose heart begets and nurses +such progeny! This being has the smell of hell, and of the evil one +himself. Ah! now we are getting at the straight truth. Self is Satan's +personal representative in every human heart. Its door of entrance is +the door of disobedience. It can have control only where one allows +himself to get out of intelligent sympathy with God. The self in Peter +was recoiling from that cross of which Jesus spoke. How keen Jesus was +in recognizing the suggestor of the thought that found expression +through Peter's lips--"Get thee behind me, _Satan_." Self is Satan, +condensed into each man's life, though in some he dare not exhibit his +coarser traits; and in others he is being _constantly conquered_ by that +power of the Spirit of Jesus which comes through absolute, glad +surrender to Him. + +This sly Satan-self may often be recognized by a favorite question it +asks among christian people about a great many so-called unimportant +matters:--What's the harm? But a true follower of Jesus never lives down +upon the plane of "what's-the-harm?" He lives up in a higher sphere with +his Master, who "pleased not Himself," but made it the steady, +unfaltering aim of His life to do always those things that were pleasing +to His Father. Men thought Him narrow and fanatical, but He cared not so +long as He could daily hear that clear, sweet voice saying "This is My +beloved Son, in whom _I_ am well pleased." The final touchstone which +the follower of Jesus applies to every matter is this: _Would it please +Him?_ + +Let everyone here who earnestly desires to fit into, and to fill out, +Jesus' plan for his life, take paper and pencil and make a list of his +personal habits; such as his eating, what he eats and how; his drinking, +other things he puts into his mouth, his dress, the use and care of his +body, his recreations, his reading, his conversation, his use of money, +his use of time, his life plans and his daily plans, his social +engagements; and regarding each ask plainly the question--what is the +_motive_ that _controls_ me in this? Is it my own preference or +enjoyment? Or, is it to please and honor Jesus? Let him further go +through the list of his business methods, his friendships, the various +organizations he belongs to, with the same question. If he will do +thorough work he will probably have some stiff fighting on hand both at +the start and afterwards. Many a life would thereby be radically +changed. For example, I know a christian storekeeper who has on his +shelves a certain article bearing the label of a tonic medicine, but he +knows perfectly well, as does anyone who stops to think about it, that +the stuff back of the label is one form of an intoxicant. There can be +no question of what the Master would say about it. But it brings a good +profit. And his money-fevered self asserts its mastery and carries the +day. And the man tightly grips the profits, while Satan chuckles with +unholy glee, and souls are being damned by this christian man's aid. +Certainly there can be none of the power of God in such a life. Let us +rather speak the truth and say that this man is exerting a positive +power for Satan and for hell. + +All this is included in these few simple words, "let him deny himself." +Is there still a fixed purpose to follow Jesus without regard to what it +may cost us, or where the keen edge of separation may cut in? + + +The Battle of the Forks. + +Here is a forking of the road. I bring this whole company up to this +dividing, and therefore deciding, point. Let each choose his own road +deliberately, prayerfully, with open eyes. This road to the left has as +its law, yielding to self; saying "yes" to the desires and demands of +self; with some modifications possibly, here and there, for I am talking +to professing christian people. Yes to Jesus _sometimes_, but at _other_ +times, when it suits circumstances and inclinations better to do +otherwise--well, a pushing of the troublesome question aside. And that +means a decided yes to self, with as positive a negative to Jesus' +desires implied thereby. That is the left-hand fork. + +This right-hand road knows only one law to which exception is never +made, namely: _Yes to Jesus_, everywhere, always, regardless of +consequences, though it may entail loss of friendships, or money, or +position, or social standing, or personal preference, or radical change +of plans, or, what not. + +Judas assented to the cravings of his ambitious self and said "no" to +his Master, thinking possibly, with his worldly shrewdness, thereby to +force Jesus to assert His power. He little knew what a time of crisis it +was, and what terrific results would follow. + +Peter stood on the side of his cowardly, shrinking self in the +court-yard that dark night, and against his Master. And though with +matchless love he was forgiven, he never forgave himself, nor was able +to get that night's doings out of his memory. Judas and Peter were +brothers in action that night, and there are evidences that many other +disciples are standing over in the same group. Are you? Which road do +you choose to-night: this--to the left? Or, this--to the right? + +I knew a young man who was deeply attached to an admirable young woman, +both refined christian persons, much above the average in native +ability, and in culture. He made known to her his feelings. But as many +a woman who does not trust her best Friend in such matters is apt to do +she held him off, testing him repeatedly, to find out just how real his +attachment was. Finally revealing indirectly her own feeling she still +withheld the consent he pleaded for, until he would yield acquiescence +in a certain plan of hers for him. The plan, proper enough in itself, +was an ambitious one, and tended decidedly toward swinging him away from +the high, tenderly spiritual ideals that had swayed his life in college +and afterwards, though he probably was not clearly conscious of this +tendency. The only safe thing to do under such strong circumstances was +to take time, aside, alone, for calm, poised, thought and prayer, to +learn if her plan was also the Master's plan for him. But the personal +element proved too strong for such deliberation. The possibility of +losing her swung him off of his feet. It was no longer a question +between her plan and the Master's plan. The latter dropped out of view, +probably half-unconsciously because hurriedly. _He must have her_, he +thought. That rose before his eyes above all else. And so the decision +was made. With what result? He is to-day prominent in christian service, +an earnest speaker, a tireless worker, with a most winsome personality. +But his inner spiritual life has perceptibly dwarfed. His ideals, still +high and noble, are distinctly lower than in his earlier life. +Intellectual ideals, admirable in themselves, but belonging in second +place in a christian life, now command the field. His conceptions and +understanding of spiritual truth have undergone a decided change. + +The proposal of the self-life came in very fascinating guise to him. He +hastily said "yes" to it: that meant as decided a refusal of Another's +plan for him, which had once been clearly recognized, and accepted, but +was now set aside, be it sadly said, as he swung quickly off to the left +fork of the road. + +There is an incident told of a European pastor, an earnest, eloquent +man. The realization came in upon him that he had not been fully +following the Master. In much of his life self was still ruling. He came +to this forking of the road, and the battle was a fierce one, for self +dies hard. But finally "by the Spirit," he got the victory, as every one +may, and calmly stepped off to the right. He has vividly described that +battle of the forks in language, the accuracy of which will be +recognized by others who have been in action on that field. + + "Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow, + That a time could ever be + When I let the Saviour's pity + Plead in vain, and proudly answered: + '_All of self, and none of Thee_.' + + "Yet He found me: I beheld him + Bleeding on the accursed tree; + Heard Him pray, 'forgive them, Father,' + And my wistful heart said faintly: + '_Some of self and some of Thee_.' + + "Day by day, His tender mercy, + Healing, helping, full and free, + Sweet and strong, and oh, so patient, + Brought me lower, while I whispered: + '_Less of self and more of Thee_.' + + "Higher than the highest heaven, + Deeper than the deepest sea, + Lord, thy love at last has conquered; + Grant me now my soul's desire, + '_None of self and all of Thee_.'" + +Is there still a fixed purpose? Will you take this right fork? Let those +who will, and those who linger reluctantly listen to the further word +that Jesus adds: "Let him deny himself and take up his cross." "_Take up +his cross_"--what does that mean? The cross has come to be regarded in +these days as a fine ornament. It looks beautiful bejeweled; on the end +of a sword; or worked into regalia. It makes such an artistic finish to +a church building, finely chiseled in stone, or enwreathed with ivy. It +looks pretty in jewelry and flowers. But to Jesus and the men of His +time it had a grim, hard, painful significance. In Roman usage a man +condemned to this death was required to take up the crude wooden cross +provided, carry it out to the place of execution, and there be +transfixed upon it. Plainly to these men listening, Jesus' words meant: +Let him say "no" to his self, and then nail it up on the cross and leave +it there _to die_. + +Paul understood this thoroughly. To help the young christians in Galatia +he explains his own experience by saying: "_I have been crucified_ with +Christ;" and to the unknown friends in Rome he writes: "if ye by the +Spirit _put to death_ the doings of the self life ye shall live." The +only thing to do with this self is to kill it. + +In Luke's account an intensely practical word is added to Jesus' remark: +"Let him take up his cross _daily_." A cat is said to have nine lives, +because it is so hard to kill. I do not know what your experience may +have been, but, judged by this rule, the self in me is tougher-lived +than that. It has about ninety-nine, or nine hundred and ninety-nine +lives. I put it on the cross to-day in the purpose of my will by the +power of the Spirit, and I find it trying to sneak down and step into +active control again to-morrow through some sly, subtle suggestion which +it hopes may get past the vigilance of my sentinel. That word _daily_ +becomes, of necessity, my constant keynote--a _daily_ conflict, a +_daily_ sleepless vigilance, and, thank God, a _daily victory_. + +Every man's heart is a battlefield. If self has possession, Jesus is +lovingly striving to get possession. If possession has been yielded to +Jesus, there is a constant besieging by the forces of self. And self is +a skilled strategist. In every heart there is a cross, and a throne, and +each is occupied. If Jesus is on the throne, ruling, self is on the +cross, dying. But if self is being obeyed, and so is ruling, then it is +on the throne. And self on the throne means that _Jesus has been put on +the cross_. And it seems to be only too pathetically true that not only +in New Testament times, but in these times, there are numbers of +professing christians, who, in the practice of daily life, are +crucifying the Son of God afresh, and openly exposing Him to shame +before the eyes of the crowd. + +Suppose that to-night I determine to make this absolute surrender to +Jesus as my Master. To-morrow in some matter, possibly a small +matter--speaking a word to some one--asking a silent blessing at the +meal--making a change in some personal habit--or some other apparently +trivial matter--the Spirit quietly makes clear _His wish_ as to what I +should do. But I hesitate: it seems hard. I do not say that I will not +obey, but actually _I do not_. Let me plainly understand that in such a +single failure to obey, self is again mounting the throne, and Jesus is +being dethroned and put over yonder on the cross. + +Do some of us still hesitate at this forking of the roads, irresolute? A +crowned Christ is attractive. But self's tendrils, though small, are +tenaciously tough, and twine into so many corners and around some hidden +things. And the uprooting and outcutting mean sharp pain. Is that so? +And you hesitate? Please take another frank look. + + +Lock-Step. + +These two forks differ radically. They differ in direction. One is to +the _left_; the other to the _right_. And these two words are +significant of more than direction. They differ in grade. This left-hand +road does not seem to have any grade. It is smooth and level, and +straightaway, _apparently_. But a keener look reveals a slant _down_, +very slight at first, but steadily increasing, not only in its downward +grade, but in the _proportionate_ grade down. + +This right-hand road has a decided grade _up_ from the beginning, a +steep slant, that causes many to avoid it, though they feel impelled to +take it. Those who take it say that after the first decided step into it +the slant does not seem nearly so hard as before starting, and that +climbing it makes splendid muscle and gives an inspiring sense of +exhilaration from the very start. The atmosphere is rare and purifying +and invigorating. It is not traveled by so many, though the number keeps +increasing. But such rare companionship, hitherto unknown, they afford! + +_The striking peculiarity_ of this road, however, is this, that each one +keeps lock-step with a certain One who leads the way. This One is +remarkable in appearance. His face combines all the strength and +resolution of the strongest man's with all the fineness and gentleness +of the finest woman's. But He bears peculiar marks as though He had been +through some terrible experience. His face has a number of small scars +as though it had been torn by thorns and cut by thongs. His hands and +feet look as though huge spikes had been forced through them. But the +glory-light of another world is in His eyes, and illumines His face +radiantly, and a glad ring is in His low, musical, singularly clear +voice. + +The walking in step with Him is _so_ close that one can feel the tender +throbbing of His heart, and can talk confidentially with Him in low, +quiet tones, and can hear distinctly His gentle still-like voice in +reply. + +As one steps off quietly, determinedly to the right from the battle of +the forks he hears the closing words of Jesus' remarks to Peter--"_and +follow Me_." Jesus sends no one ahead alone. He blazes out every path +through the unknown, unbroken forest, and asks us simply to come along +after Him. He did what He asks us to do. The self-life was alluringly +and repeatedly presented to Him by Satan, in the wilderness, in the +remark of Peter, by the visit of the Greeks, in Gethsemane where the +struggle of soul almost broke the tie that held body and spirit +together, and many other times. In many a hard battle--for the divine +Jesus was intensely human in His earthly life--He repeatedly said a +never-varying "no" to the self-life, and lived a constant victory until +the very last triumphant shout of victory on Calvary. It was a life of +constant conflict, but of splendid, calming, scarce-broken peace within, +and of marvelous power without. + +Earnestly, lovingly, gently, yet passionately, He stands just ahead in +that path now, with pierced hands outstretched in open invitation, with +a heart-yearning in the depths of His great eyes, wooing us on to follow +where He goes on before. + +Let us follow. It may be, it _will_ be, in some measure, through the +experiences of the wilderness temptation, and of Gethsemane, and of +Calvary, but it will also be to share the victory which was always +coupled with every testing _He_ met. It will as certainly be following +Him in power, and victory, on past Calvary to the new life of the +resurrection morning, that saw the greatest display of power. And even +past that, to the upper chamber where His words burn their way into our +hearts--"as the Father sent Me (clothed with power unconquerable) even +so send I you." And then to Olivet where the victorious words ring out, +"All power hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth, therefore go +ye and make disciples." + + "If any man + would come alter me, + let him say "no" to his self, + and nail it to the cross daily, + and follow me." + +Jesus, Master, by the Holy Spirit's help, _I will_. + + + + +THE PERSONALITY OF POWER. + +A Personally Conducted Journey. + + +Everyone enjoys the pleasure of travel; but nearly all shrink back from +its tiresomeness and drudgery. The transportation companies are +constantly scheming to overcome this disagreeable side for both pleasure +and business travel. One of the popular ways of pleasure travel of late +is by means of personally conducted tours. A party is formed, often by +the railroad company, and is accompanied by a special agent to attend to +all the business matters of the trip. A variation of this is to arrange +for a group of congenial people to accompany some well-known +accomplished gentleman. This gives the trip, not alone the convenience +of having all business matters cared for, but also the decided enjoyment +which this gentleman's wide knowledge and experience, and personal +contact incidentally give. There are some criticisms however of such +parties, from the standpoint of greatest comfort and of freedom in +moving about. + +Probably the very pleasantest way--the ideal way, to travel anywhere, +either in our own home land, or abroad--is to form a party of only a +very few persons, mutually congenial, and personally agreeable, _one of +whom is an experienced traveler_, to whom checking baggage, buying +tickets, studying timetables, planning connections and all the rest of +that sort of thing which, to most, is disagreeable drudgery, to whom all +that is mere pleasant detail; and who in addition knows all the ground +you will cover, the best hotels, the inconveniences to avoid, the +desirable places and things, and who finds rare enjoyment in making the +trip delightful and inspiring, and restful too, to these dear friends of +his. + +For instance if the trip is a foreign one beginning with a run through +Great Britain it would add immensely to have such a friend in London who +knew that great whirling world-metropolis, as you know your own home. +After a bit you may slip over the Channel to Holland. It is only a few +hours away, but the strange language, new custom-house rules, new +usages, new sights, different sort of people, all make it a totally +different world. A few hours will bring you into Sweden, or west from +the hollow-landed Dutch to the higher-landed Germans, or south through +Belgium into sunny France, and so on. And in each place the customs, and +language, and sights, and people, the food, the sleeping arrangements, +and apparently everything, especially to a stranger, are totally +different. It is this very variety--the constant change of +surroundings--that constitutes much of the charm of it all. There is +nothing so refreshing and invigorating as that. But on the other hand +to an entire stranger who has no guide, it is apt to be confusing and +wearisome. And the tiresome side often overcomes the pleasant side. Now +this is what I am saying, that, if there are just a few together, and +this experienced traveler, who is also a dear friend, is one of them, +the trip is radically changed. You move in a new world. He can talk +Dutch in Holland, and German in Germany, Swedish in Scandinavia, and +French in Switzerland. He sees the baggage past the customs officials, +and provides restful stopping places, and keeps the disagreeables away +from you. He knows the places to visit, and is familiar with the +historic occurrences, and is a quiet, cheery companion, and _if_ with it +all he has an unlimited letter-of-credit, and makes you feel that +somehow you are favoring him by letting him help you out when you run +short--that, I say, would be _the ideal way of traveling_. + +Now why take so much time speaking about all that? Listen! I will tell +you why. Living is like traveling. Life is a journey. It is a trip +through a strange land where you have never been before, and you never +know a moment ahead where you are going next. Strange languages, strange +scenes, strange dilemmas; new tangles, new experiences, and some old +ones with new faces so you do not know them. It is just as chock-full of +pleasure and enjoyment as it can be, if you could only make some +provision for the drudgery and hard things that seem to crowd in so +thick and fast sometimes, as to make people forget the gladness of it. + +Now I have something to tell you that seems too utterly good to be +believed, and yet keeps getting better all the way along. It is this: +the Master has planned that your life journey shall be a personally +conducted one on this ideal plan. It was said a night or two ago that +the Master has thought into your life and made arrangement for all its +needs. Let me add to-night this further fact: _He has arranged with His +best friend, who is an experienced traveler, to go with you and devote +Himself wholly to your interests._ + +Some of you, I am afraid, will smile, and think that I am just indulging +in a fancy sketch--drawing on my imagination. And so I pray our Master +to burn into our hearts that it is plain, matter-of-fact truth, for +every day life. I would say that it is cold fact were it not that such a +fact can never be cold. + + +Power is a Person. + +Each of these talks, you have noticed, has led up to the one idea of +surrender. That word surrender stands for one side only of a +transaction--_our_ side. As in all transactions, there is another +side--_His_ side to whom the surrender is made. To-night we want to take +a step in advance and talk about the part which Jesus has in this +surrender-transaction. All truth goes in pairs. The partnership word +with surrender is mastery. Surrender on my part is followed by mastery +on His part. There are two personalities in this transaction. You are +one: an important one, but only one. To-night we shall try to get a +better acquaintance with the other One. The One who assumes control of +the surrendered life, who is to be our personal guide and friend. + +Will you recall again the Master's good-bye Olivet message, and notice +just what it means? Listen to the very words: "Ye shall receive power." +Let me ask you--what is power? Will some one give a simple definition of +that word? There are four words, four of the commonest, most familiar in +our language, for which I have not been able to find a definition. If +some one here can help me I will be grateful. They are the words life, +light, love, and power. What do they mean? I can find plenty of +statements _about_ them, descriptions of what each of these is like, but +no definitions. + +What is life? Recently I looked into the statement regarding life made +by three of the most famous English scientists of the nineteenth +century, whose names are household words. I read them carefully. The +wisdom and keenness of observation they show are amazing. But when I had +studied and read them repeatedly I found myself asking--what is life? +They have described rarely the functions and characteristics of life, +but have not told what it is. They do not seem to know. Do you? + +What is light? Will some one tell me? The corpuscular theory, which the +famous Newton advocated, is long since abandoned. The later wave theory +is pretty generally accepted, and yet they can not all agree upon that. +These people say that light is a part of the kind of energy called +radiant energy. Now, we all know what light is! The sun of course is not +light, only a light-holder and distributer. According to the oldest +record we have of the creation, light existed before these +light-holders, the sun and moon and stars. + +What is love? Well, you all _know_, I hope. Pity the poor man who does +not know by experience what love is. But you cannot tell what it is. +"Oh!" you say, "it is emotion." Yes, so is hate, its very opposite. +"Well, love is affection." Yes. What is affection? "Well, it is a +pleasurable feeling, or regard, which may be very intense, and which +leads us to unlimited sacrifice if need be. It is a devotion that grips +the soul tremendously." That is true; yet that is only telling what love +is like. No simple, plain definition of love, or light or life has ever +been formed yet by man so far as I can learn. + +What is power? You may say it is force. And what is force? "Well, force +is a form of energy." What is energy? "Well," you reply, "it is a strong +inward movement whose strength is very impressive." Some one says "power +is ability." And ability? "Well, that is the innate power to do +something." And so we get to use our word in the attempted definition +itself, which is simply talking in a circle. We can find good +descriptive words, but no defining words. + +Now mark a singular fact. In the writings of John, in this old book I +have here, you will find a few statements regarding these things which +combine wondrous simplicity of language with marvelous, yes, +unfathomable, depth of meaning. First, about life: in chapter one, verse +four, of the gospel:--"in Him was life," being an evident allusion to +the remarkable Genesis statement: "the Lord God breathed into his +nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Then, about +love: in chapter four, verse seven, of his first epistle:--"love is of +God"; coupled with the twice spoken words "God is love" in the same +chapter. About light: in chapter one, verse five, of the same epistle, +"God is light." + +I know some of you, perhaps some skilled theologian here, is saying to +himself, "Those are statements of _moral_ truths." And I understand that +that is the common conception. But I want to state here my own profound +conviction, based on the Spirit-breathed words of John, that some day, +when we shall know about all these deep things, we shall be finding that +there is a basis not only of moral truth, but of far more than moral +truth underlying those profoundly simple statements. + +And I believe in that day we shall find that life--all life--is, in some +actual, marvelous way, the outbreathing of God's own being. And that +light is the inherent radiance of His person and face, and that the +universal passion of love is the throbbing pulse-beat of His own great +heart. + +Now why take time to speak about these things to-night when we are +talking about power? I will tell you why. Because they give the +intensest practical significance to a similar statement about that word +power with which we _are_ greatly concerned just now. + +Mark the language Luke uses in describing that memorable Olivet scene in +which we are so deeply interested in these talks together. The old King +James version reads: "ye shall receive power _after_ that the Holy +Spirit is come upon you." The revised version puts it in this way, "ye +shall receive power _when_ the Holy Spirit is come upon you." Some of +you have probably noticed that some editions give a marginal note, +which, in this case, proves to be the literal reading namely: _ye shall +receive power the Holy Spirit coming upon you_. Not "after," nor "when," +but simply "the Holy Spirit coming," etc. That is to say, the _Holy +Spirit is power_. That you will observe fits in with the form of +statement John uses. The Holy Spirit in control, unhindered, unhampered, +means power manifest in the life. That is the profound truth of God's +book. And as a bit of side evidence it is striking to observe that all +Scripture statements throughout fit in with that conception. Power is a +person. Not some thing, nor influence, nor sentiment, nor some working +upon our hearts at a distance by God seated up yonder on the throne. +That were wonderful indeed. But a person, called the Holy Spirit, living +in me--shall I make it very definite by saying, living _in my +body_?--that is power. If restrained by sin, or disobedience, or +ignorance, or wilfulness of any sort, then power _restrained_, held in +check, not evident. If utterly unrestrained, given free sway and +control--ah! then power manifest, limitless, wonderful, all exercised in +carrying out God's will in, and with, and through me. + +And the marvelous message I bring you from the old book of God is this: +_The Master has sent a dear friend of His, and of yours, who is +experienced, and strong, and loving, personally to conduct you through +your daily life, and His presence unrestrained, means power unlimited._ + + +A Significant Name. + +Do you remember that heart-to-heart talk that Jesus had with the eleven +disciples that last night they spent together in the upper room? John +tells us about it in chapters thirteen to sixteen. The Master talks a +great deal that night, about some One else, who was coming to take His +place with them. They did not understand what He meant till afterwards. +He packs more into that one evening's talk about this coming One than +all He had said before put together. Notice that now He gives a name, a +new name, to this person, repeated four times that night. It is an +intensely significant name--_the Comforter_. Will you remember, and keep +constantly in mind, the actual meaning of that new name? it is simply +this: _one called alongside to help_. + +Let me attempt to suggest a little of its practical meaning. + +Here is a little girl standing on the curbstone down town on Broadway in +New York, with a bundle in her arms. She has been sent on an errand, and +wants to get across the street. But the electric cars are whizzing past +in both directions, and wagons, and carriages, and omnibuses, and horses +jam the street from curb to curb, and she cannot get across. She stands +there gripping her bundle, watching eagerly for a chance, and yet afraid +to venture. But the jam seems endless, and she grows very tired, and by +and by the corners of her mouth begin to twitch down suspiciously, and a +big tear is just starting in each eye. Just then a big policeman steps +up, one of the finest, six feet tall, and heavy and broad. He seems like +a giant to her. He stoops down. Would you imagine he had such a gentle +voice? "What's the matter?" "Can't--get--'cross." Oh! is that all; he'll +fix that. And he takes her little hand in his with a reassuring "come +along." And along she goes, past cars, under horses' heads, close up to +big wheels. She is just as small as before, and just as weak. But +though her eyes stay pretty big, the tears are gone, and there is an air +of confidence, because this big, kind-hearted giant by her side is +walking across the street as though he owned the whole place, _and he is +devoting his entire attention to her_. That policeman is a comforter in +the strict meaning of the word. + +Here is a boy in school, head down close to the desk, puzzling over a +"sum." It won't "come out." He figures away, and his brow is all knitted +up, and a worried look is coming into his face for he is a conscientious +little fellow. But he cannot seem to get it right and the clouds gather +thicker. By and by the teacher comes up and sits down by his side. It +awes him a little to have her quite so close. But her kindliness of +manner mellows the awe. "How are you getting along?" "Won't come out +right"--in a very despondent tone. "Let me see, did you subtract +that...?" "Oh-h-h! I forgot that," and a little light seems to break, as +he scratches away for a few moments; then pauses. "And this figure here, +should it be...." "Oh-h-h, I see." More scratching, and a soft sigh of +relief, and the knitting brows unravel, and the face brightens. The +teacher did not do the problem for him. She did better. She let him feel +her kindly interest first of all, and gave just the light, experienced +touch that showed him the way out, and yet allowed him the peculiar +pleasure of getting through himself. _That is what "Comforter" means._ + +One summer a friend suggested to me spending a week on Lake Chautauqua. +I did not have the money to spare, and so told him I was not sure I +could arrange to get away. But he seemed to divine the basis of my +objection, and insisted on my going along. We went. I had very little +money with me. I got on the train without a ticket, took a seat in the +parlor car, stopped at the best hotel, had a choice room on the ground +floor, patronized the well-ordered dining-room regularly, and made free +use of the place. And all the time I had practically no money with me. +But would you believe me I was not a particle concerned about paying for +those privileges. Never felt less concern about anything in my life. You +know why. _I had a trustworthy friend, with me who was concerned for +me._ + +Now these are simple suggestions, illustrating _partly_ the meaning of +that marvelous name Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. I will send another +Comforter, one who will be right by your side to help, sympathetic, +experienced, strong; and He will stay with you all the time. In the +kitchen, in the sitting-room, the sick-room, with the children, when +work piles up, when things jangle or threaten to, when the baby's cross, +and the patching and sweeping and baking, and all the rest of it seem +endless, on the street, in the office, on the campus, in the store, when +tempted--almost slipped, when opportunity opens for a quiet personal +word, everywhere, every time, in every circumstance, one alongside to +help. Is not that wonderful? + + +A Pictorial Illustration. + +There is one bother about illustrations: they never do tell all the +truth. They never are as vivid, nor as good as the truth, that is when +you are talking about our Master, or His arrangements. The very best +illustrations of Bible truth are Bible illustrations. Now there is a +striking pictorial illustration back in the Old Testament of the meaning +of this name of the Holy Spirit. It is in the story of a most remarkable +journey from Egypt to the border line of Palestine. The journey was +remarkable for two things. First, for the sort of country it was +through. It is a trackless waste of sand, that spreads over thousands of +square miles. It was infested with venomous serpents and scorpions, and +is described as "all that great and terrible wilderness," "a waste +howling wilderness," and "a land of deserts and pits, of drought and of +the shadow of death, that none passed through, and where no man dwelt." +Think of taking a trip through a country like that! But it was even more +remarkable because of the transformation that took place in the +travelers. For a mob of four millions of people was changed into a +well-organized nation. The explanation given is fully as remarkable as +the trip, and the transformation. It must strike very strangely on the +cold, matter-of-fact ears of this materialistic world we dwell in. It is +this: that the Lord God Himself actually went with them in person, and +lived with them, and took immediate charge of everything. He had +promised Moses, their leader, that He would do this. Just how definite +or indefinite a thing that meant to Moses' mind we cannot know. But it +became very definite and tangible that memorable night of departure from +the iron furnace of Egypt. For there was a real physical evidence of His +presence. There appeared a column or pillar of fleecy-like cloud which +came down close to the ground, and which every one could plainly see. At +night time it shone and flamed as a pillar full of partly concealed +fire. God's voice spake out of it in their hearing. And that +presence-cloud never left them. In spite of complaints, and criticisms, +and rebellions of the most mean and exasperating kind, it never left +them until they had safely arrived at the border line of the promised +Palestine. + +Now it is extremely fascinating in tracing that journey to notice just +what that cloud came to mean to them. If you will run rapidly through +the three wilderness books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, you will find +there twenty distinct incidents[6] which illustrate how God's actual +presence in that cloud was made very real to them in practical affairs. +In those incidents there are ten different ways in which they were made +to feel that powerful Presence. + +At the outset it is mentioned that the chief purpose was "to lead them +the way," and, by night "to give them light." Five incidents speak of +bodily nourishment, including fresh food daily, with occasional extras, +and a full supply of pure living water. Five speak of protection from +bodily harm. Two tell of the defeat of an enemy. Once there is chiding +for ingratitude. Six times rebuke or punishment for sin. In four they +are held back when dead-set on a very wrong course. Twice there is +instruction in their leader's plan for them. Three times a fuller +manifestation of Himself, and each time this is preceded by obedience on +their part in some particular matter. Once there is a special plan +suggested for relief in managing the nation's affairs. And then the fact +is stated that whenever Moses went apart to talk with God the cloud +descended lower, that is, _God came nearer_ when Moses desired to talk +with Him. So you see, the cloud meant guidance through that trackless +desert, food supplies, protection, defeat for the enemy, chiding, +restraint, punishment, instruction, help in business matters, a more +intimate manifestation of the glorious personality of their Guide, and a +gracious coming nearer whenever desired. Was not that a real practical +presence of the great God with them all those days? + +Now that is the Bible's own graphic illustration of the meaning of that +new name given to the Holy Spirit, by Him who knew Him best, +_Comforter--one alongside to help_. + + +On a Higher Level. + +Before we leave that illustration we must notice a very significant +thing which is no small part of the truth illustrated. Though the cloud +appeared the very night of that sudden going out of Egypt, and was never +absent from them, by day or by night, yet a full year afterwards there +was a new experience. By God's direction a special tent was made and set +up in which He said He would dwell. It was known as God's dwelling +place, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. When +everything concerning its setting up had been fully done as specified +then there was an experience the most remarkable they had yet had with +God. It was a new manifestation of the glorious presence of their unseen +Friend-Guide. It is twice said that the tent was "_filled_" with His +glory. And this nearer disclosure, which God gave of Himself, was so +marvelously glorious and overpowering that even Moses, who had spent +almost twelve weeks in that mount with God, in closer intimacy than any +one else--even Moses was not able to enter into the tent, so over-awing +was that Presence. + +Now it is of intensest interest to mark four things about that +experience. _First_ of all, before it came, there was _obedience_ to +God's instructions. Eighteen times within the narrow limits of the last +two pages of the Exodus record, it is said that Moses and the people did +everything, in every particular, just exactly as "the Lord commanded +Moses." There was explicit obedience before anything else. _Then_ +followed the wondrous _infilling_ of the tent with God's presence. The +_third_ thing is particularized very carefully: all their movements were +directed and controlled by that Presence. Clearly the only safe rule for +living in that terrible desert, was to plan to live a planless life so +far as their own planning was concerned. Besides the last two verses of +Exodus which emphasize this, I find that in my revised Oxford edition +forty-five lines in the ninth chapter of Numbers are given to telling +how exactly they were guided, and how explicitly they followed their +Guide. It seems almost at first reading as though there was a decidedly +needless repetition. You seem to understand the thing easily enough +without that. But as one reads it again, and yet again, slowly, it +begins to dawn upon the mind that the purpose is to put marked emphasis +on this feature of their new life in the wilderness. The people would +rise in the morning, and probably the first thing done was to look out +toward the cloud to learn if there was to be any change that day. And so +during the day there would come to be an instinctive habit of watching +that cloud. They might remain in a new camping place for months, or only +for a few weeks, or, possibly only for a few days. They never knew a day +ahead. They lived literally a day at a time. It was certainly a +hand-to-mouth existence so far as the daily manna was concerned. But +then it was from _His_ hand to _their_ mouths and that made a great +difference. It was equally so in their movements and in all of their new +life. When, one morning as thousands of heads peep out, the cloud is +seen to have lifted up from over the tent, the next question was--which +direction? It might be toward the west, or it might be just the +opposite, toward the east. Both the time of going, and the direction, +and the pace were regulated by the presence of their Friend in that +cloud. Their life was a life of obedience to the will of their wise, +loving Companion. + +The _fourth_ thing was intimacy of intercourse. It is a little +unfortunate that in reading our Bibles we sometimes allow the gaps that +come in the printing to break the continuity of thought. There is a +break for instance between the last verse of Exodus and the first verse +of Leviticus. The reading is meant to be continuous, and shows that +after the infilling, and the explanation about guidance, that God +"_called_" Moses to Him and _commenced talking about their new life_. +Now in connection with that call, and all their after talks, notice a +remarkable statement in the last verse of that long seventh chapter of +Numbers. It explains just _how_ God talked with Moses. Listen: "Whenever +Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, _then he heard +the voice_ speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the +ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and _He_ speaketh +unto him." There was the living, loving voice of their Companion-God, +which Moses could plainly hear, and which others heard, talking +familiarly and intimately about all their affairs. Several times when in +doubt what to do Moses promptly went off into the tent, then the cloud +would come down nearer, and Moses would state his difficulty, and back +would come that clear distinct voice with an answer. Group up those four +things--obedience; the never-to-be-forgotten infilling; the controlling +guidance; and intimate companionship. + +That is the very best illustration I can find of the meaning of that +word which Jesus now chooses out and uses as the new name which would +most vividly tell what the Holy Spirit was to be to all believers after +His own departure. All that the presence of God in that pillar was to +those people, and to Moses personally, all that the Holy Spirit will be +to you. And my own conviction is that Jesus had that Old Testament scene +in His mind. For if you will turn again to that last night's talk you +will find a striking repetition of the steps or peculiarities of that +wilderness experience. Though here the whole experience is on a much +higher, finer plane. There is a closeness of personal regard, a depth of +that deepest of all loves, friendship love, that is not found in the Old +Testament story, except perhaps between Moses himself and God. + +But now read the twenty-first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John: +"He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth +Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father and I will love +him, and _will manifest Myself unto him_." And the twenty-third verse +adds to it: "If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will +love him, and _We will come unto him and make Our abiding place with +him_." Notice: there is obedience; it is accepted as an evidence of +love: there is a return love--a new, higher, reciprocal love: then there +is a revealing of Himself; and, constant abiding. Now run your eye +through the remaining part of that evening's conversation and you can +quickly pick out these words: "teach," "bring to your remembrance," +"guide," "bear witness of me," "tell you coming things," "tell you about +me." + +Does that not parallel remarkably the wilderness experience? Only it is +all put on such a higher plane. There is a fullness, and richness, and +tenderness, of personal intimacy here. The Presence in the wilderness +was for the national life: here it is peculiarly for the personal life. +There He dwelt actually in the heart of the nation. Here He dwells +actually in one's own very person. And then, too, now He can do so much +more _in_ us because so much more has been done for us through the +person of Jesus. + + +How to Find the Meaning. + +May I say right here plainly: there seems to be even yet in some +quarters a hazy idea about the Holy Spirit being a person. It is +extremely common, even among people of excellent christian training, to +find Him referred to, both in prayer and speech as _it_. Could anything +be more disrespectful or insulting, if it were intentional instead of +being thoughtless or, in ignorance, as I am sure it really is. Imagine +my speaking of the pastor of this church in that way. "_It_ is a good +preacher. _It_ is a helpful pastor." You smile, and he smiles. But if I +said it repeatedly, and in sober earnest, you know how insulted he would +be. I suppose that the use of the word "itself" for the Holy Spirit in +the eighth chapter of Romans is largely responsible for this. The +revisers have properly substituted the word "himself." That very usage +so common has doubtless accustomed many persons to a vague idea of the +personality of the Spirit. And yet apart from that, there is without +doubt much mistiness, and uncertainty, in some minds, because of the +difficulty of thinking of a person without a form. It seems impossible +for our minds to grasp the idea of existence without bodily shape, yet +of course we believe in a personal God. Probably another reason is that +the Holy Spirit's work is not to speak of Himself but of Another--of +Jesus. He is Jesus' representative, and is constantly absorbed in +filling us with thoughts of His Chief. And when our minds are most +deeply stirred with thoughts of Jesus then it is that in that very fact +of being so stirred we have clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit's +presence within us. His very faithfulness to His mission has led to +Himself suffering depreciation at our hands, through our ignorance. + +I am sure it must help us all decidedly in getting a clear-cut, sharply +defined idea of His personality to notice the language Jesus uses in +speaking of Him that night. For instance, notice that in our English +version the personal pronouns "he," "whom," "him," "which" (used in the +sense of who as is common with the British translators), occur +twenty-four times. A study of the actual words used would prove helpful +and interesting. One of them, used several times, is peculiarly +emphatic, its meaning being equivalent to the expression "that person +there." + +And then notice the words used to describe what this person will do: "He +shall teach," "bring to your remembrance," "bear witness of Me," +"convict the world of" three distinct things, "shall guide," "shall +hear," "shall speak," "shall declare," "shall glorify Me," "shall take +of Mine and declare it unto you." Everyone of these ten different +expressions imply intelligence and discrimination, and therefore of +course personality. And then added to this is the name given to Him here +of which so much has been said. + +May we take just another look at that name--_The Comforter_--as we close +our talk together? I wish with my whole heart, and I pray, that a vivid +sense of the meaning of that name may be one result of this evening's +meeting. I was traveling alone in Germany one hot July day on a train +going down to the city of Worms. It was quite hot and I was very tired, +and my head aching, I distinctly remember. The conductor came along and +objected to my ticket. Before leaving this country, I thought I knew a +_little_ of German, enough to worry through on. My ideas on that subject +changed a trifle over there, however. That day my tired ears refused to +recognize any familiar sounds on the conductor's lips, and my tired +tongue refused to utter anything satisfactory to him. And there I was, a +complete stranger in a strange land too tired to think or have any +mental resources, not knowing but I might be put off at the next +station. In fact just tired enough for fine worrying. It looked blue for +a few moments. But not for long. A young man by my side, a Jew, spoke to +me in excellent English. Was any sound ever so welcome! He straightened +the conductor out, and then we fell to talking together. He proved to be +a very intelligent, agreeable companion. I found his home was in the +city where I was going. So we got off there together, and he simply +devoted himself to me for the day. He took me up to a good hotel, and +while I was eating dinner, went and got his brother who had been in +America, and who entertained me while I ate. Then he took me to his +father's home, a large old mansion, overlooking the famous Luther +monument where I rested a while. And then a quick run to a few +interesting points, and finally when leaving time came, he insisted on +accompanying me to the station, and making sure I had a good seat, and +then bade me a gracious good-bye. + +That day lingers in my memory as one of the green spots of that trip. It +touched me to think that my Master graciously sent one of His own +despised race to be my friend. Do you not think that that man, +experienced where I was ignorant, and so sympathetic, was a living +illustration to me of Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit--_one called +alongside to help_? + +One day recently, riding on a Lake Shore train in Ohio, I chanced to +notice the conductor stopping to speak to a little girl sitting behind +me. Then I noticed that she was alone and crying a little, quietly. She +did not answer his questions, but he must have been a father, I thought, +because he seemed to understand so well. Speaking to a kind-faced +motherly looking woman in the next seat he had the little girl go back +and sit beside her, next the window. They did not talk much, if any, I +noticed. But the girl was snuggled up close, and I knew from her face +that she felt the warm sympathy of that friendly presence, and that the +terrible feeling of loneliness had gone. Is not that woman another +illustration of that name Comforter? Her mere presence was all that was +needed to clear the skies and change the atmosphere for the little lone +and lonely traveler. + +But Jesus Himself has a very striking way of making clear just what He +meant, by coupling another word with that new name the first time He +used it. He says, "I will send _another_ Comforter." The comparison is +with Himself. He is one comforter. The Holy Spirit another one. The only +other time this word is used is by John in his first epistle, and is +translated by our word advocate, and refers to Jesus. Jesus practically +says: "You know what I have been to you these months past." And they +would think through, the close intimacy of nearly two years. How He had +spoken with unmistakable plainness when they were in the wrong, but also +how loving with a strong love He had been, how patient, and gentle, and +resourceful, and how He seemed to yearn over them that they might grow +into His ideal for them. "Now," He says, "I am going away, but I will +send you _another_ one who will be to you all that I have been--_and +more_." _And more!_ That comparative more, either spoken or implied, +runs all through this last long confidential talk. "More, much more, +_because I go unto the Father_." Jesus crucified, risen, glorified can +do much more by far in us by His other self, the Holy Spirit, than He +could in person on the earth those years. And the wondrous meaning of +that "another comforter" to you and me, my friends, to-night is simply +this: it is the same as though the Lord Jesus had actually come back +again and _you had Him all to yourself--and more_. + +But I cannot tell you the meaning of that wonderful name. Nor yet the +wondrous charm of Him who, for our sakes, embodies it. You may put +together all these illustrations in the attempt to get a real, close-up, +idea of what Jesus meant in that love-gift of His to you. And then you +will not know. There is really only one way to gain that knowledge. It +is this: take the step which belongs to _your_ side of the transaction +between you and the Master. Surrender yourself to Him to be changed and +cleansed and used as He may choose. Then _He_ will begin at once working +out the side that belongs to Him. _You shall be filled with His +presence._ Then you will _begin_ to know. Then you can sing-- + + "I have a wonderful guest, + Who speeds my feet, who moves my hands, + Who strengthens, comforts, guides, commands, + Whose presence gives me rest. + + "He dwells within my soul, + He swept away the filth and gloom; + He garnished fair the empty room, + And now pervades the whole." + +And you shall go on knowing more and better until the day dawn and the +shadows flee away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] See note at the end.[A] + +[Transcriber's Note A: The note in question follows immediately below, as +the footnote was moved to the end.] + + + Of the twenty incidents referred to three do not directly + mention the cloud, and in two others it is over the mount, with + its characteristics much intensified. The references are given + for those who will want to get closer up to this famous + illustration. + + Guidance: Ex. xiii: 21-22, with Numbers xiv: 14. + + Bodily nourishment. Ex. xv: 25; xvi: 13-14, 45; xvii: 6. + Numbers xi: 31-32. xx: 1-12. + + Protection from bodily harm: The nation--Ex. xiv: 19-20. The + leaders--Num. xiv: 10 and on. xvi: 19 and on. xvi: 42 and on. + xx: 1-12. + + Defeat of an enemy: Ex. xiv: 24-31, xvii: 8-16. + + Chiding: Ex. xvi: 4-7, 10-12. + + Rebuke or punishment for sin: Numbers xi: 33; xii: 1-10; xiv: + 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12. + + Held back from wrong: Numbers xiv: 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; + 42 and on; xx: 1-12. + + Instruction and training: Ex. xix: 9, 16 and on; xxiv: 15-18. + + Fuller manifestation: Ex. xxxiv: 5 and on; xi: 34-38. Lev. ix: + 6, 23. + + Special plan of relief in managment: Numbers xi: 16, 17, 25. + + Coming nearer: Ex. xxxiii: 7-11, revised version. + + + + +MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS. + +Many Experiences, but One Law. + + +In mechanics power depends on good connections. A visit to any great +machine shop makes that clear. There must be good connections in two +directions--inward toward the source of power, and outward for use. The +same law holds true in spiritual power as in mechanical. There must be +good connections. + +These nights we have been together a few things have seemed clear. We +have seen that from the standpoint of our lives there is _need_ of +power, as well as from the standpoint of the Master's use of us among +others. Jesus' promise and insistent words make plain the _necessity_ of +our having power if His plan for us is not to fail. His words about the +_price_ of power have set many of us to doing some honest thinking and +heart-searching. And we have gotten some suggestion, too, of the meaning +of that word power, and of the _personality_ back of the word. + +To-night I want to talk with you a little about how to secure good +connections between the source of power and the channel through which it +is to flow out to others; and, once secured, how to preserve the +connections unbroken. + +It has been one of the peculiar characteristics of recent years in +religious circles that much has been spoken and written about the Holy +Spirit. Thousands of persons have been led into a clearer understanding +of His personality and mission, and into intimate relationship with +Himself. And yet, may I say frankly, that I read much and listened to +much without being able to get a simple workable understanding of how I +was to receive the much-talked-of baptism of power. That may quite +likely have been due to my own dullness of comprehension. But whatever +the cause, my failing to understand led to a rather careful study of the +old Book itself until somewhat clearer light has come. And now in this +convention I am anxious to put the truth as simply as I may that others +may not blunder and bungle along and lose precious time as I have done. + +Many an earnest heart, conscious of weakness and failure, is asking, how +may I have power to resist temptation, and live a strong, useful, +christian life? In the search for an answer some of us have run across +two difficulties. One of these is in _other people's experiences_. It is +very natural to try to find out how someone else has succeeded in +getting what we are after. Many a godly man has told of his experience +of waiting and pleading with God before the thing he sought came. +Personal experiences are intensely interesting, and often helpful. But +there are apt to be as many different sorts of experiences as there are +persons. Yet there is one unchanging law of God's dealing with men +underlying them all. But unless one is more skilled than many of us are +in analyzing experiences and discovering the underlying law, these +experiences of others are often misleading. We are so likely to think at +once of the desirability of having the same experience as someone else, +rather than trying to find God's law of spirit life in them all. And so, +some of the written experiences have clouded rather than cleared the +sky. We should rather try _first_ to get something of a clear +understanding of God's law of dealing with men as a sort of basis to +build upon. And then fit into that, even though it may develop +differently in our circumstances. We may then get much help from others' +experiences. If possible, we want to-night to get something of an +inkling of that law. + +Another difficulty that has bothered some of us is in the great variety +of language used in speaking of this life of power; a variety that seems +confusing to some of us. "The baptism of the Holy Spirit," "the +induement," "the filling," "refilling," "many fillings," "special +anointings"--these terms are familiar, though just the distinctive +meaning of each is not always clear. Let us look a little at the +language of the Book at this point. A run through the New Testament +brings out five leading words used[B] in speaking of the Holy Spirit's +relation to us. These words are "baptized," "filled," "anointed," +"sealed," and "earnest." It seems to take all five words to tell all of +the truth. Each gives a different side. + +[Transcriber's note B: Original had "word sused"] + +The word _baptized_ is the distinctive word always used _before_ the day +of Pentecost, in speaking of what was to occur then. It is not used +afterward except in referring back to that day. It belongs peculiarly to +the day of Pentecost. Each of the gospels tells that John the Baptist +said that Jesus was to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself uses +the word, during the forty days, in Acts, first chapter. Peter, in Acts, +eleventh chapter, recalls this remark. Paul uses it once in referring +back to Pentecost.[7] These seem to be the only instances where the word +is used in speaking of the Holy Spirit. One other word is used once in +advance of Pentecost. "Tarry until ye be _endued_ or clothed upon."[8] +We shall see in a few moments that the meaning of this fits in with the +meaning of baptized, emphasizing one part of its meaning. + +"Baptized" may be called the _historical_ word. It describes an act done +once for all on that great day of Pentecost, with possibly four +accessory repetitions to make clear that additional classes and groups +were included.[9] It tells God's side. + +In this connection it will be helpful to note the significance of the +word baptize. Of course you will understand that I am not speaking now +of the matter or mode of water baptism. But I am supposing that +originally or historically the word means a plunging or dipping into. We +commonly think of the act of immersion-baptism from the side of the +object immersed because the action is on the side of the thing or person +which is plunged down into the immersing flood. But in the historical +baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the standpoint is reversed. +Instead of a plunging down into there is a coming down upon, exactly +reversing the order with which we are familiar, but with the same +result--submersion. Notice the phrases in Acts used in describing the +baptism of the Holy Spirit on that historical Pentecost: "Coming upon +you," "pour out," "poured forth," "fallen upon," "fell upon," "poured +out," "fell on them," "came upon,"[10] all suggesting an act from above. + + +A Four-Sided Truth. + +Now notice that the word used at the time of the actual occurrence and +afterwards is another word--"_filled_" and "full," which occurs eleven +times in the first nine chapters of Acts. It tells what was +_experienced_ by those persons at Pentecost and afterwards. It describes +_their_ side. Baptism was the _act_; filling was the _result_. If you +plunge a book into water you are submerging the book: that is your side. +The leaves of the book quickly become soaked, filled with the water: +that is the other side. When a baby is born it is plunged out into the +atmosphere. That is an immersion into air. It begins at once to cry and +its lungs become filled with the air into which it has been plunged. So +here "filled" is the _experience_ word; it tells our side. + +The third word, "_anointed_," indicates the _purpose_ of this filling; +it is to qualify for living and for service. It is the word commonly +used in the Old Testament for the setting apart of the tabernacle to its +holy use; and of priests and kings, and sometimes prophets for service +and leadership. In the New Testament it is four times used of Jesus, +each time in connection with His public ministry.[11] Paul uses it of +himself in answering those who had criticised his work and leadership at +Corinth.[12] And John uses it twice in speaking of ability to discern +and teach the truth.[13] It is the _power_ word, indicating that the +Holy Spirit's coming is for the specific purpose of setting us apart, +and to qualify us for right living, and for acceptable and helpful +service. + +The fourth word, "_sealed_," explains our personal connection with the +Lord Jesus. It is used once by Paul in writing to his friends at +Corinth, and twice in the Ephesian epistle.[14] The seal was used, and +still is to mark ownership. In our lumber regions up in the Northwest it +is customary to clear a small spot on a log and strike it with the blunt +end of a hatchet containing the initials of the owner, and then send it +adrift down the stream with hundreds of others, and though it may float +miles unguarded, that mark of ownership is respected. On the Western +plains it is common to see mules with an initial branded on the flank. +In both cases the initial is the owner's seal, recognized by law as +sufficient evidence of ownership. So the Holy Spirit is Jesus' ownership +mark stamped upon us to indicate that we belong to Him. He is our sole +Owner. And if any of us are not allowing Him to have full control of His +property, we are dealing dishonestly. Sealed is the _property_ or +_ownership_ word. + +The last one of these words, "_earnest_," is a peculiarly interesting +one. It is found three times in Paul's epistles.[15] An earnest is a +pledge given in advance as an evidence of good faith. We are familiar +with the usage of paying down a small part of the price agreed upon to +make a business transaction binding. In old English it is called caution +money. My mother has told me of seeing her mother many a time pay a +shilling in the Belfast market-house to insure the delivery of a bag of +potatoes, paying the remainder on its delivery. + +Now here the Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance unto +the redemption of the purchased possession." That means two things to +us: First--that the Holy Spirit now filling us is Jesus' pledge that He +has purchased us, and that some day He is coming back to claim His +possessions; and then that the measure of the Spirit's presence and +power now is only a foretaste of a greater fullness at the time of +coming back; a sort of partial advance payment which insures a payment +in full when the transaction is completed. Paul speaks of this to the +Romans as the _first fruits_ of the Spirit.[16] + +So, if you will take all five words you will get all of the truth about +our friend the Holy Spirit, and just what His coming into one's life +means. The first word, "baptism," is the _historical_ word, pointing us +_back_ to the day of Pentecost. The other four words, taken together, +tell us the four sides of the Holy Spirit's relation to us now. "Filled" +is the _experience_ word, pointing us _inward_ to what actually takes +place there. "Anointed" is the _power_ word, pointing us _outward_ to +the life and service among men to which we are set apart. "Sealed" is +the _personal-relation_ word, pointing us _upward_ to our Owner and +Master. "Earnest" is the _prophetic_ word, pointing us _forward_ to the +Master's coming back to claim His own, and to bestow the full measure of +the Spirit's presence. + +And to-night we want to get some hint of how to have this infilling, +which shall also be an anointing of power and a seal of ownership and an +earnest of greater things at Jesus' return. + + +Broken Couplings. + +But perhaps some one is saying, "Have not we all received the Holy +Spirit if we are christians?" Yes, that is quite true. It is the Holy +Spirit's presence in us that makes us christians. His work begins at +conversion. Conversion and regeneration are the two sides of the same +transaction. Conversion, the human side: regeneration, the divine side. +My turning clear around to God is my side, and instantly His Spirit +enters and begins His work. But here is a distinction to be made: the +Holy Spirit is in every christian, but in many He is not allowed free +and full control, and so there is little or none of His power _felt_ or +_seen_. Only as He has full sway is His power _manifest_. If at the time +of conversion or decision there is clear instruction and a whole-hearted +surrender, there will be evidence of the Spirit's presence at once. And +if the new life goes on _without break_ there will be a continuance of +that power in ever-increasing measure. But many a time, through +ignorance, or through some disobedience or failure to obey, there has +come a break, a slipping of a cog somewhere, and so an interruption of +the flow of power. Many a time lack of instruction regarding the +cultivation of the Spirit's friendship has resulted in just such a +break. And so a new start is necessary. Then a full surrender is +followed by a new experience or, shall I better say, a re-experience of +the Spirit's presence. And this new experience sometimes is so sharply +marked as to begin a new epoch in the life. Some of the notable leaders +of the Church have gone through just such an experience. + +Yet, I know a man--have known him somewhat intimately for years--one of +the most saintly men it has been my privilege to know. For some years he +was a missionary abroad, but now is preaching in this country. His +private personal life is fragrant, and his public speech is always +accompanied with rare power. In conversation with a young minister at a +summer conference, he said he had never known this second blessing or +experience on which such stress was being laid there. And I think I can +readily understand that he had not. For, apparently, so far as one can +see, his first surrender or decision had been a whole-hearted one. He +had followed simply, fully, as he saw the way. There had been no break, +but a steady going on and up, and an ever-increasing manifestation of +the Spirit's presence from the time of that first decision. So that it +may be said, quite accurately, I think, that _in God's plan_ there is no +need of any second stage, but _in our actual experience_ there has been +a second stage, and sometimes more than a second, too, because with so +many of us the connections have been broken, making a fresh act on our +part a necessity. + + +The Real Battlefield. + +But now the main topic we are to talk about is making and breaking +connections. First, making connections with the source of power. How may +one who has been willing to go thus far in these talks go a step further +and have power in actual _conscious_ possession? + +There are many passages in this old Book that answer that question. But +let me turn you to one which puts the answer in very simple shape. +John's gospel, seventh chapter, verses thirty-seven to thirty-nine. +Listen: "Now, on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood +and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He +that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall +flow rivers of living water." Then John, writing some fifty years or so +afterwards, adds what he himself did not understand at the time: "But +this spake He of the Spirit who they that believed on Him were to +receive; for not yet was the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus +glorified." + +There are four words here which tell the four steps into a new life of +power. Sometimes these steps are taken so quickly that they seem in +actual experience like only one. But that does not matter to us just +now, for we are after the practical result. Four words--thirst, +glorified, drink, believe--tell the whole story. Thirst means desire, +intense desire. There is no word in our language so strong to express +desire as the word thirst. Physical thirst will completely control your +actions. If you are very thirsty, you can do nothing till that gnawing +desire is satisfied. You cannot read, nor study, nor talk, nor transact +business. You are in agony when intensely thirsty. To die of thirst is +extremely painful. Jesus uses that word thirst to express intensest +desire. Let me ask you--Are you thirsty for power? Is there a yearning +down in your heart for something you have not? That is the first step. +No good to offer food to a man without appetite. "Blessed are they that +hunger and thirst." Pitiable are they that need and do not know their +need. Physicians find their most difficult work in dealing with the man +who has no desire to live. He is at the lowest ebb. Are you thirsty? +There is a special promise for thirsty ones. "I will pour water on him +that is thirsty." If you are not thirsty for the Master's power, are you +thirsty to be made thirsty? If you are not really thirsty in your heart +for this new life of power, you might ask the Master to put that thirst +in you. For there can be nothing before that. + +The second word is the one added long afterwards by John, when the +Spirit had enlightened his understanding--"glorified." "For not yet was +the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus glorified." That word has +two meanings here: the first meaning a historical one, the second a +personal or experimental one. The historical meaning is this: when Jesus +returned home all scarred in face and form from His trip to the earth, +He was received back with great enthusiasm, and was glorified in the +presence of myriads of angel beings by being enthroned at the Father's +right hand. Then the glorified Jesus sent the Holy Spirit down to the +earth as His own personal representative for His new peculiar mission. +The presence of the Spirit in our hearts is evidence that the Jesus whom +earth despised and crucified is now held in highest honor and glory in +that upper world. The Spirit is the gift of a _glorified_ Jesus. Peter +lays particular stress upon this in his Pentecost sermon, telling to +those who had so spitefully murdered Jesus that He "being at the right +hand of God _exalted_ ... hath poured forth this." That is the +historical meaning--the first meaning--of that word "glorified." It +refers to an event in the highest heaven after Jesus' ascension. The +_personal_ meaning is this: when Jesus is enthroned in my life the Holy +Spirit shall fill me. The Father glorified Jesus by enthroning Him. I +must glorify Him by enthroning Him. But the throne of my heart was +occupied by another who did not propose to resign, nor to be deposed +without resistance. So there had to be a dethronement as well as an +enthronement. I must quietly but resolutely place the crown of my life, +my love, my _will_ upon Jesus' brow for Him henceforth to control me as +He will. That act of enthroning Him carries with it the dethronement of +self. + +Let me say plainly that here is _the_ searching test of the whole +matter. _Why_ do you want power? For the rare enjoyment of ecstatic +moods? For some hidden selfish purpose, like Simon of Samaria, of which +you are perhaps only half conscious, so subtly does it lurk underneath? +That you may be able to move men? These motives are all selfish. The +streams turn in, and that means a dead sea. Better stop before you +begin. For thy heart is not right before God. But if the uppermost and +undermost desire be to glorify Jesus and let Him do in you, and with you +_what He chooses_, then you shall know the flooding of the channel-ways +of your life with a new stream of power. + +Jesus Himself, when down here as Son of Man, met this test. With +reverence be it said that His highest purpose in coming to earth was not +to die upon the cross, but to glorify His Father. That memorable passage +opening the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, which Jesus applied to +Himself in the Nazareth synagogue, contains eight or nine statements of +what He was to do, but closes with a comprehensive statement of the +underlying purpose--"_that He might be glorified_." As it turned out, +that could best be done by yielding to the awful experiences through +which He passed. But the supreme thought of pleasing His Father was +never absent from His thought. It drove Him to the wilderness, and to +Gethsemane, and to Calvary. + +Is that the one purpose in your heart in desiring power? He might send +some of us out to the far-off foreign mission field. He might send some +down to the less enchanted field of the city slums to do salvage service +night after night among the awful social wreckage[C] thrown upon the +strand there; or possibly it would mean an isolated post out on the +frontier, or down in the equally heroic field of the mountains of the +South. He might leave some of you just where you are, in a commonplace, +humdrum spot, as you think, when your visions had been in other fields. +He might make you a seed-sower, like lonely Morrison in China, when +_you_ wanted to be a harvester like Moody. Here is the real battlefield. +The fighting and agonizing are here. Not with God but with yourself, +that the old self in you may be crucified and Jesus crowned in its +place. + +[Transcriber's Note C: Original had "weckage"] + +Will you _in the purpose of your heart_ make Jesus absolute monarch +whatever that may prove to mean? It _may_ mean great sacrifice; it +_will_ mean greater joy and power at once. May we have the simple +courage to do it. Master, help us! Thou wilt help us. Thou art helping +some of us now as we talk and listen and think. + + +Power Manifest in Action. + +Well, then, if you have won on that field of action, the rest is very +simple. Indeed, after a victory there, your whole life moves up to a new +level. The third word is drink. "Let him come unto Me _and drink_." +Drinking is one of the easiest acts imaginable. I wish I had a glass of +water here just to let you see how easy a thing it is. Tip up the glass +and let the water run in and down. Drink simply means _take_. It is +saying, "Lord Jesus, I take from Thee the promised power.... I thank +Thee that the Spirit has taken full control." But you say, "Is that +all?" Yes. "Why, I do not feel anything." Do you remember saying +something like that when you were urged to take Jesus as your Savior? +And some kind friend told you not to wait for feeling, but to trust, and +that when you did that, the light came? Now, the fourth word is +_believe_. The law of God's dealing with you has not changed. Jesus +says, "Out of his belly _shall flow_ rivers of living water." You are to +believe His word. "But," you say, "how shall I _know_ I have this +power?" Well, first, by _believing_ that Jesus has done what He agreed. +He promised the Spirit to them that obey Him. The Holy Spirit fills +every surrendered heart. Then there is a second way--you will experience +the power as need arises. How do you know _any_thing? Here is this +chair. Suppose I tell you I have power to pick it up and hold it out at +arm's length. Well, you think, I look as though I might have that much +power in my arm. But you do not know. Perhaps my arm is weak and does +not show it. But now I pick it up and hold it out--(holding chair out at +arm's length)--now you _know_ I have at least that much power in my arm. +Power is always manifest in action. That is a law of power. How did that +man by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, who had not walked for +thirty-eight years--how did he _know_ that he had received power to +walk? _He got up and walked!_ He did not know he had received the power +till he got up. Power is shown in action always. Faith acts. It pushes +out, in obedience to command. And when you go out of here to-day, _as +the need arises_ you will find the power rising within you to meet it. +When the hasty word comes hot to your lips, when that old habit asserts +itself, when the actual test of sacrifice comes, when the opportunity +for service comes, as surely as the need comes, will come the sense of +_His power_ in control. Believe means _expect_. + +"Thirst," "glorify," "drink," "believe"--_desire_, _enthrone_, _accept_, +_expect_--that is the simple story. Are you thirsty? Will you put Jesus +on the throne? Then accept, and go out with your eyes open, expecting, +expecting, _expecting_, and He will never fail to reveal His power. +Shall we bow in silence a few moments and settle the matter, each of us, +with the Master direct? + + +Three Laws of Continuous Power. + +Power depends on good connections. In mechanics: the train with the +locomotive; the machinery with the engine; the electrical mechanism with +the power house. In the body: the arm with the socket; the brain with +the heart. In the christian life the follower of Jesus with the Spirit +of Jesus. We have been talking together about making connections, and I +believe some of us have made the vital connection this hour, which means +new inflow and outflow of power. + +Now there will be time for only a brief word about _breaking_ +connections. "But," you say, "we do not want to break connections." No, +_you_ do not. But there is someone else who does. Since you have put +yourself into intimate contact with Jesus this someone else has become +intensely interested in breaking that contact. And this enemy of ours, +this Satan, the hater, is subtle and deep and experienced and more than +a match for any of us. But greater is He that is now in you than he that +is in the world. Satan will do his best by bold attack and cunning +deceit to tamper with your couplings. + +One of the saddest sights, and yet a not uncommon one, is to see a man +who has been mightily used of God, but whose usefulness is now wholly +gone. One can run back through only recent years and recall, one after +another, those through whom multitudes were blessed, but who, yielding +to some subtle temptation, have utterly and forever lost their +opportunity Of service. The same is true of scores in more secluded +circles whose lives, spiritually blighted and dwarfed, tell the same sad +story. + +These recent instances are but repetitions of older ones. Three times +the writer of Judges tells of Samson that "the spirit of the Lord came +mightily upon him," and then is added the pathetic sentence--"but he +wist not that the Lord was departed from him." And between the two +occurs the story of an act of disobedience. Twice the same thing is +recorded of King Saul, "the spirit of God came mightily upon him," and +the same sequel follows, "the spirit of the Lord had departed." And +between the two is found an act of disobedience to God's command. The +ninth of Luke tells a similar story. The disciples had been given power; +had used the power for others; were requested to relieve a demonized +boy; had tried to; had expected to; but utterly failed, to their own +chagrin, and the father's disappointment, amid the surprise and +criticism of the crowd. The Master explains that a slipshod connection +with God was at the bottom of their failure. Power is not stored in us +apart from God's presence. It merely passes through as He has sway. Once +the connection between Him and you is disturbed, the flow of power is +interrupted. We do not run on the storage battery plan, but on the +trolley plan. Constant communication with the source of power is +absolutely essential. The spirit of God never leaves us. We do not lose +His presence. But whatever grieves Him prevents His presence being +manifest. The _evidence_ of His presence may be lost through wrongdoing. +So I want to give you in very brief compass _the three laws_ of the life +of power--continued and increasing power. I wish some one had given them +to me long ago. It might have saved me many a bad break. + +_The first law_ can be put in a single word--_obey_. Obedience is the +great foundation law of the christian life. Indeed it is the common +fundamental law of all organization, in nature, in military, naval, +commercial, political and domestic circles. Obedience is the great +essential to securing the purpose of life. Disobedience means disaster. +If you turn to scripture you must read almost every page if you would +get all the statements and illustrations of obedience and its opposite. +Begin with the third of Genesis, where the first disastrous act of +disobedience brought a ruin still going on. Run through the three +wilderness books, where the new nation is grouped about the smoking +mountain. Listen in Deuteronomy to the old man Moses talking during the +thirty days' conference they had in Moab's plains before he was taken +away. Then into Joshua's book of victory and the Judges' dark story of +defeats, through the kingdom books, and the prophecies, and you will +find the changes rung more frequently upon _obedience_ than anything +else. The same is true of the New Testament clear to the last column of +the last page. + +The fact is, every heart is a battlefield whose possession is being +hotly contested. If Jesus is in possession Satan is trying his best by +storm or strategy to get in. If Satan be in possession whether as a +coarse or a cultured Satan, then Jesus is lovingly storming the door. +Satan _can_ not get in without your consent, and Jesus _will_ not. An +act of obedience to God is slamming the door in Satan's face, and +opening it wider for Jesus' control. Listen with your heart! An act of +disobedience, however slight, as _you_ think, is slamming the door of +your heart in Jesus' face and flinging it open to Satan's entrance. Is +that mere rhetoric? It is cold fact. No, it is hot fact. The first great +simple law is obedience. + +But someone asks, "How shall I know what--whom, to obey? Sometimes the +voices coming to my ear seem to be jarring voices; they do not agree. +Pastors do not all agree: churches are not quite agreed on some matters: +my best friends think differently: how shall I know?" Here comes in _the +second law_, _Obey the book of God as interpreted by the Spirit of God_. +Not the book alone. That will lead into superstition. Not to say the +Spirit without the book He has indited. That will lead to fanaticism. +But the book as interpreted by the Spirit, and the Spirit as He speaks +through His book. There is a voice of God, and a Spirit of God and a +book of God. God speaks by His Spirit through His word Sometimes He +speaks directly without the written word. But _very, very rarely_. The +mental impressions by which the Spirit guides are frequent. But I am +speaking now, not of that but of His audible inner voice. He is chary in +the use of that. And when he so speaks the _test_ is that, of necessity, +the voice of God always agrees with itself. The spoken word is never out +of harmony with the written word. And as He has given us the written +word, it becomes our standard of His will. This book of God was +inspired. It _is_ inspired. God spoke in it. He speaks in it to-day. You +will be surprised to find how light on every sort of question will come +through this in-Spirited book. + +But someone with a practical turn of mind is thinking: "but it is such a +big book. I do not know much about it. I read the psalms some, and some +chapters in Isaiah, and the gospels and some in the epistles, but I have +no grasp of the whole book; and your second law seems a little beyond +me." Then _you_ listen to the third law, namely: _time alone with the +book daily_. It should be unhurried time. Time enough not to think about +time. At least a half hour every day, I would suggest, and preferably +the first half hour of the morning, rising at least early enough to get +this bit of time before any duty can claim you. It may seem very +difficult for some. But it is an absolute essential, for the first two +laws depend on this one for their practical force. + +When Joshua, trembling, was called upon to assume the stupendous task of +being Moses' successor, God came and had a quiet talk with him. In that +talk He emphasized just one thing as the secret of his new leadership. +Listen: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but +thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to +do according to all that is written therein." There are the three laws +straight from the lips of God, packed into a single sentence. + +Let us plan to get alone with the Master daily over His word, with the +door shut, other things shut out, and ourselves shut in, that we may +learn His will, and get strength to do it. And when in doubt _wait_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] 1 Cor. xii. 13. + +[8] Luke xxiv. 49. + +[9] That is to make perfectly plain that this experience was for _all_: +a very difficult fact for these intensely Jewish disciples to grasp. + +(1) Not limited to the original one hundred and twenty, but for the +whole body of Jewish disciples--Acts iv. + +(2) For the hated half-breed Samaritans--Acts viii. + +(3) For the "dogs" of Gentiles--Acts x. + +(4) For individual disciples anywhere, and at any distance in time from +Pentecost--Acts xix. + +[10] Acts i: 8; ii: 17, 33; viii: 15; x: 45; xix: 6. + +[11] (1) Luke iv. 18, quo. from Isa. lxi: 1. (2) Acts iv: 27. (3) Acts +x: 38. (4) Heb. i: 9, quotation from Ps. xlv: 7. + +[12] 2 Cor. i: 21. + +[13] 1 John i: 20, 27. + +[14] 2 Cor. i: 22. Eph. i: 13; iv: 30. + +[15] 2 Cor. i: 22; v: 5. Eph. i: 14. + +[16] Romans viii: 23. + + + + +THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER. + +God's Highest Ideal. + + +A flood-tide is a rising tide. It flows in and fills up and spreads out. +Wherever it goes it cleanses and fertilizes and beautifies. For untold +centuries Egypt has depended for its very life upon the yearly +flood-tide of the Nile. The rich bottom lands of the Connecticut Valley +are refertilized every spring by that river's flood-tide. The green +beauty and rich fruitage of some parts of the Sacramento Valley, whose +soil is flooded by the artificial irrigation-rivers, are in sharp +contrast with adjoining unwatered portions. + +The flood-tide is caused by influences from above. In the ocean and the +portions of rivers under its influence by the heavenly bodies. In the +rivers by the fall of rain and snow swelling successively the upper +streams and lakes. + +God's highest ideal for men is frequently expressed under the figure of +a river running at flood-tide. Ezekiel's vision of the future capital of +Israel gives prominence to a wonderful river gradually reaching +flood-tide and exerting untold influence. + +John's companion vision of the future church in the closing chapters of +Revelation finds its radiating center in an equally wonderful river of +water of life. When Jesus would give a picture of a christian man up to +His ideal He exclaims, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living +water." John's explanation years after was that He was speaking of the +Holy Spirit's presence in the human life. Jesus' ideal would put our +lives at the flood-tide. No ebb-tide there. No rise and fall. But a +constant flowing in and filling up and flooding out. + +Love is ambitious. God is love. And therefore God is ambitious for us. +In the best sense of the word He is ambitious for our lives. The old +impression has been that salvation is for the soul, and for heaven. +Well, it is for the soul, and it is for heaven, but it is for the +present life and for this earth. Some of God's most far-reaching plans +have to do with this earth. To-night we want to get a glimpse of God's +ambitious ideal for our lives down here; something of an understanding +of the _results_ of the unrestrained presence within us of His Holy +Spirit. + +It is not surprising that there have been some mistaken ideas about the +results. It has been a common supposition that somehow the baptism of +the Holy Spirit is always connected with an evangelistic gift and, +further, connected with marked success in soul-winning. Men have thought +of Mr. Moody facing great crowds, who were swayed and melted at his +words, and of people in great multitudes accepting Christ. Probably the +world has never had a finer illustration of a Spirit-filled man than in +dear old Moody. And it is not to be wondered at that the rare +evangelistic gift of service with which he was endowed and the great +results attending it should be so closely allied in our minds with the +Spirit-filled life which he exemplified so unusually. In sharp contrast +however with that conception will you note that we are told over here in +Exodus of a man named Bezalel[17] who was filled with the Spirit of God +that he might have skill in carpentry, in metal working, and weaving of +fine fabrics, for the construction of the old tent of God. Will you note +further that a company of seventy men[18] were filled in a like manner +that they might be skilled in conducting the business affairs of the +nation; and that Luke tells of Elizabeth[19] being filled that she might +become a true mother for John. + +A second misconception has been that marked success always accompanies +the Spirit's control. In contrast with that will you please note the +results in some of the Spirit-swayed men whom God used in Bible times. +Isaiah was called to a service that was to be barren of results, though +long continued; and Jeremiah's was not only fruitless but with great +personal peril. Jesus' public work led through a rough path to a crown +of thorns and a cross. Stephen's testimony brought him a storm of +stones. And Paul passed through great danger and distress to a cell, +and beyond, a keen-edged ax. These are leaders among Spirit-filled men. + +Paul's teaching in the Corinthian epistle helps one to a clear +understanding about results. He explains that while it is one Spirit +dwelling in all who acknowledge Jesus as Lord, yet the _evidence_ of His +presence differs widely in different persons. It is one God working all +things in all persons, but with great variety in the gifts bestowed, in +the service with which they are intrusted, and in the inner experiences +they are conscious of.[20] + +What results then may be expected to follow the filling of the Holy +Spirit? It may be said in a sentence that Jesus fills us with the same +Spirit that filled Himself that He may work out in us His own image and +ideal, _and_ make use of us in His passionate reaching out after others. +If we attempt to analyze these results we shall find them falling into +three groups. First--results in the _life_, that is in the inner +experiences, and the habits. Second--results in the _personality_, that +is in the appearance, and the mental faculties. Third--results in +_service_. Let us look a little at each of these. + + +A Transfigured Life. + +First regarding the inner experiences. Without doubt the first result +experienced will be a new sense of _peace_: a glad, quiet stillness of +spirit which nothing seems able to disturb. The heart will be filled +with a peace still as the stars, calm as the night, deep as the sea, +fragrant as the flowers. + +How many thousands of lips have lovingly lingered over those sweet +strong words: "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall +guard your heart and thought in Christ Jesus." It is God's peace. It +acts as an armed guard drawn up around heart and thoughts to keep unrest +out. It is too subtle for intellectual analysis, but it steals into and +steadies the heart. You cannot understand it but you can feel it. You +cannot get hold of it with your head, but you can with your heart. You +do not get it. It gets you. You need not understand in order to +experience. Blessed are they that have not understood and yet have +yielded and experienced. + + "Peace beginning to be + Deep as the sleep of the sea + When the stars their faces glass + In its blue tranquillity: + Hearts of men upon earth + That rested not from their birth + To rest, as the wild waters rest, + With the colors of heaven on their breast." + +With that will come a new intense longing to do the Master's will; to +_please Him_. As the days come and go this will come to be the +master-passion of this new life. It will drive one with a new purpose +and zest to studying the one book which tells His will. That book +becomes literally the book of books to the Spirit-dominated man. + +With that will come a new desire to talk with this new Master, who talks +to you in His word, and is ever at your side sympathetically listening. +His book reveals Himself. And better acquaintance with Him will draw you +oftener aside for a quiet talk. The _pleasure_ of praying will grow by +leaps and bounds. Nothing so inspires to prayer as reverent listening to +His voice. Frequent use of the ears will result in more frequent use of +the voice in prayer and praise. And more: Prayer will come to be a part +of service. Intercession will become the life mission. + +But I must be frank enough to tell you of another result, which is as +sure to come as these--_there will be conflict_. You will be tempted +more than ever. Temptations will come with the subtlety of a snake; with +the rush of a storm; with the unexpected swiftness of a lightning flash. +You see the act of surrender to Jesus is a notice of fight to another. +You have changed masters, and the discarded master does not let go +easily. He is a trained, toughened fighter. You will think that you +never had so many temptations, so strong, so subtle, so trying, so +unexpected. But listen--_there will be victory_! Truth goes in pairs. +You will be tempted. The devil will attend to that. That is one truth. +Its companion truth is this: you will be victorious over temptation as +the new Master has sway. Your new Master will attend to that. Great and +cunning and strong is the tempter. Do not underrate him. But greater is +He that is in you. You cannot overrate Him. He got the victory at every +turn during those thirty-three years, and will get it for you as many +years and turns as shall make out the span of your life. Your one +business will be to let Him have full control. + +Still another result, of the surprising sort, will be a new feeling +about _sin_. There will be an increased and increasing _sensitiveness_ +to sin. It will seem so hateful whether coarse or cultured. You will +shrink from contact with it. There will also be a growing sense of the +_sinfulness_ of that old heart of yours, even while you may be having +constant victory over temptation. Then, too, there will grow up a +yearning, oh! such a heart-yearning as cannot be told in words, _to be +pure_, really pure in heart. + +A seventh result will be an intense desire to get others to know your +wonderful Master. A desire so strong, gripping you so tremendously, that +all thought of sacrifice will sink out of sight in its achievement. He +is such a Master! so loving, so kind, so wondrous! And so many do not +know Him: have wrong ideas about Him. If they only _knew_ Him--that +surely would settle it. And probably these two--the desire to please +Him, and the desire to get others to know Him will take the _mastery_ of +your ambition and life. + + +The All-Inclusive Passion. + +But all of these and much more is included in one of Paul's packed +phrases which may be read, "the _love_ of God hath _flooded_ our hearts +through the Holy Spirit given unto us."[21] The all-inclusive result is +_love_. That marvelous tender passion--the love of God--heightless, +depthless, shoreless, shall _flood_ our hearts, making us as gentle and +tender-hearted and self-sacrificing and gracious as He. Every phase of +life will become a phase of love. Peace is love resting. Bible study is +love reading its lover's letters. Prayer is love keeping tryst. Conflict +with sin is love jealously fighting for its Lover. Hatred of sin is love +shrinking from that which separates from its lover. Sympathy is love +tenderly feeling. Enthusiasm is love burning. Hope is love expecting. +Patience is love waiting. Faithfulness is love sticking fast. Humility +is love taking its true place. Modesty is love keeping out of sight. +Soul-winning is love pleading. + +Love is revolutionary. It radically changes us, and revolutionizes our +spirit toward all others. Love is democratic. It ruthlessly levels all +class distinctions. Love is intensely practical. It is always hunting +something to do. Paul lays great stress on this outer practical side. Do +you remember his "fruit of the Spirit"?[22] It is an analysis of love. +While the first three--"love, joy, peace"--are emotions within, the +remaining six are outward toward others. Notice, "long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness," and then the climax is +reached in the last--"self-control." And in his great love passage in +the first Corinthian epistle,[23] he picks out four of these last six, +and shows further just what he means by love in its practical working in +the life. "Long-suffering" is repeated, and so is "kindness" or +"goodness." "Faithfulness" is reproduced in "never faileth." Then +"self-control" receives the emphasis of an eight-fold repetition of +"nots." Listen:--"Envieth not," "boasteth not," "not puffed up," "not +unseemly," "seeketh not (even) her own," "is not provoked," "taketh not +account of evil" (in trying to help others, like Jesus' word "despairing +of no man"[24]), "rejoiceth not in unrighteousness" (that is when the +unrighteous is punished, but instead feels sorry for him). What +tremendous power of self-mastery in those "nots"! Then the positive side +is brought out in four "alls"; two of them--the first and last--passive +qualities, "beareth all things," "endureth all things." And in between, +two active "hopeth all things," "believeth all things." The passive +qualities doing sentinel duty on both sides of the active. These passive +traits are intensely active in their passivity. There is a busy time +under the surface of those "nots" and "alls." What a wealth of +underlying power they reveal! Sometimes folks think it sentimental to +talk of love. Probably it is of some stuff that shuffles along under +that name. But when the Holy Spirit talks about it, and fills our hearts +with it there is seen to be an intensely practical passion at work. + +Love is not only the finest fruit, but it is the final test of a +christian life. How many splendid men of God have seemed to lack here. +What a giant of faith and strength Elijah was. Such intense indignation +over sin! Such fearless denunciation! What tremendous faith gripping the +very heavens! What marvelous power in prayer. Yet listen to him +criticising the faithful remnant whom God lovingly defends against his +aspersions. There seems a serious lack there. God seems to understand +his need. He asks him to slip down to Horeb for a new vision of his +Master. And then He revealed Himself not in whirlwind nor earthquake nor +lightning. He doubtless felt at home among these tempestuous outbreaks. +They suit his temper. But something startlingly new came to him in that +exquisite "sound of gentle stillness," hushing, awing, mellowing, giving +a new conception of the dominant heart of his God. Some of us might well +drop things, and take a run down to Horeb. + +I know an earnest scholarly minister with strong personality, and +fearless in his preaching against sin, but who seems to lack this spirit +of love. He is so cuttingly critical at times. The other ministers of +his town whom he might easily lead, shy off from him. There is no +magnetism in the edge of a razor. His critical spirit can be felt when +his lips are shut. I recall a woman, earnest, winsome when she chooses +to be, an intelligent Bible student, keen-scented for error, a generous +giver, but what a sharp edge her tongue has. One is afraid to get close +lest it may cut. + +When the Holy Spirit takes possession there is _love_, aye, more, a +_flood_ of love. Have you ever seen a flood? I remember one in the +Schuylkill during my boyhood days and how it impressed me. Those who +live along the valley of that treacherous mountain stream, the Ohio, +know something of the power of a flood. How the waters come rushing +down, cutting out new channels, washing down rubbish, tearing valuable +property from its moorings, ruling the valley autocratically while men +stand back entirely helpless. + +Would you care to have a flood-tide of love flush the channelways of +your life like that? It would clean out something you have preferred +keeping. It would with quiet, ruthless strength, tear some prized +possessions from their moorings and send them adrift down stream and +out. Its high waters would put out some of the fires on the lower +levels. Better think a bit before opening the sluice-ways for that +flood. But ah! it will sweeten and make fragrant. It will cut new +channels, and broaden and deepen old ones. And what a harvest will +follow in its wake. Floods are apt to do peculiar things. So does this +one. It washes out the friction-grit from between the wheels. It does +not dull the edge of the tongue, but washes the bitter out of the mouth, +and the green out of the eye. It leaves one deaf and blind in some +matters, but much keener-sighted and quicker-eared in others. Strange +flood that! Would that we all knew more of it. + + +The Fullness of the Stature of a Man. + +Now note some of the changes _in the personality_ which attend the +Spirit's unrestrained presence. Without doubt the face will change, +though it might be difficult to describe the change. That Spirit within +changes the look of the eye. His peace within the heart will affect the +flow of blood in the physical heart, and so in turn the clearness of the +complexion. The real secret of winsome beauty is here. That new dominant +purpose will modulate the voice, and the whole expression of the face, +and the touch of the hand, and the carriage of the body. And yet the one +changed will be least conscious of it, if conscious at all. Neither +Moses nor Stephen knew of their transfigured faces. + +It is of peculiar interest to note the changes in the mental make-up. It +may be said positively that _the original group of mental faculties +remain the same_. There seems to be nothing to indicate that any change +takes place in one's natural endowment. No faculty is added that nature +had not put there, and certainly none removed. + +But it is very clear that there is a _marked development_ of these +natural gifts, and that this change is brought about by the putting in +of _a new and tremendous motive power_, which radically affects +everything it touches. + +Regarding this development four facts may be noted. + +First fact:--_Those faculties or talents which may hitherto have lain +latent, unmatured, are aroused into use._ Most men have large +undeveloped resources, and endowments. Many of us are one-sided in our +development. We are strangers to the real possible self within, +unconscious of some of the powers with which we are endowed and +intrusted. The Holy Spirit, when given a free hand, works out the +fullness of the life that has been put in. The change will not be in the +sort but in the size, and that not by an addition but by a growth of +what is there. + +Moses complains that he is slow of speech and of a slow tongue. God does +not promise a new tongue but that he will be _with_ him and _train_ his +tongue. Listen to him forty years after in the Moab Plains, as with +brain fired, and tongue loosened and trained he gives that series of +farewell talks fairly burning with eloquence. Students of oratory can +find no nobler specimens than Deuteronomy furnishes. The unmatured +powers lying dormant had been aroused to full growth by the indwelling +Spirit of God. + +Saintly Dr. A. J. Gordon, whose face was as surely transfigured as was +Moses' or Stephen's used to say that in his earlier years he had no +executive ability. Men would say of him, "Well, Gordon can preach but--" +intimating that he could not do much else; not much of the practical +getting of things done in his makeup. When he was offered the +chairmanship of the missionary committee of the Baptist Church, he +promptly declined as being utterly unfit for such a task. Finally with +reluctance he accepted, and for years he guided and molded with rare +sagacity the entire scheme of missionary operation of the great Baptist +Church of the North. He was accustomed with rare frankness and modesty +to speak of the change in himself as an illustration of how the Spirit +develops talents which otherwise had lain unsuspected and unused. + +The second fact: _ALL of one's faculties will be developed, to the +highest normal pitch._ Not only the undeveloped faculties, but those +already developed will know a new life. That new presence within will +sharpen the brain, and fire the imagination. It will make the logic +keener, the will steadier, the executive faculty more alert. + +The civil engineer will be more accurate in his measurements and +calculations. The scientific man more keenly observant of facts, better +poised in his generalization upon them, and more convincing in his +demonstrations. The locomotive engineer will handle his huge machine +more skillfully. The road saves money in having a christian hand on the +throttle. The lawyer will be more thorough in his sifting of evidence, +and more convincing in the planning of his cases. The business man will +be even more sharply alive to business. The college student can better +grasp his studies, and write with stronger thought and clearer diction. +The cook will get a finer flavor into the food. And so on to the end of +the list. Why? Not by any magic, but simply and only because man was +created to be animated and dominated by the Spirit of God. That is his +normal condition. The Spirit of God is his natural atmosphere. The +machine works best when run under the inventor's immediate direction. +Only as a man--any man--is swayed by the Holy Spirit, will his powers +rise to their best. And a man is not doing his best, however hardworking +and conscientious, and therefore not fair to his own powers, who lives +otherwise. + +Some one may enter the objection, that many of the keenest men with +finely disciplined powers may be found among non-christian men. But he +should remember two facts, first, that a like truth holds good in the +opposite camp. There are undoubtedly men whose genius is brilliant +because inspired by an evil spirit. There are cultured scholarly men, +and keen shrewd business men who have yielded their powers to another +than God and are greatly assisted by evil spirits, though it is quite +likely that they are not conscious that this is the true analysis of +their success. + +The second fact to note is that no matter how keen or developed a man's +powers may be either as just suggested, or, by dint of native strength +and of his own effort they are still of necessity less than they would +be if swayed by the Spirit of God. For man is created to be indwelt and +inspired by God's Spirit, and his powers _can_ not be at their best +pitch save as the conditions of their creation are met. + +The third fact:--_There will be a gradual bringing back to their normal +condition of those facilities which have been dwarfed, or warped, or +abnormally developed through sin and selfishness._ Sometimes these moral +twists and quirks in our mental faculties are an inheritance through one +or more generations. The man with excessive egotism often carries the +evidence of it in the very shape of his head. But as he yields to the +new Spirit dominant within, a spirit of humility, of modesty will +gradually displace so much of the other as is abnormal. The man of +superficial mind will be deepened in his mental processes. The man of +hasty judgment or poor judgment will grow careful in his conclusions. +The lazy man will get a new lease of ambition and energy. + +These results will be gradual, as all of God's processes are. Sometimes +painfully gradual, and will be strictly in proportion as the man yields +himself unreservedly to the control of the indwelling Spirit. And the +process will be by the injection of a new and mighty motive power. The +shallow-minded man will have an intense desire to study God's wondrous +classic so as to learn His will. And though his studies may not get much +farther, yet no one book so disciplines and deepens the mind as that. +The lazy man will find a fire kindling in his bones to please his Master +and do something for Him, that will burn through and burn up his +indolence. The man of hasty judgment will find himself stopping to +consider what his Master would desire. And the mere pause to think is a +long step toward more accurate judgment. He will become a reverent +student of the word of God, and nothing corrects the judgment like that. + +The self-willed, headstrong man will likely have the toughest time of +any. To let his own plan utterly go, and instead fit into a radically +different one will shake him up terrifically. But that mighty One within +will lovingly woo and move him. And as he yields, and victory comes, he +will be delighted to find that the highest act of the strongest will is +in yielding to a higher will when found. He will be charmed to discover +that the rarest liberty comes only in perfect obedience to perfect law. + +And so every sort of man who has gotten some moral twist or obliquity in +his mental make-up will be straightened out to the normal standard of +his Maker, _as he allows Him to take full control_. + +The fourth fact:--_All this growth and development will be strictly +along the groove of the man's natural endowment._ The natural mental +bent will not be changed though the moral crooks will be straightened +out. Peter's rash, self-assertive twists are corrected, but he remains +the same Peter mentally. He does not possess the rare logical powers of +Paul, nor the judicial administrative temper of James, before the +infilling, and is not endowed with either after that experience. John's +intensity which would call down fire to burn up supposed foes is not +removed but turned into another channel, and burns itself out in love. +Jonathan Edwards retains and develops his marvelous faculty of +metaphysical reasoning and uses it to influence men for God. Finney's +intensely logical mind is not changed but fired and used in the same +direction. + +Moody has neither of these gifts, but has an unusually magnetic +presence, and a great executive faculty which leaves its impress on his +blunt direct speech. His faculties are not changed, nor added to, but +developed wonderfully and used. Geo. Mueller never becomes a great +preacher like these three; nor an expositor, but finds his rare +development in his marked administrative skill. Charles Studd remains a +poor speaker with jagged rhetoric and with no organizing knack, though +the fire of God in his presence kindles the flames of mission zeal in +the British universities, and melts your heart as you listen. +Shaftsbury's mental processes show the generations of aristocratic +breeding even in his costermonger's cart lovingly winning these men, or +after midnight searching out the waifs of London's nooks and docks. +Clough is refused by the missionary board because of his lack of certain +required qualifications, and when finally he reaches the field none of +these qualities appears, but his skill as an engineer gives him a hold +upon thousands whom his presence and God-breathed passion for souls win +to Jesus Christ. Carey's unusual linguistic talent, Mary Lyon's teaching +gift are not changed but developed and used. The growth produced by the +Spirit's presence is strictly along the groove of the natural gift. But +note that in this great variety of natural endowment there is one +trait--a moral trait, not a mental--that marks all alike, namely a +pervading purpose, that comes to be a passion, to do God's will, and get +men to know Him, and that everything is forced to bend to this dominant +purpose. Is not this glorious unity in diversity? + + +Saved and Sent to Serve. + +The third group of results affects our _service_. We will want to serve. +Love must act. We must _do_ something for our Master. We must do +_something_ for those around us. There will be a new _spirit_ of +service. Its peculiar characteristic and charm will be the _heart of +love_ in it. Love will envelop and undergird and pervade and exude from +all service. There will be a fine graciousness, a patience, a strong +tenderness, an earnest faithfulness, a hopeful tirelessness which will +despair of no man, and of no situation. + +The _sort_ of service and the _sphere_ of service will be left entirely +to the direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit, "dividing to every man +_as He will_." There will be no choosing of a life work but a prayerful +waiting till _His choice_ is clear, and then a joyous acceptance of +that. There will be no attempt to open doors, not even with a single +touch or twist of the knob, but only an entering of _opened_ doors. + +If the work be humble, or the place lowly, or both, there will be a +cheery eager using of the highest powers keyed to their best pitch. If +higher up, a steady remembering that there can be no power save as the +Spirit controls, and a praying to be kept from the dizziness which +unaccustomed height is apt to produce. Large quantities of paper and ink +will be saved. For many letters of application and indorsement will +remain _unwritten_. + +The Master's say-so is accepted by Spirit-led men as final. He chooses +Peter to _open_ the door to the outer nations, and Paul to _enter_ the +opened door. He chooses not an apostle but Philip to open up Samaria, +and Titus to guide church matters in Crete. A miner's son is chosen to +shake Europe, and a cobbler to kindle anew the missionary fires of +Christendom. Livingston is sent to open up the heart of Africa for a +fresh infusion of the blood the Son of God. A nurse-maid, whose name +remains unknown, is used to mold for God the child who became the +seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, one of the most truly Spirit-filled men of +the world. Geo. Mueller is chosen for the signal service of re-teaching +men that God still lives and actually answers prayer. Speer is used to +breathe a new spirit of devotion among college students, and Mott to +arouse and organize their service around the world. Geo. Williams and +Robert McBurney become the leaders, British and American, in an +in-Spirited movement to win young men by thousands. An earnest woman is +chosen to mother and to shape for God the tender years of earth's +greatest queen, who through character and position exerted a greater +influence for righteousness than any other woman. The common factor in +all is the Chooser. Jesus is the Chief Executive of the campaign through +His Spirit. The direction of it belongs to Him. He knows best what each +one can do. He knows best what needs to be done. He is ambitious that +each of us shall be the best, and have the best. He has a plan thought +out for each life, and for the whole campaign. His Spirit is in us to +administer His plan. He never sleeps. He divideth to every man severally +as He will. And His is a loving, wise will. It can be trusted. + +A Spirit-mastered man slowly comes to understand that service now is +apprenticeship-service. He is in training for the time when a King shall +reign, and will need tested and trusted and trained servants. He is in +college getting ready for commencement day. That _may_ explain in part +why some of the workers whom _we_ think can be least spared, are called +away in their prime. Their apprentice term is served. School's out. They +are moved up. + + +The Music of the Wind Harp. + +Please remember that these are _flood-tide_ results. Some good people +will never know them except in a very limited way. For they do not open +the sluice-gates wide enough to let the waters reach flood-tide. _These +results will vary in degree with the degree and constancy of the +yielding to the Spirit's control._ A full yielding at the start, and +constantly continued will bring these results in full measure and +without break, though the growth will be gradual. For it is a rising +flood, ever increasing in height and depth and sweep and power. Partial +surrender will mean only partial results; the largest and finest results +come only as the spirit has full control, for the work is all His, by +and with our consent. + +In one of her exquisite poems Frances Ridley Havergal tells of a friend +who was given an æolian harp which, she was told, sent out unutterably +sweet melodies. She tried to bring the music by playing upon it with her +hand, but found the seven strings would yield but one tone. Keenly +disappointed she turned to the letter sent before the gift and found +she had not noticed the directions given. Following them carefully she +placed the harp in the opened window-way where the wind could blow upon +it. Quite a while she waited but at last in the twilight the music came: + + "Like stars that tremble into light + Out of the purple dark, a low, sweet note + Just trembled out of silence, antidote + To any doubt; for never finger might + Produce that note, so different, so new: + Melodious pledge that all He promised should come true. + + * * * * * + + "Anon a thrill of all the strings; + And then a flash of music, swift and bright, + Like a first throb of weird Auroral light, + Then crimson coruscations from the wings + Of the Pole-spirit; then ecstatic beat, + As if an angel-host went forth on shining feet. + + "Soon passed the sounding starlit march, + And then one swelling note grew full and long, + While, like a far-off cathedral song, + Through dreamy length of echoing aisle and arch + Float softest harmonies around, above, + Like flowing chordal robes of blessing and of love. + + "Thus, while the holy stars did shine + And listen, the æolian marvels breathed; + While love and peace and gratitude enwreathed + With rich delight in one fair crown were mine. + The wind that bloweth where it listeth brought + This glory of harp-music--not my skill or thought." + +And the listening friend to whom this wondrous experience is told, who +has had a great sorrow in her life, and been much troubled in her +thoughts and plans replies: + + " ... I too have tried + My finger skill in vain. But opening now + My window, like wise Daniel, I will set + My little harp therein, and listening wait + The breath of heaven, the Spirit of our God." + +May we too learn the lesson of the wind-harp. For man is God's æolian +harp. The human-taught finger skill can bring some rare music, yet by +comparison it is at best but a monotone. When the instrument is set to +catch the full breathing of the breath of God, then shall it sound out +the rarest wealth of music's melodies. As the life is yielded fully to +the breathing of the Spirit we shall find the peace of God which passeth +all understanding filling the heart; and the power of God that passeth +all resisting flooding the life; and others shall find the beauty of +God, that passeth all describing, transfiguring the face; and the dewy +fragrance of God, that passeth all comparing, pervading the personality, +though most likely _we_ shall not know it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] Exodus xxxi: 1-5. + +[18] Numbers xi: 16, 17. + +[19] Luke i: 13-17, 41. + +[20] 1 Cor. xii: 4-6, 11. + +[21] Rom. v: 5. + +[22] Gal. v: 22-23. + +[23] 1 Cor. xiii. + +[24] Luke vi: 35. R. V., margin. + + + + +FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER. + +"As the Dew." + + +There is another very important bit needed to complete the circle of +truth we are going over together in these quiet talks. Namely, _the +daily life_ after the act of surrender and all that comes with that act. +The steady pull day by day. After the eagle-flight up into highest air, +and the hundred yards dash, or even the mile run, comes the steady, +steady walking mile after mile. The real test of life is here. And the +highest victories are here, too. + +I recall the remark made by a friend when this sort of thing was being +discussed:--"I would make the surrender gladly but as I think of my home +life I know I cannot keep it." There was the rub. The day-by-day life +afterwards. The habitual steady-going when temptations come in, and when +many special aids, and stimulating surroundings are withdrawn. This last +talk together is about this _afterlife_. What is the plan for that? +Well, let us talk it over a bit. + +Have you noticed that the old earth receives a fresh baptism of life +daily? Every night the life-giving dew is distilled. The moisture rises +during the day from ocean, and lake, and river, undergoes a chemical +change in God's laboratory and returns nightly in dew to refresh the +earth. It brings to all nature new life, with rare beauty, and fills the +air with the exquisite fragrance drawn from flowers and plants. Its +power to purify and revitalize is peculiar and remarkable. It distils +only in the night when the world is at rest. It can come only on clear +calm nights. Both cloud and wind disturb and prevent its working. It +comes quietly and works noiselessly. But the changes effected are +radical and immeasurable. Literally it gives to the earth a nightly +baptism of new life. That is God's plan for the earth. And that, too, +let me say to you, is His plan for our day-by-day life. + +It hushes one's heart with a gentle awe to go out early in the morning +after a clear night when air and flower and leaf are fragrant with an +indescribable freshness, and listen to God's voice saying, "_I will be +as the dew unto Israel._" That sentence is the climax of the book where +it occurs.[25] God is trying through Hosea to woo His people away from +their evil leaders up to Himself again. To a people who knew well the +vitalizing power of the deep dews of an Oriental night, and their own +dependence upon them, He says with pleading voice, "_I_ will be to you +_as the dew_." + +The setting of that sentence is made very winsome. The _beauty_ of the +lily, and of the olive-tree; the _strength_ of the roots of Lebanon's +giant cedars, and the _fragrance_ of their boughs; the _fruitfulness_ +of the vine, and the _richness_ of the grain harvest are used to bring +graphically to their minds the meaning of His words: "as the dew." + +Tenderly as He speaks to that nation in which His love-plan for a world +centered, more tenderly yet does He ever speak to the individual heart. +That wondrous One who is "alongside to help" will be by the atmosphere +of His presence to you and to me as the dew is to the earth--a daily +refreshing of new life, with its new strength, and rare beauty and fine +fragrance. + +Have you noticed how Jesus Himself puts His ideal for the day-by-day +life? At that last Feast of Tabernacles He said, "He that believeth on +me out of his inner being shall flow rivers of water of life."[26] Jesus +was fairly saturated with the Old Testament figures and language. Here +He seems to be thinking, of that remarkable river-vision of +Ezekiel's.[27] You remember how much space is given there to describing +a wonderful river running through a place where living waters had never +flowed. The stream begins with a few strings of water trickling out from +under the door-step of the temple, and rises gradually but steadily +ankle-deep, knee-deep, loin-deep, over-head, until flood-tide is +reached, and an ever rising and deepening flood-tide. And everywhere the +waters go is life with beauty, and fruitfulness. There is no drought, +no ebbing, but a continual flowing in, and filling up, and flooding out. +In these two intensely vivid figures is given our Master's carefully, +lovingly thought out plan for the day-by-day life. + +In actual experience the reverse of this is, shall I say too much if I +say, _most commonly_ the case? It seems to be so. Who of us has not at +times been conscious of some failure that cut keenly into the very +tissue of the heart! And even when no such break may have come there is +ever a heart-yearning for more than has yet been experienced. The men +who seem to know most of God's power have had great, unspeakable +longings at times for a fresh consciousness of that power. + +There is a simple but striking incident told of one of Mr. Moody's +British campaigns. He was resting a few days after a tour in which God's +power was plainly felt and seen. He was soon to be out at work again. +Talking out of his inner heart to a few sympathetic friends, he +earnestly asked them to join in prayer that he might receive "a fresh +baptism of power." Without doubt that very consciousness of failure, and +this longing for more is evidence of the Spirit's presence within wooing +us up the heights. + +The language that springs so readily to one's lips at such times is just +such as Mr. Moody used, a fresh baptism, a fresh filling, a fresh +anointing. And the _fresh consciousness_ of God's presence and power is +to one as a fresh act of anointing on His part. Practically it does not +matter whether there is actually a fresh act upon the Spirit's part, +_or_ a renewed consciousness upon our part of His presence, and a +renewed humble depending wholly upon Him. Yet to learn the real truth +puts one's relationship to God in the clearer light that prevents +periods of doubt and darkness. Does it not too bring one yet nearer to +Him? In this case it certainly suggests a depth and a tenderness of His +unparalleled love of which some of us have not even dreamed. So far as +the Scriptures seem to suggest there is not a fresh act upon God's part +at certain times in one's experience, but His wondrous love is such that +there is _a continuous act_--a continuous flooding in of all the +gracious power of His Spirit that the human conditions will admit of. +The flood-tide is ever being poured out from above, but, as a rule, our +gates are not open full width. And so only part can get in, and part +which He is giving is restrained by us. + +Without doubt, too, the incoming flood expands that into which it comes. +And so the capacity increases ever more, and yet more. And, too, we may +become much more sensitive to the Spirit's presence. We may grow into +better mediums for the transmission of His power. As the hindrances and +limitations of centuries of sin's warping and stupefying are gradually +lessened there is a freer better channel for the through-flowing of His +power. + + +A Transition Stage. + +Such seems to be the teaching of the old Book. Let us look into it a +little more particularly. One needs to be discriminating in quoting the +Book of Acts on this subject. That book marks _a transition stage_ +historically in the experience possible to men. Some of the older +persons in the Acts lived in three distinct periods. There was the Old +Testament period when a salvation was foretold and promised. Then came +the period when Jesus was on the earth and did a wholly new thing in the +world's history in actually working out a salvation. And then followed +the period of the Holy Spirit applying to men the salvation worked out +by Jesus. All these persons named in the Book of Acts lived both before +and after the day of Pentecost, which marked the descent of the Holy +Spirit. The Book of Acts marks the clear establishing of the transition +from the second to the third of these three periods. Ever since then men +have lived _after_ Pentecost. The transitional period of the Book of +Acts is behind us. + +Men in Old Testament times both in the Hebrew nation and outside of it +were born of the Spirit, and under His sway. But there was a limit to +what He could do, because there was a limit to what had been done. The +Holy Spirit is the executive member of the Godhead. He applies to men +what has been worked out, or achieved for them, and only that. Jesus +came and did a new thing which stands wholly alone in history. He lived +a sinless life, and then He died sacrificially for men, and then +further, arose up to a new life after death. The next step necessary was +the sending down of the divine executive to work out in men this new +achievement. He does in men what Jesus did for them. He can do much more +for us than for the Old Testament people because much more has been done +for us by God through Jesus. The standing of a saved man before +Pentecost was like that of a young child in a rich family who cannot +under the provisions of the family will come into his inheritance until +the majority age is reached. After the Son of God came, men are _through +Him_ reckoned as being _as He is_, namely in full possession of all +rights conferred by being a born son of full age. Now note carefully +that this Book of Acts marks the transition from the one period to the +other. And so one needs to be discriminating in applying the experiences +of men passing through a transition period to those who live wholly +afterwards. + + +The After-Teaching. + +The after-Pentecost teaching, that is the personal relation to the +Spirit by one who has received Him to-day, may best be learned from the +epistles. Paul's letters form the bulk of the New Testament after the +Book of Acts is passed. They contain the Spirit's _after-teaching_ +regarding much which the disciples were not yet able to receive from +Jesus' own lips. They were written to churches that were far from ideal. +They were composed largely of people dug out of the darkest heathenism. +And with the infinite patience and tact of the Spirit Paul writes to +them with a pen dipped in his own heart. + +A rather careful run through these thirteen letters brings to view two +things about the relation of these people to the Holy Spirit. First +there are certain _allusions_ or references to the Spirit, and then +certain _exhortations_. Note first these _allusions_.[28] They are +numerous. In them it is constantly _assumed_ that these people _have +received the Holy Spirit_. Paul's dealing with the twelve disciples whom +he found at Ephesus[29] suggests his habit in dealing with all whom he +taught. Reading that incident in connection with these letters seems to +suggest that in every place he laid great stress upon the necessity of +the Spirit's control in every life. And now in writing back to these +friends nearly all the allusions to the Spirit are in language that +_assumes_ that they have surrendered fully and been filled with His +presence. + +There are just four _exhortations_ about the Holy Spirit. It is +significant to notice what these are not. They are not exhorted to seek +the baptism of the Holy Spirit nor to wait for the filling. There is no +word about refillings, fresh baptisms or anointings. For these people, +unlike most of us to-day, have been thoroughly instructed regarding the +Spirit and presumably have had the great radical experience of His full +incoming. On the other hand notice what these exhortations _are_. To the +Thessalonians in his first letter he says, "_Quench not_ the +Spirit."[30] To the disciples scattered throughout the province of +Galatia who had been much disturbed by false leaders he gives a rule to +be followed, "_Walk_ by the Spirit."[31] The other two of these +incisive words of advice are found in the Ephesian letter--"_Grieve not_ +the Spirit of God,"[32] and "_be ye filled_ with the Spirit."[33] + +These exhortations like the allusions assume that they have received the +Spirit, and know that they have. The last quoted, "be ye filled," may +seem at first flush to be an exception to this, but I think we shall see +in a moment that a clearer rendering takes away this seeming, and shows +it as agreeing with the others in the general teaching. + +This letter to the Ephesians may perhaps be taken as a fair index of the +New Testament teaching on this matter after the descent of the Spirit; +the _after-teaching_ promised by Jesus. It bears evidence of being a +sort of circular letter intended to be sent in turn to a number of the +churches, and is therefore a still better illustration of the +after-teaching. The latter half of the letter is dealing wholly with +this question of the day-by-day life after the distinct act of surrender +and infilling. Here are found two companion exhortations. One is +negative: the other positive. The two together suggest the rounded truth +which we are now seeking. On one side is this:--"Grieve not the Spirit +of God," and on the other side is this:--"be ye filled with the Spirit." +Bishop H. C. G. Moule calls attention to the more nearly accurate +reading of this last,--"be ye _filling_ with the Spirit." That suggests +two things, a _habitual inflow_, and, that _it depends on us_ to keep +the inlets ever open. Now around about these two companion exhortations +are gathered two groups of friendly counsels. One group is about the +_grieving_ things which must be avoided. The other group is about the +positive things to be cultivated. And the inference of the whole passage +is that this avoiding and this cultivating result in the habitual +filling of the Spirit's presence. + + +Cross-Currents. + +Fresh supplies of power then seem to be dependent upon two things. The +first is this:--_Keeping the life dear of hindrances._ This is the +negative side, though it takes very positive work. It is really the +abnormal side of the true life. Sin is abnormal, unnatural. It is a +foreign element that has come into the world and into life disturbing +the natural order. It must be kept out. The whole concern here is +keeping certain things _out_ of the life. The task is that of staying in +the world but keeping the world-spirit _out_ of us. We are to remain in +the world for its sake, but to allow nothing in it to disturb our full +touch with the other world where our citizenship is. The christian's +position in this world is strikingly like that of a nation's ambassador +at a foreign court. Joseph H. Choate mingles freely with the subjects of +King Edward, attends many functions, makes speeches, grants occasional +interviews, but he is ever on the alert with his rarely keen mind, and +long years of legal training not to utter a syllable which might not +properly come from the head of his home government. Never for one moment +is he off his guard. His whole aim is to keep in perfect sympathy with +his home country as represented by its head. He never forgets that he is +there as a stranger, sojourning for a while, belonging to and +representing a foreign country. So, and only so, all the authority and +power of his own government flows through his person and is in every +word and act. Such a man invariably provides himself with a home in +which is breathed the atmosphere of his far away homeland. Now we are +strangers, sojourners, indeed more, ambassadors, representatives of a +government foreign to the present prince of this world. It is only as we +keep in perfect sympathy with the homeland and its Head that there can +flow into and through us all the immeasurable power of our King. +Whatever interrupts that intercourse with headquarters interrupts the +flow of power in our lives and service. We must guard most jealously +against such things. + +Electricity helps a man here, in the similes it suggests. For instance +the electric current passing into a building is sometimes mysteriously +turned aside and work seriously interrupted. A cross-wire dropping down +out of place, and leaning upon the feed-wire has drawn the power into +itself and off somewhere else. The cross is apt to be in some unknown +place, and much searching is frequently necessary before it can be found +and fixed. And all the work affected by that feed-wire waits till the +fixing is done. + +The spirit atmosphere in which we live is full, chock-full, of +cross-currents. And a man has to be keenly alert to keep his feed-wire +clear. If it be crossed, or grounded, away goes the power, while he may +be wondering why. + +What are some of the cross-currents that threaten to draw the power of +the feed-wire? Well, just like the electric currents some of them seem +very trivial. Here are a few of the commoner ones:-- + +Failure to keep bodily appetites under control. Intimate fellowship with +those who are enemies of our Lord, it may be in some organization, or +otherwise. The absence of a spirit of loving sympathy. The dominance in +one's life of a critical spirit which saps the warmth out of everything +it touches. Jealousy, and the whole brood which that single word +suggests. Keeping money which God would have out in service for himself. +Self-seeking. Self-assertion. A frivolous spirit, instead of a joyous +winsomeness, or a sweet seriousness. Overworking one's bodily strength, +which grows out of a wrong ambition, and is trusting one's own efforts +more than God's power, and which always involves disobedience of His law +for the body. Over-anxiety which robs the mind of its freshness, and the +spirit of its sweetness, and whose roots are the same as overwork. + +The hot hasty word. The uncontrolled temper. The pride that will not +confess to having been in the wrong. Lack of rugged honesty in speech. +Carelessness in money matters. Lack of reverence for the body. The +unholy use between two, whose relation is the most sacred of earth, of +that hallowed function of nature which has rigidly but one normal use. + +Some personal habit which may be common enough, and for which plausible +arguments can be made, but which does take the fine edge off of the +inner consciousness of the Master's approval. Keen shrewd scheming for +position by those in holy service. + +Paul's Galatian letter supplies these items:--wrangling; wordy disputes; +passionate outbursts of anger; wire-pulling or electioneering, that is, +using the world's methods to attain one's ends by those in God's +service. + +These are some of the cross-currents that are surely drawing the power +out of many a life to-day. But how may one know surely about the wrong +thing? Well, that One who resides within the heart is very sensitive and +is very faithful. If I will jealously keep on good terms, aye on the +best terms, with Him, ever listening, ever obeying, I will come to know +at first touch the thing that disturbs His sensitive spirit. And to keep +that thing _out_, uncompromisingly, unflinchingly _out_, is the only +safeguard here. + +But there will be continual testings and temptings. Testings by God. +Temptings by Satan. There will be testings by God that the realness of +the surrender may be made clear, and, too, that in these repeated +siftings the dross may all go, and only the pure gold remain. The will +must be exercised in rejecting and accepting that its fiber may be +toughened. No man knows how deep is his conviction until the test comes. +God will test for love's sake to strengthen. Satan will tempt for hate's +sake to trip up and weaken. God's testings will give strength for +Satan's temptings. And out of this double furnace the gold comes doubly +purified. + +Some circumstance arises involving a decision. There is a clear +conviction of what the inner One prefers but it runs against our plans +in which friends or loved ones are concerned who may not see eye-to-eye +with us. To follow the conviction means misunderstanding and some +sacrifice. And so the test is on. To be tactful, and gentle in following +rigidly the clear conviction will take grace, _and_, will bring a +refining of life's strength and fabric. + +To run through this old Book and call the names is to bring to mind the +men who have gone through just such testings and temptings; some with +splendid victory, and some with shameful defeat. + +So it comes to pass that surrender is not simply the initial _act_ into +this life of power. It must become the continuous _habit_. There must be +a habitual living up to the act. Surrender comes to be an attitude of +the will affecting every act and event of life. And by and by the +instinctive measuring of everything by its relation to Jesus comes to be +the involuntary habit of the life. + + +Friends with God. + +_The second thing_ upon which fresh supplies of power hinge is _the +cultivation of personal friendship with God_. This is the positive side +of the new life. This is the true natural life. It is the living +constantly in the atmosphere of the Spirit's presence. + +The highest and closest relation possible between any two is friendship. +The basis of friendship is sympathy, that is, fellow-feeling. The +atmosphere of friendship is mutual unquestioning trust. In the original +meaning of the word, a friend is a lover. A friend is one who loves you +for your sake alone, and steadfastly loves, regardless of any return, +even return-love. Friendship hungers for a closer knowledge, and for a +deeper intimacy. Friendship grows with exchange of confidences. Friends +are confidants. + + "As in a double solitude, ye think in each other's hearing." + +A man's friendships shape his life more than aught else, or all +else. + +Now this is the tender relation which God Himself desires with each of +us. Did Jesus ever speak more tenderly than on that last Thursday night +when He said to those constant companions of two years, "I have called +you _friends_, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made +known unto you"? Out of his own experience David writes, "The friendship +of the Lord is with those that reverently love Him, and He will give +evidence of His friendship by showing to them His covenant, His plans, +and His power." And David knew. Abraham had the reputation of being a +friend of God. He even trusted his darling boy's life to God when he +_could not_ understand what God was doing. And he found God worthy of +his friendship. He spared that darling boy even though later He spared +not His own darling boy. It thrills one's heart to hear God saying, +"Abraham _my friend_." Friendship with God means such oneness of spirit +with Him that He may do with us and through us what He wills. This and +this alone is the true power--God in us, and God with us free to do as +He wills. + +Now trust is the native air of friendship. A breath of doubt chills and +chokes. If one is filled and surrounded by trust in God as the +atmosphere of his life his touch with God then becomes most intimate. +Satan cannot breathe in that atmosphere. It chokes him. Air is the +native element of the bird. Away from air it gasps and dies. Water is +the native element of the fish. Out of water it chokes and gasps and +dies. Trust is the native element of friendship--friendship with God. A +constant feeling of confidence in GOD that believes in His overruling +power, and in His unfailing love, and rests in Him in the darkness when +the thing you prize most is lying bound on the stony altar. + +The Spirit of God is a friend, a lover. He is ever wooing us up the +heights. Let us climb up. He is every wooing us into the inner recesses +of friendship with Himself. Shall we not go along with Him? This is the +secret of a life ever fresh with the presence of God. It is the only +pathway of increasing youthfulness in the power of God. + + "And in old age, when others fade, + They fruit still forth shall bring; + They shall be fat, and full of sap, + And aye be flourishing." + + +A Bunch of Keys. + +To those who would enter these inner sacred recesses here is a small +bunch of keys which will unlock the doors. Three keys in this bunch; a +key-time, a key-book, and a key-word. _The key-time_ is time alone with +God daily. With the door shut. Outside things shut outside, and one's +self shut in alone with God. This is the trysting-hour with our Friend. +Here He will reveal Himself to us, and reveal our real selves to +ourselves. This is going to school to God. It is giving Him a chance to +instruct and correct, to strengthen and mellow and sweeten us. One must +get alone to find out that he never is alone. The more alone we are so +far as men are concerned the least alone we are so far as God is +concerned. It must be unhurried time. Time enough to forget about time. +When the mind is fresh and open. One _must_ use this key if he is to +know the sweets of friendship with God. + +_The key-book_ is this marvelous old classic of God's Word. Take this +book with you when you go to keep tryst with your Friend. God speaks in +His Word. He will take these words and speak them with His own voice +into the ear of your heart. You will be surprised to find how light on +every sort of question will come. It is remarkable what a faithful +half-hour daily with a good paragraph[34] Bible in wide, swift, +continuous reading will do in giving one a swing and a grasp of this +old Book. In time, and not long time either, one will come to be +saturated with its thought and spirit. Reading the Bible is listening to +God. It is fairly pathetic what a hard time God has to get men's ears. +He is ever speaking but we will not be quiet enough to hear. One always +enjoys listening to his friend. What _this_ Friend says to us will +change radically our conceptions of Himself, and of life. It will clear +the vision, and discipline the judgment, and stiffen the will. + +_The key-word_ is obedience: a glad prompt doing of what our Friend +desires _because He desires it_. Obedience is saying "yes" to God. It is +the harmony of the life with the will of God. With some it seems to mean +a servile bondage to details. It should rather mean a spirit of +_intelligent_ loyalty to God. It aims to _learn_ His will, and then to +do it. God's will is revealed in His word. His particular will for my +life He will reveal to me if I will listen, _and_, if I will obey, so +far as I know to obey. If I obey what I know, I will know more. +Obedience is the organ of knowledge in the soul. "He that willeth to do +His will shall know." + +God's will includes His plan for a world, and for each life in the +world. Both concern us. He would first work in us, that He may work +_through_ us in His passionate outreach for a world. His will includes +every bit of one's life; and therefore obedience must also include every +bit. A run out in a single direction may serve as a suggestion of many +others. + +The law of my body, which obeyed brings or continues health is God's +will, as much as that which concerns moral action. Our bodies are holy +because God lives in them. Overwork, insufficient sleep, that imprudent +diet and eating which seems the rule rather than the exception, +carelessness of bodily protection in rain or storm or drafts or +otherwise:--these are sins against God's will for the body, and no one +who is disobedient here can ever be a channel of power up to the measure +of God's longing for us. + +And so regarding all of one's life, one must ever keep an open mind +Godward so as to get a well balanced sense of what His will is. Practice +is the great thing here. This is school work. By persistent listening +and practising there comes a mature judgment which avoids extremes in +both directions. But the rule is this: cheery prompt obeying regardless +of consequences. Disobedience, failure to obey, is _breaking with our +Friend_. + +These are the three keys which will let us into the innermost chambers +of friendship with God. And with them goes a _key-ring_ on which these +keys must be strung. It is this:--_implicit trust in God_. Trust is the +native air of friendship. In its native air it grows strong and +beautiful. Whatever disturbs an active abiding trust in God must be +driven out of doors, and kept out. Doubt chills the air below normal. +Anxiety overheats the air. A calm looking up into God's face with an +unquestioning faith in _Him_ under every sort of circumstance--this is +trust. Faith has three elements: knowledge, belief and _trust_. +Knowledge is acquaintance with certain facts. Belief is accepting these +facts as true. _Trust is risking_ something that is very precious. Trust +is the life-blood of faith. This is the atmosphere of the true natural +life as planned by God. + + "If a wren can cling + To a spray a-swing + In a mad May wind, and sing, and sing, + As if she'd burst for joy; + Why cannot I, + Contented lie, + In His quiet arms, beneath His sky, + Unmoved by earth's annoy?" + +Shall we take these keys, and this key-ring and use them faithfully? It +will mean intimate friendship with God. And that is the one secret of +power, fresh, and ever freshening. + +There is a simple story told of an old German friend of God which +illustrates all of this with a charming picturesqueness. Professor Johan +Albrecht Bengal was a teacher in the seminary in Denkendorf, Germany, in +the eighteenth century. "He united profound reverence for the Bible with +an acuteness which let nothing escape him." The seminary students used +to wonder at the great intellectuality, and great humility and +Christliness which blended their beauty in him. One night, one of them, +eager to learn the secret of his holy life, slipped up into his +apartments while the professor was out lecturing in the city, and hid +himself behind the heavy curtains in the deep recess of the +old-fashioned window. Quite a while he waited until he grew weary and +thought of how weary his teacher must be with his long day's work in the +class-room and the city. At length he heard the step in the hall, and +waited breathlessly to learn the coveted secret. The man came in, +changed his shoes for slippers, and sitting down at the study table, +opened the old well-thumbed German Bible and began reading leisurely +page by page. A half-hour he read, three-quarters of an hour, an hour, +and more yet. Then leaning his head down on his hands for a few minutes +in silence he said in the simplest most familiar way, "Well, Lord Jesus, +we're on the same old terms. Good-night." + +If we might live like that. Begin the day with a bit of time alone, a +good-morning talk with Him. And as the day goes on in its busy round +sometimes to put out your hand to Him, and under your breath say, "let's +keep on good terms, Lord Jesus." And then when eventide comes in to go +off alone with Him for a quiet look into His face, and a good-night +talk, and to be able to say, with reverent familiarity: "Good-night, +Lord Jesus, we are on the same old terms, you and I, good-night." Ah! +such a life will be fairly fragrant with the very presence of God. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] Hosea xiv: 5. + +[26] John vii: 37-39. + +[27] Ezekiel xlvii: 1-12. + +[28] 1 Thessalonians iv: 8 + 1 Corinthians xii: 1-11. + 2 Corinthians xi: 4 + Galatians iii: 2-5; iv: 6; v: 5, 18,[D] 22-25. + Romans viii: 1-27, xv: 13. + Colossians i: 8. + Philippians iii: 3. + Titus iii: 5-6. + +[Transcriber's Note D: Original had "18, 18,"] + +[29] Acts xix: 1-7. + +[30] 1 Thessalonians v: 19. + +[31] Galatians v: 16. + +[32] Ephesians iv: 30. + +[33] Eph. v: 18. + +[34] One beauty of the revised version is its paragraphing. + + + + + * * * * * + +WORKS BY G CAMPBELL MORGAN + + +_A New Popular Edition_ + +THE CRISES OF THE CHRIST. + + DR. 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D. Gordon. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + p { margin-top: 0.75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: 0.75em; + text-indent: 1em; + } + h1,h2,h3 { + text-align: center; + } + h4 { + text-align: left; + font-style: italic; + text-decoration: underline; + } + hr { + margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; + width: 65%; + } + + /* Sidenotes and Endnotes */ + .sidenote { + width: 30%; float: right; margin-top: 0; + border: 1px dashed black; background-color: #eeeeee; color: inherit; + font-size: smaller; margin-left: 0.75em; padding: 0.2em; + } + .sn-extra { margin-top: 0.75em; clear: right; } + .sidenote ol { margin: 0; padding-left: 1.5em;} + .snlabel {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + .endnote {border: dashed 1px;} + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + + /* Page Numbers */ + .pagenum { + position: absolute; left: 92%; + font-size: 13px; text-indent: 0em; color: #ababab; background-color: inherit; + font-weight: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; + } + span[title].pagenum:after { + content: " [" attr(title) "] "; + } + + /* Title Page, Contents and Back Matter */ + .title-page, .contents {max-width: 30em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px; padding: 0.5em} + + ol.toc { + list-style-type: none; + position: relative; /*makes a "container" for .ralign */ + width: 95%; /*page-number margin pulls in */ + } + .ralign {/* use absolute positioning to move page# right */ + position: absolute; + right: 0; /* right edge against container's right edge */ + top: auto; /* vertical align to original text baseline */ + } + + .works {font-size: xx-large; text-align: center; text-indent: 0;} + .publisher-name {font-size: x-large; font-variant: small-caps; text-align: center; text-indent: 0; margin: 0;} + .publisher-location, .publisher-desc {font-size: smaller; text-align: center; text-indent: 0; margin: 0;} + + ul.books { + list-style-type: none; + font-size: larger; + } + ul.desc, ul.edition { + list-style-type: none; + font-size: small; + margin-top: 0.5em; + } + ul.books li {margin-top: 0.5em;} + ul.desc li {margin-top: 0;} + + /* Poetry and Various Styles */ + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i1 {margin-left: 1em;} + + .center {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .lower {text-transform: lowercase;} + ins.correction { text-decoration:none; border-bottom: thin dotted gray; } + .notes {background-color: #ccccff; color: #000000; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; padding: 0.5em;} + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Quiet Talks on Power, by S.D. Gordon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Quiet Talks on Power + +Author: S.D. Gordon + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20731] +[Last updated: June 9, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUIET TALKS ON POWER *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Karina Aleksandrova and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<div class="notes"> +<p>Transcriber Notes:</p> + +<ol> +<li>Several misprints corrected. Hover over underlined + <ins class="correction" title="like this">word</ins> in + the text to see the corrections made.</li> +<li>Footnotes have been renumbered and converted to sidenotes.</li> +</ol> +</div> + +<hr /> + +<div class="title-page bbox"> + +<div class="bbox"><h1><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>QUIET TALKS +ON <em>POWER</em></h1></div> + +<div class="bbox" style="margin-top: 0.5em;"> + +<pre> + +</pre> + +<h3 style="font-style: italic">BY</h3> +<h2 style="font-style: italic">S. D. GORDON</h2> + +<pre> + + +</pre> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/logo.png" height="110" width="150" alt="logo" title="" /></div> + +<p class="center">NEW AND REVISED EDITION</p> + +<pre> + + + +</pre> + +<p class="publisher-location"><i>CHICAGO NEW YORK TORONTO</i></p> +<p class="publisher-name">FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</p> +<p class="publisher-location"><i>LONDON AND EDINBURGH</i></p> +</div></div> + + + +<hr /> + +<p class="center"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a><span class="smcap">Copyright, 1903, by</span><br /> +FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY</p> + +<pre> + + +</pre> + +<p class="center">Chicago: 63 Washington Street<br /> +New York: 158 Fifth Avenue<br /> +Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W<br /> +London: 21 Paternoster Square<br /> +Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street</p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>CONTENTS</h2> + + +<div class="contents"><ol class="toc"> +<li>CHOKED CHANNELS <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_9">9</a></span></li> + +<li>THE OLIVET MESSAGE <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_33">33</a></span></li> + +<li>THE CHANNEL OF POWER <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_61">61</a></span></li> + +<li>THE PRICE OF POWER <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_87">87</a></span></li> + +<li>THE PERSONALITY OF POWER <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_117">117</a></span></li> + +<li>MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_147">147</a></span></li> + +<li>THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_173">173</a></span></li> + +<li>FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER <span class="ralign"><a href="#Page_199">199</a></span></li> +</ol> +</div> + + +<hr /> + +<p><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a></p><!-- CHOKED CHANNELS. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 9"></span><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>CHOKED CHANNELS.</h2> + +<h4>An Odd Distinction.</h4> + + +<p>A few years ago I was making a brief tour among the colleges of +Missouri. I remember one morning in a certain college village going over +from the hotel to take breakfast with some of the boys, and coming back +with one of the fellows whom I had just met. As we walked along, +chatting away, I asked him quietly, "Are you a christian, sir?" He +turned quickly and looked at me with an odd, surprised expression in his +eye and then turning his face away said: "Well, I'm a member of church, +but—I don't believe I'm very much of a christian." Then I looked at him +and he frankly volunteered a little information. Not very much. He did +not need to say much. You can see a large field through a chink in the +fence. And I saw enough to let me know that he was right in the +criticism he had made upon himself. We talked a bit and parted. But his +remark set me to thinking.</p> + +<p>A week later, in another town, speaking one morning to the students of a +young ladies' seminary, I said afterwards to one of the teachers as we +were talking: "I suppose your young women here are all christians." That +<span class="pagenum" title="Page 10"></span><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>same quizzical look came into her eye as she said: "I think they are +all members of church, but I do not think they are all christians with +real power in their lives." There was that same odd distinction.</p> + +<p>A few weeks later, in Kansas City visiting the medical and dental +schools, I recall distinctly standing one morning in a disordered +room—shavings on the floor, desks disarranged—the institution just +moving into new quarters, and not yet settled. I was discussing with a +member of the faculty, the dean I think, about how many the room would +hold, how soon it would be ready, and so on—just a business talk, +nothing more—when he turned to me rather abruptly, looking me full in +the face, and said with quiet deliberation: "I'm a member of church; I +<em>think</em> I am a deacon in our church"—running his hand through his hair +meditatively, as though to refresh his memory—"but I am not very much +of a christian, sir." The smile that started to come to my face at the +odd frankness of his remark was completely chased away by the distinct +touch of pathos in both face and voice that seemed to speak of a hungry, +unsatisfied heart within.</p> + +<p>Perhaps it was a month or so later, in one of the mining towns down in +the zinc belt of southwestern Missouri, I was to speak to a meeting of +men. There were probably five or six hundred gathered in a Methodist +Church. They were strangers to me. I was in doubt what best to say to +them. One dislikes to fire ammunition at people that are absent.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 11"></span><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a> So +stepping down to a front pew where several ministers were seated, I +asked one of them to run his eye over the house and tell me what sort of +a congregation it was, so far as he knew them. He did so, and presently +replied: "I think fully two-thirds of these men are members of our +churches"—and then, with that same quizzical, half-laughing look, he +added, "but you know, sir, as well as I do, that not half of them are +christians worth counting." "Well," I said to myself, astonished, "this +is a mining camp; this certainly is not anything like the condition of +affairs in the country generally."</p> + +<p>But that series of incidents, coming one after the other in such rapid +succession, set me thinking intently about that strange distinction +between being members of a church on the one hand, and on the other, +living lives that count and tell and weigh for Jesus seven days in the +week. I knew that ministers had been recognizing such a distinction, but +to find it so freely acknowledged by folks in the pew was new, and +surely significant.</p> + +<p>And so I thought I would just ask the friends here to-day very frankly, +"What kind of Christians are you?" I do not say what kind you are, for I +am a stranger, and do not know, and would only think the best things of +you. But I ask you frankly, honestly now, as I ask myself anew, what +kind are you? Do you know? Because it makes such a difference. The +Master's plan—and what a genius of a plan it is—is this, that the +world should be<span class="pagenum" title="Page 12"></span><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a> won, not by the preachers—though we must have these +men of God for teaching and leadership—but by everyone who knows the +story of Jesus <em>telling someone</em>, and telling not only with his lips +earnestly and tactfully, but even more, <em>telling with his life</em>. That is +the Master's plan of campaign for this world. And it makes a great +difference to Him and to the world outside whether you and I are +<em>living</em> the story of His love and power among men or not.</p> + +<p>Do you <em>know</em> what kind of a christian you are? There are at least three +others that do. First of all there is Satan. He knows. Many of our +church officers are skilled in gathering and compiling statistics, but +they cannot hold a tallow-dip to Satan in this matter of exact +information. He is the ablest of all statisticians, second only to one +other. He keeps careful record of every one of us, and knows just how +far we are interfering with his plans. He knows that some of us—good, +respectable people, as common reckoning goes—neither help God nor +hinder Satan. Does that sound rather hard? But is it not true? He has no +objection to such people being counted in as christians. Indeed, he +rather prefers to have it so. Their presence inside the church circle +helps him mightily. <em>He</em> knows what kind of a christian you are. Do +<em>you</em> know?</p> + +<p>Then there is the great outer circle of non-christian people—<em>they +know</em>. Many of them are poorly informed regarding the christian life; +hungry for something they have not, and know not just what it<span class="pagenum" title="Page 13"></span><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a> is; with +high ideals, though vague, of what a christian life should be. And they +look eagerly to us for what they have thought we had, and are so often +keenly disappointed that our ideals, our life, is so much like others +who profess nothing. And when here and there they meet one whose acts +are dominated by a pure, high spirit, whose faces reflect a sweet +radiance amid all circumstances, and whose lives send out a rare +fragrance of gladness and kindliness and controlling peace, they are +quick to recognize that, to them, intangible something that makes such +people different. The world—tired, hungry, keen and critical for mere +sham, appreciative of the real thing—the world knows what kind of +christians we are. Do <em>we</em> know?</p> + +<p>There is a third one watching us to-day with intense interest. The Lord +Jesus! Sitting up yonder in glory, with the scar-marks of earth on face +and form, looking eagerly down upon us who stand for Him in the world +that crucified Him—<em>He knows</em>. I imagine Him saying, "There is that one +down there whom I died for, who bears my name; <em>if</em> I had the <em>control</em> +of that life what power I would gladly breathe in and out of it, but—he +is <em>so absorbed in other things</em>." The Master is thinking about you, +studying your life, longing to carry out His plan if He could only get +permission, and sorely disappointed in many of us. He knows. Do <em>you</em> +know?</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 14"></span><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>The Night Visitor.</h4> + +<p>After that trip I became much interested in discovering in John's Gospel +some striking pictorial illustrations of these two kinds of christians, +namely, those who have power in their lives for Jesus Christ and those +who have not. Let me speak of only a few of these. The first is sketched +briefly in the third chapter, with added touches in the seventh and +nineteenth chapters. There is a little descriptive phrase used each +time—"the man who came to Jesus by night." That comes to be in John's +mind the most graphic and sure way of identifying this man. A good deal +of criticism, chiefly among the upper classes, had already been aroused +by Jesus' acts and words. This man Nicodemus clearly was deeply +impressed by the young preacher from up in Galilee. He wants to find out +more of him. But he shrank back from exposing himself to criticism by +these influential people for his possible friendship with the young +radical, as Jesus was regarded. So one day he waits until the friendly +shadows will conceal his identity, and slipping quietly along the +streets, close up to the houses so as to insure his purpose of not being +recognized, he goes up yonder side street where Jesus has lodgings. He +knocks timidly. "Does the preacher from up the north way stop here?" +"Yes." "Could I see him?" He steps in and spends an evening in earnest +conversation. I think we will all readily agree that Nico<span class="pagenum" title="Page 15"></span><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>demus +<em>believed</em> Jesus after that night's interview, however he may have +failed to understand all He said. Yes, we can say much more—he <em>loved</em> +Him. For after the cruel crucifixion it is this man that brings a box of +very precious spices, weighing as much as a hundred pounds, worth, +without question, a large sum of money, with which to embalm the dead +body of his friend. Ah! he loved Him. No one may question that.</p> + +<p>But turn now to the seventh chapter of John. There is being held a +special session of the Jewish Senate in Jerusalem for the express +purpose of determining how to silence Jesus—to get rid of Him. This man +is a member of that body, and is present. Yonder he sits with the +others, listening while his friend Jesus is being discussed and His +removal—by force if need be—is being plotted. What does he do? What +would you expect of a friend of Jesus under such circumstances? I wonder +what you and I would have done? I wonder what we do do? Does he say +modestly, but plainly, "I spent a whole evening with this man, +questioning Him, talking with Him, listening to Him. I feel quite sure +that He is our promised Messiah; and I have decided to accept Him as +such." Did he say that? That would have been the simple truth. But such +a remark plainly would have aroused a storm of criticism, and he dreaded +that. Yet he felt that something should be said. So, lawyer-like, he +puts the case abstractly. "Hmm—does our law judge<span class="pagenum" title="Page 16"></span><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a> a man without giving +him a fair hearing?" That sounds fair, though it does seem rather feeble +in face of their determined opposition. But near by sits a burly +Pharisee, who turns sharply around and, glaring savagely at Nicodemus, +says sneeringly: "Who are you? Do you come from Galilee, too? Look and +see! No prophet comes out of Galilee"—with intensest contempt in the +tone with which he pronounces the word Galilee. And poor Nicodemus seems +to shrink back into half his former size, and has not another word to +say, though all the facts, easily ascertainable, were upon his side of +the case. He loved Jesus without doubt, but he had <em>no power</em> for Him +among men <em>because of his timidity</em>. Shall I use a plainer, though +uglier, word—his cowardice? That is not a pleasant word to apply to a +man. But is it not the true word here? He was so afraid of what <em>they</em> +would think and say! Is that the sort of christian <em>you</em> are? Believing +Jesus, trusting Him, saved by Him, loving Him, but shrinking back from +speaking out for Him, tactfully, plainly, when opportunity presents or +can be made. A christian, but without positive power for Him among men +because of cowardice!</p> + +<p>I can scarcely imagine Nicodemus walking down the street in Jerusalem, +arm in arm with another Pharisee-member of the Sanhedrin and saying to +him quietly, but earnestly: "Have you had a talk with this young man +Jesus?" "No, indeed, I have not!" "Well, do you know, I spent an +evening<span class="pagenum" title="Page 17"></span><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a> with Him down at His stopping place, and had a long, careful +talk with Him. I am quite satisfied that He is our long-looked-for +leader; I have decided to give Him my personal allegiance; won't you get +personally acquainted with Him? He is a wonderful man." I say I have +difficulty in thinking that this man worked for Jesus like that. And yet +what more natural and proper, both for him and for us? And what a +difference it might have made in many a man's life. <em>Powerless</em> for +Jesus because of timidity! Is that the kind <em>you</em> are? Possibly some one +thinks that rather hard on this man. Maybe you are thinking of that +other member of the Sanhedrin—Joseph of Arimathea—who was also a +follower of Jesus, and that quite possibly he may have been influenced +by Nicodemus. Let us suppose, for Nicodemus' sake, that this is so, and +then mark the brief record of this man Joseph in John's account: "A +disciple <em>secretly</em> for <em>fear</em> of the Jews." If we may fairly presume +that it was Nicodemus' influence that led his friend Joseph to follow +Jesus, yet he had led him no nearer than he himself had gone! He <em>could</em> +lead him no higher or nearer than that.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[1]</span> John 3:1. 7:50. 12:42 with 9:22. 19:38, 39.</p></div> +<p>John in his gospel makes plain the fact that Jesus suffered much from +these secret, timid, cowardly disciples whose fear of men gripped them +as in a vise. Five times he makes special mention of these people who +believed Jesus, but cravenly feared to line up with Him.<span class="snlabel">[1]</span> He even says +that <em>many</em> of<span class="pagenum" title="Page 18"></span><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a> the <em>rulers</em>—the very class that plotted and voted His +death—believed Jesus, but that <em>fear</em> of <em>the others</em> shut their lips +and drove them into the shadow when they could have helped Him most. +These people seem to have left numerous descendants, many of whom +continue with us unto this day.</p> + + +<h4>Tightly Tied Up.</h4> + +<p>Turn now to the eleventh chapter and you will find another pictorial +suggestion of this same sort of <em>powerless christian</em>, though in this +instance made so by another reason. It is the Bethany Chapter, the +Lazarus Chapter. The scene is just out of Bethany village. There is a +man lying dead in the cave yonder. Here stands Jesus. There are the +disciples, and Martha, and Mary, and the villagers, and a crowd from +Jerusalem. The Master is speaking. His voice rings out clear and +commanding—"Lazarus, come forth"—speaking to a dead man. And the +simple record runs, "He that <em>was</em> dead"—life comes between those two +lines of the record—"came forth, bound hand and foot with +grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin." Will you +please take a look at Lazarus as he steps from the tomb? Do you think +his eyes are dull, or his cheeks hollow and pale? I think not! When +Jesus, the Lord of life, gives life, either physical or spiritual, He +gives abundant life. That face may have been a bit spare. There had been +no<span class="pagenum" title="Page 19"></span><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a> food for at least four days and likely longer. But there is the +flash of health in his eye and the ruddy hue of good blood in his cheek. +He has life. But look closer. He is bound hand and foot and face. He can +neither walk nor work nor speak.</p> + +<p>I have met some christian people who reminded me forcibly of that scene. +They are christians. The Master has spoken life, and they have responded +to His word. But they are so tied up with the grave-clothes of the old +life that there can be none of the power of free action in life or +service. May I ask you very kindly, but very plainly, are you like that? +Is that the reason you have so little power with God, and for God? +Perhaps some one would say, "Just what do you mean?" I mean this: that +there may be some personal habit of yours, or perhaps some society +custom which you practice, or it may be some business method, or +possibly an old friendship which you have carried over into the new life +from the old that is seriously hindering your christian life. It may be +something that goes into your mouth or comes out of it that prevents +those lips speaking for the Master. Perhaps it is some organization you +belong to. If there is lack of freedom and power for Christ you may be +sure there is <em>something</em> that is blighting your life and dwarfing your +usefulness. It may possibly be that practically in your daily life you +are exerting no more power for God than a dead man! A christian, indeed, +but <em>without power because of compromise</em> with some<span class="pagenum" title="Page 20"></span><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>thing questionable +or outrightly wrong! Is that so with you? I do not say it is, for I do +not know. But <em>you</em> know. The hungry, critical world knows. Subtle, keen +Satan knows. The Lord Jesus knows. Do you know if that describes you? +You may know with certainty within twenty-four hours if you wish to and +will to. May we be willing to have the Spirit's searchlight turned in +upon us to-night.</p> + + +<h4>The Master's Ideal.</h4> + +<p>There is another kind of christian, an utterly different kind, spoken of +and illustrated in this same Gospel of John, and I doubt not many of +them also are here. It is <em>Jesus' ideal</em> of what a christian should be. +Have you sometimes wished you could have a few minutes of quiet talk +with Jesus? I mean face to face, as two of us might sit and talk +together. You have thought you would ask Him to say very simply and +plainly just what He expects of you. Well, I believe He would answer in +words something like those of this seventh chapter of John. It was at +the time of Feast of Tabernacles. There was a vast multitude of Jews +there from all parts of the world. It was like an immense convention, +but larger than any convention we know. The people were not entertained +in the homes, but lived for seven days in leafy booths made of branches +of trees. It was the last day of the feast. There was a large<span class="pagenum" title="Page 21"></span><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a> concourse +of people gathered in one of the temple areas; not women, but men; not +sitting, but standing. Up yonder stand the priests, pouring water out of +large jars, to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the +nation of Israel. Just then Jesus speaks, and amid the silence of the +intently watching throng His voice rings out: "If any man thirst let him +come unto Me and drink; he that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, +<em>out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water</em>." Mark that +significant closing clause. That packs into a sentence Jesus' ideal of +what a true christian down in this world should be, and may be. Every +word is full of meaning.</p> + +<p>The heart of the sentence is in the last word—"water." <em>Water</em> is an +essential of life. Absence of water means suffering and sickness, dearth +and death. Plenty of good water means <em>life</em>. All the history of the +world clusters about the water courses. Study the history of the rivers, +the seashores, and lake edges, and you know the history of the earth. +Those men who heard Jesus speak would instinctively think of the Jordan. +It was their river. Travelers say that no valley exceeded in beauty and +fruitfulness that valley of the Jordan, made so by those swift waters. +No hillside so fair in their green beauty, nor so wealthy in heavy loads +of fruit as those sloping down to the edge of that stream. Now plainly +Jesus is talking of something that may, through us, exert as decided an +influence upon the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 22"></span><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a> lives of those we touch as water has exerted, and +still exerts, on the history of the earth, and as this Jordan did in +that wonderful, historic Palestine. Mark the quantity of +water—"rivers." Not a Jordan merely, that would be wonderful enough, +but Jordans—a Jordan, and a Nile, and a Euphrates, a Yang Tse Kiang, +and an Olga and a Rhine, a Seine and a Thames, and a Hudson and an +Ohio—"<em>rivers</em>." Notice, too, the <em>kind</em> of water. Like this racing, +turbulent, muddy Jordan? No, no! "rivers of <em>living</em> water," "water of +<em>life</em>, clear as crystal." You remember in Ezekiel's vision which we +read together that the waters constantly increased in depth, and that +everywhere they went there was healing, and abundant life, and +prosperity, and beauty, and food, and a continual harvest the year +round, and all because of the waters of the river. They were veritable +waters of life.</p> + +<p>Now mark that little, but very significant, phrase—"<em>Out of</em>"—not +<em>into</em>, but "out of." All the difference in the lives of men lies in the +difference between these two expressions. "Into" is the world's +preposition. Every stream turns in; and that means <em>a dead sea</em>. Many a +man's life is simply the coast line of a dead sea. "Out of" is the +Master's word. His thought is of others. The stream must flow in, and +must flow through, if it is to flow out, but it is judged by its +direction, and Jesus would turn it outward. There must be good +connections upward, and a clear channel inward, but the objective point<span class="pagenum" title="Page 23"></span><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a> +is outward toward a parched earth. But before it can flow out it must +<em>fill up</em>. An <em>out</em>flow in this case means an <em>over</em>flow. There must be +a flooding inside before there can be a flowing out. And let the fact be +carefully marked that it is only the overflow from the fullness within +our own lives that brings refreshing to anyone else. A man praying at a +conference in England for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit said: "O, +Lord, we can't hold much, but we can overflow lots." That is exactly the +Master's thought. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water."</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[2]</span> Rom. 5:5.</p></div> +<p>Do you remember that phrase in the third chapter of Joshua—"For Jordan +overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest." When there was a +flood in the river, there was a harvest in the land. Has there been a +harvest in your life? A harvest of the fruit of the spirit—love, joy, +peace, long-suffering; a harvest of souls? "No," do you say, "not much +of a harvest, I am afraid," or it may be your heart says "none at all." +Is it hard to tell why? Has there been a flood-tide in your heart, a +filling up from above until the blessed stream had to find an outlet +somewhere, and produce a harvest? A harvest outside means a rising of +the tide inside. A flooding of the heart always brings a harvest in the +life. A few years ago there were great floods in the southern states, +and the cotton and corn crops following were unprecedented. Paul +reminded his Roman friends that when the Holy Spirit has<span class="pagenum" title="Page 24"></span><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a> free swing in +the life "the love of God <em>floods</em> our hearts."<span class="snlabel">[2]</span></p> + +<p>Please notice, too, the <em>source</em> of the stream—"out of his belly." Will +you observe for a moment the rhetorical figure here? I used to suppose +it meant "out of his <em>heart</em>." The ancients, you remember, thought the +heart lay down in the abdominal region. But you will find that this book +is very exact in its use of words. The blood is the life. The heart +pumps the blood, but the stomach makes it. The seat of life is not in +the heart, but in the stomach. If you will take down a book of +physiology, and find the chart showing the circulation of the blood, you +will see a wonderful network of lines spreading out in every direction, +but all running, through lighter lines into heavier, and still blacker, +until every line converges in the great stomach artery. <em>And everywhere +the blood goes there is life.</em> Now turn to a book of physical geography +and get a map showing the water system of some great valley like the +Mississippi, and you will find a striking reproduction of the other +chart. And if you will shut your eyes and imagine the reality back of +that chart, you will see hundreds of cool, clear springs flowing +successively into runs, brooks, creeks, larger streams, river branches, +rivers, and finally into the great river—the reservoir of all. <em>And +everywhere the waters go there is life.</em> The only difference between +these two streams of life is in the direction. The<span class="pagenum" title="Page 25"></span><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a> blood flows from the +largest toward the smallest; the water flows from the smallest toward +the largest. Both bring life with its accompaniments of beauty and vigor +and fruitfulness. There is Jesus' picture of the Christian down in the +world. As the red stream flows out from the stomach, and, propelled by +the force-pump of the heart, through a marvelous network of minute +rivers takes life to every part of the body, so "he that believeth on +Me"—that is the vital connecting link with the great origin of this +stream of life—out of the very source of life within him shall go <em>a +flood-tide of life</em>, bringing refreshing, and cleansing, and beauty, and +vigor everywhere within the circle of his life, even though, like the +red streams and the water streams, he be unconscious of it.</p> + + +<h4>An Unlikely Channel.</h4> + +<p>What a marvelous conception of the power of life! How strikingly it +describes Jesus' own earthly life! But there is something more marvelous +still—He means that ideal to become real in you, my friend, and in me. +I doubt not there are some here whose eager hearts are hungry for just +such a life, but who are tremblingly conscious of their own weakness. +Your thoughts are saying: "I wish I <em>could</em> live such a life, but +certainly this is not for <em>me</em>; this man talking doesn't know <em>me</em>—no +special talent or opportunity: such strong tides of temptation that<span class="pagenum" title="Page 26"></span><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a> +sweep me clean off my feet—not for me." Ah, my friend, I verily believe +you are the very one the Master had in mind, for He had John put into +his gospel a living illustration of this ideal of His that goes down to +the very edge of human unlikeliness and inability. He goes down to the +lowest so as to include all. What proved true in this case may prove +true with you, and much more. The story is in the fourth chapter. It is +a sort of advance page of the Book of Acts. A sample of the power of +Pentecost before the day of Pentecost. You and I live on the flood-side +of Pentecost. This illustration belongs back where the streams had only +just commenced trickling. It is a miniature. You and I may furnish the +life-size if we will.</p> + +<p>It is the story of a woman; not a man, but a woman. One of the <em>weaker</em> +sex, so called. She was ignorant, prejudiced, and without social +standing. She was a woman of no reputation. Aye, worse than that, of bad +reputation. She probably had less moral influence in her town than any +one here has in his circle. Could a more unlikely person have been used? +But she came in touch with the Lord Jesus. She yielded herself to that +touch. There lies the secret of what follows. That contact radically +changed her. She went back to her village and commenced speaking about +Jesus to those she knew. She could not preach; she simply told plainly +and earnestly what she knew and believed about Him. And the result is +startling. There are<span class="pagenum" title="Page 27"></span><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a> hundreds of ministers who are earnestly longing +for what came so easily to her. What modern people call a revival began +at once. We are told in the simple language of the Gospel record that +"<em>many believed on Him because of the word of the woman.</em>" They had not +seen Jesus yet. He was up by the well. They were down in the village. +She was an ignorant woman, of formerly sinful life. But there is the +record of the wonderful result of her simple witnessing—they believed +on Jesus because of the word of that woman. There is only one way to +account for such results. Only the Holy Spirit speaking through her lips +could have produced them. She had commenced drinking of the living water +of which Jesus had been talking to her, and now already the rivers were +flowing out to others.</p> + +<p>What Jesus did with her, He longs to do with you, <em>and far more</em>, if you +will let Him; though his plan for using you may be utterly different +from the one He had for her, and so the particular results different. +Now let me ask very frankly why have we not all such power for our +Master as she? The Master's plan is plain. He said "ye shall have +power." But so many of us do not have! Why not? Well, possibly some of +us are like Nicodemus—there is no power because of timidity, cowardice, +fear of what <em>they</em> will think, or say. Possibly some of us are in the +same condition spiritually that Lazarus was in physically. We are tied +up tight, hands and feet and face. Some sin, some com<span class="pagenum" title="Page 28"></span><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>promise, some +hushing of that inner voice, <em>something</em> wrong. Some little thing, you +may say. Humph! as though anything <em>could</em> be little that is wrong! <em>Sin +is never little!</em></p> + + +<h4>A Clogged Channel.</h4> + +<p>Out in Colorado they tell of a little town nestled down at the foot of +some hills—a sleepy-hollow village. You remember the rainfall is very +slight out there, and they depend much upon irrigation. But some +enterprising citizens ran a pipe up the hills to a lake of clear, sweet +water. As a result the town enjoyed a bountiful supply of water the year +round without being dependent upon the doubtful rainfall. And the +population increased and the place had quite a western boom. One morning +the housewives turned the water spigots, but no water came. There was +some sputtering. There is apt to be noise when there is nothing else. +The men climbed the hill. There was the lake full as ever. They examined +around the pipes as well as possible, but could find no break. Try as +they might, they could find no cause for the stoppage. And as days grew +into weeks, people commenced moving away again, the grass grew in the +streets, and the prosperous town was going back to its old sleepy +condition when one day one of the town officials received a note. It was +poorly written, with bad spelling and grammar, but he never cared less +about writing<span class="pagenum" title="Page 29"></span><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a> or grammar than just then. It said in effect: "Ef you'll +jes pull the plug out of the pipe about eight inches from the top you'll +get all the water you want." Up they started for the top of the hill, +and examining the pipe, found the plug which some vicious tramp had +inserted. Not a very big plug—just big enough to fill the pipe. It is +surprising how large a reservoir of water can be held back by how small +a plug. Out came the plug; down came the water freely; by and by back +came prosperity again.</p> + +<p><em>Why</em> is there such a lack of power in our lives? The reservoir up +yonder is full to overflowing, with clear, sweet, life-giving water. And +here all around us the earth is so dry, so thirsty, cracked open—huge +cracks like dumb mouths asking mutely for what we should give. And the +connecting pipes between the reservoir above and the parched plain below +are there. Why then do not the refreshing waters come rushing down? The +answer is very plain. You know why. <em>There is a plug in the pipe.</em> +Something in us clogging up the channel and nothing can get through. How +shall we have power, abundant, life-giving, sweetening our own lives, +and changing those we touch? The answer is easy for me to give—it will +be much harder for us all to do—<em>pull out the plug</em>. Get out the thing +that you know is hindering.</p> + +<p>I am going to ask every one who will, to offer this simple prayer—and I +am sure every thoughtful, earnest man and woman here will. Just bow +your<span class="pagenum" title="Page 30"></span><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a> head and quietly under your breath say to Him: "Lord Jesus, show +me what there is in my life that is displeasing to Thee; what there is +Thou wouldst change." You may be sure He will. He is faithful. He will +put His finger on that tender spot very surely. Then add a second clause +to that prayer—"By Thy grace helping me, <em>I will put it out</em> whatever +it may cost, or wherever it may cut." Shall we bow our heads and offer +that prayer, and hew close to that line, steadily, faithfully? It will +open up a life of marvelous blessing undreamed of for you and everyone +you touch.</p> + + + +<hr /> + +<p><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a></p><!-- THE OLIVET MESSAGE. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 33"></span><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>THE OLIVET MESSAGE.</h2> + +<h4>Searchlight Sights.</h4> + + +<p>Coming into Cleveland harbor one evening, just after nightfall, a number +of passengers were gathered on the upper deck eagerly watching the +colored breakwater lights and the city lights beyond. Suddenly a general +curiosity was aroused by a small boat of some sort, on the left, +scudding swiftly along in the darkness like a blacker streak on the +black waters. A few of us who chanced to be near the captain on the +smaller deck above, heard him quietly say, "Turn on the searchlight." +Almost instantly an intense white light shone full on the stranger-boat, +bringing it to view so distinctly that we could almost count the +nail-heads, and the strands in her cordage.</p> + +<p>If some of us here to-night have made the prayer suggested in our last +talk together—Lord Jesus, show me what there is in my life that is +displeasing to Thee, that Thou wouldst change—we will appreciate +something of the power of that Lake Erie searchlight. There is a +searchlight whiter, intenser, more keenly piercing than any other. Into +every heart that desires, and will hold steadily open to it, the Lord +Jesus will turn that searching light. Then<span class="pagenum" title="Page 34"></span><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a> you will begin to see things +<em>as they actually are</em>. And that sight may well lead to discouragement. +Many a hidden thing, which you are glad enough to have hidden, will be +plainly seen. How is it possible, you will be ready to ask, for me to +lead the life the Master's ambition has planned for me, with such mixed +motives, selfish ambitions, sinfulness and weakness as I am beginning to +get a glimpse of—how is it possible?</p> + +<p>There is one answer to that intense heart-question, and only one. <em>We +must have power</em>, some supernatural power, something outside of us, and +above us, and far greater than we, to come in and win the victory within +us and for us.</p> + +<p>If that young man whose inner life is passion-swept, one tidal wave of +fierce temptation, hot on the heels of the last, until all the moorings +are snapped, and he driven rudderless out to sea—if he is to ride +masterfully upon that sea <em>he must have power</em>.</p> + +<p>If that young woman is to be as attractive, and womanly winsome in the +society circle where she moves, as she is meant to be, and yet able to +shape her lips into a gently uttered, but rock-ribbed <em>no</em> when certain +well-understood questionable matters come up, <em>she must have power</em>. If +society young people are to remain in the world, and yet not be swayed +by its spirit: on one side not prudish, nor fanatical, nor extreme, but +cheery, and radiant, and full-lived, and yet free of those compromising +en<span class="pagenum" title="Page 35"></span><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>tanglements that are common to society everywhere, <em>they must have a +rare pervasive power</em>.</p> + +<p>For that business man down in the sharp competition of the world where +duty calls him, to resist the sly temptations to overreach, to keep +keenly alert not to be overreached; and through all to preserve an +uncensorious spirit, unhurt by the selfishness of the crowd—tell me, +some of you men—<em>will that not take power</em>? Aye, more power than some +of us know about, yet.</p> + +<p>For that same man to go through his store and remove from shelf or +counter some article which yields a good profit, but which he knows his +Master would not have there—Ah! <em>that'll take power</em>.</p> + +<p><em>It takes power</em> to keep the body under control: the mouth clean and +sweet, both physically and morally: the eye turned away from the thing +that should not be thought about: the ear closed to what should not +enter that in-gate of the heart: to allow no picture to hang upon the +walls of your imagination that may not hang upon the walls of your home: +to keep every organ of the body pure for nature's holy function +only—<em>that takes mighty power</em>.</p> + +<p>For that young man to be wide-awake, a pusher in business, and yet +steadily, determinedly to hold back any crowding of the other side of +his life: the inner side, the outer-helpful side, the Bible-reading- +and secret-prayer- and quiet personal-work-side of his life, <em>that will +take real power</em>.</p> + +<p><em>It will take a power</em> that some of us have not<span class="pagenum" title="Page 36"></span><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a> known to let that glass +go untouched, and that quieting drug untasted and unhandled. If the rear +end of some pharmacies could speak out, many a story would startle our +ears of struggles and defeats that tell sadly of utter lack of power.</p> + +<p><em>It takes power</em> for the man of God in the pulpit to speak plainly about +particular sins before the faces of those who are living in them; and +<em>still more power</em> to do it with the rare tactfulness and tenderness of +the Galilean preacher. <em>It takes power</em> to stick to the Gospel story and +the old book, when literature and philosophy present such fine +opportunities for the essays that are so enjoyable and that bring such +flattering notice. <em>It takes power</em> to leave out the finely woven +rhetoric that you are disposed to put in for the sake of the compliment +it will bring from that literary woman down yonder, or that bright, +brainy young lawyer in the fifth pew on the left aisle. <em>It takes power</em> +to see that the lips that speak for God are thoroughly clean lips, and +the life that stands before that audience a pure life.</p> + +<p><em>It takes power</em> to keep sweet in the home, where, if anywhere, the +seamy side is apt to stick out. How many wooden oaths could kicked +chairs and slammed doors tell of! After all the home-life comes close to +being the real test of power, does it not? <em>It takes power</em> to be +gracious and strong, and patient and tender, and cheery, in the +commonplace things, and the commonplace places, does it not?</p> + +<p>Now, I have something to tell you to-night that to<span class="pagenum" title="Page 37"></span><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a> me is very +wonderful, and constantly growing in wonder. It is this—<em>the Master has +thought of all that!</em> He has thought into your life. Yes, I mean <em>your +particular life</em>, and made an arrangement to fully cover all your need +of power. He stands anew in our midst to-day, and putting His pierced +hand gently upon your arm, His low, loving, clear voice says quietly, +but very distinctly, "<em>You—you shall have power.</em>" For every subtle, +strong temptation, for every cry of need, for every low moan of +disappointment, for every locking of the jaws in the resolution of +despair, for every disheartened look out into the morrow, for every +yearningly ambitious heart there comes to-night that unmistakable +ringing promise of <em>His</em>—<em>ye shall have power</em>.</p> + + +<h4>The Olivet Message.</h4> + +<p>Our needs argue the necessity of power. And the argument is strengthened +by the peculiar emphasis of the Master's words. Do you remember that +wondrous Olivet scene? In the quiet twilight of a Sabbath evening a +group of twelve young men stand yonder on the brow of Olives. The last +glowing gleams of the setting sun fill all the western sky, and shed a +halo of yellow glory-light over the hilltop, through the trees, in upon +that group. You instantly pick out the leader. No mistaking Him. And +around Him group the eleven men who have lived with Him these months +past, now eagerly gaz<span class="pagenum" title="Page 38"></span><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>ing into that marvelous face, listening for His +words. He is going away. They know that. Coming back soon, they +understand. But in His absence the work He has begun is to be entrusted +to their hands. And so with ears and eyes they listen intently for the +good-bye word—His last message. It will mean so much in the coming +days.</p> + +<p>Two things the Master says. The first is that ringing "go ye" so +familiar to every true heart. The second is a very decisive, distinct +"<em>but tarry ye</em>." What, wait still longer! Tarry, now, when your great +work is done! Listen again, while His parting words cut the air with +their startling distinctness "<em>but tarry ye—until ye be endued with +power</em>."</p> + +<p>I could readily imagine impulsive Peter quickly saying, "What! shall we +<em>tarry</em> when the whole world is dying! Do we not <em>know</em> enough now?" And +the Master's answer would come in that clear, quiet voice of His, "yes, +tarry: you have knowledge enough, but <em>knowledge is not enough</em>, there +must be power."</p> + +<p>There is knowledge enough within the christian church of every +land—aye, knowledge enough within the walls of this building to-night +to convert the world, if knowledge would do it. Into many a life, +through home training, and school, and college, has come knowledge, +while power lingers without—a stranger. Knowledge—the twin idol with +gold to American hearts—is essential, but, let it be plainly said, is +not <em>the</em> essential. Knowledge is the fuel<span class="pagenum" title="Page 39"></span><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a> piled up in the fireplace. +The mantel is of carved oak, and the fenders so highly polished they +seem almost to send out warmth, but the thermometer is working down +toward zero, and the people are shivering. The spark of living fire is +essential. Then how all changes! There must be fire from above to kindle +our knowledge and ourselves before any of the needed results will come.</p> + +<p>There is no language strong enough to tell how absolutely needful it is +that every follower of Jesus Christ from the one most prominent in +leadership down to the very humblest disciple, shall receive this +promised power.</p> + +<p>Look at these men Jesus is talking to. There is Peter, the man of rock, +and John and James, the sons of thunder. They were with the Lord on the +Transfiguration Mount, and when He raised the dead. They were near by +during the awful agony of Gethsemane. They were admitted nearer to the +Master's inner life than any others. There is quiet matter-of-fact +Andrew, who had a reputation for bringing others to Jesus. There is +Nathanael, in whom is no guile. It is to these men that there comes that +positive command to tarry. If <em>they</em> needed such a command, do not we?</p> + +<p>"Yes," someone says, "I understand that this power you speak of is +something the leaders and preachers must have, but you scarcely mean +that there is the same necessity for us people down in the ranks, and +that we are to expect the same power<span class="pagenum" title="Page 40"></span><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a> as these others, do you?" Will you +please call to mind that original Pentecost company? There were one +hundred and twenty of them. And while there was a Peter being prepared +to preach that tremendous sermon, and a John to write five books of the +New Testament and probably a James to preside over the affairs of the +Jerusalem Church, and possibly a Stephen, and a Philip, yet these are +only a few. By far the greater number, both men and women, are unnamed +and unknown. Just the common, every-day folk, the filling-in of society; +aye, the very foundation of all society. They had no prominent part to +play. But they accepted the Master's promise of power, and His command +to wait, <em>as made to them</em>. And as a result <em>they, too</em>, were filled +with the Holy Spirit, that wonderful morning. I think, very likely, "the +good man of the house" whose guest Jesus was that last night was there, +and all the Marys, including the Bethany Mary, who simply sat at His +feet, and the Magdalene Mary, and housekeeper Martha, and maybe that +little lad whose loaves and fishes had been used about a year before. +That was the sort of company that prayerfully, with one accord, not only +waited but <em>received</em> that never-to-be-forgotten filling of the Holy +Spirit.</p> + +<p>Certainly, as some of you think, the preacher must have this power +peculiarly for his leadership. But just as really he needs it <em>because +he is a man for his living</em>, to make him sweet and gentle and patient<span class="pagenum" title="Page 41"></span><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a> +down in his home: to make him sympathetic and strong in his constant +contact with the hungry hearts he must meet. That young mechanic must +have this promised power if he is to live an earnest, manly life in that +shop. That school girl, whose home duties crowd her time so; that +keen-minded student working for honors amid strong competition; these +society young people; these all need, above all else, this promised +power that in, and through, and around and above all of their lives may +be a wholesomely sweet, earnest Christliness, pervading the life even as +the odor of flowers pervades a room.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[3]</span> Gal., 5:22.</p></div> +<p>Do you remember Paul's list of the traits of character that mark a +christian life—love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, +meekness, faithfulness, self-control?<span class="snlabel">[3]</span> Suppose for a moment you think +through a list of the opposites of those nine +characteristics—bitterness, envy, hate, low-spiritedness, sulkiness, +chafing, fretting, worrying, short-suffering, quick-temper, hot-temper, +high-spiritedness, unsteadiness, unreliability, lack of control of +yourself. May I ask, have you any personal acquaintance with some of +these qualities? Is there still some need in your life for the other +desirable traits? Well, remember that it is only as the Holy Spirit has +<em>control</em> that this fruit of His is found. For notice that it is not we +that bear this fruit, but He in us. We furnish the soil. He must have +free swing in its cultivation if He is to get this harvest.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 42"></span><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a> And notice, +too, that it does not say "the <em>fruits</em> of the Spirit," as though <em>you</em> +might have one or more, and <em>I</em> have some others. But it is +"fruit"—that is, it is all one fruit and all of it is meant to be +growing up in each one of us. And let the fact be put down as settled +once for all that only as we tarry and receive the Master's promise of +power can we live the lives He longs to have us live down here among men +for Him.</p> + +<p>If that father is so to live at home before those wide-awake, growing +boys that he can keep up the family altar, and instead of letting it +become a mere irksome form, make it the green, fresh spot in the home +life, he must have this promised power, for he cannot do it of himself. +I presume <em>some</em> of you fathers know that.</p> + +<p>There is that mother, living in what would be reckoned a humble home, +one of a thousand like it, but charged with the most sacred trust ever +committed to human hands—<em>the molding of precious lives</em>. If there be +hallowed ground anywhere surely it is there, in the life of that home. +What patience and tirelessness, and love and tact and wisdom and wealth +of resource does that woman not need! Ah, mothers! if any one needs to +tarry and receive the power promised by the Son of that Mary, who was +filled with the Holy Spirit from before His birth for her sacred trust, +<em>surely you do</em>.</p> + +<p>Here sits one whose life plans seem to have gone all askew. The thing +you love to do, and had<span class="pagenum" title="Page 43"></span><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a> fondly planned over, removed utterly beyond +your reach and you compelled to fit in to something for which you have +no taste. It will take nothing less than the power the Master promised +for you to go on faithfully, cheerfully just where you have been placed, +no repining, no complaining, even in your innermost soul, but, instead, +a glad, joyous fitting into the Father's plan with a radiant light in +the face. Only His power can accomplish that victory! But <em>His can</em>. And +His may be yours for the tarrying and the taking.</p> + +<p>Let me repeat then with all the emphasis possible that as certainly as +you need to trust Jesus Christ for your soul's salvation, you also need +to receive this power of the Holy Spirit to work that salvation out <em>in +your present life</em>.</p> + + +<h4>A Double Center.</h4> + +<p>It has helped me greatly in understanding the Master's insistent +emphasis upon the promise of power to keep clearly in mind that the +christian system of truth revolves around a double center. It is +illustrated best not by a circle with its single center, but by an +ellipse with its twin centers. There are two central truths—not one, +but two. The first of the two is grained deep down in the common +Christian teaching and understanding. If I should ask any group of +Sabbath school children in this town, next Sabbath morning, the +question:<span class="pagenum" title="Page 44"></span><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a> What is the most important thing we christians believe? Amid +the great variety in the form of answer would come, in substance, +without doubt, this reply: "<em>The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from +all sin.</em>" And they would be right. But there is a second truth—very +reverently and thoughtfully let me say—of <em>equal importance</em> with that; +namely, this: <em>the Holy Spirit empowereth against all sin, and for life +and service</em>. These two truths are co-ordinate. They run in parallel +lines. They belong together. They are really two halves of the one great +truth. But this second half needs emphasis, because it has not always +been put into its proper place beside the other.</p> + +<p>Jesus died on the cross to make freedom from sin <em>possible</em>. The Holy +Spirit dwells within me to make freedom from sin <em>actual</em>. The Holy +Spirit does <em>in</em> me what Jesus did <em>for</em> me. The Lord Jesus makes a +deposit in the bank on my account. The Spirit checks the money out and +puts it into my hands. Jesus does in me now by His Spirit what He did +for me centuries ago on the cross, in His person.</p> + +<p>Now these two truths, or two parts of the same truth, go together in +God's plan, but, with some exceptions, have not gone together in men's +experience. That explains why so many christian lives are a failure and +a reproach. The Church of Christ has been gazing so intently upon the +hill of the cross with its blood-red message of sin and love, that it +has largely lost sight of the Ascension Mount with<span class="pagenum" title="Page 45"></span><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a> its legacy of power. +We have been so enwrapt with that marvelous scene on Calvary—and what +wonder!—that we have allowed ourselves to lose the intense significance +of Pentecost. That last victorious shout—"It is finished"—has been +crowding out in our ears its counterpart—the equally victorious cry of +Olivet—"<em>All power hath been given unto Me.</em>"</p> + +<p>The christian's range of vision must always take in two +hill-tops—Calvary and Olivet. Calvary—sin conquered through the blood +of Jesus, a matter of history. Olivet—sin conquered through the power +of Jesus, a matter of experience. When the subject is spoken of, we are +apt to say: "Yes, that is correct. I understand that." But <em>do</em> we +understand it in our <em>experience</em>? So certainly as I must trust Jesus as +my Saviour so certainly must I constantly yield my life to the control +of the Spirit of Jesus if I am to find real the practical power of His +salvation.</p> + +<p>As surely as men are now urged to accept Jesus as the great step in +life, so surely should they be instructed to yield themselves to the +Holy Spirit's control that Jesus' plan for their lives may be carried +through.</p> + +<p>You remember in the olden time the Hebrew men were required to appear +before God in the appointed place three times during the year. At the +Passover, and at Pentecost, and again at the harvest home feast of +Tabernacles. So it is required of<span class="pagenum" title="Page 46"></span><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a> every man of us who would fit his +life into God's plan that he shall first of all come to the Passover +feast, where Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. And then that he +shall as certainly come to the great Pentecost feast, or feast of first +fruits where a glorified Passover Lamb breathes down His Spirit of power +into the life. And then he is sure to have a constant attendance at a +first-fruits feast all his days, with a great harvest home festival at +the end.</p> + +<p>I said there were two central truths. Will you notice that the gospels +put it also in this way, that <em>Jesus came to do two things</em>—not one +thing, but <em>two</em> things—in working out our salvation. That the first is +dependent for its practical power upon the second, and the second is the +completing or carrying into effect of the power of the first. That the +first—let me say it with great reverence—is valueless without the +second.</p> + +<p>What <em>was</em> Jesus' mission? Would you not expect His forerunner to +understand it? Listen, then, to his words. When questioned specifically +by the official deputation sent from the national leaders at Jerusalem, +he pointed to Jesus, and declared that He had come for a two-fold +purpose. Listen: "Behold the Lamb of God who beareth away the sin of the +world"; and then he added, and the word comes to us with the peculiar +emphasis of repetition by each of the four gospel scribes—"this is He +that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." That was spoken to them originally +without doubt in a national<span class="pagenum" title="Page 47"></span><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a> sense. It just as surely applies to every +one of us in a personal sense.</p> + +<p>Mark also the emphasis of <em>Jesus' own teachings</em> regarding this second +part of His mission. At the very beginning He spoke the decided words +about the necessity of being born of the Spirit. And we are all +impressed with that fact. But observe that several times, in the brief +gospel record, He refers the disciples to the overshadowing importance +of the <em>Spirit's control in the life</em>. And that He devotes a large part +of that last long confidential talk which John records, to this special +subject, pointing out the new experiences to come with the coming of the +Spirit, and holding out to them as the greatest evidence of His own love +<em>the promise of power</em>.</p> + +<p>It adds intense emphasis to all this to note that Jesus Himself, very +Son of God, was in that wonderful human life of His utterly dependent +upon the Holy Spirit. At the very outset, before venturing upon a single +act or word of His appointed ministry, He waits at the Jordan waters, +until the promised anointing of power came. What a picture does that +prayerfully waiting Jesus present to powerless men to-day! From that +moment every bit and part of His life was under the control of that Holy +Spirit. Impelled into the wilderness for that fierce set-to with Satan, +coming back to Galilee within the power of the Spirit, He himself +clearly stated more than once, that it was through this anointing that +He preached, and taught, and healed, and cast out<span class="pagenum" title="Page 48"></span><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a> demons. The writer to +the Hebrews assures us that it was through the power of the Eternal +Spirit that He was enabled to go through the awful experiences of +Gethsemane and Calvary. And Luke adds that it was through the same +empowering Spirit that He gave commandment to the apostles for the +stupendous task of world-wide evangelization. And then at the very last +referring them to that life of His, He said: "As the father hath sent Me +even so send I you." Let me ask if He, very God of very God, yet in His +earthly life intensely human, needed that anointing, do not we? If He +waited for that experience before venturing upon any service, shall not +you and I?</p> + +<p>But we must turn to the book of Acts to get fully within the grip of +this truth. For it, with the epistles fitting into it, is peculiarly the +<em>Holy Spirit book</em>, even as the Old Testament is the <em>Jehovah book</em> and +the gospels with Revelation the <em>Jesus book</em>. The climax of the gospels +is in the Acts. What is promised in the gospels is <em>experienced</em> in the +Acts.</p> + +<p>Jesus is dominant in the gospels; the Spirit of Jesus in the Acts. He is +the only continuous personality from first to last. He is the common +denominator of the book. The first twelve chapters group about Peter, +the remaining sixteen about Paul, but distinctly above both they all +group about the Holy Spirit. He is the one dominant factor throughout. +The first fourth of the book is fairly aflame with His presence at the +center—Jerusalem.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 49"></span><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a> Thence out to Samaria, and through the Cornelius +door to the whole outer non-Jewish world; at Antioch the new center, and +thence through the uttermost parts of the Roman empire into its heart, +His is the presence recognized and obeyed. He is ceaselessly guiding, +empowering, inspiring, checking, controlling clear to the abrupt end. +His is the one mastering personality. And everywhere His presence is a +transforming presence. Nothing short of startling is the change in +Peter, in the attitude of the Jerusalem thousands, in the persecutor +Saul, in the spirit of these disciples, in the unprecedented and +unparalleled unselfishness shown. It is revolutionary. Ah! it was meant +to be so. This book is the living illustration of what Jesus meant by +His teaching regarding His successor. It becomes also an acted +illustration of what the personal christian life is meant to be.</p> + +<p>The Spirit's presence and the necessity of His control is deep-grained +in the consciousness of the leaders in this book. Leaving the stirring +scenes at the capital the eighth chapter takes us down to Samaria. +Multitudes have been led to believe through the preaching of a man who +has been chosen to look after the business matters of the church. Peter +and John are sent down to aid the new movement. Note that their very +first concern is to spend time in prayer that this great company may +receive the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p>The next chapter shifts the scene to Damascus.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 50"></span><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a> A man unknown save for +this incident is sent as God's messenger to Saul. As he lays his hand +upon this chosen man and speaks the light-giving words he instinctively +adds, "and be filled with the Holy Spirit." That is not recorded as a +part of what he had been told to do. But plainly this humble man of God +believes that that is the essential element in Saul's preparation for +his great work.</p> + +<p>In the tenth chapter the Holy Spirit's action with Cornelius completely +upsets the life-long, rock-rooted ideas of these intensely national, and +intensely exclusive Jews. Yet it is accepted as final.</p> + +<p>With what quaint simplicity does the thirteenth chapter tell of the Holy +Spirit's initiation of those great missionary journeys of Paul from the +new center of world evangelization? "the Holy Spirit said, etc." And how +like it is the language of James in delivering the judgment of the first +church council:—"it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us."</p> + +<p>Paul's conviction is very plain from numerous references in those +wonderful heart-searching and heart-revealing letters of his. But one +instance in this Book of Acts will serve as a fair illustration of his +teaching and habit. It is in the nineteenth chapter. In his travels he +has come as far as to Ephesus, and finds there a small company of +earnest disciples. They are strangers to him. He longs to help them, but +must first find their need. At once he puts a question to them. A +question may be a<span class="pagenum" title="Page 51"></span><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a> great revealer. This one reveals his own conception +of what must be the pivotal experience of every true follower of Jesus. +He asks: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?"</p> + +<p>But they had been poorly instructed, like many others since, and were +not clear just what he meant. They had received the baptism of John—a +baptism of repentance; but not the baptism of Jesus—a baptism of power. +And Paul at once gives himself up to instructing and then praying with +them until the promised gift is graciously bestowed. That is the last we +hear of those twelve persons. Some of them may have been women. Some may +have come to be leaders in that great Ephesian Church. But of that +nothing is said. The emphasis remains on the fact that in Paul's mind +because they were followers of the Lord Jesus they must have this +empowering experience of the Holy Spirit's infilling.</p> + +<p>Plainly in this Book of Acts the pivot on which all else rests and turns +is the unhindered presence of the Holy Spirit.</p> + + +<h4>Five Essentials.</h4> + +<p>If you will stop a while to think into it you will find that a rightly +rounded christian life has five essential characteristics. I mean +essential in the same sense as that light is an essential to the eye. +The eye's seeing depends wholly on light. If it does not see light, by +and by, it cannot see light.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 52"></span><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a> The ear that hears no sound loses the +power to hear sound. Light is essential to the healthful eye: sound to +the ear: air to the lungs: blood to the heart. Just as really are these +five things essential to a strong healthful christian life.</p> + +<p>The <em>second</em> of these is a heart-love for the old Book of God. Not +reading it as a duty—taking a chapter at night because you feel you +must. I do not mean that just now. But reading it because you <em>love</em> to; +as you would a love letter or a letter from home. Thinking about it as +the writer of the one hundred and nineteenth psalm did. Listen to him +for a moment in that one psalm, talking about this book: "I delight," "I +will delight," "My delight"—in all nine times. "I love," "Oh! how I +love," "I do love," "Consider how I love," "I love exceedingly," again +nine times in all. "I have longed," "My eyes fail," "My soul breaketh," +speaking of the intensity of his desire to get alone with the book. +"Sweeter than honey," "As great spoil," "As much as all riches," "Better +than thousands of gold," "Above gold, yea, above fine gold." And all +that packed into less than two leaves. Do you love this Book like that? +Would you like to? Wait a moment.</p> + +<p>The <em>third</em> essential is right habits of prayer. Living a veritable life +of prayer. Making prayer the chief part not alone of your life, but of +your service. Having answers to prayer as a constant experience. Being +like the young man in a conference<span class="pagenum" title="Page 53"></span><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a> in India, who said, "I used to pray +three times a day: Now I pray only once a day, and that is <em>all</em> day." +Feet busy all the day, hands ceaselessly active, head full of matters of +business, but the heart never out of communication with Him. Has prayer +become to you like that? Would you have it so? Wait a moment.</p> + +<p>The <em>fourth</em> essential is a pure, earnest, unselfish life. Our lives are +the strongest part of us—or else the weakest. A man knows the least of +the influence of his own life. Life is not mere length of time but the +daily web of character we unconsciously weave. Our thoughts, +imaginations, purposes, motives, love, will, are the under threads: our +words, tone of voice, looks, acts, habits are the upper threads: and the +passing moment is the shuttle swiftly, ceaselessly, relentlessly, +weaving those threads into a web, and that web is life. It is woven, not +by our wishing, or willing, but irresistibly, unavoidably, woven by what +we <em>are</em>, moment by moment, hour after hour. What is your life weaving +out? Is it attractive because of the power in it of <em>His</em> presence? +Would you have it so? Would you know the secret of a life marked by the +strange beauty of humility, and fragrant with the odor of <em>His</em> +presence? Wait just a moment.</p> + +<p>The <em>fifth</em> essential is a passion for winning others one by one to the +Lord Jesus. A passion, I say. I may use no weaker word than that. A +passion burning with the steady flame of anthracite. A<span class="pagenum" title="Page 54"></span><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a> passion for +<em>winning</em>: not driving, nor dragging, but drawing men. I am not talking +about preachers just now, as preachers, but about every one of us. Do +you know the peculiar delight there is in winning the fellow by your +side, the girl in your social circle, to Jesus Christ? No? Ah, you have +missed half your life! Would you have such an intense passion as that, +thrilling your heart, and inspiring your life, and know how to do it +skillfully and tactfully?</p> + +<p>Let me tell you with my heart that the secret not only of this, but of +all four of these essentials I have named lies in the first one which I +have not yet named, and grows out of it. Given the first the others will +follow as day follows the rising sun.</p> + +<p>What is the first great essential? It is this—the unrestrained, +unhindered, controlling presence in the heart of the Holy Spirit. It is +allowing Jesus' other Self, the Holy Spirit, to take full possession and +maintain a loving but absolute monopoly of all your powers.</p> + + +<h4>Tarry.</h4> + +<p>My friend, have you received this promised power? Is there a growing up +of those four things within you by His grace? Does the Holy Spirit have +freeness of sway in you? Are you conscious of the fullness of His love +and power—conscious enough to know how much there is beyond of which +you are not conscious? Does your heart say, "No." Well,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 55"></span><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a> things may be +moving smoothly in that church of which you are pastor, and in that +school over which you preside. Business may be in a satisfactory +condition. Your standing in society may be quite pleasing. Your plans +working out well. The family may be growing up around you as you had +hoped. But let me say to you very kindly but very plainly <em>your life +thus far is a failure</em>. You have been succeeding splendidly it may be in +a great many important matters, but they are <em>the details</em> and in the +main issue you have failed utterly.</p> + +<p>And to you to-night I bring one message—the Master's Olivet +message—"<em>tarry ye</em>." No need of tarrying, as with these disciples, for +<em>God</em> to do something. His part has been done, and splendidly done. And +He waits now upon you. But tarry until you are willing to put out of +your life what displeases Him, no matter what that may mean to you. +Tarry until your eyesight is corrected; until your will is surrendered. +Tarry that you may start the habit of tarrying, for those two Olivet +words, "Go" and "tarry," will become the even-balancing law of your new +life. A constant going to do His will; a continual tarrying to find out +His will. Tarry to get your ears cleared and quieted so you can learn to +recognize that low voice of His. Tarry earnestly, steadily until that +touch of power comes to change, and cleanse, and quiet, and to give you +a totally new conception of what power is. Then you can understand the +experience of the one who wrote:—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum" title="Page 56"></span><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a> +<span>"My hands were filled with many things<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That I did precious hold,<br /></span> +<span>As any treasure of a king's—<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Silver, or gems, or gold.<br /></span> +<span>The Master came and <em>touched</em> my hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">(The scars were in His own)<br /></span> +<span>And at His feet my treasures sweet<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Fell shattered, one by one.<br /></span> +<span>'I must have empty hands,' said He,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'Wherewith to work My works through thee.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My hands were stained with marks of toil,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Defiled with dust of earth;<br /></span> +<span>And I my work did ofttimes soil,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And render little worth.<br /></span> +<span>The Master came and <em>touched</em> my hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">(And crimson were His own)<br /></span> +<span>But when, amazed, on mine I gazed,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Lo! every stain was gone.<br /></span> +<span>'I must have cleansed hands,' said He,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'Wherewith to work My works through thee.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My hands were growing feverish<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And cumbered with much care!<br /></span> +<span>Trembling with haste and eagerness,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Nor folded oft in prayer.<br /></span> +<span>The Master came and <em>touched</em> my hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">(With healing in His own)<br /></span> +<span>And calm and still to do His will<br /></span> +<span class="i1">They grew—the fever gone.<br /></span> +<span>'I must have quiet hands,' said He,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'Wherewith to work My works for Me.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"My hands were strong in fancied strength,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But not in power divine,<br /></span> +<span>And bold to take up tasks at length,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That were not His but mine.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 57"></span><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a><br /></span> +<span>The Master came and <em>touched</em> my hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">(And might was in His own!)<br /></span> +<span>But mine since then have powerless been,<br /></span> +<span class="i1"><em>Save His are laid thereon</em>.<br /></span> +<span>'And it is only thus,' said He,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'That I can work My works through thee.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr /> + +<p><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a></p><!-- THE CHANNEL OF POWER. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 61"></span><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>THE CHANNEL OF POWER.</h2> + +<h4>A Word that Sticks and Stings.</h4> + + +<p>I suppose everyone here can think of three or four persons whom he loves +or regards highly, who are not christians. Can you? Perhaps in your own +home circle, or in the circle of your close friends. They may be nice +people, cultured, lovable, delightful companions, fond of music and good +books, and all that; but this is true of them, that they do not trust +and confess Jesus as a personal Savior. Can you think of such persons in +your own circle? I am going to wait a few moments in silence while you +recall them to mind, if you will—Can you see their faces? Are their +names clear to your minds?</p> + +<p>Now I want to talk with you a little while to-night, not about the whole +world, but just about these three or four dear friends of yours. I am +going to suppose them lovely people in personal contact, cultured, and +kindly, and intelligent, and of good habits even though all that may not +be true of all of them. And, I want to ask you a question—God's +question—about them. You remember God put His hand upon Cain's arm, +and, looking into his face, said: "Where is Abel, thy brother?"<span class="pagenum" title="Page 62"></span><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a> I want +to ask you that question. Where are these four friends? Not where are +they socially, nor financially, nor educationally. These are important +questions. But they are less important than this other question: Where +are they as touching <em>Him</em>? Where are they as regards the best life +here, and the longer life beyond this one?</p> + +<p>And I shall not ask you what you think about it. For I am not concerned +just now with what you think. Nor shall I tell you what I think. For I +am not here to tell you what I think, but to bring a message from the +Master as plainly and kindly as I can. So I shall ask you to notice what +this old book of God says about these friends of yours. It is full of +statements regarding them. I can take time for only a few.</p> + +<p>Turn, for instance, to the last chapter of Mark's Gospel, and the +sixteenth verse, and you will find these words: "He that believeth and +is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be—." You know +the last word of that sentence. It is an ugly word. I dislike intensely +to think it, much less repeat it. It is one of those blunt, sharp, +Anglo-Saxon words that stick and sting. I wish I had a tenderer tone of +voice, in which to repeat it, and then only in a low whisper—it is so +awful—"<em>damned</em>."</p> + +<p>Let me ask you very gently: Does the first part of that sentence—"he +that believeth—trusteth—not," does that describe the four friends you +are<span class="pagenum" title="Page 63"></span><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a> thinking of now? And please remember that that word "believeth" +does not mean the assent of the mind to a form of creed: never that: but +the assent of the heart to a person: always that. "Yes," you say "I'm +afraid it does: that is just the one thing. He is thoughtful and +gentlemanly; she is kind and good; but they do not trust Jesus Christ +personally." Then let me add, very kindly, but very plainly, if the +first part is an accurate description of your friends, the second part +is meant to apply to them, too, would you not say? And that is an awful +thing to say.</p> + +<p>What a strange book this Bible is! It makes such radical statements, and +uses such unpleasant words that grate on the nerves, and startle the +ear. No man would have dared of himself to write such statements.</p> + +<p>I remember one time visiting a friend in Boston, engaged in christian +work there; an earnest man. We were talking one day about this very +thing and I recall saying: "Do you really believe that what the Bible +says about these people can be true? Because if it is you and I should +be tremendously stirred up over it." And I recall distinctly his reply, +after a moment's pause, "Well, their condition certainly will be +unfortunate." <em>Unfortunate!</em> That is the Bostonese of it. That is a much +less disagreeable word. It has a smoother finish—a sort of polish—to +it. It does not jar on your feelings so. But this book uses a very +different word from<span class="pagenum" title="Page 64"></span><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a> that, a word that must grate harshly upon every ear +here.</p> + +<p>I know very well that some persons have associated that ugly word with a +scene something like this: They have imagined a man standing with fist +clenched, and eyes flashing fire, and the lines of his face knotted up +hard, as he says in a harsh voice, "He that believeth not shall be +damned," as though he found pleasure in saying it. If there is <em>one</em> +person here to-night who ever had such a conception, will you kindly cut +it out of your imagination at once? For it is untrue. And put in its +place the true setting of the word.</p> + +<p>Have you ever noticed what a difference the manner, and expression of +face, and tone of voice, yes, and the character of a person make in the +impression his words leave upon your mind? Now mark: It is Jesus talking +here. <em>Jesus</em>—the tenderest-hearted, the most mother-hearted man this +world ever listened to. Look at Him, standing there on that hilltop, +looking out toward the great world He has just died for, with the tears +coming into His eyes, and His lips quivering with the awfulness of what +He was saying—"he that believeth not shall be damned," as though it +just broke his heart to say it. And it did break His heart that it might +not be true of us. For He died literally of a broken heart, the walls of +that great, throbbing muscle burst asunder by the strain of soul. That +is the true setting of that terrific statement.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 65"></span><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>Please notice it does not say that God damns men. You will find that +nowhere within the pages of this book. But it is love talking; love that +sees the end of the road and speaks of it. And true love tells the truth +at all risks when it must be told. And Jesus because of His dying and +undying love seeks to make men acquainted with the fact which <em>He</em> sees +so plainly, and <em>they</em> do not.</p> + +<p>Now turn for a moment to a second statement. You will find it in +Galatians, third chapter, tenth verse. Paul is quoting from the book of +Deuteronomy these words: "Cursed"—there is another ugly word—"cursed +is everyone who continueth not in all the words of the book of this law +to do them." Let me ask: Does that describe your friends? Well, I guess +it describes us all, does it not? Who is there here that has continued +in all the words of the book of this law to do them? If there is some +one I think perhaps you would better withdraw, for I have no message for +you to-night. The sole difference between some of us, and these friends +you have in your mind is that <em>we</em> are depending upon Another who bore +the curse for us. But these friends decline to come into personal touch +with Him. Do they not? And this honest spoken book of God tells us +plainly of that word "cursed" which has been written, and remains +written, over their faces and lives.</p> + +<p>The Bible is full of such statements. There is no need of multiplying +them. And I am sure I have<span class="pagenum" title="Page 66"></span><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a> no heart in repeating any more of them. But +I bring you these two for a purpose. This purpose: of asking you one +question—whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Some one is at fault. +There is blame somewhere. This thing is all wrong. It is no part of +God's plan, and when things go wrong, some one is to blame. Now I ask +you: <em>Who</em> is to blame?</p> + + +<h4>A Mother-Heart.</h4> + +<p>Well, there are just four persons, or groups of persons concerned. There +is God; and Satan; and these friends we are talking about; and, +ourselves, who are not a bit better in ourselves than they—not a +bit—but who are trusting some One else to see us through. Somewhere +within the lines of those four we must find the blame of this awful +state of affairs. Well, we can say very promptly that Satan is to blame. +He is at the bottom of it all. And that certainly is true, though it is +not all of the truth. Then it can be added, and added in a softer voice +because the thing is so serious, and these friends are dear to us, that +these people themselves are to blame. And that is true, too. Because +they <em>choose</em> to remain out of touch with Him who died that it might not +be so. For there is no sin charged where there is no choice made. Sin +follows choice. Only where one has known the wrong and has chosen it is +there sin charged.</p> + +<p>But that this awful condition goes on unchanged,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 67"></span><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a> that those two ugly +words remain true of our dear friends, day after day, while we meet +them, and live with them, is there still blame? There are just two left +out of the four: God, and ourselves who trust Him. Let me ask very +reverently, but very plainly: Is it God's fault? You and I have both +heard such a thing hinted at, and sometimes openly said. I believe it is +a good thing with reverence to ask, and attempt to find the answer, to +such a question as that. And for answer let me first bring to you a +picture of the God of the Old Testament whom some people think of as +being just, but severe and stern.</p> + +<p>Away back in the earliest time, in the first book, Genesis, the sixth +chapter, and down in verses five and six are these words: "And the Lord +saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and"—listen to +these words—"that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was +only evil continually."</p> + +<p>What an arraignment! "Every imagination," "evil," "<em>only</em> evil;" no +mixture of good at all; "only evil <em>continually</em>," no occasional spurts +of good even—the whole fabric bad, and bad clear through, and all the +time. Is not that a terrific arraignment? But listen further: "And it +repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and"—listen to +these last pathetic words—"<em>it grieved Him at His heart</em>."</p> + +<p>Will you please remember that "grieve" is always a love word? There can +be no grief except where<span class="pagenum" title="Page 68"></span><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a> there is love. You may annoy a neighbor, or +vex a partner, or anger an acquaintance, but you cannot grieve except +where there is love, and you cannot be grieved except wherein you love.</p> + +<p>I have sometimes, more often than I could wish, seen a case like this. A +young man of good family sent away to college. He gets in with the wrong +crowd, for they are not all angels in colleges yet, quite. Gets to +smoking and drinking and gambling, improper hours, bad companions, and +all that. His real friends try to advise him, but without effect. By and +by the college authorities remonstrate with him, and he tries to +improve, but without much success after the first pull. And after a +while, very reluctantly, he is suspended, and sent home in disgrace. He +feels very bad, and makes good resolutions and earnest promises, and +when he returns he does do much better for a time. But it does not last +long. Soon he is in with the old crowd again, the old round of habits +and dissipations, only now it gets worse than before; the pace is +faster. And the upshot of it all is that he is called up before the +authorities and expelled, sent home in utter disgrace, not to return.</p> + +<p>And here is his chum who roomed with him, ate with him, lived with him. +He says, "Well, I declare, I am all broken up over Jim. It's too bad! He +was "hail-fellow, well met," and now he has gone like that. I'm awfully +sorry. It's too bad! too bad!!" And by and by he forgets about it +except<span class="pagenum" title="Page 69"></span><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a> as an unpleasant memory roused up now and then. And here is one +of his professors who knew him best perhaps, and liked him. "Well," he +says, "it is too bad about young Collins. Strange, too, he came of good +family; good blood in his veins; and yet he seems to have gone right +down with the ragtag. It's too bad! too bad!! I am so sorry." And the +matter passes from his mind in the press of duties and is remembered +only occasionally as one of the disagreeable things to be regretted, and +perhaps philosophized over.</p> + +<p>And there is the boy's father's partner, down in the home town. "Well," +he soliloquizes, "it is too bad about Collins' boy. He is all broken up +over it, and no wonder. Doesn't it seem queer? That boy has as good +blood as there is: good father, lovely mother, and yet gone clean to the +bad, and so young. It is too bad! I am awfully sorry for Collins." And +in the busy round of life he forgets, save as a bad dream which will +come back now and then.</p> + +<p>But down in that boy's home there is a woman—a mother, +heart-broken—secretly bleeding her heart out through her eyes. She goes +quietly, faithfully about her round of life, but her hair gets thinner, +and the gray streaks it plainer, her form bends over more, and the lines +become more deeply bitten in her face, as the days come and go. And if +you talk with her, and she will talk with you, she will say, "Oh, yes, I +know other mothers' boys go<span class="pagenum" title="Page 70"></span><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a> wrong; some of them going wrong all the +time; but to think of <em>my Jim</em>—that I've nursed, and loved so, and done +everything for—to think that my Jim—" and her voice chokes in her +throat, and she refuses to be comforted. <em>She grieves at her heart.</em> Ah! +that is the picture of God in that Genesis chapter. He saw that the +world He had made and lavished all the wealth of His love upon had gone +wrong, and it grieved Him at His heart.</p> + +<p>This world is God's prodigal son, and He is heartbroken over it. And +what has He done about it. Ah! what has He done! Turn to Mark's twelfth +chapter, and see there Jesus' own picture of His Father as He knew Him. +In the form of a parable He tells how His Father felt about things here. +He sent man after man to try and win us back, but without effect, except +that things got worse. Then Jesus represents God talking with Himself. +"What <em>shall</em> I do next, to win them back?—there is My son—My only +boy—Jesus—I believe—yes, I believe I'll send Him—then they'll <em>see</em> +how badly I feel, and how much I love them; that'll touch them surely; +I'll do it." You remember just how that sixth verse goes, "He had yet +one, a beloved Son; He sent Him <em>last</em> unto them, saying, they will +<em>reverence</em> my Son." And you know how they treated God's Son, His love +gift. And I want to remind you to-night that, speaking in our human +way—the only way we can speak—God suffered more in seeing His Son +suffer than though He might have suffered Himself.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 71"></span><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a> Ask any mother here: +Would you not gladly suffer pain in place of your child suffering if you +could? And every mother-heart answers quickly, "Aye, ten times over, if +the child could be spared pain." Where did you get that marvelous +mother-heart and mother-love? Ah, that mother-heart is a bit of the +God-heart transferred. That is what God is like. Let me repeat very +reverently that God suffered more in giving His Son to suffer than +though He had Himself suffered. And that is the God of the Old +Testament! Let me ask: Is <em>He</em> to blame? Has He not done His best?</p> + +<p>Let it be said as softly as you will, and yet very plainly, that those +awful words, "damned" and "cursed," whatever their meaning may be, are +true of your friends. Then add: It is not so because of God's will in +the matter, but in spite of His will. Remember that God exhausted all +the wealth of His resource when He gave His Son. There can come nothing +more after that.</p> + + +<h4>Your Personality Needed.</h4> + +<p>Then there is a second question from God's side to ask about those ugly +words: thoughtfully, and yet plainly—Is it the fault of Jesus, the Son +of God? And let anyone here listen to Him speaking in that tenth chapter +of John. "I lay down My life for the sheep. No man taketh it from Me. I +lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and power<span class="pagenum" title="Page 72"></span><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a> to take it +again." And then go out yonder to that scene just outside the Jerusalem +wall. There hangs Jesus upon that cross, suspended by nails through +hands and feet. He is only thirty-three. He is intensely human. Life was +just as sweet to Him that day as it is to you and me to-night. Aye, more +sweet: for sin had not taken the edge off his relish of life. Plainly He +could have prevented them. For many a time had He held the murderous mob +in check by the sheer power of His presence alone. Yet there He hangs +from nine until noon and until three—six long hours. And He said He did +it for you, for me. Do not ask me to tell <em>how</em> His dying for us saves. +I do not know. No one statement seems to tell all the truth. When I +study into it I always get clear beyond my depth. In a tremendous way it +tells a double story; of the damnable blackness of sin; and of the +intensity of love. I do know that <em>He said</em> He did it for us, and for +our salvation, and that it had to be done. But as we look to-day on that +scene, again the question: does any of the blame of the awful statements +this book makes regarding your friends belong to Him, do you think? And +I think I hear your hearts say "surely not."</p> + +<p>Well, the Father has done His best. No blame surely attaches there. The +Son has gone to the utmost limit. No fault can be found there. There is +just one other left up yonder, of the divine partnership—the Holy +Spirit. What about Him.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 73"></span><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a> Listen. Just as soon as the Son went back home +with face and form all scarred from His brief stay upon the earth, He +and the Father said, "now We will send down the last one of Us, the Holy +Spirit, and He will do His best to woo men back," and so it was done. +The last supreme effort to win men back was begun. The Holy Spirit came +down for the specific purpose of telling the world about Jesus. His work +down here is to convict men of their terrible wrong in rejecting Jesus, +and of His righteousness, and of the judgment passed upon Satan. Only He +can convince men's minds and consciences. A thousand preachers with the +logic of a Paul and the eloquence of an Isaiah could not convince one +man of sin. Only the Spirit can do that. But listen to me as I say very +thoughtfully—and this is the one truth I pray God to <em>burn</em> into our +hearts to-night—that to do His work among men <em>He needs to use men</em>. He +needs you. "Oh!" you say, "it is hardly possible that you mean that: I +am not a minister: I have no special ability for christian work: I am +just an obscure, humble christian: I have no gift in that direction." +Listen with your heart while I remind you that He needs not your special +abilities or gifts, though He will use all you have, and the more the +better, but <em>He needs your personality as a human channel</em> through which +to touch the men you touch. And I want to say just as kindly and +tenderly as I can and yet with great plainness that if you are refusing +to let Him use you as He chooses—shall I<span class="pagenum" title="Page 74"></span><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a> say the unpleasant +truth?—the practical blame for those ugly words, and the uglier truth +back of them come straight home to <em>you</em>.</p> + +<p>That is a very serious thing to say, and so I must add a few words to +make it still more clear and plain. The Spirit of God in working among +men seeks embodiment <em>in men</em>, through whom He acts. The amazing truth +is that not only is He willing to enter into and fill you with His very +presence, but He seeks for, He wants, yes, <em>He needs your personality</em> +as a channel or medium, that living in you He may be able to do His work +among the men you touch even though you may not be conscious of much +that He is doing through you. Is not that startling? He wants to live in +your body, and speak through your lips, and look out of your eyes, and +use your hands, really, actually. Have you turned your personality over +to Him as completely as that?</p> + +<p>Remember the law of God's communication with men; namely, He speaks <em>to</em> +men <em>through</em> men. Run carefully through the Bible, and you will find +that since the Cain disaster, which divided all men into two great +groups, whenever God has a message for a man or a nation out in the +world He chooses and uses a man in touch with Himself as His messenger.</p> + +<p>Listen to Jesus' own words in that last night's long talk in John's +Gospel, chapter fourteen, verse seventeen. Speaking about the coming +Spirit, He says, "Whom the world cannot receive." That is<span class="pagenum" title="Page 75"></span><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a> a strange +statement. Though an important part of the Spirit's great mission is to +the world yet it cannot receive Him. But chapter sixteen, verses seven +and eight gives the explanation: "I will send Him <em>unto you</em>, and He +when He is come (unto you) will convince," and so on. That is to say, a +message from God to one who has come within the circle of personal +relation with Jesus—that message comes along a straight line without +break or crook. But a message to one who remains outside that circle +comes along an <em>angled</em> line—two lines meeting at an angle—and the +point of that angle is in some christian heart. The message He sends out +to the outer circle passes through some one within the inner circle. To +make it direct and personal: He needs to use you to touch those whom you +touch.</p> + + +<h4>God's Sub-Headquarters.</h4> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[4]</span> 1 Chron. xii: 18.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[5]</span> 2 Chron. xxiv: 20.</p></div> +<p>Let me bring you a few illustrations of how God uses men, though the +<em>fact</em> of His using them is on almost every page of this Bible. Back in +the old book of Judges is a peculiar expression which is not brought out +as clearly as it might be in our English Bibles. The sixth chapter and +thirty-fourth verse might properly read: "<em>the Spirit of Jehovah clothed +Himself with Gideon</em>." It was a time of desperate crisis in the nation. +God chose this man for leadership among his fellows. If you take his +life throughout you will not think him an ideal character. But<span class="pagenum" title="Page 76"></span><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a> he seems +to be the best available stuff there was. He became the general guiding +an army in what, to human eyes, was a perfectly hopeless struggle. Men +saw Gideon moving about giving orders. But this strangely significant +phrase lets us into the secret of his wise strategy and splendid +victory. "The Spirit of Jehovah clothed Himself with Gideon." Gideon's +personality was merely a suit of clothes which God wore that day in +achieving that tremendous victory for His people. The same expression is +used of Amasai, one of David's mighty chieftains,<span class="snlabel">[4]</span> and of Zechariah, +one of the priests during Joash's reign.<span class="snlabel">[5]</span></p> + +<p>A New Testament illustration is found in the book of Acts in the account +of Philip and the Ethiopian stranger. This devout African official had a +copy of the old Hebrew Scriptures, but needed an interpreter to make +plain their newly acquired significance. The Holy Spirit, <em>the</em> +interpreter of Scripture, longs to help him. For that purpose He seeks +out a man, of whom He has control, named Philip. He is directed to go +some distance over toward the road where this man is journeying. We are +told of Philip that he was "full of the Spirit." And a reading of that +eighth chapter makes plain the controlling presence of the Spirit in +Philip's personality. In the beginning He gives very explicit direction. +"The Spirit (within Philip) said, go near, join thy<span class="pagenum" title="Page 77"></span><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>self to this +chariot." And at the close "the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip."</p> + +<p>These are a few illustrations of what seems to be a common law of God's +intercourse with men. The language of the Bible throughout fits in with +this same conception. Strikingly enough the same seems to be true in the +opposing camp, among the forces of the Evil One. Repeatedly in the +gospels we come across the startling expressions—"possessed with +demons," "possessed of demons," evidently speaking of men whom demons +had succeeded in getting possession of, and clothing themselves with. It +seems to be a law of <em>spirit</em> life that a spirit needs to be embodied in +dealing with embodied beings. And God conforms to this law in His +dealings with men.</p> + +<p>My friend, will you ask your heart, has the Holy Spirit gotten +possession of you like that? With reverence I repeat that He is seeking +for men in whom He may set up a sort of sub-headquarters, from which He +may work out as He pleases. Has He been able to do that with you? Or, +have you been holding back from Him, fearing He might make some changes +in you or your plans? If that is so, may I say just as kindly as these +lips can speak it, but also as plainly, that then <em>the practical blame</em> +for those cutting words about your friends comes straight back to <em>you</em>.</p> + +<p>Hugh McAllister Beaver, son of the former governor of Pennsylvania, and +one of the rarest chris<span class="pagenum" title="Page 78"></span><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>tian young men that ever lived, felt impelled at +a conference of students at Northfield, in '97, to tell this bit of his +inner experience, though naturally reluctant to do so. While at college, +arrangements were made for a series of meetings every night for a week. +"One day going down the hallway of the college building," he said, "I +met a boy we all called Dutchy, one of the toughest fellows in school. I +said to him, 'Dutch, come to the meeting to-night.'" Instead of laughing +or swearing, to Beaver's surprise, he paused a moment as though such a +thing was possible, and Beaver said, "I prayed quietly to myself, and +urged him to come." And he said, "Well, I guess I will." And that night +to every one's surprise Dutch came to the meeting. When Beaver rose to +speak, to his surprise this fellow was not simply intensely interested +but his eyes were full of tears. And Beaver said "a voice as distinct as +an audible voice said to me, 'Speak to Dutchy!' But <em>I did not</em>." Again +the next night Dutchy came of his own accord, and one of the boys +putting his arm on Beaver's shoulder said, "Speak to Dutchy. We boys +never saw him like this before." And he said he would. But <em>he did not</em>. +And some time after he had a dream and thought he would not walk this +earth any more. It did not trouble him except that his brother was +crying. But he thought he met the Master, who looked into his face, and +said, "Hugh, do you remember, I asked you to speak to Dutchy?" "Yes." +"And you<span class="pagenum" title="Page 79"></span><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a> did not." "No." "Would you like to go back the earth and win +him?" And he finished the story by saying, "it's hard work, but he's +coming now."</p> + +<p>I wonder if the Master has ever tried to use your lips like that, and +you have refused?</p> + +<p>A prominent clergyman in New England tells this experience of his. In +the course of his pastoral work he was called to conduct the funeral +service of a young woman who had died quite unexpectedly. As he entered +the house he met the minister in charge of the mission church, where the +family attended, and asked him, "Was Mary a christian?" To his surprise +a pained look came into the young man's face as he replied, "Three weeks +ago I had a strong impulse to speak to her, but <em>I did not</em>; and I do +not know." A moment later he met the girl's Sunday school teacher and +asked her the same question. Quickly the tears came, as she said, "Two +weeks ago, Doctor, a voice seemed to say to me, 'Speak to Mary,' and I +knew what it meant, and I intended to, but <em>I did not</em>, and I do not +know." Deeply moved by these unexpected answers, a few minutes later he +met the girl's mother, and thinking doubtless to give her an opportunity +to speak a word that would bring comfort to her own heart, he said +quietly, "Mary was a christian girl?" The tears came quick and hot to +the mother's eyes, as she sobbed out, "One week ago a voice came to me +saying, 'Speak to Mary,' and I thought of it,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 80"></span><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a> but I did not at the +time, and you know how unexpectedly she went away and I do not know."</p> + +<p>Well, please understand me, I am not saying a word about that girl. I do +not know anything to say. I would hope much and can understand that +there is ground for hope. But this is what I say: How pathetic, beyond +expression, that the Spirit tried to get the use of the lips of three +persons, a pastor, a teacher, aye, <em>a mother!</em> to speak the word that +evidently He longed to have spoken to her, <em>and He could not</em>!</p> + +<p>Has He tried to use you <em>like that</em>?</p> + + +<h4>The Highest Law of Action.</h4> + +<p>But these two illustrations are narrower than the truth. They speak of +the lips. He wants to use your lips; but, even more, He wants to use +your <em>life</em>. Much as He may use your lips, He will use your personality, +your presence, your life ten times more, when you are wholly unconscious +of it. He loves men so much. He longs to save them. But He needs us—you +and me—as channels through which His power shall flow to touch and +mightily influence those whom we touch. How often has He turned away +disappointed because the channel had broken connections, or could not be +used?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"He was not willing that any should perish;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Jesus, enthroned in the glory above,<br /></span> +<span>Saw our poor fallen world, pitied our sorrows,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Poured out His life for us, wonderful love.<br /></span> +<span class="pagenum" title="Page 81"></span><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a> +<span>Perishing, perishing, thronging our pathway,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Hearts break with burdens too heavy to bear;<br /></span> +<span>Jesus would save, but there's no one to tell them,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">No one to save them from sin and despair."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Someone says: "You are putting an awful responsibility upon us. Would +you have us go out and begin speaking to everyone we meet?" No, that is +not what I am saying just now. Though there is a truth there. But this: +Surrender yourself to Jesus as your <em>Master</em>, for Him to take +possession. Turn the channel over to Him, that He may tighten the +connections, upward and outward, and clean it out, and then use as He +may choose. He has a passion for winning men, and He has marvelous tact +in doing it. Let Him have His way in you. Keep quiet and close to Him, +and <em>obey</em> Him, gladly, cheerily, constantly, and <em>He will assume all +responsibility for the results</em>.</p> + +<p>There is a law of personal service. It is this: Contact means +opportunity; opportunity means responsibility. To come into personal +contact with a man gives an opportunity of influencing him for Christ, +and with opportunity goes its twin partner—responsibility.</p> + +<p>There is another law—a higher law—the highest law of the christian +life. It is this: In everything hold yourself subject to the <em>Holy +Spirit's leading</em>. Whenever these two laws come into conflict remember +that the lower law always yields to the higher. It is a law of life that +where two laws come into<span class="pagenum" title="Page 82"></span><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a> conflict the lower law always gives way to the +higher. That is a supreme law both of nature and in legislation. Now, +the highest law of the christian life is to yield constantly to the +leading of our Companion—the Holy Spirit. Then quiet time alone with +the Master daily over His word for the training of the ear, and the +training of the judgment, and the training of the tongue becomes the +great essential.</p> + +<p>But to-night the great question is: Have you turned the channel of +power—your personality—over to Him to be flushed and flooded with His +power? Will you?</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Only a smile, yes, only a smile,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That a woman o'erburdened with grief<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Expected from you; 'twould have given relief,<br /></span> +<span>For her heart ached sore the while.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But, weary and cheerless, she went away,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Because, as it happened that very day,<br /></span> +<span>You were <em>out of touch</em> with your Lord.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Only a word, yes, only a word,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That the Spirit's small voice whispered, 'Speak';<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But the worker passed onward, unblessed and weak,<br /></span> +<span>Whom you were meant to have stirred<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To courage, devotion and love anew,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Because, when the message came to you,<br /></span> +<span>You were <em>out of touch</em> with your Lord.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Only a note, yes, only a note,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">To a friend in a distant land;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The Spirit said, 'Write,' but then you had planned<br /></span> +<span>Some different work, and you thought<br /></span> +<span class="i1">It mattered little. You did not know<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe—<br /></span> +<span>You were <em>out of touch</em> with your Lord.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span class="pagenum" title="Page 83"></span><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a> +<span>"Only a song, yes, only a song,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That the Spirit said, 'Sing to-night;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Thy voice is thy Master's by purchased right.'<br /></span> +<span>But you thought, ''Mid this motley throng,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">I care not to sing of the City of God';<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold—<br /></span> +<span>You were <em>out of touch</em> with your Lord.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Only a day, yes, only a day,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">But oh! can you guess, my friend,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Where the influence reaches and where it will end<br /></span> +<span>Of the hours that you frittered away?<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The Master's command is, 'Abide in Me';<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And fruitless and vain will your service be<br /></span> +<span>If <em>out of touch</em> with your Lord."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + + +<hr /> + +<p><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a></p><!-- THE PRICE OF POWER. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 87"></span><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>THE PRICE OF POWER.</h2> + +<h4>Law of Exchange.</h4> + + +<p>Every man needs power. Every earnest man covets power. Every willing man +has the Master's promise of power. But every man does not possess the +promised power. And many, it is to be feared, never will. Many a man's +life to-day is utterly lacking in power. Some of us will look back at +the close of life with a sense of keen disappointment and of bitter +defeat. And the reason is not far to seek, nor hard to see through. If +we do not have power it is because <em>we are not willing to pay the +price</em>.</p> + +<p>Everything costs. There is a law of exchange that rules in every sphere +of life. It is this, "to get, you must give." It rules in the business +world. If I want a house or a hat I must give the sum agreed upon. It +rules in the intellectual world. If a young man wants a disciplined mind +he must give time, and close application, and some real, hard work. It +holds true in the spirit realm. If you and I wish to have business +transactions in this upper world of spirit-life we must be governed by +this same law. To have power in our lives over sin and selfishness, and +passion, and appetite; over tongue, and temper, and self-seeking +ambition; to have power in prayer,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 88"></span><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a> and in winning others over from sin +to Jesus Christ, one must first lay down the required price.</p> + +<p>What is the price of power? Turn to Jesus' talk with Peter and the +others in the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew's gospel. +Jesus has been telling them of the awful cross-experiences which He +clearly saw ahead. Peter probably fearful that whatever came to his +Master might possibly come to himself also, and shrinking back in horror +from that, has the hardihood to rebuke Jesus. The Master, recognizing +the suggestion as coming from a far subtler individual than Peter, who +is using ignorant Peter's selfishness to repeat the suggestion of the +wilderness, again bids <em>him</em> begone. Then in a few simple words of +far-reaching significance, He states first the standard of power, and +then the price to be paid by one who would reach that standard. Listen +to Him: "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take +up his cross and follow Me."</p> + + +<h4>In the Footprints of Jesus.</h4> + +<p>Let us look a little into these familiar words. "If any man <em>would come +after Me</em>"—that is the standard set before us. Not to be regarded as a +pillar in the church, a leader in religious circles, a good Bible +student, a generous giver, an earnest speaker, an energetic worker, a +spiritually minded person, but, what <em>may</em> not be coupled with any or +all of these admirable things, <em>to tread in the footprints of Jesus</em>.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 89"></span><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>Think back into that marvelous life. A human life, remember. For though +He was Son of God He lived His life down here as a son of man. Think of +His power over temptation, not alone at the outset in the fierce +wilderness struggle, but through those succeeding years of intense +conflict; His power over Satan, over man-possessing demons, over +disease; His power in dealing with the subtle schoolmen trying their +best to trip Him up, as well as over His more violent enemies who would +have dashed Him over yon Nazareth precipice, or later stoned the life +out of His body in Jerusalem. Recall the power of His rare +unselfishness; His combined plainness and tenderness of speech in +dealing with men; His unfailing love to all classes; His power as a soul +winner, as a man of prayer, as a popular preacher, lovingly wooing men +while unsparingly rebuking their sins. <em>There</em> is the suggestion of +Jesus' standard of power. Would you go <em>after Him</em>? You may. For as the +Father sent Him even so sends He us, to do the same work and live the +same life.</p> + +<p>But wait a moment before answering that question. There is another side +in His life to that "come-after-me." Opposites brought into contact +produce a violent disturbance. Such a life as that of Jesus, down in the +atmosphere of this world will of necessity provoke bitter enmities, both +then and now. Listen. He was criticized and slandered. They said He was +peculiar and fanatical. His<span class="pagenum" title="Page 90"></span><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a> friends thought Him "beside Himself," swept +off His feet by excessive, hot-headed enthusiasm. They "laughed Him to +scorn," and reviled Him. They picked His words, and nagged His kindliest +acts, and dogged His steps. Repeated attempts were made upon His life, +both at Nazareth and by stoning at Jerusalem. A determined conspiracy +against His life was planned by the Jerusalem officials six months +before the end actually came. He was practically a fugitive for those +months. At the last He was arrested and mocked and <em>spit</em> upon, struck +with open hand and clenched fist, derisively crowned with thorns, and +finally killed—a cruel, lingering, tortured death.</p> + +<p>"If any man would <em>come after Me</em>." Plainly this language of Jesus put +back into its original setting begins to assume a new significance.</p> + + +<h4>A Fixed Purpose.</h4> + +<p>But look at these words a little more closely. "<em>If</em>"—it is an open +question, this matter of following Jesus. It is kept open by many people +who want to be known as christian, but who hesitate over what a plain +understanding of Jesus' words may involve. Some of us may be disposed to +shrink back from the simple meaning these words will yet disclose.</p> + +<p>"If any man <em>would</em>"—would is the past tense of will. The word will is +one of the strongest in our<span class="pagenum" title="Page 91"></span><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a> language. A man's will is the imperial part +of him. It is the autocrat upon the throne; the judge upon the bench of +final appeal. Jesus is getting down to the root of matters here. He is +appealing to the highest authority. No mere passing sentiment is this. +Not attending a meeting and being swept along with the crowd by the +hour's influence. But <em>a fixed purpose</em>, calmly, resolutely settled +upon, rooted away down deep in the very vitals of the will to follow +Jesus absolutely, no matter what it may cost or where it may cut.</p> + +<p>I wonder how many of us would form such a purpose, to follow Jesus +<em>blindly</em>, utterly regardless of what it might be found to mean as the +days come and go? "Oh, well," I hear some one say, "why talk like that. +Nobody is required to suffer to-day as He did." Do you think not? I am +not so sure about that. There is a young man in Southern India, bright +fellow, full of power, of high class family, who heard of Jesus, and +felt the personal appeal to himself of that marvelous story. He thought +a good while of what it meant, and what it might involve, and at length +resolutely formed his decision to accept and follow Jesus. As he had +anticipated, his dear ones remonstrated with him, coaxed, pleaded, +threatened, and finally, his own father violently put him out of his +life-long home, and he has remained since <em>an outcast</em> from home and +loved ones. These words of Jesus surely are full of significance to +him.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 92"></span><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>"But that was in India, far off, heathen India," you say. Well, here is +something of a similar sort at home. I knew a young woman in a certain +New England town visiting away from home. She attended some meetings +where she was visiting, and decided to be a christian. She was betrothed +to a young man, not a christian, in her home town. At once she wrote him +explaining her new step thinking, doubtless how glad he would be. For +most men seem very willing to have their <em>wives</em> christian. But he wrote +back that if she were determined to be a christian that must put an end +to their engagement. He was not a christian and did not want his wife to +be one. Every one here must know how serious a question that brought up +for decision. For she was a true woman, and love's tendrils twine with +wondrous tenacity about a woman's heart. And I presume, too, that +everyone of you has already thought while I am speaking, of the +temptation that, quick as a flash, went through her mind. "You need not +make a public matter of this. Just be a true christian in heart and +life, and in that way <em>you'll win him over afterwards</em>." I imagine some +of you have heard something like that before. But she remembered that +her new Master said "Confess" as well as "believe." It was a crisis; a +severe struggle of soul. But she felt she must follow her Master's +leading regardless of what it involved. And so she decided. You are not +surprised to know that she was ill for a time. The intense strain of +spirit<span class="pagenum" title="Page 93"></span><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a> affected her body. "If—any—man—would—come—after—Me" meant +much to her. Did it not?</p> + +<p>Without doubt if some of <em>us</em> listening to-day were to follow Jesus +quietly, but absolutely, in all things as His own Spirit plainly led, we +would find as sharp a line of separation drawn against us, as did He in +Palestine, and these young people in India and America.</p> + +<p>Many a social door would be shut in our faces. O, shut <em>politely</em> of +course! Society thinks it in very bad form to get unduly excited about +mere matters of religious opinion. But the door is <em>shut</em>, and barred, +too. Some of us would possibly be searching for other business positions +before to-morrow's light faded away if we were determined to go only +where <em>He</em> clearly pointed the way.</p> + +<p>But we have only begun to get at the meaning of Jesus' words. Is there +still a <em>fixed purpose</em> to follow regardless of what meaning these words +may yet disclose? Not impossibly the company of those willing to go +straight through this verse with a calm, determined "yes" to every word +of Jesus, will grow smaller as we go on.</p> + + +<h4>A Character Sketch.</h4> + +<p>Let us go a little farther. "If any man would come after Me let him +<em>deny himself</em>." "Deny himself"—what does that mean? Well, deny means +to say "no," plainly and positively. Himself is the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 94"></span><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a> smoother English +word for his self. Let him say "no" to his self. Please notice that +Jesus is not speaking of what is commonly called self-denial. That is, +repressing some desire for a time, sacrificing something temporarily in +order to gain an advantage later. That sort of thing is not peculiar to +the christian life, but is practiced by all classes, even among the +lowest. He is not speaking of that, but of something far more radical. +Reading the verse through again, it will be seen that there are three +distinct persons referred to by Jesus. First, the "any man" He speaks +of, and then the two others represented by these words "himself" and +"Me," either one or the other of whom is influencing this "any man's" +life. "Say no to his self" is coupled with "follow Me." And the opposite +is implied—if any man will not do as <em>I</em> desire, he will continue to do +as he is now doing, namely, deny Me and follow his self.</p> + +<p>These two persons self and Jesus are placed here in sharpest contrast. +An uncompromising antagonism exists between them. They are sworn foes, +and every man must decide to which he will yield his allegiance. To +agree with either one is to oppose the other one. For a man to settle +some matter that comes up for decision by saying "yes" to the desires or +demands of his self involves his saying "no" to Jesus. And on the other +hand his yielding assent to the plans and wishes of this "me," namely +Jesus, is plainly equivalent to saying "no" to his self.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 95"></span><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>What is this self in each of us that Jesus sets in such antagonism to +Himself, and instructs us to say a hard, uncompromising, unceasing "no" +to? There are a few words in common use that give some suggestion of its +character. There is the word selfish, that is, being absorbed in one's +own self; in getting every stream to flow by his own door. That is +commonly regarded, even in absolutely worldly circles, as a detestable +trait. Its opposite, self-forgetful, being full of forgetting one's self +in thinking of others, is as commonly regarded in all circles as a +charming, winsome trait of character. The words self-centered, and +self-willed, are as familiar and suggestive.</p> + +<p>The fact is, there is an individual living inside each one of us whom +Jesus refers to, by this word "his self." This individual takes on the +degree of intensity and other local coloring of the person it inhabits. +It may be polished, scholarly, cultured; or, coarse, ignorant and +ill-mannered. But "scratch a Russian and you find a Tartar." Scratch +through the veneering here and, whether coarse or highly polished, you +will find the same individual—self.</p> + +<p>There are some quite marked characteristics by which its presence may be +recognized. They may not all be noticeable together in any one person. +But one or more will be found in every person whom it succeeds in +influencing and dominating. One characteristic is this: <em>it covets +praise</em>. It feeds and fattens on commendation. It constantly seeks to +be<span class="pagenum" title="Page 96"></span><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a> highly esteemed, to have its worth properly appraised. It is +immensely impressed with its own importance, its value to society, its +keenness, wisdom or aptness, and wishes others to be so impressed also. +It is fond of a mirror, especially one made to magnify. It seeks +recognition. It presses forward, rudely or politely, according as its +habitat has been trained in rude or polite circles. It may put on the +garb of humility, and use the language of depreciation. But its ear is +none the less keenly alert to hear the agreeable things and to cherish +them.</p> + +<p>Another characteristic, which really is simply the other side of this +first named one, is this: <em>it shrinks from criticism</em>. How it writhes +and twists at the least touch of unfavorable criticism! It is always on +the defensive. The cheek colors at the suggestion of its being wrong, or +having blundered, or of being peculiar.</p> + +<p>How quickly it explains and defends and brings evidence of its being in +the right. It is extremely sensitive. "It is that <em>touchy</em> thing in +you." It is chronically troubled with "the disease of <em>touchiness</em>." Its +feelings are readily hurt. It is easily slighted. It remembers +grievances. It has an interrogation point constantly on sentinel duty, +namely, What will <em>they</em> think? What will <em>they</em> say? It lives in +constant fear, under the lash of that huge, vague, awful <em>they</em>.</p> + +<p>I remember knowing a Sunday school teacher who<span class="pagenum" title="Page 97"></span><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a> had a mission class of +rather rough boys from non-christian homes. I asked one day how she was +getting along with them. "Going to give them up," she replied. "Is that +so? They have all become christians?" No, none of them were christians, +and they liked her, and said they would not come if she gave them up, +but she felt discouraged, and anyway she had decided to give them up. +Lawyers and women do not always give their reasons, very wisely. I +ventured to suggest that before giving them up, she have the boys come +up to her home, one at a time, perhaps for tea; have a pleasant chatty +time at tea and afterwards, and then before the boy left have a quiet +friendly talk with him by himself about being a christian, and, a few +words of prayer with him. Wouldn't she try that before giving them up? +And I remember distinctly that her face blushed as red as a bright red +rose, as she replied, "Why, Mr. Gordon, <em>he'd laugh at me</em>!" And she +could not bear the possible chance of being laughed at for the other +more likely possibility of winning a soul—a man—a life. That was +"self" in her, shrinking back from a laugh; dreading that look of +possibly contemptuous surprise that <em>might</em> come.</p> + +<p>Another person, speaking about certain recreations very common in +society, and which he was in the habit of joining, though freely +questioning the propriety of so doing, said, "O, I don't care much for +those things. I could easily give them up, but<span class="pagenum" title="Page 98"></span><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a> people think you are so +queer if you decline, and you feel as if you were a back number." Ah! +there was the rub. The desire to be thought well of; the dislike of +being considered peculiar; the fear of that thinly veiled sneering curl +on the lip—that was <em>self</em> in him asserting its presence, and even +more, ruling his action. Do you recognize the individual inside of you +that Jesus is speaking of?</p> + +<p>There is a third tell-tale ear-mark of self that is difficult to +conceal—<em>it is assertive</em>. It dearly loves to have its own way. It has +plans and ambitions, and proposes to carry them through regardless of +man, or—let the plain truth be spoken softly—of God. Its opinions are +held tenaciously. Its favorite pronoun is I, capitalized, with +variations of my and me. The personal equation is extremely powerful and +persuasive.</p> + +<p>The true follower of Jesus holds every plan subject to change from +above. But this self, if allowed to rule, takes the bit in its +tightly-shut teeth, and drives determinedly ahead, reckless of either +man's or God's preferences, even though religious phraseology may be +upon its tongue.</p> + +<p>Still another trait of character of this self whose closer acquaintance +we are making is this: <em>It has an insatiable appetite</em>. It grows +hungrier by that on which it feeds. Its capacity is beyond the measuring +line. If given free rein it will debase the holiest functions of the +body, and degrade the highest powers of the mind to appease its gnawing, +passion-<span class="pagenum" title="Page 99"></span><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>bitten hunger. The noblest gifts, the purest emotions, the most +sacred relationships, are dragged down to the slimy gutter to tempt and +temporarily stay its jaded palate.</p> + + +<h4>Unmasked.</h4> + +<p><em>That</em> is something of a suggestion of the character of this other +master than Jesus, who seeks to get control of us, and from whose +relentless, vise-like grip Jesus would fain free us. He says there is +only one thing to do with it. No half-way compromise—the great American +expedient—will do here. The Master says plainly it is to be denied, +repressed, put determinedly down, starved, strangled. To every +suggestion or demand there is to be a prompt, positive, jaw-locked no.</p> + +<p>There is war to the knife, and the knife clear up to the hilt, between +these two claimants for the control of our powers—self and Jesus. Paul +understood this antagonism thoroughly. It comes out repeatedly in his +writings. His name for this inner enemy, by an accidental turn in +English, is Jesus' word "self" spelled backwards with the letter "h" +added—f-l-e-s-h. His remarks in Romans, eighth chapter, verses four to +eight, and twelve to thirteen, are simply an enlargement of these words +in the sixteenth of Matthew's gospel. If one will read these verses, +substituting Jesus' word "self" for Paul's word he will be surprised to +find how strikingly Paul is<span class="pagenum" title="Page 100"></span><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a> expressing this very thought of Jesus. A +free translation of part of these verses would read like this: Verse +five—"They that choose to walk after self (as a slave walked after, or +behind, his master) will show their choice by obeying the desires of +self, and they that choose to walk after the Spirit will obey the +desires of the Spirit." Verse seven—"For the purposes of self are +opposed to God's purposes; for it does not hold itself subject to God's +wishes; indeed, in its very nature it cannot; and they that choose to +obey self cannot please God." Verse thirteen—"If by the Holy Spirit's +aid ye kill off the plans and doings of self, ye shall therein find real +true life, and only so."</p> + +<p>Plainly, the deep searching experiences of Paul's great soul, and his +wide observation of others, in his ceaseless travels, confirm the +statements already made, that there is the intensest hatred, the +bitterest antagonism, between these two personalities represented by +Jesus' words, "himself" and "me." There can be no patched-up truce here. +The only way the lion and the lamb can lie down together in this case is +for the one to lie down underneath the other—conquered; or inside the +other—devoured.</p> + +<p>In his other letters Paul sometimes uses still another name, "the old +man," and names the characteristics of this omnipresent self, which crop +out with varying degrees of prominence, in different persons, and under +different circumstances. Notice only a few of these: In Galatians, fifth +chapter,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 101"></span><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a> nineteenth verse: "The deeds of self are ... improper sexual +intercourse, impurity, shameless looseness...." It will, wherever +possible, debase the holiest functions of the body. In Colossians, third +chapter, fifth verse, speaking of the "old man": "And covetousness, +which is reckoning of highest worth that which is less worthy than God." +That is to say, the ambitious longings of self, will if unchecked become +the ruling passion, thrusting all else ruthlessly aside and degrading +the highest powers of the mind to satisfying its feverish desire. In +Ephesians, fourth chapter, thirty-first verse: "Bitterness, passion, +anger, loud disputing, evil-speaking ... malice." Its assertiveness, and +demand for a due recognition of its worth, its rights, its opinions, its +proper place, bring bitterest burnings, and worse. It will not be +needful to review congressional, and political, and society life for +illustrations. They may be found much nearer one's own door.</p> + +<p>Was there ever such a list? Such a being whose heart begets and nurses +such progeny! This being has the smell of hell, and of the evil one +himself. Ah! now we are getting at the straight truth. Self is Satan's +personal representative in every human heart. Its door of entrance is +the door of disobedience. It can have control only where one allows +himself to get out of intelligent sympathy with God. The self in Peter +was recoiling from that cross of which Jesus spoke. How keen Jesus was +in recog<span class="pagenum" title="Page 102"></span><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>nizing the suggestor of the thought that found expression +through Peter's lips—"Get thee behind me, <em>Satan</em>." Self is Satan, +condensed into each man's life, though in some he dare not exhibit his +coarser traits; and in others he is being <em>constantly conquered</em> by that +power of the Spirit of Jesus which comes through absolute, glad +surrender to Him.</p> + +<p>This sly Satan-self may often be recognized by a favorite question it +asks among christian people about a great many so-called unimportant +matters:—What's the harm? But a true follower of Jesus never lives down +upon the plane of "what's-the-harm?" He lives up in a higher sphere with +his Master, who "pleased not Himself," but made it the steady, +unfaltering aim of His life to do always those things that were pleasing +to His Father. Men thought Him narrow and fanatical, but He cared not so +long as He could daily hear that clear, sweet voice saying "This is My +beloved Son, in whom <em>I</em> am well pleased." The final touchstone which +the follower of Jesus applies to every matter is this: <em>Would it please +Him?</em></p> + +<p>Let everyone here who earnestly desires to fit into, and to fill out, +Jesus' plan for his life, take paper and pencil and make a list of his +personal habits; such as his eating, what he eats and how; his drinking, +other things he puts into his mouth, his dress, the use and care of his +body, his recreations, his reading, his conversation, his use of money, +his use of time, his life plans and his daily<span class="pagenum" title="Page 103"></span><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a> plans, his social +engagements; and regarding each ask plainly the question—what is the +<em>motive</em> that <em>controls</em> me in this? Is it my own preference or +enjoyment? Or, is it to please and honor Jesus? Let him further go +through the list of his business methods, his friendships, the various +organizations he belongs to, with the same question. If he will do +thorough work he will probably have some stiff fighting on hand both at +the start and afterwards. Many a life would thereby be radically +changed. For example, I know a christian storekeeper who has on his +shelves a certain article bearing the label of a tonic medicine, but he +knows perfectly well, as does anyone who stops to think about it, that +the stuff back of the label is one form of an intoxicant. There can be +no question of what the Master would say about it. But it brings a good +profit. And his money-fevered self asserts its mastery and carries the +day. And the man tightly grips the profits, while Satan chuckles with +unholy glee, and souls are being damned by this christian man's aid. +Certainly there can be none of the power of God in such a life. Let us +rather speak the truth and say that this man is exerting a positive +power for Satan and for hell.</p> + +<p>All this is included in these few simple words, "let him deny himself." +Is there still a fixed purpose to follow Jesus without regard to what it +may cost us, or where the keen edge of separation may cut in?</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 104"></span><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>The Battle of the Forks.</h4> + +<p>Here is a forking of the road. I bring this whole company up to this +dividing, and therefore deciding, point. Let each choose his own road +deliberately, prayerfully, with open eyes. This road to the left has as +its law, yielding to self; saying "yes" to the desires and demands of +self; with some modifications possibly, here and there, for I am talking +to professing christian people. Yes to Jesus <em>sometimes</em>, but at <em>other</em> +times, when it suits circumstances and inclinations better to do +otherwise—well, a pushing of the troublesome question aside. And that +means a decided yes to self, with as positive a negative to Jesus' +desires implied thereby. That is the left-hand fork.</p> + +<p>This right-hand road knows only one law to which exception is never +made, namely: <em>Yes to Jesus</em>, everywhere, always, regardless of +consequences, though it may entail loss of friendships, or money, or +position, or social standing, or personal preference, or radical change +of plans, or, what not.</p> + +<p>Judas assented to the cravings of his ambitious self and said "no" to +his Master, thinking possibly, with his worldly shrewdness, thereby to +force Jesus to assert His power. He little knew what a time of crisis it +was, and what terrific results would follow.</p> + +<p>Peter stood on the side of his cowardly, shrinking self in the +court-yard that dark night, and against his Master. And though with +matchless love he<span class="pagenum" title="Page 105"></span><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a> was forgiven, he never forgave himself, nor was able +to get that night's doings out of his memory. Judas and Peter were +brothers in action that night, and there are evidences that many other +disciples are standing over in the same group. Are you? Which road do +you choose to-night: this—to the left? Or, this—to the right?</p> + +<p>I knew a young man who was deeply attached to an admirable young woman, +both refined christian persons, much above the average in native +ability, and in culture. He made known to her his feelings. But as many +a woman who does not trust her best Friend in such matters is apt to do +she held him off, testing him repeatedly, to find out just how real his +attachment was. Finally revealing indirectly her own feeling she still +withheld the consent he pleaded for, until he would yield acquiescence +in a certain plan of hers for him. The plan, proper enough in itself, +was an ambitious one, and tended decidedly toward swinging him away from +the high, tenderly spiritual ideals that had swayed his life in college +and afterwards, though he probably was not clearly conscious of this +tendency. The only safe thing to do under such strong circumstances was +to take time, aside, alone, for calm, poised, thought and prayer, to +learn if her plan was also the Master's plan for him. But the personal +element proved too strong for such deliberation. The possibility of +losing her swung him off of his feet. It was no longer a question +between her plan and the Master's<span class="pagenum" title="Page 106"></span><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a> plan. The latter dropped out of view, +probably half-unconsciously because hurriedly. <em>He must have her</em>, he +thought. That rose before his eyes above all else. And so the decision +was made. With what result? He is to-day prominent in christian service, +an earnest speaker, a tireless worker, with a most winsome personality. +But his inner spiritual life has perceptibly dwarfed. His ideals, still +high and noble, are distinctly lower than in his earlier life. +Intellectual ideals, admirable in themselves, but belonging in second +place in a christian life, now command the field. His conceptions and +understanding of spiritual truth have undergone a decided change.</p> + +<p>The proposal of the self-life came in very fascinating guise to him. He +hastily said "yes" to it: that meant as decided a refusal of Another's +plan for him, which had once been clearly recognized, and accepted, but +was now set aside, be it sadly said, as he swung quickly off to the left +fork of the road.</p> + +<p>There is an incident told of a European pastor, an earnest, eloquent +man. The realization came in upon him that he had not been fully +following the Master. In much of his life self was still ruling. He came +to this forking of the road, and the battle was a fierce one, for self +dies hard. But finally "by the Spirit," he got the victory, as every one +may, and calmly stepped off to the right. He has vividly described that +battle of the forks in language, the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 107"></span><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a> accuracy of which will be +recognized by others who have been in action on that field.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">That a time could ever be<br /></span> +<span>When I let the Saviour's pity<br /></span> +<span>Plead in vain, and proudly answered:<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'<em>All of self, and none of Thee</em>.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Yet He found me: I beheld him<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Bleeding on the accursed tree;<br /></span> +<span>Heard Him pray, 'forgive them, Father,'<br /></span> +<span>And my wistful heart said faintly:<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'<em>Some of self and some of Thee</em>.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Day by day, His tender mercy,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Healing, helping, full and free,<br /></span> +<span>Sweet and strong, and oh, so patient,<br /></span> +<span>Brought me lower, while I whispered:<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'<em>Less of self and more of Thee</em>.'<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Higher than the highest heaven,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Deeper than the deepest sea,<br /></span> +<span>Lord, thy love at last has conquered;<br /></span> +<span>Grant me now my soul's desire,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">'<em>None of self and all of Thee</em>.'"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Is there still a fixed purpose? Will you take this right fork? Let those +who will, and those who linger reluctantly listen to the further word +that Jesus adds: "Let him deny himself and take up his cross." "<em>Take up +his cross</em>"—what does that mean? The cross has come to be regarded in +these days as a fine ornament. It looks beautiful bejeweled; on the end +of a sword; or worked into regalia.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 108"></span><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a> It makes such an artistic finish to +a church building, finely chiseled in stone, or enwreathed with ivy. It +looks pretty in jewelry and flowers. But to Jesus and the men of His +time it had a grim, hard, painful significance. In Roman usage a man +condemned to this death was required to take up the crude wooden cross +provided, carry it out to the place of execution, and there be +transfixed upon it. Plainly to these men listening, Jesus' words meant: +Let him say "no" to his self, and then nail it up on the cross and leave +it there <em>to die</em>.</p> + +<p>Paul understood this thoroughly. To help the young christians in Galatia +he explains his own experience by saying: "<em>I have been crucified</em> with +Christ;" and to the unknown friends in Rome he writes: "if ye by the +Spirit <em>put to death</em> the doings of the self life ye shall live." The +only thing to do with this self is to kill it.</p> + +<p>In Luke's account an intensely practical word is added to Jesus' remark: +"Let him take up his cross <em>daily</em>." A cat is said to have nine lives, +because it is so hard to kill. I do not know what your experience may +have been, but, judged by this rule, the self in me is tougher-lived +than that. It has about ninety-nine, or nine hundred and ninety-nine +lives. I put it on the cross to-day in the purpose of my will by the +power of the Spirit, and I find it trying to sneak down and step into +active control again to-morrow through some sly, subtle suggestion which +it hopes may get past the vigilance<span class="pagenum" title="Page 109"></span><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a> of my sentinel. That word <em>daily</em> +becomes, of necessity, my constant keynote—a <em>daily</em> conflict, a +<em>daily</em> sleepless vigilance, and, thank God, a <em>daily victory</em>.</p> + +<p>Every man's heart is a battlefield. If self has possession, Jesus is +lovingly striving to get possession. If possession has been yielded to +Jesus, there is a constant besieging by the forces of self. And self is +a skilled strategist. In every heart there is a cross, and a throne, and +each is occupied. If Jesus is on the throne, ruling, self is on the +cross, dying. But if self is being obeyed, and so is ruling, then it is +on the throne. And self on the throne means that <em>Jesus has been put on +the cross</em>. And it seems to be only too pathetically true that not only +in New Testament times, but in these times, there are numbers of +professing christians, who, in the practice of daily life, are +crucifying the Son of God afresh, and openly exposing Him to shame +before the eyes of the crowd.</p> + +<p>Suppose that to-night I determine to make this absolute surrender to +Jesus as my Master. To-morrow in some matter, possibly a small +matter—speaking a word to some one—asking a silent blessing at the +meal—making a change in some personal habit—or some other apparently +trivial matter—the Spirit quietly makes clear <em>His wish</em> as to what I +should do. But I hesitate: it seems hard. I do not say that I will not +obey, but actually <em>I do not</em>. Let me plainly understand that in such a +single failure to<span class="pagenum" title="Page 110"></span><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a> obey, self is again mounting the throne, and Jesus is +being dethroned and put over yonder on the cross.</p> + +<p>Do some of us still hesitate at this forking of the roads, irresolute? A +crowned Christ is attractive. But self's tendrils, though small, are +tenaciously tough, and twine into so many corners and around some hidden +things. And the uprooting and outcutting mean sharp pain. Is that so? +And you hesitate? Please take another frank look.</p> + + +<h4>Lock-Step.</h4> + +<p>These two forks differ radically. They differ in direction. One is to +the <em>left</em>; the other to the <em>right</em>. And these two words are +significant of more than direction. They differ in grade. This left-hand +road does not seem to have any grade. It is smooth and level, and +straightaway, <em>apparently</em>. But a keener look reveals a slant <em>down</em>, +very slight at first, but steadily increasing, not only in its downward +grade, but in the <em>proportionate</em> grade down.</p> + +<p>This right-hand road has a decided grade <em>up</em> from the beginning, a +steep slant, that causes many to avoid it, though they feel impelled to +take it. Those who take it say that after the first decided step into it +the slant does not seem nearly so hard as before starting, and that +climbing it makes splendid muscle and gives an inspiring sense of +exhilaration from the very start. The atmosphere is rare<span class="pagenum" title="Page 111"></span><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a> and purifying +and invigorating. It is not traveled by so many, though the number keeps +increasing. But such rare companionship, hitherto unknown, they afford!</p> + +<p><em>The striking peculiarity</em> of this road, however, is this, that each one +keeps lock-step with a certain One who leads the way. This One is +remarkable in appearance. His face combines all the strength and +resolution of the strongest man's with all the fineness and gentleness +of the finest woman's. But He bears peculiar marks as though He had been +through some terrible experience. His face has a number of small scars +as though it had been torn by thorns and cut by thongs. His hands and +feet look as though huge spikes had been forced through them. But the +glory-light of another world is in His eyes, and illumines His face +radiantly, and a glad ring is in His low, musical, singularly clear +voice.</p> + +<p>The walking in step with Him is <em>so</em> close that one can feel the tender +throbbing of His heart, and can talk confidentially with Him in low, +quiet tones, and can hear distinctly His gentle still-like voice in +reply.</p> + +<p>As one steps off quietly, determinedly to the right from the battle of +the forks he hears the closing words of Jesus' remarks to Peter—"<em>and +follow Me</em>." Jesus sends no one ahead alone. He blazes out every path +through the unknown, unbroken forest, and asks us simply to come along +after Him. He did what He asks us to do. The self-life was<span class="pagenum" title="Page 112"></span><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a> alluringly +and repeatedly presented to Him by Satan, in the wilderness, in the +remark of Peter, by the visit of the Greeks, in Gethsemane where the +struggle of soul almost broke the tie that held body and spirit +together, and many other times. In many a hard battle—for the divine +Jesus was intensely human in His earthly life—He repeatedly said a +never-varying "no" to the self-life, and lived a constant victory until +the very last triumphant shout of victory on Calvary. It was a life of +constant conflict, but of splendid, calming, scarce-broken peace within, +and of marvelous power without.</p> + +<p>Earnestly, lovingly, gently, yet passionately, He stands just ahead in +that path now, with pierced hands outstretched in open invitation, with +a heart-yearning in the depths of His great eyes, wooing us on to follow +where He goes on before.</p> + +<p>Let us follow. It may be, it <em>will</em> be, in some measure, through the +experiences of the wilderness temptation, and of Gethsemane, and of +Calvary, but it will also be to share the victory which was always +coupled with every testing <em>He</em> met. It will as certainly be following +Him in power, and victory, on past Calvary to the new life of the +resurrection morning, that saw the greatest display of power. And even +past that, to the upper chamber where His words burn their way into our +hearts—"as the Father sent Me (clothed with power unconquerable) even +so send I you." And then to Olivet where the victorious words ring out, +"All power hath been<span class="pagenum" title="Page 113"></span><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a> given unto me in heaven and on earth, therefore go +ye and make disciples."</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"If any man<br /></span> +<span>would come alter me,<br /></span> +<span>let him say "no" to his self,<br /></span> +<span>and nail it to the cross daily,<br /></span> +<span>and follow me."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Jesus, Master, by the Holy Spirit's help, <em>I will</em>.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a></p><!-- THE PERSONALITY OF POWER. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 117"></span><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>THE PERSONALITY OF POWER.</h2> + +<h4>A Personally Conducted Journey.</h4> + + +<p>Everyone enjoys the pleasure of travel; but nearly all shrink back from +its tiresomeness and drudgery. The transportation companies are +constantly scheming to overcome this disagreeable side for both pleasure +and business travel. One of the popular ways of pleasure travel of late +is by means of personally conducted tours. A party is formed, often by +the railroad company, and is accompanied by a special agent to attend to +all the business matters of the trip. A variation of this is to arrange +for a group of congenial people to accompany some well-known +accomplished gentleman. This gives the trip, not alone the convenience +of having all business matters cared for, but also the decided enjoyment +which this gentleman's wide knowledge and experience, and personal +contact incidentally give. There are some criticisms however of such +parties, from the standpoint of greatest comfort and of freedom in +moving about.</p> + +<p>Probably the very pleasantest way—the ideal way, to travel anywhere, +either in our own home land, or abroad—is to form a party of only a +very few persons, mutually congenial, and personally agreeable,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 118"></span><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a> <em>one of +whom is an experienced traveler</em>, to whom checking baggage, buying +tickets, studying timetables, planning connections and all the rest of +that sort of thing which, to most, is disagreeable drudgery, to whom all +that is mere pleasant detail; and who in addition knows all the ground +you will cover, the best hotels, the inconveniences to avoid, the +desirable places and things, and who finds rare enjoyment in making the +trip delightful and inspiring, and restful too, to these dear friends of +his.</p> + +<p>For instance if the trip is a foreign one beginning with a run through +Great Britain it would add immensely to have such a friend in London who +knew that great whirling world-metropolis, as you know your own home. +After a bit you may slip over the Channel to Holland. It is only a few +hours away, but the strange language, new custom-house rules, new +usages, new sights, different sort of people, all make it a totally +different world. A few hours will bring you into Sweden, or west from +the hollow-landed Dutch to the higher-landed Germans, or south through +Belgium into sunny France, and so on. And in each place the customs, and +language, and sights, and people, the food, the sleeping arrangements, +and apparently everything, especially to a stranger, are totally +different. It is this very variety—the constant change of +surroundings—that constitutes much of the charm of it all. There is +nothing so refreshing and invigorating as<span class="pagenum" title="Page 119"></span><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a> that. But on the other hand +to an entire stranger who has no guide, it is apt to be confusing and +wearisome. And the tiresome side often overcomes the pleasant side. Now +this is what I am saying, that, if there are just a few together, and +this experienced traveler, who is also a dear friend, is one of them, +the trip is radically changed. You move in a new world. He can talk +Dutch in Holland, and German in Germany, Swedish in Scandinavia, and +French in Switzerland. He sees the baggage past the customs officials, +and provides restful stopping places, and keeps the disagreeables away +from you. He knows the places to visit, and is familiar with the +historic occurrences, and is a quiet, cheery companion, and <em>if</em> with it +all he has an unlimited letter-of-credit, and makes you feel that +somehow you are favoring him by letting him help you out when you run +short—that, I say, would be <em>the ideal way of traveling</em>.</p> + +<p>Now why take so much time speaking about all that? Listen! I will tell +you why. Living is like traveling. Life is a journey. It is a trip +through a strange land where you have never been before, and you never +know a moment ahead where you are going next. Strange languages, strange +scenes, strange dilemmas; new tangles, new experiences, and some old +ones with new faces so you do not know them. It is just as chock-full of +pleasure and enjoyment as it can be, if you could only make some<span class="pagenum" title="Page 120"></span><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a> +provision for the drudgery and hard things that seem to crowd in so +thick and fast sometimes, as to make people forget the gladness of it.</p> + +<p>Now I have something to tell you that seems too utterly good to be +believed, and yet keeps getting better all the way along. It is this: +the Master has planned that your life journey shall be a personally +conducted one on this ideal plan. It was said a night or two ago that +the Master has thought into your life and made arrangement for all its +needs. Let me add to-night this further fact: <em>He has arranged with His +best friend, who is an experienced traveler, to go with you and devote +Himself wholly to your interests.</em></p> + +<p>Some of you, I am afraid, will smile, and think that I am just indulging +in a fancy sketch—drawing on my imagination. And so I pray our Master +to burn into our hearts that it is plain, matter-of-fact truth, for +every day life. I would say that it is cold fact were it not that such a +fact can never be cold.</p> + + +<h4>Power is a Person.</h4> + +<p>Each of these talks, you have noticed, has led up to the one idea of +surrender. That word surrender stands for one side only of a +transaction—<em>our</em> side. As in all transactions, there is another +side—<em>His</em> side to whom the surrender is made. To-night we want to take +a step in advance and talk about the part which Jesus has in this +surrender-transaction.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 121"></span><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a> All truth goes in pairs. The partnership word +with surrender is mastery. Surrender on my part is followed by mastery +on His part. There are two personalities in this transaction. You are +one: an important one, but only one. To-night we shall try to get a +better acquaintance with the other One. The One who assumes control of +the surrendered life, who is to be our personal guide and friend.</p> + +<p>Will you recall again the Master's good-bye Olivet message, and notice +just what it means? Listen to the very words: "Ye shall receive power." +Let me ask you—what is power? Will some one give a simple definition of +that word? There are four words, four of the commonest, most familiar in +our language, for which I have not been able to find a definition. If +some one here can help me I will be grateful. They are the words life, +light, love, and power. What do they mean? I can find plenty of +statements <em>about</em> them, descriptions of what each of these is like, but +no definitions.</p> + +<p>What is life? Recently I looked into the statement regarding life made +by three of the most famous English scientists of the nineteenth +century, whose names are household words. I read them carefully. The +wisdom and keenness of observation they show are amazing. But when I had +studied and read them repeatedly I found myself asking—what is life? +They have described rarely the functions and characteristics of life, +but have not told what it is. They do not seem to know. Do you?</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 122"></span><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>What is light? Will some one tell me? The corpuscular theory, which the +famous Newton advocated, is long since abandoned. The later wave theory +is pretty generally accepted, and yet they can not all agree upon that. +These people say that light is a part of the kind of energy called +radiant energy. Now, we all know what light is! The sun of course is not +light, only a light-holder and distributer. According to the oldest +record we have of the creation, light existed before these +light-holders, the sun and moon and stars.</p> + +<p>What is love? Well, you all <em>know</em>, I hope. Pity the poor man who does +not know by experience what love is. But you cannot tell what it is. +"Oh!" you say, "it is emotion." Yes, so is hate, its very opposite. +"Well, love is affection." Yes. What is affection? "Well, it is a +pleasurable feeling, or regard, which may be very intense, and which +leads us to unlimited sacrifice if need be. It is a devotion that grips +the soul tremendously." That is true; yet that is only telling what love +is like. No simple, plain definition of love, or light or life has ever +been formed yet by man so far as I can learn.</p> + +<p>What is power? You may say it is force. And what is force? "Well, force +is a form of energy." What is energy? "Well," you reply, "it is a strong +inward movement whose strength is very impressive." Some one says "power +is ability." And ability? "Well, that is the innate power to do +something." And so we get to use our word in the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 123"></span><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a> attempted definition +itself, which is simply talking in a circle. We can find good +descriptive words, but no defining words.</p> + +<p>Now mark a singular fact. In the writings of John, in this old book I +have here, you will find a few statements regarding these things which +combine wondrous simplicity of language with marvelous, yes, +unfathomable, depth of meaning. First, about life: in chapter one, verse +four, of the gospel:—"in Him was life," being an evident allusion to +the remarkable Genesis statement: "the Lord God breathed into his +nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Then, about +love: in chapter four, verse seven, of his first epistle:—"love is of +God"; coupled with the twice spoken words "God is love" in the same +chapter. About light: in chapter one, verse five, of the same epistle, +"God is light."</p> + +<p>I know some of you, perhaps some skilled theologian here, is saying to +himself, "Those are statements of <em>moral</em> truths." And I understand that +that is the common conception. But I want to state here my own profound +conviction, based on the Spirit-breathed words of John, that some day, +when we shall know about all these deep things, we shall be finding that +there is a basis not only of moral truth, but of far more than moral +truth underlying those profoundly simple statements.</p> + +<p>And I believe in that day we shall find that life—all life—is, in some +actual, marvelous way, the out<span class="pagenum" title="Page 124"></span><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>breathing of God's own being. And that +light is the inherent radiance of His person and face, and that the +universal passion of love is the throbbing pulse-beat of His own great +heart.</p> + +<p>Now why take time to speak about these things to-night when we are +talking about power? I will tell you why. Because they give the +intensest practical significance to a similar statement about that word +power with which we <em>are</em> greatly concerned just now.</p> + +<p>Mark the language Luke uses in describing that memorable Olivet scene in +which we are so deeply interested in these talks together. The old King +James version reads: "ye shall receive power <em>after</em> that the Holy +Spirit is come upon you." The revised version puts it in this way, "ye +shall receive power <em>when</em> the Holy Spirit is come upon you." Some of +you have probably noticed that some editions give a marginal note, +which, in this case, proves to be the literal reading namely: <em>ye shall +receive power the Holy Spirit coming upon you</em>. Not "after," nor "when," +but simply "the Holy Spirit coming," etc. That is to say, the <em>Holy +Spirit is power</em>. That you will observe fits in with the form of +statement John uses. The Holy Spirit in control, unhindered, unhampered, +means power manifest in the life. That is the profound truth of God's +book. And as a bit of side evidence it is striking to observe that all +Scripture statements throughout fit in with that conception. Power is a +person. Not<span class="pagenum" title="Page 125"></span><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a> some thing, nor influence, nor sentiment, nor some working +upon our hearts at a distance by God seated up yonder on the throne. +That were wonderful indeed. But a person, called the Holy Spirit, living +in me—shall I make it very definite by saying, living <em>in my +body</em>?—that is power. If restrained by sin, or disobedience, or +ignorance, or wilfulness of any sort, then power <em>restrained</em>, held in +check, not evident. If utterly unrestrained, given free sway and +control—ah! then power manifest, limitless, wonderful, all exercised in +carrying out God's will in, and with, and through me.</p> + +<p>And the marvelous message I bring you from the old book of God is this: +<em>The Master has sent a dear friend of His, and of yours, who is +experienced, and strong, and loving, personally to conduct you through +your daily life, and His presence unrestrained, means power unlimited.</em></p> + + +<h4>A Significant Name.</h4> + +<p>Do you remember that heart-to-heart talk that Jesus had with the eleven +disciples that last night they spent together in the upper room? John +tells us about it in chapters thirteen to sixteen. The Master talks a +great deal that night, about some One else, who was coming to take His +place with them. They did not understand what He meant till afterwards. +He packs more into that one evening's talk about this coming One than +all He had said before<span class="pagenum" title="Page 126"></span><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a> put together. Notice that now He gives a name, a +new name, to this person, repeated four times that night. It is an +intensely significant name—<em>the Comforter</em>. Will you remember, and keep +constantly in mind, the actual meaning of that new name? it is simply +this: <em>one called alongside to help</em>.</p> + +<p>Let me attempt to suggest a little of its practical meaning.</p> + +<p>Here is a little girl standing on the curbstone down town on Broadway in +New York, with a bundle in her arms. She has been sent on an errand, and +wants to get across the street. But the electric cars are whizzing past +in both directions, and wagons, and carriages, and omnibuses, and horses +jam the street from curb to curb, and she cannot get across. She stands +there gripping her bundle, watching eagerly for a chance, and yet afraid +to venture. But the jam seems endless, and she grows very tired, and by +and by the corners of her mouth begin to twitch down suspiciously, and a +big tear is just starting in each eye. Just then a big policeman steps +up, one of the finest, six feet tall, and heavy and broad. He seems like +a giant to her. He stoops down. Would you imagine he had such a gentle +voice? "What's the matter?" "Can't—get—'cross." Oh! is that all; he'll +fix that. And he takes her little hand in his with a reassuring "come +along." And along she goes, past cars, under horses' heads, close up to +big wheels. She is just as small as before, and just as weak. But<span class="pagenum" title="Page 127"></span><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a> +though her eyes stay pretty big, the tears are gone, and there is an air +of confidence, because this big, kind-hearted giant by her side is +walking across the street as though he owned the whole place, <em>and he is +devoting his entire attention to her</em>. That policeman is a comforter in +the strict meaning of the word.</p> + +<p>Here is a boy in school, head down close to the desk, puzzling over a +"sum." It won't "come out." He figures away, and his brow is all knitted +up, and a worried look is coming into his face for he is a conscientious +little fellow. But he cannot seem to get it right and the clouds gather +thicker. By and by the teacher comes up and sits down by his side. It +awes him a little to have her quite so close. But her kindliness of +manner mellows the awe. "How are you getting along?" "Won't come out +right"—in a very despondent tone. "Let me see, did you subtract +that...?" "Oh-h-h! I forgot that," and a little light seems to break, as +he scratches away for a few moments; then pauses. "And this figure here, +should it be...." "Oh-h-h, I see." More scratching, and a soft sigh of +relief, and the knitting brows unravel, and the face brightens. The +teacher did not do the problem for him. She did better. She let him feel +her kindly interest first of all, and gave just the light, experienced +touch that showed him the way out, and yet allowed him the peculiar +pleasure of getting through himself. <em>That is what "Comforter" means.</em></p> + +<p>One summer a friend suggested to me spending a<span class="pagenum" title="Page 128"></span><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a> week on Lake Chautauqua. +I did not have the money to spare, and so told him I was not sure I +could arrange to get away. But he seemed to divine the basis of my +objection, and insisted on my going along. We went. I had very little +money with me. I got on the train without a ticket, took a seat in the +parlor car, stopped at the best hotel, had a choice room on the ground +floor, patronized the well-ordered dining-room regularly, and made free +use of the place. And all the time I had practically no money with me. +But would you believe me I was not a particle concerned about paying for +those privileges. Never felt less concern about anything in my life. You +know why. <em>I had a trustworthy friend, with me who was concerned for +me.</em></p> + +<p>Now these are simple suggestions, illustrating <em>partly</em> the meaning of +that marvelous name Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. I will send another +Comforter, one who will be right by your side to help, sympathetic, +experienced, strong; and He will stay with you all the time. In the +kitchen, in the sitting-room, the sick-room, with the children, when +work piles up, when things jangle or threaten to, when the baby's cross, +and the patching and sweeping and baking, and all the rest of it seem +endless, on the street, in the office, on the campus, in the store, when +tempted—almost slipped, when opportunity opens for a quiet personal +word, everywhere, every time, in every circumstance, one alongside to +help. Is not that wonderful?</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 129"></span><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>A Pictorial Illustration.</h4> + +<p>There is one bother about illustrations: they never do tell all the +truth. They never are as vivid, nor as good as the truth, that is when +you are talking about our Master, or His arrangements. The very best +illustrations of Bible truth are Bible illustrations. Now there is a +striking pictorial illustration back in the Old Testament of the meaning +of this name of the Holy Spirit. It is in the story of a most remarkable +journey from Egypt to the border line of Palestine. The journey was +remarkable for two things. First, for the sort of country it was +through. It is a trackless waste of sand, that spreads over thousands of +square miles. It was infested with venomous serpents and scorpions, and +is described as "all that great and terrible wilderness," "a waste +howling wilderness," and "a land of deserts and pits, of drought and of +the shadow of death, that none passed through, and where no man dwelt." +Think of taking a trip through a country like that! But it was even more +remarkable because of the transformation that took place in the +travelers. For a mob of four millions of people was changed into a +well-organized nation. The explanation given is fully as remarkable as +the trip, and the transformation. It must strike very strangely on the +cold, matter-of-fact ears of this materialistic world we dwell in. It is +this: that the Lord God Himself actually went with them in person, and<span class="pagenum" title="Page 130"></span><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a> +lived with them, and took immediate charge of everything. He had +promised Moses, their leader, that He would do this. Just how definite +or indefinite a thing that meant to Moses' mind we cannot know. But it +became very definite and tangible that memorable night of departure from +the iron furnace of Egypt. For there was a real physical evidence of His +presence. There appeared a column or pillar of fleecy-like cloud which +came down close to the ground, and which every one could plainly see. At +night time it shone and flamed as a pillar full of partly concealed +fire. God's voice spake out of it in their hearing. And that +presence-cloud never left them. In spite of complaints, and criticisms, +and rebellions of the most mean and exasperating kind, it never left +them until they had safely arrived at the border line of the promised +Palestine.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[6]</span> See note <a href="#Page_143">at the end</a>.</p></div> +<p>Now it is extremely fascinating in tracing that journey to notice just +what that cloud came to mean to them. If you will run rapidly through +the three wilderness books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, you will find +there twenty distinct incidents<span class="snlabel">[6]</span> which illustrate how God's actual +presence in that cloud was made very real to them in practical affairs. +In those incidents there are ten different ways in which they were made +to feel that powerful Presence.</p> + +<p>At the outset it is mentioned that the chief purpose was "to lead them +the way," and, by night<span class="pagenum" title="Page 131"></span><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a> "to give them light." Five incidents speak of +bodily nourishment, including fresh food daily, with occasional extras, +and a full supply of pure living water. Five speak of protection from +bodily harm. Two tell of the defeat of an enemy. Once there is chiding +for ingratitude. Six times rebuke or punishment for sin. In four they +are held back when dead-set on a very wrong course. Twice there is +instruction in their leader's plan for them. Three times a fuller +manifestation of Himself, and each time this is preceded by obedience on +their part in some particular matter. Once there is a special plan +suggested for relief in managing the nation's affairs. And then the fact +is stated that whenever Moses went apart to talk with God the cloud +descended lower, that is, <em>God came nearer</em> when Moses desired to talk +with Him. So you see, the cloud meant guidance through that trackless +desert, food supplies, protection, defeat for the enemy, chiding, +restraint, punishment, instruction, help in business matters, a more +intimate manifestation of the glorious personality of their Guide, and a +gracious coming nearer whenever desired. Was not that a real practical +presence of the great God with them all those days?</p> + +<p>Now that is the Bible's own graphic illustration of the meaning of that +new name given to the Holy Spirit, by Him who knew Him best, +<em>Comforter—one alongside to help</em>.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 132"></span><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>On a Higher Level.</h4> + +<p>Before we leave that illustration we must notice a very significant +thing which is no small part of the truth illustrated. Though the cloud +appeared the very night of that sudden going out of Egypt, and was never +absent from them, by day or by night, yet a full year afterwards there +was a new experience. By God's direction a special tent was made and set +up in which He said He would dwell. It was known as God's dwelling +place, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. When +everything concerning its setting up had been fully done as specified +then there was an experience the most remarkable they had yet had with +God. It was a new manifestation of the glorious presence of their unseen +Friend-Guide. It is twice said that the tent was "<em>filled</em>" with His +glory. And this nearer disclosure, which God gave of Himself, was so +marvelously glorious and overpowering that even Moses, who had spent +almost twelve weeks in that mount with God, in closer intimacy than any +one else—even Moses was not able to enter into the tent, so over-awing +was that Presence.</p> + +<p>Now it is of intensest interest to mark four things about that +experience. <em>First</em> of all, before it came, there was <em>obedience</em> to +God's instructions. Eighteen times within the narrow limits of the last +two pages of the Exodus record, it is said that Moses and the people did +everything, in every particular, just<span class="pagenum" title="Page 133"></span><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a> exactly as "the Lord commanded +Moses." There was explicit obedience before anything else. <em>Then</em> +followed the wondrous <em>infilling</em> of the tent with God's presence. The +<em>third</em> thing is particularized very carefully: all their movements were +directed and controlled by that Presence. Clearly the only safe rule for +living in that terrible desert, was to plan to live a planless life so +far as their own planning was concerned. Besides the last two verses of +Exodus which emphasize this, I find that in my revised Oxford edition +forty-five lines in the ninth chapter of Numbers are given to telling +how exactly they were guided, and how explicitly they followed their +Guide. It seems almost at first reading as though there was a decidedly +needless repetition. You seem to understand the thing easily enough +without that. But as one reads it again, and yet again, slowly, it +begins to dawn upon the mind that the purpose is to put marked emphasis +on this feature of their new life in the wilderness. The people would +rise in the morning, and probably the first thing done was to look out +toward the cloud to learn if there was to be any change that day. And so +during the day there would come to be an instinctive habit of watching +that cloud. They might remain in a new camping place for months, or only +for a few weeks, or, possibly only for a few days. They never knew a day +ahead. They lived literally a day at a time. It was certainly a +hand-to-mouth existence so far as the daily manna was concerned. But<span class="pagenum" title="Page 134"></span><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a> +then it was from <em>His</em> hand to <em>their</em> mouths and that made a great +difference. It was equally so in their movements and in all of their new +life. When, one morning as thousands of heads peep out, the cloud is +seen to have lifted up from over the tent, the next question was—which +direction? It might be toward the west, or it might be just the +opposite, toward the east. Both the time of going, and the direction, +and the pace were regulated by the presence of their Friend in that +cloud. Their life was a life of obedience to the will of their wise, +loving Companion.</p> + +<p>The <em>fourth</em> thing was intimacy of intercourse. It is a little +unfortunate that in reading our Bibles we sometimes allow the gaps that +come in the printing to break the continuity of thought. There is a +break for instance between the last verse of Exodus and the first verse +of Leviticus. The reading is meant to be continuous, and shows that +after the infilling, and the explanation about guidance, that God +"<em>called</em>" Moses to Him and <em>commenced talking about their new life</em>. +Now in connection with that call, and all their after talks, notice a +remarkable statement in the last verse of that long seventh chapter of +Numbers. It explains just <em>how</em> God talked with Moses. Listen: "Whenever +Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, <em>then he heard +the voice</em> speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the +ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and <em>He</em> speaketh +unto him." There was the living, loving voice of their<span class="pagenum" title="Page 135"></span><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a> Companion-God, +which Moses could plainly hear, and which others heard, talking +familiarly and intimately about all their affairs. Several times when in +doubt what to do Moses promptly went off into the tent, then the cloud +would come down nearer, and Moses would state his difficulty, and back +would come that clear distinct voice with an answer. Group up those four +things—obedience; the never-to-be-forgotten infilling; the controlling +guidance; and intimate companionship.</p> + +<p>That is the very best illustration I can find of the meaning of that +word which Jesus now chooses out and uses as the new name which would +most vividly tell what the Holy Spirit was to be to all believers after +His own departure. All that the presence of God in that pillar was to +those people, and to Moses personally, all that the Holy Spirit will be +to you. And my own conviction is that Jesus had that Old Testament scene +in His mind. For if you will turn again to that last night's talk you +will find a striking repetition of the steps or peculiarities of that +wilderness experience. Though here the whole experience is on a much +higher, finer plane. There is a closeness of personal regard, a depth of +that deepest of all loves, friendship love, that is not found in the Old +Testament story, except perhaps between Moses himself and God.</p> + +<p>But now read the twenty-first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John: +"He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth +Me;<span class="pagenum" title="Page 136"></span><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a> and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father and I will love +him, and <em>will manifest Myself unto him</em>." And the twenty-third verse +adds to it: "If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will +love him, and <em>We will come unto him and make Our abiding place with +him</em>." Notice: there is obedience; it is accepted as an evidence of +love: there is a return love—a new, higher, reciprocal love: then there +is a revealing of Himself; and, constant abiding. Now run your eye +through the remaining part of that evening's conversation and you can +quickly pick out these words: "teach," "bring to your remembrance," +"guide," "bear witness of me," "tell you coming things," "tell you about +me."</p> + +<p>Does that not parallel remarkably the wilderness experience? Only it is +all put on such a higher plane. There is a fullness, and richness, and +tenderness, of personal intimacy here. The Presence in the wilderness +was for the national life: here it is peculiarly for the personal life. +There He dwelt actually in the heart of the nation. Here He dwells +actually in one's own very person. And then, too, now He can do so much +more <em>in</em> us because so much more has been done for us through the +person of Jesus.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 137"></span><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>How to Find the Meaning.</h4> + +<p>May I say right here plainly: there seems to be even yet in some +quarters a hazy idea about the Holy Spirit being a person. It is +extremely common, even among people of excellent christian training, to +find Him referred to, both in prayer and speech as <em>it</em>. Could anything +be more disrespectful or insulting, if it were intentional instead of +being thoughtless or, in ignorance, as I am sure it really is. Imagine +my speaking of the pastor of this church in that way. "<em>It</em> is a good +preacher. <em>It</em> is a helpful pastor." You smile, and he smiles. But if I +said it repeatedly, and in sober earnest, you know how insulted he would +be. I suppose that the use of the word "itself" for the Holy Spirit in +the eighth chapter of Romans is largely responsible for this. The +revisers have properly substituted the word "himself." That very usage +so common has doubtless accustomed many persons to a vague idea of the +personality of the Spirit. And yet apart from that, there is without +doubt much mistiness, and uncertainty, in some minds, because of the +difficulty of thinking of a person without a form. It seems impossible +for our minds to grasp the idea of existence without bodily shape, yet +of course we believe in a personal God. Probably another reason is that +the Holy Spirit's work is not to speak of Himself but of Another—of +Jesus. He is Jesus' representative, and is constantly absorbed in +filling<span class="pagenum" title="Page 138"></span><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a> us with thoughts of His Chief. And when our minds are most +deeply stirred with thoughts of Jesus then it is that in that very fact +of being so stirred we have clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit's +presence within us. His very faithfulness to His mission has led to +Himself suffering depreciation at our hands, through our ignorance.</p> + +<p>I am sure it must help us all decidedly in getting a clear-cut, sharply +defined idea of His personality to notice the language Jesus uses in +speaking of Him that night. For instance, notice that in our English +version the personal pronouns "he," "whom," "him," "which" (used in the +sense of who as is common with the British translators), occur +twenty-four times. A study of the actual words used would prove helpful +and interesting. One of them, used several times, is peculiarly +emphatic, its meaning being equivalent to the expression "that person +there."</p> + +<p>And then notice the words used to describe what this person will do: "He +shall teach," "bring to your remembrance," "bear witness of Me," +"convict the world of" three distinct things, "shall guide," "shall +hear," "shall speak," "shall declare," "shall glorify Me," "shall take +of Mine and declare it unto you." Everyone of these ten different +expressions imply intelligence and discrimination, and therefore of +course personality. And then added to this is the name given to Him here +of which so much has been said.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 139"></span><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>May we take just another look at that name—<em>The Comforter</em>—as we close +our talk together? I wish with my whole heart, and I pray, that a vivid +sense of the meaning of that name may be one result of this evening's +meeting. I was traveling alone in Germany one hot July day on a train +going down to the city of Worms. It was quite hot and I was very tired, +and my head aching, I distinctly remember. The conductor came along and +objected to my ticket. Before leaving this country, I thought I knew a +<em>little</em> of German, enough to worry through on. My ideas on that subject +changed a trifle over there, however. That day my tired ears refused to +recognize any familiar sounds on the conductor's lips, and my tired +tongue refused to utter anything satisfactory to him. And there I was, a +complete stranger in a strange land too tired to think or have any +mental resources, not knowing but I might be put off at the next +station. In fact just tired enough for fine worrying. It looked blue for +a few moments. But not for long. A young man by my side, a Jew, spoke to +me in excellent English. Was any sound ever so welcome! He straightened +the conductor out, and then we fell to talking together. He proved to be +a very intelligent, agreeable companion. I found his home was in the +city where I was going. So we got off there together, and he simply +devoted himself to me for the day. He took me up to a good hotel, and +while I was eating dinner, went and got his brother who had been in<span class="pagenum" title="Page 140"></span><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a> +America, and who entertained me while I ate. Then he took me to his +father's home, a large old mansion, overlooking the famous Luther +monument where I rested a while. And then a quick run to a few +interesting points, and finally when leaving time came, he insisted on +accompanying me to the station, and making sure I had a good seat, and +then bade me a gracious good-bye.</p> + +<p>That day lingers in my memory as one of the green spots of that trip. It +touched me to think that my Master graciously sent one of His own +despised race to be my friend. Do you not think that that man, +experienced where I was ignorant, and so sympathetic, was a living +illustration to me of Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit—<em>one called +alongside to help</em>?</p> + +<p>One day recently, riding on a Lake Shore train in Ohio, I chanced to +notice the conductor stopping to speak to a little girl sitting behind +me. Then I noticed that she was alone and crying a little, quietly. She +did not answer his questions, but he must have been a father, I thought, +because he seemed to understand so well. Speaking to a kind-faced +motherly looking woman in the next seat he had the little girl go back +and sit beside her, next the window. They did not talk much, if any, I +noticed. But the girl was snuggled up close, and I knew from her face +that she felt the warm sympathy of that friendly presence, and that the +terrible feeling of loneliness had gone. Is not that woman<span class="pagenum" title="Page 141"></span><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a> another +illustration of that name Comforter? Her mere presence was all that was +needed to clear the skies and change the atmosphere for the little lone +and lonely traveler.</p> + +<p>But Jesus Himself has a very striking way of making clear just what He +meant, by coupling another word with that new name the first time He +used it. He says, "I will send <em>another</em> Comforter." The comparison is +with Himself. He is one comforter. The Holy Spirit another one. The only +other time this word is used is by John in his first epistle, and is +translated by our word advocate, and refers to Jesus. Jesus practically +says: "You know what I have been to you these months past." And they +would think through, the close intimacy of nearly two years. How He had +spoken with unmistakable plainness when they were in the wrong, but also +how loving with a strong love He had been, how patient, and gentle, and +resourceful, and how He seemed to yearn over them that they might grow +into His ideal for them. "Now," He says, "I am going away, but I will +send you <em>another</em> one who will be to you all that I have been—<em>and +more</em>." <em>And more!</em> That comparative more, either spoken or implied, +runs all through this last long confidential talk. "More, much more, +<em>because I go unto the Father</em>." Jesus crucified, risen, glorified can +do much more by far in us by His other self, the Holy Spirit, than He +could in person on the earth those years. And the wondrous meaning of +that "another<span class="pagenum" title="Page 142"></span><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a> comforter" to you and me, my friends, to-night is simply +this: it is the same as though the Lord Jesus had actually come back +again and <em>you had Him all to yourself—and more</em>.</p> + +<p>But I cannot tell you the meaning of that wonderful name. Nor yet the +wondrous charm of Him who, for our sakes, embodies it. You may put +together all these illustrations in the attempt to get a real, close-up, +idea of what Jesus meant in that love-gift of His to you. And then you +will not know. There is really only one way to gain that knowledge. It +is this: take the step which belongs to <em>your</em> side of the transaction +between you and the Master. Surrender yourself to Him to be changed and +cleansed and used as He may choose. Then <em>He</em> will begin at once working +out the side that belongs to Him. <em>You shall be filled with His +presence.</em> Then you will <em>begin</em> to know. Then you can sing—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"I have a wonderful guest,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Who speeds my feet, who moves my hands,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Who strengthens, comforts, guides, commands,<br /></span> +<span>Whose presence gives me rest.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"He dwells within my soul,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">He swept away the filth and gloom;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">He garnished fair the empty room,<br /></span> +<span>And now pervades the whole."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>And you shall go on knowing more and better until the day dawn and the +shadows flee away.</p> + +<hr /> + +<div class="endnote"><div class="blockquot"><p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 143"></span><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>Of the twenty incidents referred to three do not directly +mention the cloud, and in two others it is over the mount, with +its characteristics much intensified. The references are given +for those who will want to get closer up to this famous +illustration.</p> + +<p>Guidance: Ex. xiii: 21-22, with Numbers xiv: 14.</p> + +<p>Bodily nourishment. Ex. xv: 25; xvi: 13-14, 45; xvii: 6. +Numbers xi: 31-32. xx: 1-12.</p> + +<p>Protection from bodily harm: The nation—Ex. xiv: 19-20. The +leaders—Num. xiv: 10 and on. xvi: 19 and on. xvi: 42 and on. +xx: 1-12.</p> + +<p>Defeat of an enemy: Ex. xiv: 24-31, xvii: 8-16.</p> + +<p>Chiding: Ex. xvi: 4-7, 10-12.</p> + +<p>Rebuke or punishment for sin: Numbers xi: 33; xii: 1-10; xiv: +10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12.</p> + +<p>Held back from wrong: Numbers xiv: 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; +42 and on; xx: 1-12.</p> + +<p>Instruction and training: Ex. xix: 9, 16 and on; xxiv: 15-18.</p> + +<p>Fuller manifestation: Ex. xxxiv: 5 and on; xi: 34-38. Lev. ix: +6, 23.</p> + +<p>Special plan of relief in managment: Numbers xi: 16, 17, 25.</p> + +<p>Coming nearer: Ex. xxxiii: 7-11, revised version.</p></div></div> + + + +<hr /> +<p><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a></p><!-- MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 147"></span><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS.</h2> + +<h4>Many Experiences, but One Law.</h4> + + +<p>In mechanics power depends on good connections. A visit to any great +machine shop makes that clear. There must be good connections in two +directions—inward toward the source of power, and outward for use. The +same law holds true in spiritual power as in mechanical. There must be +good connections.</p> + +<p>These nights we have been together a few things have seemed clear. We +have seen that from the standpoint of our lives there is <em>need</em> of +power, as well as from the standpoint of the Master's use of us among +others. Jesus' promise and insistent words make plain the <em>necessity</em> of +our having power if His plan for us is not to fail. His words about the +<em>price</em> of power have set many of us to doing some honest thinking and +heart-searching. And we have gotten some suggestion, too, of the meaning +of that word power, and of the <em>personality</em> back of the word.</p> + +<p>To-night I want to talk with you a little about how to secure good +connections between the source of power and the channel through which it +is to flow<span class="pagenum" title="Page 148"></span><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a> out to others; and, once secured, how to preserve the +connections unbroken.</p> + +<p>It has been one of the peculiar characteristics of recent years in +religious circles that much has been spoken and written about the Holy +Spirit. Thousands of persons have been led into a clearer understanding +of His personality and mission, and into intimate relationship with +Himself. And yet, may I say frankly, that I read much and listened to +much without being able to get a simple workable understanding of how I +was to receive the much-talked-of baptism of power. That may quite +likely have been due to my own dullness of comprehension. But whatever +the cause, my failing to understand led to a rather careful study of the +old Book itself until somewhat clearer light has come. And now in this +convention I am anxious to put the truth as simply as I may that others +may not blunder and bungle along and lose precious time as I have done.</p> + +<p>Many an earnest heart, conscious of weakness and failure, is asking, how +may I have power to resist temptation, and live a strong, useful, +christian life? In the search for an answer some of us have run across +two difficulties. One of these is in <em>other people's experiences</em>. It is +very natural to try to find out how someone else has succeeded in +getting what we are after. Many a godly man has told of his experience +of waiting and pleading with God before the thing he sought came. +Personal experiences are intensely interesting, and often helpful. But +there<span class="pagenum" title="Page 149"></span><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a> are apt to be as many different sorts of experiences as there are +persons. Yet there is one unchanging law of God's dealing with men +underlying them all. But unless one is more skilled than many of us are +in analyzing experiences and discovering the underlying law, these +experiences of others are often misleading. We are so likely to think at +once of the desirability of having the same experience as someone else, +rather than trying to find God's law of spirit life in them all. And so, +some of the written experiences have clouded rather than cleared the +sky. We should rather try <em>first</em> to get something of a clear +understanding of God's law of dealing with men as a sort of basis to +build upon. And then fit into that, even though it may develop +differently in our circumstances. We may then get much help from others' +experiences. If possible, we want to-night to get something of an +inkling of that law.</p> + +<p>Another difficulty that has bothered some of us is in the great variety +of language used in speaking of this life of power; a variety that seems +confusing to some of us. "The baptism of the Holy Spirit," "the +induement," "the filling," "refilling," "many fillings," "special +anointings"—these terms are familiar, though just the distinctive +meaning of each is not always clear. Let us look a little at the +language of the Book at this point. A run through the New Testament +brings out five leading <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's note: Original had +"word sused"">words used</ins> in speaking of the Holy Spirit's relation to us. These +words are "baptized," "filled," "anointed,"<span class="pagenum" title="Page 150"></span><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a> "sealed," and "earnest." It +seems to take all five words to tell all of the truth. Each gives a +different side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[7]</span> 1 Cor. xii. 13.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[8]</span> Luke xxiv. 49.</p></div> +<p>The word <em>baptized</em> is the distinctive word always used <em>before</em> the day +of Pentecost, in speaking of what was to occur then. It is not used +afterward except in referring back to that day. It belongs peculiarly to +the day of Pentecost. Each of the gospels tells that John the Baptist +said that Jesus was to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself uses +the word, during the forty days, in Acts, first chapter. Peter, in Acts, +eleventh chapter, recalls this remark. Paul uses it once in referring +back to Pentecost.<span class="snlabel">[7]</span> These seem to be the only instances where the word +is used in speaking of the Holy Spirit. One other word is used once in +advance of Pentecost. "Tarry until ye be <em>endued</em> or clothed upon."<span class="snlabel">[8]</span> +We shall see in a few moments that the meaning of this fits in with the +meaning of baptized, emphasizing one part of its meaning.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[9]</span> That is to make perfectly plain that this experience was +for <em>all</em>: a very difficult fact for these intensely Jewish disciples to +grasp.</p> +<ol><li>Not limited to the original one hundred and twenty, but for the +whole body of Jewish disciples—Acts iv.</li> +<li>For the hated half-breed Samaritans—Acts viii.</li> +<li>For the "dogs" of Gentiles—Acts x.</li> +<li>For individual disciples anywhere, and at any distance in time from +Pentecost—Acts xix.</li></ol></div> +<p>"Baptized" may be called the <em>historical</em> word. It describes an act done +once for all on that great day of Pentecost, with possibly four +accessory repetitions to make clear that additional classes and groups +were included.<span class="snlabel">[9]</span> It tells God's side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[10]</span> Acts i: 8; ii: 17, 33; viii: 15; x: 45; xix: 6.</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 151"></span><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>In this connection it will be helpful to note the significance of the +word baptize. Of course you will understand that I am not speaking now +of the matter or mode of water baptism. But I am supposing that +originally or historically the word means a plunging or dipping into. We +commonly think of the act of immersion-baptism from the side of the +object immersed because the action is on the side of the thing or person +which is plunged down into the immersing flood. But in the historical +baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the standpoint is reversed. +Instead of a plunging down into there is a coming down upon, exactly +reversing the order with which we are familiar, but with the same +result—submersion. Notice the phrases in Acts used in describing the +baptism of the Holy Spirit on that historical Pentecost: "Coming upon +you," "pour out," "poured forth," "fallen upon," "fell upon," "poured +out," "fell on them," "came upon,"<span class="snlabel">[10]</span> all suggesting an act from above.</p> + + +<h4>A Four-Sided Truth.</h4> + +<p>Now notice that the word used at the time of the actual occurrence and +afterwards is another word—"<em>filled</em>" and "full," which occurs eleven +times in the first nine chapters of Acts. It tells what was +<em>experienced</em> by those persons at Pentecost and afterwards. It describes +<em>their</em> side. Baptism was the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 152"></span><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a> <em>act</em>; filling was the <em>result</em>. If you +plunge a book into water you are submerging the book: that is your side. +The leaves of the book quickly become soaked, filled with the water: +that is the other side. When a baby is born it is plunged out into the +atmosphere. That is an immersion into air. It begins at once to cry and +its lungs become filled with the air into which it has been plunged. So +here "filled" is the <em>experience</em> word; it tells our side.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[11]</span> (1) Luke iv. 18, quo. from Isa. lxi: 1. (2) Acts iv: 27. +(3) Acts x: 38. (4) Heb. i: 9, quotation from Ps. xlv: 7.</p></div> + +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[12]</span> 2 Cor. i: 21.</p></div> + +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[13]</span> 1 John i: 20, 27.</p></div> + +<p>The third word, "<em>anointed</em>," indicates the <em>purpose</em> of this filling; +it is to qualify for living and for service. It is the word commonly +used in the Old Testament for the setting apart of the tabernacle to its +holy use; and of priests and kings, and sometimes prophets for service +and leadership. In the New Testament it is four times used of Jesus, +each time in connection with His public ministry.<span class="snlabel">[11]</span> Paul uses it of +himself in answering those who had criticised his work and leadership at +Corinth.<span class="snlabel">[12]</span> And John uses it twice in speaking of ability to discern +and teach the truth.<span class="snlabel">[13]</span> It is the <em>power</em> word, indicating that the +Holy Spirit's coming is for the specific purpose of setting us apart, +and to qualify us for right living, and for acceptable and helpful +service.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[14]</span> 2 Cor. i: 22. Eph. i: 13; iv: 30.</p></div> + +<p>The fourth word, "<em>sealed</em>," explains our personal connection with the +Lord Jesus. It is used once by<span class="pagenum" title="Page 153"></span><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a> Paul in writing to his friends at +Corinth, and twice in the Ephesian epistle.<span class="snlabel">[14]</span> The seal was used, and +still is to mark ownership. In our lumber regions up in the Northwest it +is customary to clear a small spot on a log and strike it with the blunt +end of a hatchet containing the initials of the owner, and then send it +adrift down the stream with hundreds of others, and though it may float +miles unguarded, that mark of ownership is respected. On the Western +plains it is common to see mules with an initial branded on the flank. +In both cases the initial is the owner's seal, recognized by law as +sufficient evidence of ownership. So the Holy Spirit is Jesus' ownership +mark stamped upon us to indicate that we belong to Him. He is our sole +Owner. And if any of us are not allowing Him to have full control of His +property, we are dealing dishonestly. Sealed is the <em>property</em> or +<em>ownership</em> word.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[15]</span> 2 Cor. i: 22; v: 5. Eph. i: 14.</p></div> +<p>The last one of these words, "<em>earnest</em>," is a peculiarly interesting +one. It is found three times in Paul's epistles.<span class="snlabel">[15]</span> An earnest is a +pledge given in advance as an evidence of good faith. We are familiar +with the usage of paying down a small part of the price agreed upon to +make a business transaction binding. In old English it is called caution +money. My mother has told me of seeing her mother many a time pay a +shilling in the Belfast market-house to insure the delivery of a bag of +potatoes, paying the remainder on its delivery.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[16]</span> Romans viii: 23.</p></div> +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 154"></span><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>Now here the Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance unto +the redemption of the purchased possession." That means two things to +us: First—that the Holy Spirit now filling us is Jesus' pledge that He +has purchased us, and that some day He is coming back to claim His +possessions; and then that the measure of the Spirit's presence and +power now is only a foretaste of a greater fullness at the time of +coming back; a sort of partial advance payment which insures a payment +in full when the transaction is completed. Paul speaks of this to the +Romans as the <em>first fruits</em> of the Spirit.<span class="snlabel">[16]</span></p> + +<p>So, if you will take all five words you will get all of the truth about +our friend the Holy Spirit, and just what His coming into one's life +means. The first word, "baptism," is the <em>historical</em> word, pointing us +<em>back</em> to the day of Pentecost. The other four words, taken together, +tell us the four sides of the Holy Spirit's relation to us now. "Filled" +is the <em>experience</em> word, pointing us <em>inward</em> to what actually takes +place there. "Anointed" is the <em>power</em> word, pointing us <em>outward</em> to +the life and service among men to which we are set apart. "Sealed" is +the <em>personal-relation</em> word, pointing us <em>upward</em> to our Owner and +Master. "Earnest" is the <em>prophetic</em> word, pointing us <em>forward</em> to the +Master's coming back to claim His own, and to bestow the full measure of +the Spirit's presence.</p> + +<p>And to-night we want to get some hint of how to<span class="pagenum" title="Page 155"></span><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a> have this infilling, +which shall also be an anointing of power and a seal of ownership and an +earnest of greater things at Jesus' return.</p> + + +<h4>Broken Couplings.</h4> + +<p>But perhaps some one is saying, "Have not we all received the Holy +Spirit if we are christians?" Yes, that is quite true. It is the Holy +Spirit's presence in us that makes us christians. His work begins at +conversion. Conversion and regeneration are the two sides of the same +transaction. Conversion, the human side: regeneration, the divine side. +My turning clear around to God is my side, and instantly His Spirit +enters and begins His work. But here is a distinction to be made: the +Holy Spirit is in every christian, but in many He is not allowed free +and full control, and so there is little or none of His power <em>felt</em> or +<em>seen</em>. Only as He has full sway is His power <em>manifest</em>. If at the time +of conversion or decision there is clear instruction and a whole-hearted +surrender, there will be evidence of the Spirit's presence at once. And +if the new life goes on <em>without break</em> there will be a continuance of +that power in ever-increasing measure. But many a time, through +ignorance, or through some disobedience or failure to obey, there has +come a break, a slipping of a cog somewhere, and so an interruption of +the flow of power. Many a time lack of instruction regarding the +cultivation of the Spirit's friend<span class="pagenum" title="Page 156"></span><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>ship has resulted in just such a +break. And so a new start is necessary. Then a full surrender is +followed by a new experience or, shall I better say, a re-experience of +the Spirit's presence. And this new experience sometimes is so sharply +marked as to begin a new epoch in the life. Some of the notable leaders +of the Church have gone through just such an experience.</p> + +<p>Yet, I know a man—have known him somewhat intimately for years—one of +the most saintly men it has been my privilege to know. For some years he +was a missionary abroad, but now is preaching in this country. His +private personal life is fragrant, and his public speech is always +accompanied with rare power. In conversation with a young minister at a +summer conference, he said he had never known this second blessing or +experience on which such stress was being laid there. And I think I can +readily understand that he had not. For, apparently, so far as one can +see, his first surrender or decision had been a whole-hearted one. He +had followed simply, fully, as he saw the way. There had been no break, +but a steady going on and up, and an ever-increasing manifestation of +the Spirit's presence from the time of that first decision. So that it +may be said, quite accurately, I think, that <em>in God's plan</em> there is no +need of any second stage, but <em>in our actual experience</em> there has been +a second stage, and sometimes more than a second, too,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 157"></span><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a> because with so +many of us the connections have been broken, making a fresh act on our +part a necessity.</p> + + +<h4>The Real Battlefield.</h4> + +<p>But now the main topic we are to talk about is making and breaking +connections. First, making connections with the source of power. How may +one who has been willing to go thus far in these talks go a step further +and have power in actual <em>conscious</em> possession?</p> + +<p>There are many passages in this old Book that answer that question. But +let me turn you to one which puts the answer in very simple shape. +John's gospel, seventh chapter, verses thirty-seven to thirty-nine. +Listen: "Now, on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood +and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He +that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall +flow rivers of living water." Then John, writing some fifty years or so +afterwards, adds what he himself did not understand at the time: "But +this spake He of the Spirit who they that believed on Him were to +receive; for not yet was the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus +glorified."</p> + +<p>There are four words here which tell the four steps into a new life of +power. Sometimes these<span class="pagenum" title="Page 158"></span><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a> steps are taken so quickly that they seem in +actual experience like only one. But that does not matter to us just +now, for we are after the practical result. Four words—thirst, +glorified, drink, believe—tell the whole story. Thirst means desire, +intense desire. There is no word in our language so strong to express +desire as the word thirst. Physical thirst will completely control your +actions. If you are very thirsty, you can do nothing till that gnawing +desire is satisfied. You cannot read, nor study, nor talk, nor transact +business. You are in agony when intensely thirsty. To die of thirst is +extremely painful. Jesus uses that word thirst to express intensest +desire. Let me ask you—Are you thirsty for power? Is there a yearning +down in your heart for something you have not? That is the first step. +No good to offer food to a man without appetite. "Blessed are they that +hunger and thirst." Pitiable are they that need and do not know their +need. Physicians find their most difficult work in dealing with the man +who has no desire to live. He is at the lowest ebb. Are you thirsty? +There is a special promise for thirsty ones. "I will pour water on him +that is thirsty." If you are not thirsty for the Master's power, are you +thirsty to be made thirsty? If you are not really thirsty in your heart +for this new life of power, you might ask the Master to put that thirst +in you. For there can be nothing before that.</p> + +<p>The second word is the one added long afterwards<span class="pagenum" title="Page 159"></span><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a> by John, when the +Spirit had enlightened his understanding—"glorified." "For not yet was +the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus glorified." That word has +two meanings here: the first meaning a historical one, the second a +personal or experimental one. The historical meaning is this: when Jesus +returned home all scarred in face and form from His trip to the earth, +He was received back with great enthusiasm, and was glorified in the +presence of myriads of angel beings by being enthroned at the Father's +right hand. Then the glorified Jesus sent the Holy Spirit down to the +earth as His own personal representative for His new peculiar mission. +The presence of the Spirit in our hearts is evidence that the Jesus whom +earth despised and crucified is now held in highest honor and glory in +that upper world. The Spirit is the gift of a <em>glorified</em> Jesus. Peter +lays particular stress upon this in his Pentecost sermon, telling to +those who had so spitefully murdered Jesus that He "being at the right +hand of God <em>exalted</em> ... hath poured forth this." That is the +historical meaning—the first meaning—of that word "glorified." It +refers to an event in the highest heaven after Jesus' ascension. The +<em>personal</em> meaning is this: when Jesus is enthroned in my life the Holy +Spirit shall fill me. The Father glorified Jesus by enthroning Him. I +must glorify Him by enthroning Him. But the throne of my heart was +occupied by another who did not propose to resign, nor to be deposed +without resistance. So<span class="pagenum" title="Page 160"></span><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a> there had to be a dethronement as well as an +enthronement. I must quietly but resolutely place the crown of my life, +my love, my <em>will</em> upon Jesus' brow for Him henceforth to control me as +He will. That act of enthroning Him carries with it the dethronement of +self.</p> + +<p>Let me say plainly that here is <em>the</em> searching test of the whole +matter. <em>Why</em> do you want power? For the rare enjoyment of ecstatic +moods? For some hidden selfish purpose, like Simon of Samaria, of which +you are perhaps only half conscious, so subtly does it lurk underneath? +That you may be able to move men? These motives are all selfish. The +streams turn in, and that means a dead sea. Better stop before you +begin. For thy heart is not right before God. But if the uppermost and +undermost desire be to glorify Jesus and let Him do in you, and with you +<em>what He chooses</em>, then you shall know the flooding of the channel-ways +of your life with a new stream of power.</p> + +<p>Jesus Himself, when down here as Son of Man, met this test. With +reverence be it said that His highest purpose in coming to earth was not +to die upon the cross, but to glorify His Father. That memorable passage +opening the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, which Jesus applied to +Himself in the Nazareth synagogue, contains eight or nine statements of +what He was to do, but closes with a comprehensive statement of the +underlying purpose—"<em>that He might be glorified</em>." As it turned out, +that<span class="pagenum" title="Page 161"></span><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a> could best be done by yielding to the awful experiences through +which He passed. But the supreme thought of pleasing His Father was +never absent from His thought. It drove Him to the wilderness, and to +Gethsemane, and to Calvary.</p> + +<p>Is that the one purpose in your heart in desiring power? He might send +some of us out to the far-off foreign mission field. He might send some +down to the less enchanted field of the city slums to do salvage service +night after night among the awful social <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's +Note: Original had "weckage"">wreckage</ins> thrown upon the strand there; or possibly +it would mean an isolated post out on the frontier, or down in the +equally heroic field of the mountains of the South. He might leave some +of you just where you are, in a commonplace, humdrum spot, as you think, +when your visions had been in other fields. He might make you a +seed-sower, like lonely Morrison in China, when <em>you</em> wanted to be a +harvester like Moody. Here is the real battlefield. The fighting and +agonizing are here. Not with God but with yourself, that the old self in +you may be crucified and Jesus crowned in its place.</p> + +<p>Will you <em>in the purpose of your heart</em> make Jesus absolute monarch +whatever that may prove to mean? It <em>may</em> mean great sacrifice; it +<em>will</em> mean greater joy and power at once. May we have the simple +courage to do it. Master, help us! Thou wilt help us. Thou art helping +some of us now as we talk and listen and think.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 162"></span><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>Power Manifest in Action.</h4> + +<p>Well, then, if you have won on that field of action, the rest is very +simple. Indeed, after a victory there, your whole life moves up to a new +level. The third word is drink. "Let him come unto Me <em>and drink</em>." +Drinking is one of the easiest acts imaginable. I wish I had a glass of +water here just to let you see how easy a thing it is. Tip up the glass +and let the water run in and down. Drink simply means <em>take</em>. It is +saying, "Lord Jesus, I take from Thee the promised power.... I thank +Thee that the Spirit has taken full control." But you say, "Is that +all?" Yes. "Why, I do not feel anything." Do you remember saying +something like that when you were urged to take Jesus as your Savior? +And some kind friend told you not to wait for feeling, but to trust, and +that when you did that, the light came? Now, the fourth word is +<em>believe</em>. The law of God's dealing with you has not changed. Jesus +says, "Out of his belly <em>shall flow</em> rivers of living water." You are to +believe His word. "But," you say, "how shall I <em>know</em> I have this +power?" Well, first, by <em>believing</em> that Jesus has done what He agreed. +He promised the Spirit to them that obey Him. The Holy Spirit fills +every surrendered heart. Then there is a second way—you will experience +the power as need arises. How do you know <em>any</em>thing? Here is this +chair. Suppose I tell you I have power to pick it up and hold<span class="pagenum" title="Page 163"></span><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a> it out at +arm's length. Well, you think, I look as though I might have that much +power in my arm. But you do not know. Perhaps my arm is weak and does +not show it. But now I pick it up and hold it out—(holding chair out at +arm's length)—now you <em>know</em> I have at least that much power in my arm. +Power is always manifest in action. That is a law of power. How did that +man by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, who had not walked for +thirty-eight years—how did he <em>know</em> that he had received power to +walk? <em>He got up and walked!</em> He did not know he had received the power +till he got up. Power is shown in action always. Faith acts. It pushes +out, in obedience to command. And when you go out of here to-day, <em>as +the need arises</em> you will find the power rising within you to meet it. +When the hasty word comes hot to your lips, when that old habit asserts +itself, when the actual test of sacrifice comes, when the opportunity +for service comes, as surely as the need comes, will come the sense of +<em>His power</em> in control. Believe means <em>expect</em>.</p> + +<p>"Thirst," "glorify," "drink," "believe"—<em>desire</em>, <em>enthrone</em>, <em>accept</em>, +<em>expect</em>—that is the simple story. Are you thirsty? Will you put Jesus +on the throne? Then accept, and go out with your eyes open, expecting, +expecting, <em>expecting</em>, and He will never fail to reveal His power. +Shall we bow in silence a few moments and settle the matter, each of us, +with the Master direct?</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 164"></span><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>Three Laws of Continuous Power.</h4> + +<p>Power depends on good connections. In mechanics: the train with the +locomotive; the machinery with the engine; the electrical mechanism with +the power house. In the body: the arm with the socket; the brain with +the heart. In the christian life the follower of Jesus with the Spirit +of Jesus. We have been talking together about making connections, and I +believe some of us have made the vital connection this hour, which means +new inflow and outflow of power.</p> + +<p>Now there will be time for only a brief word about <em>breaking</em> +connections. "But," you say, "we do not want to break connections." No, +<em>you</em> do not. But there is someone else who does. Since you have put +yourself into intimate contact with Jesus this someone else has become +intensely interested in breaking that contact. And this enemy of ours, +this Satan, the hater, is subtle and deep and experienced and more than +a match for any of us. But greater is He that is now in you than he that +is in the world. Satan will do his best by bold attack and cunning +deceit to tamper with your couplings.</p> + +<p>One of the saddest sights, and yet a not uncommon one, is to see a man +who has been mightily used of God, but whose usefulness is now wholly +gone. One can run back through only recent years and recall, one after +another, those through whom<span class="pagenum" title="Page 165"></span><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a> multitudes were blessed, but who, yielding +to some subtle temptation, have utterly and forever lost their +opportunity Of service. The same is true of scores in more secluded +circles whose lives, spiritually blighted and dwarfed, tell the same sad +story.</p> + +<p>These recent instances are but repetitions of older ones. Three times +the writer of Judges tells of Samson that "the spirit of the Lord came +mightily upon him," and then is added the pathetic sentence—"but he +wist not that the Lord was departed from him." And between the two +occurs the story of an act of disobedience. Twice the same thing is +recorded of King Saul, "the spirit of God came mightily upon him," and +the same sequel follows, "the spirit of the Lord had departed." And +between the two is found an act of disobedience to God's command. The +ninth of Luke tells a similar story. The disciples had been given power; +had used the power for others; were requested to relieve a demonized +boy; had tried to; had expected to; but utterly failed, to their own +chagrin, and the father's disappointment, amid the surprise and +criticism of the crowd. The Master explains that a slipshod connection +with God was at the bottom of their failure. Power is not stored in us +apart from God's presence. It merely passes through as He has sway. Once +the connection between Him and you is disturbed, the flow of power is +interrupted. We do not run on the storage battery plan, but on the +trolley plan. Constant communication with the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 166"></span><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a> source of power is +absolutely essential. The spirit of God never leaves us. We do not lose +His presence. But whatever grieves Him prevents His presence being +manifest. The <em>evidence</em> of His presence may be lost through wrongdoing. +So I want to give you in very brief compass <em>the three laws</em> of the life +of power—continued and increasing power. I wish some one had given them +to me long ago. It might have saved me many a bad break.</p> + +<p><em>The first law</em> can be put in a single word—<em>obey</em>. Obedience is the +great foundation law of the christian life. Indeed it is the common +fundamental law of all organization, in nature, in military, naval, +commercial, political and domestic circles. Obedience is the great +essential to securing the purpose of life. Disobedience means disaster. +If you turn to scripture you must read almost every page if you would +get all the statements and illustrations of obedience and its opposite. +Begin with the third of Genesis, where the first disastrous act of +disobedience brought a ruin still going on. Run through the three +wilderness books, where the new nation is grouped about the smoking +mountain. Listen in Deuteronomy to the old man Moses talking during the +thirty days' conference they had in Moab's plains before he was taken +away. Then into Joshua's book of victory and the Judges' dark story of +defeats, through the kingdom books, and the prophecies, and you will +find the changes rung more frequently upon <em>obedience</em> than anything +else. The<span class="pagenum" title="Page 167"></span><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a> same is true of the New Testament clear to the last column of +the last page.</p> + +<p>The fact is, every heart is a battlefield whose possession is being +hotly contested. If Jesus is in possession Satan is trying his best by +storm or strategy to get in. If Satan be in possession whether as a +coarse or a cultured Satan, then Jesus is lovingly storming the door. +Satan <em>can</em> not get in without your consent, and Jesus <em>will</em> not. An +act of obedience to God is slamming the door in Satan's face, and +opening it wider for Jesus' control. Listen with your heart! An act of +disobedience, however slight, as <em>you</em> think, is slamming the door of +your heart in Jesus' face and flinging it open to Satan's entrance. Is +that mere rhetoric? It is cold fact. No, it is hot fact. The first great +simple law is obedience.</p> + +<p>But someone asks, "How shall I know what—whom, to obey? Sometimes the +voices coming to my ear seem to be jarring voices; they do not agree. +Pastors do not all agree: churches are not quite agreed on some matters: +my best friends think differently: how shall I know?" Here comes in <em>the +second law</em>, <em>Obey the book of God as interpreted by the Spirit of God</em>. +Not the book alone. That will lead into superstition. Not to say the +Spirit without the book He has indited. That will lead to fanaticism. +But the book as interpreted by the Spirit, and the Spirit as He speaks +through His book. There is a voice of God, and a Spirit of God and a +book of<span class="pagenum" title="Page 168"></span><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a> God. God speaks by His Spirit through His word Sometimes He +speaks directly without the written word. But <em>very, very rarely</em>. The +mental impressions by which the Spirit guides are frequent. But I am +speaking now, not of that but of His audible inner voice. He is chary in +the use of that. And when he so speaks the <em>test</em> is that, of necessity, +the voice of God always agrees with itself. The spoken word is never out +of harmony with the written word. And as He has given us the written +word, it becomes our standard of His will. This book of God was +inspired. It <em>is</em> inspired. God spoke in it. He speaks in it to-day. You +will be surprised to find how light on every sort of question will come +through this in-Spirited book.</p> + +<p>But someone with a practical turn of mind is thinking: "but it is such a +big book. I do not know much about it. I read the psalms some, and some +chapters in Isaiah, and the gospels and some in the epistles, but I have +no grasp of the whole book; and your second law seems a little beyond +me." Then <em>you</em> listen to the third law, namely: <em>time alone with the +book daily</em>. It should be unhurried time. Time enough not to think about +time. At least a half hour every day, I would suggest, and preferably +the first half hour of the morning, rising at least early enough to get +this bit of time before any duty can claim you. It may seem very +difficult for some. But it is an absolute essential, for the first two +laws depend on this one for their practical force.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 169"></span><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>When Joshua, trembling, was called upon to assume the stupendous task of +being Moses' successor, God came and had a quiet talk with him. In that +talk He emphasized just one thing as the secret of his new leadership. +Listen: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but +thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to +do according to all that is written therein." There are the three laws +straight from the lips of God, packed into a single sentence.</p> + +<p>Let us plan to get alone with the Master daily over His word, with the +door shut, other things shut out, and ourselves shut in, that we may +learn His will, and get strength to do it. And when in doubt <em>wait</em>.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a></p><!-- THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 173"></span><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER.</h2> + +<h4>God's Highest Ideal.</h4> + + +<p>A flood-tide is a rising tide. It flows in and fills up and spreads out. +Wherever it goes it cleanses and fertilizes and beautifies. For untold +centuries Egypt has depended for its very life upon the yearly +flood-tide of the Nile. The rich bottom lands of the Connecticut Valley +are refertilized every spring by that river's flood-tide. The green +beauty and rich fruitage of some parts of the Sacramento Valley, whose +soil is flooded by the artificial irrigation-rivers, are in sharp +contrast with adjoining unwatered portions.</p> + +<p>The flood-tide is caused by influences from above. In the ocean and the +portions of rivers under its influence by the heavenly bodies. In the +rivers by the fall of rain and snow swelling successively the upper +streams and lakes.</p> + +<p>God's highest ideal for men is frequently expressed under the figure of +a river running at flood-tide. Ezekiel's vision of the future capital of +Israel gives prominence to a wonderful river gradually reaching +flood-tide and exerting untold influence.</p> + +<p>John's companion vision of the future church in the closing chapters of +Revelation finds its radiating<span class="pagenum" title="Page 174"></span><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a> center in an equally wonderful river of +water of life. When Jesus would give a picture of a christian man up to +His ideal He exclaims, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living +water." John's explanation years after was that He was speaking of the +Holy Spirit's presence in the human life. Jesus' ideal would put our +lives at the flood-tide. No ebb-tide there. No rise and fall. But a +constant flowing in and filling up and flooding out.</p> + +<p>Love is ambitious. God is love. And therefore God is ambitious for us. +In the best sense of the word He is ambitious for our lives. The old +impression has been that salvation is for the soul, and for heaven. +Well, it is for the soul, and it is for heaven, but it is for the +present life and for this earth. Some of God's most far-reaching plans +have to do with this earth. To-night we want to get a glimpse of God's +ambitious ideal for our lives down here; something of an understanding +of the <em>results</em> of the unrestrained presence within us of His Holy +Spirit.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[17]</span> Exodus xxxi: 1-5.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[18]</span> Numbers xi: 16, 17.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[19]</span> Luke i: 13-17, 41.</p></div> +<p>It is not surprising that there have been some mistaken ideas about the +results. It has been a common supposition that somehow the baptism of +the Holy Spirit is always connected with an evangelistic gift and, +further, connected with marked success in soul-winning. Men have thought +of Mr. Moody facing great crowds, who were swayed and melted at his +words, and of people in great multitudes accepting Christ. Probably the +world has<span class="pagenum" title="Page 175"></span><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a> never had a finer illustration of a Spirit-filled man than in +dear old Moody. And it is not to be wondered at that the rare +evangelistic gift of service with which he was endowed and the great +results attending it should be so closely allied in our minds with the +Spirit-filled life which he exemplified so unusually. In sharp contrast +however with that conception will you note that we are told over here in +Exodus of a man named Bezalel<span class="snlabel">[17]</span> who was filled with the Spirit of God +that he might have skill in carpentry, in metal working, and weaving of +fine fabrics, for the construction of the old tent of God. Will you note +further that a company of seventy men<span class="snlabel">[18]</span> were filled in a like manner +that they might be skilled in conducting the business affairs of the +nation; and that Luke tells of Elizabeth<span class="snlabel">[19]</span> being filled that she might +become a true mother for John.</p> + +<p>A second misconception has been that marked success always accompanies +the Spirit's control. In contrast with that will you please note the +results in some of the Spirit-swayed men whom God used in Bible times. +Isaiah was called to a service that was to be barren of results, though +long continued; and Jeremiah's was not only fruitless but with great +personal peril. Jesus' public work led through a rough path to a crown +of thorns and a cross. Stephen's testimony brought him a storm of +stones. And Paul passed through great danger and distress<span class="pagenum" title="Page 176"></span><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a> to a cell, +and beyond, a keen-edged ax. These are leaders among Spirit-filled men.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[20]</span> 1 Cor. xii: 4-6, 11.</p></div> +<p>Paul's teaching in the Corinthian epistle helps one to a clear +understanding about results. He explains that while it is one Spirit +dwelling in all who acknowledge Jesus as Lord, yet the <em>evidence</em> of His +presence differs widely in different persons. It is one God working all +things in all persons, but with great variety in the gifts bestowed, in +the service with which they are intrusted, and in the inner experiences +they are conscious of.<span class="snlabel">[20]</span></p> + +<p>What results then may be expected to follow the filling of the Holy +Spirit? It may be said in a sentence that Jesus fills us with the same +Spirit that filled Himself that He may work out in us His own image and +ideal, <em>and</em> make use of us in His passionate reaching out after others. +If we attempt to analyze these results we shall find them falling into +three groups. First—results in the <em>life</em>, that is in the inner +experiences, and the habits. Second—results in the <em>personality</em>, that +is in the appearance, and the mental faculties. Third—results in +<em>service</em>. Let us look a little at each of these.</p> + + +<h4>A Transfigured Life.</h4> + +<p>First regarding the inner experiences. Without doubt the first result +experienced will be a new sense of <em>peace</em>: a glad, quiet stillness of +spirit which noth<span class="pagenum" title="Page 177"></span><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>ing seems able to disturb. The heart will be filled +with a peace still as the stars, calm as the night, deep as the sea, +fragrant as the flowers.</p> + +<p>How many thousands of lips have lovingly lingered over those sweet +strong words: "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall +guard your heart and thought in Christ Jesus." It is God's peace. It +acts as an armed guard drawn up around heart and thoughts to keep unrest +out. It is too subtle for intellectual analysis, but it steals into and +steadies the heart. You cannot understand it but you can feel it. You +cannot get hold of it with your head, but you can with your heart. You +do not get it. It gets you. You need not understand in order to +experience. Blessed are they that have not understood and yet have +yielded and experienced.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i1">"Peace beginning to be<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Deep as the sleep of the sea<br /></span> +<span>When the stars their faces glass<br /></span> +<span class="i1">In its blue tranquillity:<br /></span> +<span>Hearts of men upon earth<br /></span> +<span>That rested not from their birth<br /></span> +<span>To rest, as the wild waters rest,<br /></span> +<span>With the colors of heaven on their breast."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>With that will come a new intense longing to do the Master's will; to +<em>please Him</em>. As the days come and go this will come to be the +master-passion of this new life. It will drive one with a new purpose +and zest to studying the one book which tells<span class="pagenum" title="Page 178"></span><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a> His will. That book +becomes literally the book of books to the Spirit-dominated man.</p> + +<p>With that will come a new desire to talk with this new Master, who talks +to you in His word, and is ever at your side sympathetically listening. +His book reveals Himself. And better acquaintance with Him will draw you +oftener aside for a quiet talk. The <em>pleasure</em> of praying will grow by +leaps and bounds. Nothing so inspires to prayer as reverent listening to +His voice. Frequent use of the ears will result in more frequent use of +the voice in prayer and praise. And more: Prayer will come to be a part +of service. Intercession will become the life mission.</p> + +<p>But I must be frank enough to tell you of another result, which is as +sure to come as these—<em>there will be conflict</em>. You will be tempted +more than ever. Temptations will come with the subtlety of a snake; with +the rush of a storm; with the unexpected swiftness of a lightning flash. +You see the act of surrender to Jesus is a notice of fight to another. +You have changed masters, and the discarded master does not let go +easily. He is a trained, toughened fighter. You will think that you +never had so many temptations, so strong, so subtle, so trying, so +unexpected. But listen—<em>there will be victory</em>! Truth goes in pairs. +You will be tempted. The devil will attend to that. That is one truth. +Its companion truth is this: you will be victorious over temptation as +the new Master has sway. Your new Master<span class="pagenum" title="Page 179"></span><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a> will attend to that. Great and +cunning and strong is the tempter. Do not underrate him. But greater is +He that is in you. You cannot overrate Him. He got the victory at every +turn during those thirty-three years, and will get it for you as many +years and turns as shall make out the span of your life. Your one +business will be to let Him have full control.</p> + +<p>Still another result, of the surprising sort, will be a new feeling +about <em>sin</em>. There will be an increased and increasing <em>sensitiveness</em> +to sin. It will seem so hateful whether coarse or cultured. You will +shrink from contact with it. There will also be a growing sense of the +<em>sinfulness</em> of that old heart of yours, even while you may be having +constant victory over temptation. Then, too, there will grow up a +yearning, oh! such a heart-yearning as cannot be told in words, <em>to be +pure</em>, really pure in heart.</p> + +<p>A seventh result will be an intense desire to get others to know your +wonderful Master. A desire so strong, gripping you so tremendously, that +all thought of sacrifice will sink out of sight in its achievement. He +is such a Master! so loving, so kind, so wondrous! And so many do not +know Him: have wrong ideas about Him. If they only <em>knew</em> Him—that +surely would settle it. And probably these two—the desire to please +Him, and the desire to get others to know Him will take the <em>mastery</em> of +your ambition and life.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 180"></span><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>The All-Inclusive Passion.</h4> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[21]</span> Rom. v: 5.</p></div> +<p>But all of these and much more is included in one of Paul's packed +phrases which may be read, "the <em>love</em> of God hath <em>flooded</em> our hearts +through the Holy Spirit given unto us."<span class="snlabel">[21]</span> The all-inclusive result is +<em>love</em>. That marvelous tender passion—the love of God—heightless, +depthless, shoreless, shall <em>flood</em> our hearts, making us as gentle and +tender-hearted and self-sacrificing and gracious as He. Every phase of +life will become a phase of love. Peace is love resting. Bible study is +love reading its lover's letters. Prayer is love keeping tryst. Conflict +with sin is love jealously fighting for its Lover. Hatred of sin is love +shrinking from that which separates from its lover. Sympathy is love +tenderly feeling. Enthusiasm is love burning. Hope is love expecting. +Patience is love waiting. Faithfulness is love sticking fast. Humility +is love taking its true place. Modesty is love keeping out of sight. +Soul-winning is love pleading.</p> + + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[22]</span> Gal. v: 22-23.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[23]</span> 1 Cor. xiii.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[24]</span> Luke vi: 35. R. V., margin.</p></div> +<p>Love is revolutionary. It radically changes us, and revolutionizes our +spirit toward all others. Love is democratic. It ruthlessly levels all +class distinctions. Love is intensely practical. It is always hunting +something to do. Paul lays great stress on this outer practical side. Do +you remember his "fruit of the Spirit"?<span class="snlabel">[22]</span> It is an analysis of love.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 181"></span><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a> +While the first three—"love, joy, peace"—are emotions within, the +remaining six are outward toward others. Notice, "long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness," and then the climax is +reached in the last—"self-control." And in his great love passage in +the first Corinthian epistle,<span class="snlabel">[23]</span> he picks out four of these last six, +and shows further just what he means by love in its practical working in +the life. "Long-suffering" is repeated, and so is "kindness" or +"goodness." "Faithfulness" is reproduced in "never faileth." Then +"self-control" receives the emphasis of an eight-fold repetition of +"nots." Listen:—"Envieth not," "boasteth not," "not puffed up," "not +unseemly," "seeketh not (even) her own," "is not provoked," "taketh not +account of evil" (in trying to help others, like Jesus' word "despairing +of no man"<span class="snlabel">[24]</span>), "rejoiceth not in unrighteousness" (that is when the +unrighteous is punished, but instead feels sorry for him). What +tremendous power of self-mastery in those "nots"! Then the positive side +is brought out in four "alls"; two of them—the first and last—passive +qualities, "beareth all things," "endureth all things." And in between, +two active "hopeth all things," "believeth all things." The passive +qualities doing sentinel duty on both sides of the active. These passive +traits are intensely active in their passivity. There is a busy time +under the surface of those<span class="pagenum" title="Page 182"></span><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a> "nots" and "alls." What a wealth of +underlying power they reveal! Sometimes folks think it sentimental to +talk of love. Probably it is of some stuff that shuffles along under +that name. But when the Holy Spirit talks about it, and fills our hearts +with it there is seen to be an intensely practical passion at work.</p> + +<p>Love is not only the finest fruit, but it is the final test of a +christian life. How many splendid men of God have seemed to lack here. +What a giant of faith and strength Elijah was. Such intense indignation +over sin! Such fearless denunciation! What tremendous faith gripping the +very heavens! What marvelous power in prayer. Yet listen to him +criticising the faithful remnant whom God lovingly defends against his +aspersions. There seems a serious lack there. God seems to understand +his need. He asks him to slip down to Horeb for a new vision of his +Master. And then He revealed Himself not in whirlwind nor earthquake nor +lightning. He doubtless felt at home among these tempestuous outbreaks. +They suit his temper. But something startlingly new came to him in that +exquisite "sound of gentle stillness," hushing, awing, mellowing, giving +a new conception of the dominant heart of his God. Some of us might well +drop things, and take a run down to Horeb.</p> + +<p>I know an earnest scholarly minister with strong personality, and +fearless in his preaching against sin, but who seems to lack this spirit +of love. He is so<span class="pagenum" title="Page 183"></span><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a> cuttingly critical at times. The other ministers of +his town whom he might easily lead, shy off from him. There is no +magnetism in the edge of a razor. His critical spirit can be felt when +his lips are shut. I recall a woman, earnest, winsome when she chooses +to be, an intelligent Bible student, keen-scented for error, a generous +giver, but what a sharp edge her tongue has. One is afraid to get close +lest it may cut.</p> + +<p>When the Holy Spirit takes possession there is <em>love</em>, aye, more, a +<em>flood</em> of love. Have you ever seen a flood? I remember one in the +Schuylkill during my boyhood days and how it impressed me. Those who +live along the valley of that treacherous mountain stream, the Ohio, +know something of the power of a flood. How the waters come rushing +down, cutting out new channels, washing down rubbish, tearing valuable +property from its moorings, ruling the valley autocratically while men +stand back entirely helpless.</p> + +<p>Would you care to have a flood-tide of love flush the channelways of +your life like that? It would clean out something you have preferred +keeping. It would with quiet, ruthless strength, tear some prized +possessions from their moorings and send them adrift down stream and +out. Its high waters would put out some of the fires on the lower +levels. Better think a bit before opening the sluice-ways for that +flood. But ah! it will sweeten and make fragrant. It will cut new +channels, and broaden and deepen<span class="pagenum" title="Page 184"></span><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a> old ones. And what a harvest will +follow in its wake. Floods are apt to do peculiar things. So does this +one. It washes out the friction-grit from between the wheels. It does +not dull the edge of the tongue, but washes the bitter out of the mouth, +and the green out of the eye. It leaves one deaf and blind in some +matters, but much keener-sighted and quicker-eared in others. Strange +flood that! Would that we all knew more of it.</p> + + +<h4>The Fullness of the Stature of a Man.</h4> + +<p>Now note some of the changes <em>in the personality</em> which attend the +Spirit's unrestrained presence. Without doubt the face will change, +though it might be difficult to describe the change. That Spirit within +changes the look of the eye. His peace within the heart will affect the +flow of blood in the physical heart, and so in turn the clearness of the +complexion. The real secret of winsome beauty is here. That new dominant +purpose will modulate the voice, and the whole expression of the face, +and the touch of the hand, and the carriage of the body. And yet the one +changed will be least conscious of it, if conscious at all. Neither +Moses nor Stephen knew of their transfigured faces.</p> + +<p>It is of peculiar interest to note the changes in the mental make-up. It +may be said positively that <em>the original group of mental faculties +remain the same</em>. There seems to be nothing to indicate that any<span class="pagenum" title="Page 185"></span><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a> change +takes place in one's natural endowment. No faculty is added that nature +had not put there, and certainly none removed.</p> + +<p>But it is very clear that there is a <em>marked development</em> of these +natural gifts, and that this change is brought about by the putting in +of <em>a new and tremendous motive power</em>, which radically affects +everything it touches.</p> + +<p>Regarding this development four facts may be noted.</p> + +<p>First fact:—<em>Those faculties or talents which may hitherto have lain +latent, unmatured, are aroused into use.</em> Most men have large +undeveloped resources, and endowments. Many of us are one-sided in our +development. We are strangers to the real possible self within, +unconscious of some of the powers with which we are endowed and +intrusted. The Holy Spirit, when given a free hand, works out the +fullness of the life that has been put in. The change will not be in the +sort but in the size, and that not by an addition but by a growth of +what is there.</p> + +<p>Moses complains that he is slow of speech and of a slow tongue. God does +not promise a new tongue but that he will be <em>with</em> him and <em>train</em> his +tongue. Listen to him forty years after in the Moab Plains, as with +brain fired, and tongue loosened and trained he gives that series of +farewell talks fairly burning with eloquence. Students of oratory can +find no nobler specimens than Deuteronomy furnishes. The<span class="pagenum" title="Page 186"></span><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a> unmatured +powers lying dormant had been aroused to full growth by the indwelling +Spirit of God.</p> + +<p>Saintly Dr. A. J. Gordon, whose face was as surely transfigured as was +Moses' or Stephen's used to say that in his earlier years he had no +executive ability. Men would say of him, "Well, Gordon can preach but—" +intimating that he could not do much else; not much of the practical +getting of things done in his makeup. When he was offered the +chairmanship of the missionary committee of the Baptist Church, he +promptly declined as being utterly unfit for such a task. Finally with +reluctance he accepted, and for years he guided and molded with rare +sagacity the entire scheme of missionary operation of the great Baptist +Church of the North. He was accustomed with rare frankness and modesty +to speak of the change in himself as an illustration of how the Spirit +develops talents which otherwise had lain unsuspected and unused.</p> + +<p>The second fact: <em>ALL of one's faculties will be developed, to the +highest normal pitch.</em> Not only the undeveloped faculties, but those +already developed will know a new life. That new presence within will +sharpen the brain, and fire the imagination. It will make the logic +keener, the will steadier, the executive faculty more alert.</p> + +<p>The civil engineer will be more accurate in his measurements and +calculations. The scientific man more keenly observant of facts, better +poised in his generalization upon them, and more convincing in<span class="pagenum" title="Page 187"></span><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a> his +demonstrations. The locomotive engineer will handle his huge machine +more skillfully. The road saves money in having a christian hand on the +throttle. The lawyer will be more thorough in his sifting of evidence, +and more convincing in the planning of his cases. The business man will +be even more sharply alive to business. The college student can better +grasp his studies, and write with stronger thought and clearer diction. +The cook will get a finer flavor into the food. And so on to the end of +the list. Why? Not by any magic, but simply and only because man was +created to be animated and dominated by the Spirit of God. That is his +normal condition. The Spirit of God is his natural atmosphere. The +machine works best when run under the inventor's immediate direction. +Only as a man—any man—is swayed by the Holy Spirit, will his powers +rise to their best. And a man is not doing his best, however hardworking +and conscientious, and therefore not fair to his own powers, who lives +otherwise.</p> + +<p>Some one may enter the objection, that many of the keenest men with +finely disciplined powers may be found among non-christian men. But he +should remember two facts, first, that a like truth holds good in the +opposite camp. There are undoubtedly men whose genius is brilliant +because inspired by an evil spirit. There are cultured scholarly men, +and keen shrewd business men who have yielded their powers to another +than God and are greatly assisted<span class="pagenum" title="Page 188"></span><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a> by evil spirits, though it is quite +likely that they are not conscious that this is the true analysis of +their success.</p> + +<p>The second fact to note is that no matter how keen or developed a man's +powers may be either as just suggested, or, by dint of native strength +and of his own effort they are still of necessity less than they would +be if swayed by the Spirit of God. For man is created to be indwelt and +inspired by God's Spirit, and his powers <em>can</em> not be at their best +pitch save as the conditions of their creation are met.</p> + +<p>The third fact:—<em>There will be a gradual bringing back to their normal +condition of those facilities which have been dwarfed, or warped, or +abnormally developed through sin and selfishness.</em> Sometimes these moral +twists and quirks in our mental faculties are an inheritance through one +or more generations. The man with excessive egotism often carries the +evidence of it in the very shape of his head. But as he yields to the +new Spirit dominant within, a spirit of humility, of modesty will +gradually displace so much of the other as is abnormal. The man of +superficial mind will be deepened in his mental processes. The man of +hasty judgment or poor judgment will grow careful in his conclusions. +The lazy man will get a new lease of ambition and energy.</p> + +<p>These results will be gradual, as all of God's processes are. Sometimes +painfully gradual, and will be strictly in proportion as the man yields +himself unreservedly to the control of the indwelling Spirit.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 189"></span><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a> And the +process will be by the injection of a new and mighty motive power. The +shallow-minded man will have an intense desire to study God's wondrous +classic so as to learn His will. And though his studies may not get much +farther, yet no one book so disciplines and deepens the mind as that. +The lazy man will find a fire kindling in his bones to please his Master +and do something for Him, that will burn through and burn up his +indolence. The man of hasty judgment will find himself stopping to +consider what his Master would desire. And the mere pause to think is a +long step toward more accurate judgment. He will become a reverent +student of the word of God, and nothing corrects the judgment like that.</p> + +<p>The self-willed, headstrong man will likely have the toughest time of +any. To let his own plan utterly go, and instead fit into a radically +different one will shake him up terrifically. But that mighty One within +will lovingly woo and move him. And as he yields, and victory comes, he +will be delighted to find that the highest act of the strongest will is +in yielding to a higher will when found. He will be charmed to discover +that the rarest liberty comes only in perfect obedience to perfect law.</p> + +<p>And so every sort of man who has gotten some moral twist or obliquity in +his mental make-up will be straightened out to the normal standard of +his Maker, <em>as he allows Him to take full control</em>.</p> + +<p>The fourth fact:—<em>All this growth and development<span class="pagenum" title="Page 190"></span><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a> will be strictly +along the groove of the man's natural endowment.</em> The natural mental +bent will not be changed though the moral crooks will be straightened +out. Peter's rash, self-assertive twists are corrected, but he remains +the same Peter mentally. He does not possess the rare logical powers of +Paul, nor the judicial administrative temper of James, before the +infilling, and is not endowed with either after that experience. John's +intensity which would call down fire to burn up supposed foes is not +removed but turned into another channel, and burns itself out in love. +Jonathan Edwards retains and develops his marvelous faculty of +metaphysical reasoning and uses it to influence men for God. Finney's +intensely logical mind is not changed but fired and used in the same +direction.</p> + +<p>Moody has neither of these gifts, but has an unusually magnetic +presence, and a great executive faculty which leaves its impress on his +blunt direct speech. His faculties are not changed, nor added to, but +developed wonderfully and used. Geo. Mueller never becomes a great +preacher like these three; nor an expositor, but finds his rare +development in his marked administrative skill. Charles Studd remains a +poor speaker with jagged rhetoric and with no organizing knack, though +the fire of God in his presence kindles the flames of mission zeal in +the British universities, and melts your heart as you listen. +Shaftsbury's mental processes show the generations of aristocratic +breeding even in his<span class="pagenum" title="Page 191"></span><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a> costermonger's cart lovingly winning these men, or +after midnight searching out the waifs of London's nooks and docks. +Clough is refused by the missionary board because of his lack of certain +required qualifications, and when finally he reaches the field none of +these qualities appears, but his skill as an engineer gives him a hold +upon thousands whom his presence and God-breathed passion for souls win +to Jesus Christ. Carey's unusual linguistic talent, Mary Lyon's teaching +gift are not changed but developed and used. The growth produced by the +Spirit's presence is strictly along the groove of the natural gift. But +note that in this great variety of natural endowment there is one +trait—a moral trait, not a mental—that marks all alike, namely a +pervading purpose, that comes to be a passion, to do God's will, and get +men to know Him, and that everything is forced to bend to this dominant +purpose. Is not this glorious unity in diversity?</p> + + +<h4>Saved and Sent to Serve.</h4> + +<p>The third group of results affects our <em>service</em>. We will want to serve. +Love must act. We must <em>do</em> something for our Master. We must do +<em>something</em> for those around us. There will be a new <em>spirit</em> of +service. Its peculiar characteristic and charm will be the <em>heart of +love</em> in it. Love will envelop and undergird and pervade and exude from +all service. There will be a fine graciousness, a patience, a strong<span class="pagenum" title="Page 192"></span><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a> +tenderness, an earnest faithfulness, a hopeful tirelessness which will +despair of no man, and of no situation.</p> + +<p>The <em>sort</em> of service and the <em>sphere</em> of service will be left entirely +to the direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit, "dividing to every man +<em>as He will</em>." There will be no choosing of a life work but a prayerful +waiting till <em>His choice</em> is clear, and then a joyous acceptance of +that. There will be no attempt to open doors, not even with a single +touch or twist of the knob, but only an entering of <em>opened</em> doors.</p> + +<p>If the work be humble, or the place lowly, or both, there will be a +cheery eager using of the highest powers keyed to their best pitch. If +higher up, a steady remembering that there can be no power save as the +Spirit controls, and a praying to be kept from the dizziness which +unaccustomed height is apt to produce. Large quantities of paper and ink +will be saved. For many letters of application and indorsement will +remain <em>unwritten</em>.</p> + +<p>The Master's say-so is accepted by Spirit-led men as final. He chooses +Peter to <em>open</em> the door to the outer nations, and Paul to <em>enter</em> the +opened door. He chooses not an apostle but Philip to open up Samaria, +and Titus to guide church matters in Crete. A miner's son is chosen to +shake Europe, and a cobbler to kindle anew the missionary fires of +Christendom. Livingston is sent to open up the heart of Africa for a +fresh infusion of the blood the Son of God. A nurse-maid, whose name +re<span class="pagenum" title="Page 193"></span><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>mains unknown, is used to mold for God the child who became the +seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, one of the most truly Spirit-filled men of +the world. Geo. Mueller is chosen for the signal service of re-teaching +men that God still lives and actually answers prayer. Speer is used to +breathe a new spirit of devotion among college students, and Mott to +arouse and organize their service around the world. Geo. Williams and +Robert McBurney become the leaders, British and American, in an +in-Spirited movement to win young men by thousands. An earnest woman is +chosen to mother and to shape for God the tender years of earth's +greatest queen, who through character and position exerted a greater +influence for righteousness than any other woman. The common factor in +all is the Chooser. Jesus is the Chief Executive of the campaign through +His Spirit. The direction of it belongs to Him. He knows best what each +one can do. He knows best what needs to be done. He is ambitious that +each of us shall be the best, and have the best. He has a plan thought +out for each life, and for the whole campaign. His Spirit is in us to +administer His plan. He never sleeps. He divideth to every man severally +as He will. And His is a loving, wise will. It can be trusted.</p> + +<p>A Spirit-mastered man slowly comes to understand that service now is +apprenticeship-service. He is in training for the time when a King shall +reign, and will need tested and trusted and trained<span class="pagenum" title="Page 194"></span><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a> servants. He is in +college getting ready for commencement day. That <em>may</em> explain in part +why some of the workers whom <em>we</em> think can be least spared, are called +away in their prime. Their apprentice term is served. School's out. They +are moved up.</p> + + +<h4>The Music of the Wind Harp.</h4> + +<p>Please remember that these are <em>flood-tide</em> results. Some good people +will never know them except in a very limited way. For they do not open +the sluice-gates wide enough to let the waters reach flood-tide. <em>These +results will vary in degree with the degree and constancy of the +yielding to the Spirit's control.</em> A full yielding at the start, and +constantly continued will bring these results in full measure and +without break, though the growth will be gradual. For it is a rising +flood, ever increasing in height and depth and sweep and power. Partial +surrender will mean only partial results; the largest and finest results +come only as the spirit has full control, for the work is all His, by +and with our consent.</p> + +<p>In one of her exquisite poems Frances Ridley Havergal tells of a friend +who was given an æolian harp which, she was told, sent out unutterably +sweet melodies. She tried to bring the music by playing upon it with her +hand, but found the seven strings would yield but one tone. Keenly +disappointed she turned to the letter sent before the gift and<span class="pagenum" title="Page 195"></span><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a> found +she had not noticed the directions given. Following them carefully she +placed the harp in the opened window-way where the wind could blow upon +it. Quite a while she waited but at last in the twilight the music came:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Like stars that tremble into light<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Out of the purple dark, a low, sweet note<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Just trembled out of silence, antidote<br /></span> +<span>To any doubt; for never finger might<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Produce that note, so different, so new:<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Melodious pledge that all He promised should come true.<br /></span> +</div> +<hr style='width: 45%; margin-left: 0; margin-right: auto;' /> +<div class="stanza"> +<span>"Anon a thrill of all the strings;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And then a flash of music, swift and bright,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Like a first throb of weird Auroral light,<br /></span> +<span>Then crimson coruscations from the wings<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Of the Pole-spirit; then ecstatic beat,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">As if an angel-host went forth on shining feet.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Soon passed the sounding starlit march,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And then one swelling note grew full and long,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">While, like a far-off cathedral song,<br /></span> +<span>Through dreamy length of echoing aisle and arch<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Float softest harmonies around, above,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">Like flowing chordal robes of blessing and of love.<br /></span> +</div><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Thus, while the holy stars did shine<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And listen, the æolian marvels breathed;<br /></span> +<span class="i1">While love and peace and gratitude enwreathed<br /></span> +<span>With rich delight in one fair crown were mine.<br /></span> +<span class="i1">The wind that bloweth where it listeth brought<br /></span> +<span class="i1">This glory of harp-music—not my skill or thought."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 196"></span><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>And the listening friend to whom this wondrous experience is told, who +has had a great sorrow in her life, and been much troubled in her +thoughts and plans replies:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>" ... I too have tried<br /></span> +<span>My finger skill in vain. But opening now<br /></span> +<span>My window, like wise Daniel, I will set<br /></span> +<span>My little harp therein, and listening wait<br /></span> +<span>The breath of heaven, the Spirit of our God."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>May we too learn the lesson of the wind-harp. For man is God's æolian +harp. The human-taught finger skill can bring some rare music, yet by +comparison it is at best but a monotone. When the instrument is set to +catch the full breathing of the breath of God, then shall it sound out +the rarest wealth of music's melodies. As the life is yielded fully to +the breathing of the Spirit we shall find the peace of God which passeth +all understanding filling the heart; and the power of God that passeth +all resisting flooding the life; and others shall find the beauty of +God, that passeth all describing, transfiguring the face; and the dewy +fragrance of God, that passeth all comparing, pervading the personality, +though most likely <em>we</em> shall not know it.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a></p><!-- FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER. --> + +<h2><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a><span class="pagenum" title="Page 199"></span><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER.</h2> + +<h4>"As the Dew."</h4> + + +<p>There is another very important bit needed to complete the circle of +truth we are going over together in these quiet talks. Namely, <em>the +daily life</em> after the act of surrender and all that comes with that act. +The steady pull day by day. After the eagle-flight up into highest air, +and the hundred yards dash, or even the mile run, comes the steady, +steady walking mile after mile. The real test of life is here. And the +highest victories are here, too.</p> + +<p>I recall the remark made by a friend when this sort of thing was being +discussed:—"I would make the surrender gladly but as I think of my home +life I know I cannot keep it." There was the rub. The day-by-day life +afterwards. The habitual steady-going when temptations come in, and when +many special aids, and stimulating surroundings are withdrawn. This last +talk together is about this <em>afterlife</em>. What is the plan for that? +Well, let us talk it over a bit.</p> + +<p>Have you noticed that the old earth receives a fresh baptism of life +daily? Every night the life-giving dew is distilled. The moisture rises +during the day from ocean, and lake, and river, undergoes a<span class="pagenum" title="Page 200"></span><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a> chemical +change in God's laboratory and returns nightly in dew to refresh the +earth. It brings to all nature new life, with rare beauty, and fills the +air with the exquisite fragrance drawn from flowers and plants. Its +power to purify and revitalize is peculiar and remarkable. It distils +only in the night when the world is at rest. It can come only on clear +calm nights. Both cloud and wind disturb and prevent its working. It +comes quietly and works noiselessly. But the changes effected are +radical and immeasurable. Literally it gives to the earth a nightly +baptism of new life. That is God's plan for the earth. And that, too, +let me say to you, is His plan for our day-by-day life.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[25]</span> Hosea xiv: 5.</p></div> +<p>It hushes one's heart with a gentle awe to go out early in the morning +after a clear night when air and flower and leaf are fragrant with an +indescribable freshness, and listen to God's voice saying, "<em>I will be +as the dew unto Israel.</em>" That sentence is the climax of the book where +it occurs.<span class="snlabel">[25]</span> God is trying through Hosea to woo His people away from +their evil leaders up to Himself again. To a people who knew well the +vitalizing power of the deep dews of an Oriental night, and their own +dependence upon them, He says with pleading voice, "<em>I</em> will be to you +<em>as the dew</em>."</p> + +<p>The setting of that sentence is made very winsome. The <em>beauty</em> of the +lily, and of the olive-tree; the <em>strength</em> of the roots of Lebanon's +giant cedars,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 201"></span><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a> and the <em>fragrance</em> of their boughs; the <em>fruitfulness</em> +of the vine, and the <em>richness</em> of the grain harvest are used to bring +graphically to their minds the meaning of His words: "as the dew."</p> + +<p>Tenderly as He speaks to that nation in which His love-plan for a world +centered, more tenderly yet does He ever speak to the individual heart. +That wondrous One who is "alongside to help" will be by the atmosphere +of His presence to you and to me as the dew is to the earth—a daily +refreshing of new life, with its new strength, and rare beauty and fine +fragrance.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[26]</span> John vii: 37-39.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[27]</span> Ezekiel xlvii: 1-12.</p></div> +<p>Have you noticed how Jesus Himself puts His ideal for the day-by-day +life? At that last Feast of Tabernacles He said, "He that believeth on +me out of his inner being shall flow rivers of water of life."<span class="snlabel">[26]</span> Jesus +was fairly saturated with the Old Testament figures and language. Here +He seems to be thinking, of that remarkable river-vision of +Ezekiel's.<span class="snlabel">[27]</span> You remember how much space is given there to describing +a wonderful river running through a place where living waters had never +flowed. The stream begins with a few strings of water trickling out from +under the door-step of the temple, and rises gradually but steadily +ankle-deep, knee-deep, loin-deep, over-head, until flood-tide is +reached, and an ever rising and deepening flood-tide. And everywhere the +waters go is life with beauty, and fruitfulness.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 202"></span><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a> There is no drought, +no ebbing, but a continual flowing in, and filling up, and flooding out. +In these two intensely vivid figures is given our Master's carefully, +lovingly thought out plan for the day-by-day life.</p> + +<p>In actual experience the reverse of this is, shall I say too much if I +say, <em>most commonly</em> the case? It seems to be so. Who of us has not at +times been conscious of some failure that cut keenly into the very +tissue of the heart! And even when no such break may have come there is +ever a heart-yearning for more than has yet been experienced. The men +who seem to know most of God's power have had great, unspeakable +longings at times for a fresh consciousness of that power.</p> + +<p>There is a simple but striking incident told of one of Mr. Moody's +British campaigns. He was resting a few days after a tour in which God's +power was plainly felt and seen. He was soon to be out at work again. +Talking out of his inner heart to a few sympathetic friends, he +earnestly asked them to join in prayer that he might receive "a fresh +baptism of power." Without doubt that very consciousness of failure, and +this longing for more is evidence of the Spirit's presence within wooing +us up the heights.</p> + +<p>The language that springs so readily to one's lips at such times is just +such as Mr. Moody used, a fresh baptism, a fresh filling, a fresh +anointing. And the <em>fresh consciousness</em> of God's presence and power is +to one as a fresh act of anointing on His<span class="pagenum" title="Page 203"></span><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a> part. Practically it does not +matter whether there is actually a fresh act upon the Spirit's part, +<em>or</em> a renewed consciousness upon our part of His presence, and a +renewed humble depending wholly upon Him. Yet to learn the real truth +puts one's relationship to God in the clearer light that prevents +periods of doubt and darkness. Does it not too bring one yet nearer to +Him? In this case it certainly suggests a depth and a tenderness of His +unparalleled love of which some of us have not even dreamed. So far as +the Scriptures seem to suggest there is not a fresh act upon God's part +at certain times in one's experience, but His wondrous love is such that +there is <em>a continuous act</em>—a continuous flooding in of all the +gracious power of His Spirit that the human conditions will admit of. +The flood-tide is ever being poured out from above, but, as a rule, our +gates are not open full width. And so only part can get in, and part +which He is giving is restrained by us.</p> + +<p>Without doubt, too, the incoming flood expands that into which it comes. +And so the capacity increases ever more, and yet more. And, too, we may +become much more sensitive to the Spirit's presence. We may grow into +better mediums for the transmission of His power. As the hindrances and +limitations of centuries of sin's warping and stupefying are gradually +lessened there is a freer better channel for the through-flowing of His +power.</p> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 204"></span><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>A Transition Stage.</h4> + +<p>Such seems to be the teaching of the old Book. Let us look into it a +little more particularly. One needs to be discriminating in quoting the +Book of Acts on this subject. That book marks <em>a transition stage</em> +historically in the experience possible to men. Some of the older +persons in the Acts lived in three distinct periods. There was the Old +Testament period when a salvation was foretold and promised. Then came +the period when Jesus was on the earth and did a wholly new thing in the +world's history in actually working out a salvation. And then followed +the period of the Holy Spirit applying to men the salvation worked out +by Jesus. All these persons named in the Book of Acts lived both before +and after the day of Pentecost, which marked the descent of the Holy +Spirit. The Book of Acts marks the clear establishing of the transition +from the second to the third of these three periods. Ever since then men +have lived <em>after</em> Pentecost. The transitional period of the Book of +Acts is behind us.</p> + +<p>Men in Old Testament times both in the Hebrew nation and outside of it +were born of the Spirit, and under His sway. But there was a limit to +what He could do, because there was a limit to what had been done. The +Holy Spirit is the executive member of the Godhead. He applies to men +what has been worked out, or achieved for them, and only that. Jesus +came and did a new thing which stands<span class="pagenum" title="Page 205"></span><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a> wholly alone in history. He lived +a sinless life, and then He died sacrificially for men, and then +further, arose up to a new life after death. The next step necessary was +the sending down of the divine executive to work out in men this new +achievement. He does in men what Jesus did for them. He can do much more +for us than for the Old Testament people because much more has been done +for us by God through Jesus. The standing of a saved man before +Pentecost was like that of a young child in a rich family who cannot +under the provisions of the family will come into his inheritance until +the majority age is reached. After the Son of God came, men are <em>through +Him</em> reckoned as being <em>as He is</em>, namely in full possession of all +rights conferred by being a born son of full age. Now note carefully +that this Book of Acts marks the transition from the one period to the +other. And so one needs to be discriminating in applying the experiences +of men passing through a transition period to those who live wholly +afterwards.</p> + + +<h4>The After-Teaching.</h4> + +<p>The after-Pentecost teaching, that is the personal relation to the +Spirit by one who has received Him to-day, may best be learned from the +epistles. Paul's letters form the bulk of the New Testament after the +Book of Acts is passed. They contain the Spirit's <em>after-teaching</em> +regarding much which the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 206"></span><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a> disciples were not yet able to receive from +Jesus' own lips. They were written to churches that were far from ideal. +They were composed largely of people dug out of the darkest heathenism. +And with the infinite patience and tact of the Spirit Paul writes to +them with a pen dipped in his own heart.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[28]</span> +1 Thessalonians iv: 8<br /> +1 Corinthians xii: 1-11.<br /> +2 Corinthians xi: 4<br /> +Galatians iii: 2-5; iv: 6; v: 5, <ins class="correction" title="Transcriber's Note: Original had "18, 18,"">18,</ins> 22-25.<br /> +Romans viii: 1-27, xv: 13.<br /> +Colossians i: 8.<br /> +Philippians iii: 3.<br /> +Titus iii: 5-6.</p> +</div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[29]</span> Acts xix: 1-7.</p></div> +<p>A rather careful run through these thirteen letters brings to view two +things about the relation of these people to the Holy Spirit. First +there are certain <em>allusions</em> or references to the Spirit, and then +certain <em>exhortations</em>. Note first these <em>allusions</em>.<span class="snlabel">[28]</span> They are +numerous. In them it is constantly <em>assumed</em> that these people <em>have +received the Holy Spirit</em>. Paul's dealing with the twelve disciples whom +he found at Ephesus<span class="snlabel">[29]</span> suggests his habit in dealing with all whom he +taught. Reading that incident in connection with these letters seems to +suggest that in every place he laid great stress upon the necessity of +the Spirit's control in every life. And now in writing back to these +friends nearly all the allusions to the Spirit are in language that +<em>assumes</em> that they have surrendered fully and been filled with His +presence.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[30]</span> 1 Thessalonians v: 19.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[31]</span> Galatians v: 16.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[32]</span> Ephesians iv: 30.</p></div> +<div class="sidenote sn-extra"><p><span class="snlabel">[33]</span> Eph. v: 18.</p></div> +<p>There are just four <em>exhortations</em> about the Holy Spirit. It is +significant to notice what these are not. They are not exhorted to seek +the baptism of the<span class="pagenum" title="Page 207"></span><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a> Holy Spirit nor to wait for the filling. There is no +word about refillings, fresh baptisms or anointings. For these people, +unlike most of us to-day, have been thoroughly instructed regarding the +Spirit and presumably have had the great radical experience of His full +incoming. On the other hand notice what these exhortations <em>are</em>. To the +Thessalonians in his first letter he says, "<em>Quench not</em> the +Spirit."<span class="snlabel">[30]</span> To the disciples scattered throughout the province of +Galatia who had been much disturbed by false leaders he gives a rule to +be followed, "<em>Walk</em> by the Spirit."<span class="snlabel">[31]</span> The other two of these +incisive words of advice are found in the Ephesian letter—"<em>Grieve not</em> +the Spirit of God,"<span class="snlabel">[32]</span> and "<em>be ye filled</em> with the Spirit."<span class="snlabel">[33]</span></p> + +<p>These exhortations like the allusions assume that they have received the +Spirit, and know that they have. The last quoted, "be ye filled," may +seem at first flush to be an exception to this, but I think we shall see +in a moment that a clearer rendering takes away this seeming, and shows +it as agreeing with the others in the general teaching.</p> + +<p>This letter to the Ephesians may perhaps be taken as a fair index of the +New Testament teaching on this matter after the descent of the Spirit; +the <em>after-teaching</em> promised by Jesus. It bears evidence of being a +sort of circular letter intended to be sent in<span class="pagenum" title="Page 208"></span><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a> turn to a number of the +churches, and is therefore a still better illustration of the +after-teaching. The latter half of the letter is dealing wholly with +this question of the day-by-day life after the distinct act of surrender +and infilling. Here are found two companion exhortations. One is +negative: the other positive. The two together suggest the rounded truth +which we are now seeking. On one side is this:—"Grieve not the Spirit +of God," and on the other side is this:—"be ye filled with the Spirit." +Bishop H. C. G. Moule calls attention to the more nearly accurate +reading of this last,—"be ye <em>filling</em> with the Spirit." That suggests +two things, a <em>habitual inflow</em>, and, that <em>it depends on us</em> to keep +the inlets ever open. Now around about these two companion exhortations +are gathered two groups of friendly counsels. One group is about the +<em>grieving</em> things which must be avoided. The other group is about the +positive things to be cultivated. And the inference of the whole passage +is that this avoiding and this cultivating result in the habitual +filling of the Spirit's presence.</p> + + +<h4>Cross-Currents.</h4> + +<p>Fresh supplies of power then seem to be dependent upon two things. The +first is this:—<em>Keeping the life dear of hindrances.</em> This is the +negative side, though it takes very positive work. It is really the +abnormal side of the true life. Sin is abnormal,<span class="pagenum" title="Page 209"></span><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a> unnatural. It is a +foreign element that has come into the world and into life disturbing +the natural order. It must be kept out. The whole concern here is +keeping certain things <em>out</em> of the life. The task is that of staying in +the world but keeping the world-spirit <em>out</em> of us. We are to remain in +the world for its sake, but to allow nothing in it to disturb our full +touch with the other world where our citizenship is. The christian's +position in this world is strikingly like that of a nation's ambassador +at a foreign court. Joseph H. Choate mingles freely with the subjects of +King Edward, attends many functions, makes speeches, grants occasional +interviews, but he is ever on the alert with his rarely keen mind, and +long years of legal training not to utter a syllable which might not +properly come from the head of his home government. Never for one moment +is he off his guard. His whole aim is to keep in perfect sympathy with +his home country as represented by its head. He never forgets that he is +there as a stranger, sojourning for a while, belonging to and +representing a foreign country. So, and only so, all the authority and +power of his own government flows through his person and is in every +word and act. Such a man invariably provides himself with a home in +which is breathed the atmosphere of his far away homeland. Now we are +strangers, sojourners, indeed more, ambassadors, representatives of a +government foreign to the present prince of this world. It is only as we +keep in perfect sym<span class="pagenum" title="Page 210"></span><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>pathy with the homeland and its Head that there can +flow into and through us all the immeasurable power of our King. +Whatever interrupts that intercourse with headquarters interrupts the +flow of power in our lives and service. We must guard most jealously +against such things.</p> + +<p>Electricity helps a man here, in the similes it suggests. For instance +the electric current passing into a building is sometimes mysteriously +turned aside and work seriously interrupted. A cross-wire dropping down +out of place, and leaning upon the feed-wire has drawn the power into +itself and off somewhere else. The cross is apt to be in some unknown +place, and much searching is frequently necessary before it can be found +and fixed. And all the work affected by that feed-wire waits till the +fixing is done.</p> + +<p>The spirit atmosphere in which we live is full, chock-full, of +cross-currents. And a man has to be keenly alert to keep his feed-wire +clear. If it be crossed, or grounded, away goes the power, while he may +be wondering why.</p> + +<p>What are some of the cross-currents that threaten to draw the power of +the feed-wire? Well, just like the electric currents some of them seem +very trivial. Here are a few of the commoner ones:—</p> + +<p>Failure to keep bodily appetites under control. Intimate fellowship with +those who are enemies of our Lord, it may be in some organization, or +otherwise. The absence of a spirit of loving sympathy.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 211"></span><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a> The dominance in +one's life of a critical spirit which saps the warmth out of everything +it touches. Jealousy, and the whole brood which that single word +suggests. Keeping money which God would have out in service for himself. +Self-seeking. Self-assertion. A frivolous spirit, instead of a joyous +winsomeness, or a sweet seriousness. Overworking one's bodily strength, +which grows out of a wrong ambition, and is trusting one's own efforts +more than God's power, and which always involves disobedience of His law +for the body. Over-anxiety which robs the mind of its freshness, and the +spirit of its sweetness, and whose roots are the same as overwork.</p> + +<p>The hot hasty word. The uncontrolled temper. The pride that will not +confess to having been in the wrong. Lack of rugged honesty in speech. +Carelessness in money matters. Lack of reverence for the body. The +unholy use between two, whose relation is the most sacred of earth, of +that hallowed function of nature which has rigidly but one normal use.</p> + +<p>Some personal habit which may be common enough, and for which plausible +arguments can be made, but which does take the fine edge off of the +inner consciousness of the Master's approval. Keen shrewd scheming for +position by those in holy service.</p> + +<p>Paul's Galatian letter supplies these items:—wrangling; wordy disputes; +passionate outbursts of anger; wire-pulling or electioneering, that is, +using<span class="pagenum" title="Page 212"></span><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a> the world's methods to attain one's ends by those in God's +service.</p> + +<p>These are some of the cross-currents that are surely drawing the power +out of many a life to-day. But how may one know surely about the wrong +thing? Well, that One who resides within the heart is very sensitive and +is very faithful. If I will jealously keep on good terms, aye on the +best terms, with Him, ever listening, ever obeying, I will come to know +at first touch the thing that disturbs His sensitive spirit. And to keep +that thing <em>out</em>, uncompromisingly, unflinchingly <em>out</em>, is the only +safeguard here.</p> + +<p>But there will be continual testings and temptings. Testings by God. +Temptings by Satan. There will be testings by God that the realness of +the surrender may be made clear, and, too, that in these repeated +siftings the dross may all go, and only the pure gold remain. The will +must be exercised in rejecting and accepting that its fiber may be +toughened. No man knows how deep is his conviction until the test comes. +God will test for love's sake to strengthen. Satan will tempt for hate's +sake to trip up and weaken. God's testings will give strength for +Satan's temptings. And out of this double furnace the gold comes doubly +purified.</p> + +<p>Some circumstance arises involving a decision. There is a clear +conviction of what the inner One prefers but it runs against our plans +in which friends or loved ones are concerned who may not<span class="pagenum" title="Page 213"></span><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a> see eye-to-eye +with us. To follow the conviction means misunderstanding and some +sacrifice. And so the test is on. To be tactful, and gentle in following +rigidly the clear conviction will take grace, <em>and</em>, will bring a +refining of life's strength and fabric.</p> + +<p>To run through this old Book and call the names is to bring to mind the +men who have gone through just such testings and temptings; some with +splendid victory, and some with shameful defeat.</p> + +<p>So it comes to pass that surrender is not simply the initial <em>act</em> into +this life of power. It must become the continuous <em>habit</em>. There must be +a habitual living up to the act. Surrender comes to be an attitude of +the will affecting every act and event of life. And by and by the +instinctive measuring of everything by its relation to Jesus comes to be +the involuntary habit of the life.</p> + + +<h4>Friends with God.</h4> + +<p><em>The second thing</em> upon which fresh supplies of power hinge is <em>the +cultivation of personal friendship with God</em>. This is the positive side +of the new life. This is the true natural life. It is the living +constantly in the atmosphere of the Spirit's presence.</p> + +<p>The highest and closest relation possible between any two is friendship. +The basis of friendship is sympathy, that is, fellow-feeling. The +atmosphere of friendship is mutual unquestioning trust. In the original +meaning of the word, a friend is a lover.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 214"></span><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a> A friend is one who loves you +for your sake alone, and steadfastly loves, regardless of any return, +even return-love. Friendship hungers for a closer knowledge, and for a +deeper intimacy. Friendship grows with exchange of confidences. Friends +are confidants.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"As in a double solitude, ye think in each other's hearing."</p></div> + +<p class="noindent">A man's friendships shape his life more than aught else, or all +else.</p> + +<p>Now this is the tender relation which God Himself desires with each of +us. Did Jesus ever speak more tenderly than on that last Thursday night +when He said to those constant companions of two years, "I have called +you <em>friends</em>, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made +known unto you"? Out of his own experience David writes, "The friendship +of the Lord is with those that reverently love Him, and He will give +evidence of His friendship by showing to them His covenant, His plans, +and His power." And David knew. Abraham had the reputation of being a +friend of God. He even trusted his darling boy's life to God when he +<em>could not</em> understand what God was doing. And he found God worthy of +his friendship. He spared that darling boy even though later He spared +not His own darling boy. It thrills one's heart to hear God saying, +"Abraham <em>my friend</em>." Friendship with God means such oneness of spirit +with Him that He may do with us and through us what He wills.<span class="pagenum" title="Page 215"></span><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a> This and +this alone is the true power—God in us, and God with us free to do as +He wills.</p> + +<p>Now trust is the native air of friendship. A breath of doubt chills and +chokes. If one is filled and surrounded by trust in God as the +atmosphere of his life his touch with God then becomes most intimate. +Satan cannot breathe in that atmosphere. It chokes him. Air is the +native element of the bird. Away from air it gasps and dies. Water is +the native element of the fish. Out of water it chokes and gasps and +dies. Trust is the native element of friendship—friendship with God. A +constant feeling of confidence in GOD that believes in His overruling +power, and in His unfailing love, and rests in Him in the darkness when +the thing you prize most is lying bound on the stony altar.</p> + +<p>The Spirit of God is a friend, a lover. He is ever wooing us up the +heights. Let us climb up. He is every wooing us into the inner recesses +of friendship with Himself. Shall we not go along with Him? This is the +secret of a life ever fresh with the presence of God. It is the only +pathway of increasing youthfulness in the power of God.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"And in old age, when others fade,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">They fruit still forth shall bring;<br /></span> +<span>They shall be fat, and full of sap,<br /></span> +<span class="i1">And aye be flourishing."<br /></span> +</div></div> + + +<h4><span class="pagenum" title="Page 216"></span><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>A Bunch of Keys.</h4> + +<p>To those who would enter these inner sacred recesses here is a small +bunch of keys which will unlock the doors. Three keys in this bunch; a +key-time, a key-book, and a key-word. <em>The key-time</em> is time alone with +God daily. With the door shut. Outside things shut outside, and one's +self shut in alone with God. This is the trysting-hour with our Friend. +Here He will reveal Himself to us, and reveal our real selves to +ourselves. This is going to school to God. It is giving Him a chance to +instruct and correct, to strengthen and mellow and sweeten us. One must +get alone to find out that he never is alone. The more alone we are so +far as men are concerned the least alone we are so far as God is +concerned. It must be unhurried time. Time enough to forget about time. +When the mind is fresh and open. One <em>must</em> use this key if he is to +know the sweets of friendship with God.</p> + +<div class="sidenote"><p><span class="snlabel">[34]</span> One beauty of the revised version is its paragraphing.</p></div> +<p><em>The key-book</em> is this marvelous old classic of God's Word. Take this +book with you when you go to keep tryst with your Friend. God speaks in +His Word. He will take these words and speak them with His own voice +into the ear of your heart. You will be surprised to find how light on +every sort of question will come. It is remarkable what a faithful +half-hour daily with a good paragraph<span class="snlabel">[34]</span> Bible in wide, swift, +continuous reading will do in giving one<span class="pagenum" title="Page 217"></span><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a> a swing and a grasp of this +old Book. In time, and not long time either, one will come to be +saturated with its thought and spirit. Reading the Bible is listening to +God. It is fairly pathetic what a hard time God has to get men's ears. +He is ever speaking but we will not be quiet enough to hear. One always +enjoys listening to his friend. What <em>this</em> Friend says to us will +change radically our conceptions of Himself, and of life. It will clear +the vision, and discipline the judgment, and stiffen the will.</p> + +<p><em>The key-word</em> is obedience: a glad prompt doing of what our Friend +desires <em>because He desires it</em>. Obedience is saying "yes" to God. It is +the harmony of the life with the will of God. With some it seems to mean +a servile bondage to details. It should rather mean a spirit of +<em>intelligent</em> loyalty to God. It aims to <em>learn</em> His will, and then to +do it. God's will is revealed in His word. His particular will for my +life He will reveal to me if I will listen, <em>and</em>, if I will obey, so +far as I know to obey. If I obey what I know, I will know more. +Obedience is the organ of knowledge in the soul. "He that willeth to do +His will shall know."</p> + +<p>God's will includes His plan for a world, and for each life in the +world. Both concern us. He would first work in us, that He may work +<em>through</em> us in His passionate outreach for a world. His will includes +every bit of one's life; and therefore obedience must also include every +bit. A run out in a single direction may serve as a suggestion of many +others.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum" title="Page 218"></span><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>The law of my body, which obeyed brings or continues health is God's +will, as much as that which concerns moral action. Our bodies are holy +because God lives in them. Overwork, insufficient sleep, that imprudent +diet and eating which seems the rule rather than the exception, +carelessness of bodily protection in rain or storm or drafts or +otherwise:—these are sins against God's will for the body, and no one +who is disobedient here can ever be a channel of power up to the measure +of God's longing for us.</p> + +<p>And so regarding all of one's life, one must ever keep an open mind +Godward so as to get a well balanced sense of what His will is. Practice +is the great thing here. This is school work. By persistent listening +and practising there comes a mature judgment which avoids extremes in +both directions. But the rule is this: cheery prompt obeying regardless +of consequences. Disobedience, failure to obey, is <em>breaking with our +Friend</em>.</p> + +<p>These are the three keys which will let us into the innermost chambers +of friendship with God. And with them goes a <em>key-ring</em> on which these +keys must be strung. It is this:—<em>implicit trust in God</em>. Trust is the +native air of friendship. In its native air it grows strong and +beautiful. Whatever disturbs an active abiding trust in God must be +driven out of doors, and kept out. Doubt chills the air below normal. +Anxiety overheats the air. A calm looking up into God's face with an +unquestioning faith in<span class="pagenum" title="Page 219"></span><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a> <em>Him</em> under every sort of circumstance—this is +trust. Faith has three elements: knowledge, belief and <em>trust</em>. +Knowledge is acquaintance with certain facts. Belief is accepting these +facts as true. <em>Trust is risking</em> something that is very precious. Trust +is the life-blood of faith. This is the atmosphere of the true natural +life as planned by God.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"If a wren can cling<br /></span> +<span>To a spray a-swing<br /></span> +<span>In a mad May wind, and sing, and sing,<br /></span> +<span>As if she'd burst for joy;<br /></span> +<span>Why cannot I,<br /></span> +<span>Contented lie,<br /></span> +<span>In His quiet arms, beneath His sky,<br /></span> +<span>Unmoved by earth's annoy?"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Shall we take these keys, and this key-ring and use them faithfully? It +will mean intimate friendship with God. And that is the one secret of +power, fresh, and ever freshening.</p> + +<p>There is a simple story told of an old German friend of God which +illustrates all of this with a charming picturesqueness. Professor Johan +Albrecht Bengal was a teacher in the seminary in Denkendorf, Germany, in +the eighteenth century. "He united profound reverence for the Bible with +an acuteness which let nothing escape him." The seminary students used +to wonder at the great intellectuality, and great humility and +Christliness which blended their beauty in him. One night, one of them, +eager to learn the secret of his holy life, slipped up into<span class="pagenum" title="Page 220"></span><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a> his +apartments while the professor was out lecturing in the city, and hid +himself behind the heavy curtains in the deep recess of the +old-fashioned window. Quite a while he waited until he grew weary and +thought of how weary his teacher must be with his long day's work in the +class-room and the city. At length he heard the step in the hall, and +waited breathlessly to learn the coveted secret. The man came in, +changed his shoes for slippers, and sitting down at the study table, +opened the old well-thumbed German Bible and began reading leisurely +page by page. A half-hour he read, three-quarters of an hour, an hour, +and more yet. Then leaning his head down on his hands for a few minutes +in silence he said in the simplest most familiar way, "Well, Lord Jesus, +we're on the same old terms. Good-night."</p> + +<p>If we might live like that. Begin the day with a bit of time alone, a +good-morning talk with Him. And as the day goes on in its busy round +sometimes to put out your hand to Him, and under your breath say, "let's +keep on good terms, Lord Jesus." And then when eventide comes in to go +off alone with Him for a quiet look into His face, and a good-night +talk, and to be able to say, with reverent familiarity: "Good-night, +Lord Jesus, we are on the same old terms, you and I, good-night." Ah! +such a life will be fairly fragrant with the very presence of God.</p> + + +<hr /> + +<div class="bbox"> + +<div class="bbox"><p class="works"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a><span class="smcap">Works by G Campbell Morgan</span></p></div> + + +<div class="bbox"> +<ul class="books"> +<li><i>A New Popular Edition</i><br /> + +<span class="smcap">The Crises of the Christ.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Dr. Morgan's Most Comprehensive Work.</span></li> + <li>8vo, cloth, $1.50 net.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">A First Century Message to Twentieth Century Christians.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Addresses upon "The Seven Churches of Asia."</span></li> + <li>Cloth, net $1.00.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">The Spirit of God.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li>12mo, cloth, $1.25.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">God's Methods with Man.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">In Time--Past, Present and Future.</span></li> + <li>With colored chart.</li> + <li>12mo, paper, 50 cents</li> + <li>Cloth, $1.00.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">Wherein Have We Robbed God?</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Malachi's Message to the Men of To-Day.</span></li> + <li>12mo, cloth, 75 cents.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">God's Perfect Will.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li>16mo, cloth, 50 cents net.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">Life Problems.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Little Books Series.</span></li> + <li>Long 16mo, 50 cents.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">The Ten Commandments.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Studies in the Law of Moses and the Law of Christ.</span></li> + <li>12mo, cloth, 50 cents net.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">Discipleship.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Little Books Series.</span></li> + <li>Long 16mo, cloth, 50c.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">The Hidden Years at Nazareth.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">Quiet Hour Series.</span></li> + <li>18mo, cloth, 25 cents.</li></ul></li> + + +<li><span class="smcap">The True Estimate of Life.</span> + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">An Entirely New, Revised and Enlarged Edition.</span></li> + <li>80 cents net.</li></ul></li> + + +<li>"<span class="smcap">All Things New.</span>" + + <ul class="desc"><li><span class="smcap">A Message to New Converts.</span></li> + <li>16mo, paper, 10 cents net.</li></ul></li> +</ul> +</div> + + +<div class="bbox"><p class="publisher-name">Fleming H. 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Gordon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Quiet Talks on Power + +Author: S.D. Gordon + +Release Date: March 3, 2007 [EBook #20731] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK QUIET TALKS ON POWER *** + + + + +Produced by Jason Isbell, Karina Aleksandrova and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + + + QUIET TALKS + ON _POWER_ + + BY + S. D. GORDON + + [Illustration] + + NEW AND REVISED EDITION + + CHICAGO NEW YORK TORONTO + FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY + LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + + + + COPYRIGHT, 1903, BY + FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY + + Chicago: 63 Washington Street + New York: 158 Fifth Avenue + Toronto: 27 Richmond Street, W + London: 21 Paternoster Square + Edinburgh: 30 St. Mary Street + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + +CHOKED CHANNELS 9 + +THE OLIVET MESSAGE 33 + +THE CHANNEL OF POWER 61 + +THE PRICE OF POWER 87 + +THE PERSONALITY OF POWER 117 + +MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS 147 + +THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER 173 + +FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER 199 + + + + +CHOKED CHANNELS. + +An Odd Distinction. + + +A few years ago I was making a brief tour among the colleges of +Missouri. I remember one morning in a certain college village going over +from the hotel to take breakfast with some of the boys, and coming back +with one of the fellows whom I had just met. As we walked along, +chatting away, I asked him quietly, "Are you a christian, sir?" He +turned quickly and looked at me with an odd, surprised expression in his +eye and then turning his face away said: "Well, I'm a member of church, +but--I don't believe I'm very much of a christian." Then I looked at him +and he frankly volunteered a little information. Not very much. He did +not need to say much. You can see a large field through a chink in the +fence. And I saw enough to let me know that he was right in the +criticism he had made upon himself. We talked a bit and parted. But his +remark set me to thinking. + +A week later, in another town, speaking one morning to the students of a +young ladies' seminary, I said afterwards to one of the teachers as we +were talking: "I suppose your young women here are all christians." That +same quizzical look came into her eye as she said: "I think they are +all members of church, but I do not think they are all christians with +real power in their lives." There was that same odd distinction. + +A few weeks later, in Kansas City visiting the medical and dental +schools, I recall distinctly standing one morning in a disordered +room--shavings on the floor, desks disarranged--the institution just +moving into new quarters, and not yet settled. I was discussing with a +member of the faculty, the dean I think, about how many the room would +hold, how soon it would be ready, and so on--just a business talk, +nothing more--when he turned to me rather abruptly, looking me full in +the face, and said with quiet deliberation: "I'm a member of church; I +_think_ I am a deacon in our church"--running his hand through his hair +meditatively, as though to refresh his memory--"but I am not very much +of a christian, sir." The smile that started to come to my face at the +odd frankness of his remark was completely chased away by the distinct +touch of pathos in both face and voice that seemed to speak of a hungry, +unsatisfied heart within. + +Perhaps it was a month or so later, in one of the mining towns down in +the zinc belt of southwestern Missouri, I was to speak to a meeting of +men. There were probably five or six hundred gathered in a Methodist +Church. They were strangers to me. I was in doubt what best to say to +them. One dislikes to fire ammunition at people that are absent. So +stepping down to a front pew where several ministers were seated, I +asked one of them to run his eye over the house and tell me what sort of +a congregation it was, so far as he knew them. He did so, and presently +replied: "I think fully two-thirds of these men are members of our +churches"--and then, with that same quizzical, half-laughing look, he +added, "but you know, sir, as well as I do, that not half of them are +christians worth counting." "Well," I said to myself, astonished, "this +is a mining camp; this certainly is not anything like the condition of +affairs in the country generally." + +But that series of incidents, coming one after the other in such rapid +succession, set me thinking intently about that strange distinction +between being members of a church on the one hand, and on the other, +living lives that count and tell and weigh for Jesus seven days in the +week. I knew that ministers had been recognizing such a distinction, but +to find it so freely acknowledged by folks in the pew was new, and +surely significant. + +And so I thought I would just ask the friends here to-day very frankly, +"What kind of Christians are you?" I do not say what kind you are, for I +am a stranger, and do not know, and would only think the best things of +you. But I ask you frankly, honestly now, as I ask myself anew, what +kind are you? Do you know? Because it makes such a difference. The +Master's plan--and what a genius of a plan it is--is this, that the +world should be won, not by the preachers--though we must have these +men of God for teaching and leadership--but by everyone who knows the +story of Jesus _telling someone_, and telling not only with his lips +earnestly and tactfully, but even more, _telling with his life_. That is +the Master's plan of campaign for this world. And it makes a great +difference to Him and to the world outside whether you and I are +_living_ the story of His love and power among men or not. + +Do you _know_ what kind of a christian you are? There are at least three +others that do. First of all there is Satan. He knows. Many of our +church officers are skilled in gathering and compiling statistics, but +they cannot hold a tallow-dip to Satan in this matter of exact +information. He is the ablest of all statisticians, second only to one +other. He keeps careful record of every one of us, and knows just how +far we are interfering with his plans. He knows that some of us--good, +respectable people, as common reckoning goes--neither help God nor +hinder Satan. Does that sound rather hard? But is it not true? He has no +objection to such people being counted in as christians. Indeed, he +rather prefers to have it so. Their presence inside the church circle +helps him mightily. _He_ knows what kind of a christian you are. Do +_you_ know? + +Then there is the great outer circle of non-christian people--_they +know_. Many of them are poorly informed regarding the christian life; +hungry for something they have not, and know not just what it is; with +high ideals, though vague, of what a christian life should be. And they +look eagerly to us for what they have thought we had, and are so often +keenly disappointed that our ideals, our life, is so much like others +who profess nothing. And when here and there they meet one whose acts +are dominated by a pure, high spirit, whose faces reflect a sweet +radiance amid all circumstances, and whose lives send out a rare +fragrance of gladness and kindliness and controlling peace, they are +quick to recognize that, to them, intangible something that makes such +people different. The world--tired, hungry, keen and critical for mere +sham, appreciative of the real thing--the world knows what kind of +christians we are. Do _we_ know? + +There is a third one watching us to-day with intense interest. The Lord +Jesus! Sitting up yonder in glory, with the scar-marks of earth on face +and form, looking eagerly down upon us who stand for Him in the world +that crucified Him--_He knows_. I imagine Him saying, "There is that one +down there whom I died for, who bears my name; _if_ I had the _control_ +of that life what power I would gladly breathe in and out of it, but--he +is _so absorbed in other things_." The Master is thinking about you, +studying your life, longing to carry out His plan if He could only get +permission, and sorely disappointed in many of us. He knows. Do _you_ +know? + + +The Night Visitor. + +After that trip I became much interested in discovering in John's Gospel +some striking pictorial illustrations of these two kinds of christians, +namely, those who have power in their lives for Jesus Christ and those +who have not. Let me speak of only a few of these. The first is sketched +briefly in the third chapter, with added touches in the seventh and +nineteenth chapters. There is a little descriptive phrase used each +time--"the man who came to Jesus by night." That comes to be in John's +mind the most graphic and sure way of identifying this man. A good deal +of criticism, chiefly among the upper classes, had already been aroused +by Jesus' acts and words. This man Nicodemus clearly was deeply +impressed by the young preacher from up in Galilee. He wants to find out +more of him. But he shrank back from exposing himself to criticism by +these influential people for his possible friendship with the young +radical, as Jesus was regarded. So one day he waits until the friendly +shadows will conceal his identity, and slipping quietly along the +streets, close up to the houses so as to insure his purpose of not being +recognized, he goes up yonder side street where Jesus has lodgings. He +knocks timidly. "Does the preacher from up the north way stop here?" +"Yes." "Could I see him?" He steps in and spends an evening in earnest +conversation. I think we will all readily agree that Nicodemus +_believed_ Jesus after that night's interview, however he may have +failed to understand all He said. Yes, we can say much more--he _loved_ +Him. For after the cruel crucifixion it is this man that brings a box of +very precious spices, weighing as much as a hundred pounds, worth, +without question, a large sum of money, with which to embalm the dead +body of his friend. Ah! he loved Him. No one may question that. + +But turn now to the seventh chapter of John. There is being held a +special session of the Jewish Senate in Jerusalem for the express +purpose of determining how to silence Jesus--to get rid of Him. This man +is a member of that body, and is present. Yonder he sits with the +others, listening while his friend Jesus is being discussed and His +removal--by force if need be--is being plotted. What does he do? What +would you expect of a friend of Jesus under such circumstances? I wonder +what you and I would have done? I wonder what we do do? Does he say +modestly, but plainly, "I spent a whole evening with this man, +questioning Him, talking with Him, listening to Him. I feel quite sure +that He is our promised Messiah; and I have decided to accept Him as +such." Did he say that? That would have been the simple truth. But such +a remark plainly would have aroused a storm of criticism, and he dreaded +that. Yet he felt that something should be said. So, lawyer-like, he +puts the case abstractly. "Hmm--does our law judge a man without giving +him a fair hearing?" That sounds fair, though it does seem rather feeble +in face of their determined opposition. But near by sits a burly +Pharisee, who turns sharply around and, glaring savagely at Nicodemus, +says sneeringly: "Who are you? Do you come from Galilee, too? Look and +see! No prophet comes out of Galilee"--with intensest contempt in the +tone with which he pronounces the word Galilee. And poor Nicodemus seems +to shrink back into half his former size, and has not another word to +say, though all the facts, easily ascertainable, were upon his side of +the case. He loved Jesus without doubt, but he had _no power_ for Him +among men _because of his timidity_. Shall I use a plainer, though +uglier, word--his cowardice? That is not a pleasant word to apply to a +man. But is it not the true word here? He was so afraid of what _they_ +would think and say! Is that the sort of christian _you_ are? Believing +Jesus, trusting Him, saved by Him, loving Him, but shrinking back from +speaking out for Him, tactfully, plainly, when opportunity presents or +can be made. A christian, but without positive power for Him among men +because of cowardice! + +I can scarcely imagine Nicodemus walking down the street in Jerusalem, +arm in arm with another Pharisee-member of the Sanhedrin and saying to +him quietly, but earnestly: "Have you had a talk with this young man +Jesus?" "No, indeed, I have not!" "Well, do you know, I spent an +evening with Him down at His stopping place, and had a long, careful +talk with Him. I am quite satisfied that He is our long-looked-for +leader; I have decided to give Him my personal allegiance; won't you get +personally acquainted with Him? He is a wonderful man." I say I have +difficulty in thinking that this man worked for Jesus like that. And yet +what more natural and proper, both for him and for us? And what a +difference it might have made in many a man's life. _Powerless_ for +Jesus because of timidity! Is that the kind _you_ are? Possibly some one +thinks that rather hard on this man. Maybe you are thinking of that +other member of the Sanhedrin--Joseph of Arimathea--who was also a +follower of Jesus, and that quite possibly he may have been influenced +by Nicodemus. Let us suppose, for Nicodemus' sake, that this is so, and +then mark the brief record of this man Joseph in John's account: "A +disciple _secretly_ for _fear_ of the Jews." If we may fairly presume +that it was Nicodemus' influence that led his friend Joseph to follow +Jesus, yet he had led him no nearer than he himself had gone! He _could_ +lead him no higher or nearer than that. + +John in his gospel makes plain the fact that Jesus suffered much from +these secret, timid, cowardly disciples whose fear of men gripped them +as in a vise. Five times he makes special mention of these people who +believed Jesus, but cravenly feared to line up with Him.[1] He even says +that _many_ of the _rulers_--the very class that plotted and voted His +death--believed Jesus, but that _fear_ of _the others_ shut their lips +and drove them into the shadow when they could have helped Him most. +These people seem to have left numerous descendants, many of whom +continue with us unto this day. + + +Tightly Tied Up. + +Turn now to the eleventh chapter and you will find another pictorial +suggestion of this same sort of _powerless christian_, though in this +instance made so by another reason. It is the Bethany Chapter, the +Lazarus Chapter. The scene is just out of Bethany village. There is a +man lying dead in the cave yonder. Here stands Jesus. There are the +disciples, and Martha, and Mary, and the villagers, and a crowd from +Jerusalem. The Master is speaking. His voice rings out clear and +commanding--"Lazarus, come forth"--speaking to a dead man. And the +simple record runs, "He that _was_ dead"--life comes between those two +lines of the record--"came forth, bound hand and foot with +grave-clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin." Will you +please take a look at Lazarus as he steps from the tomb? Do you think +his eyes are dull, or his cheeks hollow and pale? I think not! When +Jesus, the Lord of life, gives life, either physical or spiritual, He +gives abundant life. That face may have been a bit spare. There had been +no food for at least four days and likely longer. But there is the +flash of health in his eye and the ruddy hue of good blood in his cheek. +He has life. But look closer. He is bound hand and foot and face. He can +neither walk nor work nor speak. + +I have met some christian people who reminded me forcibly of that scene. +They are christians. The Master has spoken life, and they have responded +to His word. But they are so tied up with the grave-clothes of the old +life that there can be none of the power of free action in life or +service. May I ask you very kindly, but very plainly, are you like that? +Is that the reason you have so little power with God, and for God? +Perhaps some one would say, "Just what do you mean?" I mean this: that +there may be some personal habit of yours, or perhaps some society +custom which you practice, or it may be some business method, or +possibly an old friendship which you have carried over into the new life +from the old that is seriously hindering your christian life. It may be +something that goes into your mouth or comes out of it that prevents +those lips speaking for the Master. Perhaps it is some organization you +belong to. If there is lack of freedom and power for Christ you may be +sure there is _something_ that is blighting your life and dwarfing your +usefulness. It may possibly be that practically in your daily life you +are exerting no more power for God than a dead man! A christian, indeed, +but _without power because of compromise_ with something questionable +or outrightly wrong! Is that so with you? I do not say it is, for I do +not know. But _you_ know. The hungry, critical world knows. Subtle, keen +Satan knows. The Lord Jesus knows. Do you know if that describes you? +You may know with certainty within twenty-four hours if you wish to and +will to. May we be willing to have the Spirit's searchlight turned in +upon us to-night. + + +The Master's Ideal. + +There is another kind of christian, an utterly different kind, spoken of +and illustrated in this same Gospel of John, and I doubt not many of +them also are here. It is _Jesus' ideal_ of what a christian should be. +Have you sometimes wished you could have a few minutes of quiet talk +with Jesus? I mean face to face, as two of us might sit and talk +together. You have thought you would ask Him to say very simply and +plainly just what He expects of you. Well, I believe He would answer in +words something like those of this seventh chapter of John. It was at +the time of Feast of Tabernacles. There was a vast multitude of Jews +there from all parts of the world. It was like an immense convention, +but larger than any convention we know. The people were not entertained +in the homes, but lived for seven days in leafy booths made of branches +of trees. It was the last day of the feast. There was a large concourse +of people gathered in one of the temple areas; not women, but men; not +sitting, but standing. Up yonder stand the priests, pouring water out of +large jars, to symbolize the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the +nation of Israel. Just then Jesus speaks, and amid the silence of the +intently watching throng His voice rings out: "If any man thirst let him +come unto Me and drink; he that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, +_out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water_." Mark that +significant closing clause. That packs into a sentence Jesus' ideal of +what a true christian down in this world should be, and may be. Every +word is full of meaning. + +The heart of the sentence is in the last word--"water." _Water_ is an +essential of life. Absence of water means suffering and sickness, dearth +and death. Plenty of good water means _life_. All the history of the +world clusters about the water courses. Study the history of the rivers, +the seashores, and lake edges, and you know the history of the earth. +Those men who heard Jesus speak would instinctively think of the Jordan. +It was their river. Travelers say that no valley exceeded in beauty and +fruitfulness that valley of the Jordan, made so by those swift waters. +No hillside so fair in their green beauty, nor so wealthy in heavy loads +of fruit as those sloping down to the edge of that stream. Now plainly +Jesus is talking of something that may, through us, exert as decided an +influence upon the lives of those we touch as water has exerted, and +still exerts, on the history of the earth, and as this Jordan did in +that wonderful, historic Palestine. Mark the quantity of +water--"rivers." Not a Jordan merely, that would be wonderful enough, +but Jordans--a Jordan, and a Nile, and a Euphrates, a Yang Tse Kiang, +and an Olga and a Rhine, a Seine and a Thames, and a Hudson and an +Ohio--"_rivers_." Notice, too, the _kind_ of water. Like this racing, +turbulent, muddy Jordan? No, no! "rivers of _living_ water," "water of +_life_, clear as crystal." You remember in Ezekiel's vision which we +read together that the waters constantly increased in depth, and that +everywhere they went there was healing, and abundant life, and +prosperity, and beauty, and food, and a continual harvest the year +round, and all because of the waters of the river. They were veritable +waters of life. + +Now mark that little, but very significant, phrase--"_Out of_"--not +_into_, but "out of." All the difference in the lives of men lies in the +difference between these two expressions. "Into" is the world's +preposition. Every stream turns in; and that means _a dead sea_. Many a +man's life is simply the coast line of a dead sea. "Out of" is the +Master's word. His thought is of others. The stream must flow in, and +must flow through, if it is to flow out, but it is judged by its +direction, and Jesus would turn it outward. There must be good +connections upward, and a clear channel inward, but the objective point +is outward toward a parched earth. But before it can flow out it must +_fill up_. An _out_flow in this case means an _over_flow. There must be +a flooding inside before there can be a flowing out. And let the fact be +carefully marked that it is only the overflow from the fullness within +our own lives that brings refreshing to anyone else. A man praying at a +conference in England for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit said: "O, +Lord, we can't hold much, but we can overflow lots." That is exactly the +Master's thought. "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water." + +Do you remember that phrase in the third chapter of Joshua--"For Jordan +overfloweth all its banks all the time of harvest." When there was a +flood in the river, there was a harvest in the land. Has there been a +harvest in your life? A harvest of the fruit of the spirit--love, joy, +peace, long-suffering; a harvest of souls? "No," do you say, "not much +of a harvest, I am afraid," or it may be your heart says "none at all." +Is it hard to tell why? Has there been a flood-tide in your heart, a +filling up from above until the blessed stream had to find an outlet +somewhere, and produce a harvest? A harvest outside means a rising of +the tide inside. A flooding of the heart always brings a harvest in the +life. A few years ago there were great floods in the southern states, +and the cotton and corn crops following were unprecedented. Paul +reminded his Roman friends that when the Holy Spirit has free swing in +the life "the love of God _floods_ our hearts."[2] + +Please notice, too, the _source_ of the stream--"out of his belly." Will +you observe for a moment the rhetorical figure here? I used to suppose +it meant "out of his _heart_." The ancients, you remember, thought the +heart lay down in the abdominal region. But you will find that this book +is very exact in its use of words. The blood is the life. The heart +pumps the blood, but the stomach makes it. The seat of life is not in +the heart, but in the stomach. If you will take down a book of +physiology, and find the chart showing the circulation of the blood, you +will see a wonderful network of lines spreading out in every direction, +but all running, through lighter lines into heavier, and still blacker, +until every line converges in the great stomach artery. _And everywhere +the blood goes there is life._ Now turn to a book of physical geography +and get a map showing the water system of some great valley like the +Mississippi, and you will find a striking reproduction of the other +chart. And if you will shut your eyes and imagine the reality back of +that chart, you will see hundreds of cool, clear springs flowing +successively into runs, brooks, creeks, larger streams, river branches, +rivers, and finally into the great river--the reservoir of all. _And +everywhere the waters go there is life._ The only difference between +these two streams of life is in the direction. The blood flows from the +largest toward the smallest; the water flows from the smallest toward +the largest. Both bring life with its accompaniments of beauty and vigor +and fruitfulness. There is Jesus' picture of the Christian down in the +world. As the red stream flows out from the stomach, and, propelled by +the force-pump of the heart, through a marvelous network of minute +rivers takes life to every part of the body, so "he that believeth on +Me"--that is the vital connecting link with the great origin of this +stream of life--out of the very source of life within him shall go _a +flood-tide of life_, bringing refreshing, and cleansing, and beauty, and +vigor everywhere within the circle of his life, even though, like the +red streams and the water streams, he be unconscious of it. + + +An Unlikely Channel. + +What a marvelous conception of the power of life! How strikingly it +describes Jesus' own earthly life! But there is something more marvelous +still--He means that ideal to become real in you, my friend, and in me. +I doubt not there are some here whose eager hearts are hungry for just +such a life, but who are tremblingly conscious of their own weakness. +Your thoughts are saying: "I wish I _could_ live such a life, but +certainly this is not for _me_; this man talking doesn't know _me_--no +special talent or opportunity: such strong tides of temptation that +sweep me clean off my feet--not for me." Ah, my friend, I verily believe +you are the very one the Master had in mind, for He had John put into +his gospel a living illustration of this ideal of His that goes down to +the very edge of human unlikeliness and inability. He goes down to the +lowest so as to include all. What proved true in this case may prove +true with you, and much more. The story is in the fourth chapter. It is +a sort of advance page of the Book of Acts. A sample of the power of +Pentecost before the day of Pentecost. You and I live on the flood-side +of Pentecost. This illustration belongs back where the streams had only +just commenced trickling. It is a miniature. You and I may furnish the +life-size if we will. + +It is the story of a woman; not a man, but a woman. One of the _weaker_ +sex, so called. She was ignorant, prejudiced, and without social +standing. She was a woman of no reputation. Aye, worse than that, of bad +reputation. She probably had less moral influence in her town than any +one here has in his circle. Could a more unlikely person have been used? +But she came in touch with the Lord Jesus. She yielded herself to that +touch. There lies the secret of what follows. That contact radically +changed her. She went back to her village and commenced speaking about +Jesus to those she knew. She could not preach; she simply told plainly +and earnestly what she knew and believed about Him. And the result is +startling. There are hundreds of ministers who are earnestly longing +for what came so easily to her. What modern people call a revival began +at once. We are told in the simple language of the Gospel record that +"_many believed on Him because of the word of the woman._" They had not +seen Jesus yet. He was up by the well. They were down in the village. +She was an ignorant woman, of formerly sinful life. But there is the +record of the wonderful result of her simple witnessing--they believed +on Jesus because of the word of that woman. There is only one way to +account for such results. Only the Holy Spirit speaking through her lips +could have produced them. She had commenced drinking of the living water +of which Jesus had been talking to her, and now already the rivers were +flowing out to others. + +What Jesus did with her, He longs to do with you, _and far more_, if you +will let Him; though his plan for using you may be utterly different +from the one He had for her, and so the particular results different. +Now let me ask very frankly why have we not all such power for our +Master as she? The Master's plan is plain. He said "ye shall have +power." But so many of us do not have! Why not? Well, possibly some of +us are like Nicodemus--there is no power because of timidity, cowardice, +fear of what _they_ will think, or say. Possibly some of us are in the +same condition spiritually that Lazarus was in physically. We are tied +up tight, hands and feet and face. Some sin, some compromise, some +hushing of that inner voice, _something_ wrong. Some little thing, you +may say. Humph! as though anything _could_ be little that is wrong! _Sin +is never little!_ + + +A Clogged Channel. + +Out in Colorado they tell of a little town nestled down at the foot of +some hills--a sleepy-hollow village. You remember the rainfall is very +slight out there, and they depend much upon irrigation. But some +enterprising citizens ran a pipe up the hills to a lake of clear, sweet +water. As a result the town enjoyed a bountiful supply of water the year +round without being dependent upon the doubtful rainfall. And the +population increased and the place had quite a western boom. One morning +the housewives turned the water spigots, but no water came. There was +some sputtering. There is apt to be noise when there is nothing else. +The men climbed the hill. There was the lake full as ever. They examined +around the pipes as well as possible, but could find no break. Try as +they might, they could find no cause for the stoppage. And as days grew +into weeks, people commenced moving away again, the grass grew in the +streets, and the prosperous town was going back to its old sleepy +condition when one day one of the town officials received a note. It was +poorly written, with bad spelling and grammar, but he never cared less +about writing or grammar than just then. It said in effect: "Ef you'll +jes pull the plug out of the pipe about eight inches from the top you'll +get all the water you want." Up they started for the top of the hill, +and examining the pipe, found the plug which some vicious tramp had +inserted. Not a very big plug--just big enough to fill the pipe. It is +surprising how large a reservoir of water can be held back by how small +a plug. Out came the plug; down came the water freely; by and by back +came prosperity again. + +_Why_ is there such a lack of power in our lives? The reservoir up +yonder is full to overflowing, with clear, sweet, life-giving water. And +here all around us the earth is so dry, so thirsty, cracked open--huge +cracks like dumb mouths asking mutely for what we should give. And the +connecting pipes between the reservoir above and the parched plain below +are there. Why then do not the refreshing waters come rushing down? The +answer is very plain. You know why. _There is a plug in the pipe._ +Something in us clogging up the channel and nothing can get through. How +shall we have power, abundant, life-giving, sweetening our own lives, +and changing those we touch? The answer is easy for me to give--it will +be much harder for us all to do--_pull out the plug_. Get out the thing +that you know is hindering. + +I am going to ask every one who will, to offer this simple prayer--and I +am sure every thoughtful, earnest man and woman here will. Just bow +your head and quietly under your breath say to Him: "Lord Jesus, show +me what there is in my life that is displeasing to Thee; what there is +Thou wouldst change." You may be sure He will. He is faithful. He will +put His finger on that tender spot very surely. Then add a second clause +to that prayer--"By Thy grace helping me, _I will put it out_ whatever +it may cost, or wherever it may cut." Shall we bow our heads and offer +that prayer, and hew close to that line, steadily, faithfully? It will +open up a life of marvelous blessing undreamed of for you and everyone +you touch. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] John 3:1. 7:50. 12:42 with 9:22. 19:38, 39. + +[2] Rom. 5:5. + + + + +THE OLIVET MESSAGE. + +Searchlight Sights. + + +Coming into Cleveland harbor one evening, just after nightfall, a number +of passengers were gathered on the upper deck eagerly watching the +colored breakwater lights and the city lights beyond. Suddenly a general +curiosity was aroused by a small boat of some sort, on the left, +scudding swiftly along in the darkness like a blacker streak on the +black waters. A few of us who chanced to be near the captain on the +smaller deck above, heard him quietly say, "Turn on the searchlight." +Almost instantly an intense white light shone full on the stranger-boat, +bringing it to view so distinctly that we could almost count the +nail-heads, and the strands in her cordage. + +If some of us here to-night have made the prayer suggested in our last +talk together--Lord Jesus, show me what there is in my life that is +displeasing to Thee, that Thou wouldst change--we will appreciate +something of the power of that Lake Erie searchlight. There is a +searchlight whiter, intenser, more keenly piercing than any other. Into +every heart that desires, and will hold steadily open to it, the Lord +Jesus will turn that searching light. Then you will begin to see things +_as they actually are_. And that sight may well lead to discouragement. +Many a hidden thing, which you are glad enough to have hidden, will be +plainly seen. How is it possible, you will be ready to ask, for me to +lead the life the Master's ambition has planned for me, with such mixed +motives, selfish ambitions, sinfulness and weakness as I am beginning to +get a glimpse of--how is it possible? + +There is one answer to that intense heart-question, and only one. _We +must have power_, some supernatural power, something outside of us, and +above us, and far greater than we, to come in and win the victory within +us and for us. + +If that young man whose inner life is passion-swept, one tidal wave of +fierce temptation, hot on the heels of the last, until all the moorings +are snapped, and he driven rudderless out to sea--if he is to ride +masterfully upon that sea _he must have power_. + +If that young woman is to be as attractive, and womanly winsome in the +society circle where she moves, as she is meant to be, and yet able to +shape her lips into a gently uttered, but rock-ribbed _no_ when certain +well-understood questionable matters come up, _she must have power_. If +society young people are to remain in the world, and yet not be swayed +by its spirit: on one side not prudish, nor fanatical, nor extreme, but +cheery, and radiant, and full-lived, and yet free of those compromising +entanglements that are common to society everywhere, _they must have a +rare pervasive power_. + +For that business man down in the sharp competition of the world where +duty calls him, to resist the sly temptations to overreach, to keep +keenly alert not to be overreached; and through all to preserve an +uncensorious spirit, unhurt by the selfishness of the crowd--tell me, +some of you men--_will that not take power_? Aye, more power than some +of us know about, yet. + +For that same man to go through his store and remove from shelf or +counter some article which yields a good profit, but which he knows his +Master would not have there--Ah! _that'll take power_. + +_It takes power_ to keep the body under control: the mouth clean and +sweet, both physically and morally: the eye turned away from the thing +that should not be thought about: the ear closed to what should not +enter that in-gate of the heart: to allow no picture to hang upon the +walls of your imagination that may not hang upon the walls of your home: +to keep every organ of the body pure for nature's holy function +only--_that takes mighty power_. + +For that young man to be wide-awake, a pusher in business, and yet +steadily, determinedly to hold back any crowding of the other side of +his life: the inner side, the outer-helpful side, the Bible-reading- +and secret-prayer- and quiet personal-work-side of his life, _that will +take real power_. + +_It will take a power_ that some of us have not known to let that glass +go untouched, and that quieting drug untasted and unhandled. If the rear +end of some pharmacies could speak out, many a story would startle our +ears of struggles and defeats that tell sadly of utter lack of power. + +_It takes power_ for the man of God in the pulpit to speak plainly about +particular sins before the faces of those who are living in them; and +_still more power_ to do it with the rare tactfulness and tenderness of +the Galilean preacher. _It takes power_ to stick to the Gospel story and +the old book, when literature and philosophy present such fine +opportunities for the essays that are so enjoyable and that bring such +flattering notice. _It takes power_ to leave out the finely woven +rhetoric that you are disposed to put in for the sake of the compliment +it will bring from that literary woman down yonder, or that bright, +brainy young lawyer in the fifth pew on the left aisle. _It takes power_ +to see that the lips that speak for God are thoroughly clean lips, and +the life that stands before that audience a pure life. + +_It takes power_ to keep sweet in the home, where, if anywhere, the +seamy side is apt to stick out. How many wooden oaths could kicked +chairs and slammed doors tell of! After all the home-life comes close to +being the real test of power, does it not? _It takes power_ to be +gracious and strong, and patient and tender, and cheery, in the +commonplace things, and the commonplace places, does it not? + +Now, I have something to tell you to-night that to me is very +wonderful, and constantly growing in wonder. It is this--_the Master has +thought of all that!_ He has thought into your life. Yes, I mean _your +particular life_, and made an arrangement to fully cover all your need +of power. He stands anew in our midst to-day, and putting His pierced +hand gently upon your arm, His low, loving, clear voice says quietly, +but very distinctly, "_You--you shall have power._" For every subtle, +strong temptation, for every cry of need, for every low moan of +disappointment, for every locking of the jaws in the resolution of +despair, for every disheartened look out into the morrow, for every +yearningly ambitious heart there comes to-night that unmistakable +ringing promise of _His_--_ye shall have power_. + + +The Olivet Message. + +Our needs argue the necessity of power. And the argument is strengthened +by the peculiar emphasis of the Master's words. Do you remember that +wondrous Olivet scene? In the quiet twilight of a Sabbath evening a +group of twelve young men stand yonder on the brow of Olives. The last +glowing gleams of the setting sun fill all the western sky, and shed a +halo of yellow glory-light over the hilltop, through the trees, in upon +that group. You instantly pick out the leader. No mistaking Him. And +around Him group the eleven men who have lived with Him these months +past, now eagerly gazing into that marvelous face, listening for His +words. He is going away. They know that. Coming back soon, they +understand. But in His absence the work He has begun is to be entrusted +to their hands. And so with ears and eyes they listen intently for the +good-bye word--His last message. It will mean so much in the coming +days. + +Two things the Master says. The first is that ringing "go ye" so +familiar to every true heart. The second is a very decisive, distinct +"_but tarry ye_." What, wait still longer! Tarry, now, when your great +work is done! Listen again, while His parting words cut the air with +their startling distinctness "_but tarry ye--until ye be endued with +power_." + +I could readily imagine impulsive Peter quickly saying, "What! shall we +_tarry_ when the whole world is dying! Do we not _know_ enough now?" And +the Master's answer would come in that clear, quiet voice of His, "yes, +tarry: you have knowledge enough, but _knowledge is not enough_, there +must be power." + +There is knowledge enough within the christian church of every +land--aye, knowledge enough within the walls of this building to-night +to convert the world, if knowledge would do it. Into many a life, +through home training, and school, and college, has come knowledge, +while power lingers without--a stranger. Knowledge--the twin idol with +gold to American hearts--is essential, but, let it be plainly said, is +not _the_ essential. Knowledge is the fuel piled up in the fireplace. +The mantel is of carved oak, and the fenders so highly polished they +seem almost to send out warmth, but the thermometer is working down +toward zero, and the people are shivering. The spark of living fire is +essential. Then how all changes! There must be fire from above to kindle +our knowledge and ourselves before any of the needed results will come. + +There is no language strong enough to tell how absolutely needful it is +that every follower of Jesus Christ from the one most prominent in +leadership down to the very humblest disciple, shall receive this +promised power. + +Look at these men Jesus is talking to. There is Peter, the man of rock, +and John and James, the sons of thunder. They were with the Lord on the +Transfiguration Mount, and when He raised the dead. They were near by +during the awful agony of Gethsemane. They were admitted nearer to the +Master's inner life than any others. There is quiet matter-of-fact +Andrew, who had a reputation for bringing others to Jesus. There is +Nathanael, in whom is no guile. It is to these men that there comes that +positive command to tarry. If _they_ needed such a command, do not we? + +"Yes," someone says, "I understand that this power you speak of is +something the leaders and preachers must have, but you scarcely mean +that there is the same necessity for us people down in the ranks, and +that we are to expect the same power as these others, do you?" Will you +please call to mind that original Pentecost company? There were one +hundred and twenty of them. And while there was a Peter being prepared +to preach that tremendous sermon, and a John to write five books of the +New Testament and probably a James to preside over the affairs of the +Jerusalem Church, and possibly a Stephen, and a Philip, yet these are +only a few. By far the greater number, both men and women, are unnamed +and unknown. Just the common, every-day folk, the filling-in of society; +aye, the very foundation of all society. They had no prominent part to +play. But they accepted the Master's promise of power, and His command +to wait, _as made to them_. And as a result _they, too_, were filled +with the Holy Spirit, that wonderful morning. I think, very likely, "the +good man of the house" whose guest Jesus was that last night was there, +and all the Marys, including the Bethany Mary, who simply sat at His +feet, and the Magdalene Mary, and housekeeper Martha, and maybe that +little lad whose loaves and fishes had been used about a year before. +That was the sort of company that prayerfully, with one accord, not only +waited but _received_ that never-to-be-forgotten filling of the Holy +Spirit. + +Certainly, as some of you think, the preacher must have this power +peculiarly for his leadership. But just as really he needs it _because +he is a man for his living_, to make him sweet and gentle and patient +down in his home: to make him sympathetic and strong in his constant +contact with the hungry hearts he must meet. That young mechanic must +have this promised power if he is to live an earnest, manly life in that +shop. That school girl, whose home duties crowd her time so; that +keen-minded student working for honors amid strong competition; these +society young people; these all need, above all else, this promised +power that in, and through, and around and above all of their lives may +be a wholesomely sweet, earnest Christliness, pervading the life even as +the odor of flowers pervades a room. + +Do you remember Paul's list of the traits of character that mark a +christian life--love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, +meekness, faithfulness, self-control?[3] Suppose for a moment you think +through a list of the opposites of those nine +characteristics--bitterness, envy, hate, low-spiritedness, sulkiness, +chafing, fretting, worrying, short-suffering, quick-temper, hot-temper, +high-spiritedness, unsteadiness, unreliability, lack of control of +yourself. May I ask, have you any personal acquaintance with some of +these qualities? Is there still some need in your life for the other +desirable traits? Well, remember that it is only as the Holy Spirit has +_control_ that this fruit of His is found. For notice that it is not we +that bear this fruit, but He in us. We furnish the soil. He must have +free swing in its cultivation if He is to get this harvest. And notice, +too, that it does not say "the _fruits_ of the Spirit," as though _you_ +might have one or more, and _I_ have some others. But it is +"fruit"--that is, it is all one fruit and all of it is meant to be +growing up in each one of us. And let the fact be put down as settled +once for all that only as we tarry and receive the Master's promise of +power can we live the lives He longs to have us live down here among men +for Him. + +If that father is so to live at home before those wide-awake, growing +boys that he can keep up the family altar, and instead of letting it +become a mere irksome form, make it the green, fresh spot in the home +life, he must have this promised power, for he cannot do it of himself. +I presume _some_ of you fathers know that. + +There is that mother, living in what would be reckoned a humble home, +one of a thousand like it, but charged with the most sacred trust ever +committed to human hands--_the molding of precious lives_. If there be +hallowed ground anywhere surely it is there, in the life of that home. +What patience and tirelessness, and love and tact and wisdom and wealth +of resource does that woman not need! Ah, mothers! if any one needs to +tarry and receive the power promised by the Son of that Mary, who was +filled with the Holy Spirit from before His birth for her sacred trust, +_surely you do_. + +Here sits one whose life plans seem to have gone all askew. The thing +you love to do, and had fondly planned over, removed utterly beyond +your reach and you compelled to fit in to something for which you have +no taste. It will take nothing less than the power the Master promised +for you to go on faithfully, cheerfully just where you have been placed, +no repining, no complaining, even in your innermost soul, but, instead, +a glad, joyous fitting into the Father's plan with a radiant light in +the face. Only His power can accomplish that victory! But _His can_. And +His may be yours for the tarrying and the taking. + +Let me repeat then with all the emphasis possible that as certainly as +you need to trust Jesus Christ for your soul's salvation, you also need +to receive this power of the Holy Spirit to work that salvation out _in +your present life_. + + +A Double Center. + +It has helped me greatly in understanding the Master's insistent +emphasis upon the promise of power to keep clearly in mind that the +christian system of truth revolves around a double center. It is +illustrated best not by a circle with its single center, but by an +ellipse with its twin centers. There are two central truths--not one, +but two. The first of the two is grained deep down in the common +Christian teaching and understanding. If I should ask any group of +Sabbath school children in this town, next Sabbath morning, the +question: What is the most important thing we christians believe? Amid +the great variety in the form of answer would come, in substance, +without doubt, this reply: "_The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from +all sin._" And they would be right. But there is a second truth--very +reverently and thoughtfully let me say--of _equal importance_ with that; +namely, this: _the Holy Spirit empowereth against all sin, and for life +and service_. These two truths are co-ordinate. They run in parallel +lines. They belong together. They are really two halves of the one great +truth. But this second half needs emphasis, because it has not always +been put into its proper place beside the other. + +Jesus died on the cross to make freedom from sin _possible_. The Holy +Spirit dwells within me to make freedom from sin _actual_. The Holy +Spirit does _in_ me what Jesus did _for_ me. The Lord Jesus makes a +deposit in the bank on my account. The Spirit checks the money out and +puts it into my hands. Jesus does in me now by His Spirit what He did +for me centuries ago on the cross, in His person. + +Now these two truths, or two parts of the same truth, go together in +God's plan, but, with some exceptions, have not gone together in men's +experience. That explains why so many christian lives are a failure and +a reproach. The Church of Christ has been gazing so intently upon the +hill of the cross with its blood-red message of sin and love, that it +has largely lost sight of the Ascension Mount with its legacy of power. +We have been so enwrapt with that marvelous scene on Calvary--and what +wonder!--that we have allowed ourselves to lose the intense significance +of Pentecost. That last victorious shout--"It is finished"--has been +crowding out in our ears its counterpart--the equally victorious cry of +Olivet--"_All power hath been given unto Me._" + +The christian's range of vision must always take in two +hill-tops--Calvary and Olivet. Calvary--sin conquered through the blood +of Jesus, a matter of history. Olivet--sin conquered through the power +of Jesus, a matter of experience. When the subject is spoken of, we are +apt to say: "Yes, that is correct. I understand that." But _do_ we +understand it in our _experience_? So certainly as I must trust Jesus as +my Saviour so certainly must I constantly yield my life to the control +of the Spirit of Jesus if I am to find real the practical power of His +salvation. + +As surely as men are now urged to accept Jesus as the great step in +life, so surely should they be instructed to yield themselves to the +Holy Spirit's control that Jesus' plan for their lives may be carried +through. + +You remember in the olden time the Hebrew men were required to appear +before God in the appointed place three times during the year. At the +Passover, and at Pentecost, and again at the harvest home feast of +Tabernacles. So it is required of every man of us who would fit his +life into God's plan that he shall first of all come to the Passover +feast, where Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us. And then that he +shall as certainly come to the great Pentecost feast, or feast of first +fruits where a glorified Passover Lamb breathes down His Spirit of power +into the life. And then he is sure to have a constant attendance at a +first-fruits feast all his days, with a great harvest home festival at +the end. + +I said there were two central truths. Will you notice that the gospels +put it also in this way, that _Jesus came to do two things_--not one +thing, but _two_ things--in working out our salvation. That the first is +dependent for its practical power upon the second, and the second is the +completing or carrying into effect of the power of the first. That the +first--let me say it with great reverence--is valueless without the +second. + +What _was_ Jesus' mission? Would you not expect His forerunner to +understand it? Listen, then, to his words. When questioned specifically +by the official deputation sent from the national leaders at Jerusalem, +he pointed to Jesus, and declared that He had come for a two-fold +purpose. Listen: "Behold the Lamb of God who beareth away the sin of the +world"; and then he added, and the word comes to us with the peculiar +emphasis of repetition by each of the four gospel scribes--"this is He +that baptizeth with the Holy Spirit." That was spoken to them originally +without doubt in a national sense. It just as surely applies to every +one of us in a personal sense. + +Mark also the emphasis of _Jesus' own teachings_ regarding this second +part of His mission. At the very beginning He spoke the decided words +about the necessity of being born of the Spirit. And we are all +impressed with that fact. But observe that several times, in the brief +gospel record, He refers the disciples to the overshadowing importance +of the _Spirit's control in the life_. And that He devotes a large part +of that last long confidential talk which John records, to this special +subject, pointing out the new experiences to come with the coming of the +Spirit, and holding out to them as the greatest evidence of His own love +_the promise of power_. + +It adds intense emphasis to all this to note that Jesus Himself, very +Son of God, was in that wonderful human life of His utterly dependent +upon the Holy Spirit. At the very outset, before venturing upon a single +act or word of His appointed ministry, He waits at the Jordan waters, +until the promised anointing of power came. What a picture does that +prayerfully waiting Jesus present to powerless men to-day! From that +moment every bit and part of His life was under the control of that Holy +Spirit. Impelled into the wilderness for that fierce set-to with Satan, +coming back to Galilee within the power of the Spirit, He himself +clearly stated more than once, that it was through this anointing that +He preached, and taught, and healed, and cast out demons. The writer to +the Hebrews assures us that it was through the power of the Eternal +Spirit that He was enabled to go through the awful experiences of +Gethsemane and Calvary. And Luke adds that it was through the same +empowering Spirit that He gave commandment to the apostles for the +stupendous task of world-wide evangelization. And then at the very last +referring them to that life of His, He said: "As the father hath sent Me +even so send I you." Let me ask if He, very God of very God, yet in His +earthly life intensely human, needed that anointing, do not we? If He +waited for that experience before venturing upon any service, shall not +you and I? + +But we must turn to the book of Acts to get fully within the grip of +this truth. For it, with the epistles fitting into it, is peculiarly the +_Holy Spirit book_, even as the Old Testament is the _Jehovah book_ and +the gospels with Revelation the _Jesus book_. The climax of the gospels +is in the Acts. What is promised in the gospels is _experienced_ in the +Acts. + +Jesus is dominant in the gospels; the Spirit of Jesus in the Acts. He is +the only continuous personality from first to last. He is the common +denominator of the book. The first twelve chapters group about Peter, +the remaining sixteen about Paul, but distinctly above both they all +group about the Holy Spirit. He is the one dominant factor throughout. +The first fourth of the book is fairly aflame with His presence at the +center--Jerusalem. Thence out to Samaria, and through the Cornelius +door to the whole outer non-Jewish world; at Antioch the new center, and +thence through the uttermost parts of the Roman empire into its heart, +His is the presence recognized and obeyed. He is ceaselessly guiding, +empowering, inspiring, checking, controlling clear to the abrupt end. +His is the one mastering personality. And everywhere His presence is a +transforming presence. Nothing short of startling is the change in +Peter, in the attitude of the Jerusalem thousands, in the persecutor +Saul, in the spirit of these disciples, in the unprecedented and +unparalleled unselfishness shown. It is revolutionary. Ah! it was meant +to be so. This book is the living illustration of what Jesus meant by +His teaching regarding His successor. It becomes also an acted +illustration of what the personal christian life is meant to be. + +The Spirit's presence and the necessity of His control is deep-grained +in the consciousness of the leaders in this book. Leaving the stirring +scenes at the capital the eighth chapter takes us down to Samaria. +Multitudes have been led to believe through the preaching of a man who +has been chosen to look after the business matters of the church. Peter +and John are sent down to aid the new movement. Note that their very +first concern is to spend time in prayer that this great company may +receive the Holy Spirit. + +The next chapter shifts the scene to Damascus. A man unknown save for +this incident is sent as God's messenger to Saul. As he lays his hand +upon this chosen man and speaks the light-giving words he instinctively +adds, "and be filled with the Holy Spirit." That is not recorded as a +part of what he had been told to do. But plainly this humble man of God +believes that that is the essential element in Saul's preparation for +his great work. + +In the tenth chapter the Holy Spirit's action with Cornelius completely +upsets the life-long, rock-rooted ideas of these intensely national, and +intensely exclusive Jews. Yet it is accepted as final. + +With what quaint simplicity does the thirteenth chapter tell of the Holy +Spirit's initiation of those great missionary journeys of Paul from the +new center of world evangelization? "the Holy Spirit said, etc." And how +like it is the language of James in delivering the judgment of the first +church council:--"it seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us." + +Paul's conviction is very plain from numerous references in those +wonderful heart-searching and heart-revealing letters of his. But one +instance in this Book of Acts will serve as a fair illustration of his +teaching and habit. It is in the nineteenth chapter. In his travels he +has come as far as to Ephesus, and finds there a small company of +earnest disciples. They are strangers to him. He longs to help them, but +must first find their need. At once he puts a question to them. A +question may be a great revealer. This one reveals his own conception +of what must be the pivotal experience of every true follower of Jesus. +He asks: "Did ye receive the Holy Spirit when ye believed?" + +But they had been poorly instructed, like many others since, and were +not clear just what he meant. They had received the baptism of John--a +baptism of repentance; but not the baptism of Jesus--a baptism of power. +And Paul at once gives himself up to instructing and then praying with +them until the promised gift is graciously bestowed. That is the last we +hear of those twelve persons. Some of them may have been women. Some may +have come to be leaders in that great Ephesian Church. But of that +nothing is said. The emphasis remains on the fact that in Paul's mind +because they were followers of the Lord Jesus they must have this +empowering experience of the Holy Spirit's infilling. + +Plainly in this Book of Acts the pivot on which all else rests and turns +is the unhindered presence of the Holy Spirit. + + +Five Essentials. + +If you will stop a while to think into it you will find that a rightly +rounded christian life has five essential characteristics. I mean +essential in the same sense as that light is an essential to the eye. +The eye's seeing depends wholly on light. If it does not see light, by +and by, it cannot see light. The ear that hears no sound loses the +power to hear sound. Light is essential to the healthful eye: sound to +the ear: air to the lungs: blood to the heart. Just as really are these +five things essential to a strong healthful christian life. + +The _second_ of these is a heart-love for the old Book of God. Not +reading it as a duty--taking a chapter at night because you feel you +must. I do not mean that just now. But reading it because you _love_ to; +as you would a love letter or a letter from home. Thinking about it as +the writer of the one hundred and nineteenth psalm did. Listen to him +for a moment in that one psalm, talking about this book: "I delight," "I +will delight," "My delight"--in all nine times. "I love," "Oh! how I +love," "I do love," "Consider how I love," "I love exceedingly," again +nine times in all. "I have longed," "My eyes fail," "My soul breaketh," +speaking of the intensity of his desire to get alone with the book. +"Sweeter than honey," "As great spoil," "As much as all riches," "Better +than thousands of gold," "Above gold, yea, above fine gold." And all +that packed into less than two leaves. Do you love this Book like that? +Would you like to? Wait a moment. + +The _third_ essential is right habits of prayer. Living a veritable life +of prayer. Making prayer the chief part not alone of your life, but of +your service. Having answers to prayer as a constant experience. Being +like the young man in a conference in India, who said, "I used to pray +three times a day: Now I pray only once a day, and that is _all_ day." +Feet busy all the day, hands ceaselessly active, head full of matters of +business, but the heart never out of communication with Him. Has prayer +become to you like that? Would you have it so? Wait a moment. + +The _fourth_ essential is a pure, earnest, unselfish life. Our lives are +the strongest part of us--or else the weakest. A man knows the least of +the influence of his own life. Life is not mere length of time but the +daily web of character we unconsciously weave. Our thoughts, +imaginations, purposes, motives, love, will, are the under threads: our +words, tone of voice, looks, acts, habits are the upper threads: and the +passing moment is the shuttle swiftly, ceaselessly, relentlessly, +weaving those threads into a web, and that web is life. It is woven, not +by our wishing, or willing, but irresistibly, unavoidably, woven by what +we _are_, moment by moment, hour after hour. What is your life weaving +out? Is it attractive because of the power in it of _His_ presence? +Would you have it so? Would you know the secret of a life marked by the +strange beauty of humility, and fragrant with the odor of _His_ +presence? Wait just a moment. + +The _fifth_ essential is a passion for winning others one by one to the +Lord Jesus. A passion, I say. I may use no weaker word than that. A +passion burning with the steady flame of anthracite. A passion for +_winning_: not driving, nor dragging, but drawing men. I am not talking +about preachers just now, as preachers, but about every one of us. Do +you know the peculiar delight there is in winning the fellow by your +side, the girl in your social circle, to Jesus Christ? No? Ah, you have +missed half your life! Would you have such an intense passion as that, +thrilling your heart, and inspiring your life, and know how to do it +skillfully and tactfully? + +Let me tell you with my heart that the secret not only of this, but of +all four of these essentials I have named lies in the first one which I +have not yet named, and grows out of it. Given the first the others will +follow as day follows the rising sun. + +What is the first great essential? It is this--the unrestrained, +unhindered, controlling presence in the heart of the Holy Spirit. It is +allowing Jesus' other Self, the Holy Spirit, to take full possession and +maintain a loving but absolute monopoly of all your powers. + + +Tarry. + +My friend, have you received this promised power? Is there a growing up +of those four things within you by His grace? Does the Holy Spirit have +freeness of sway in you? Are you conscious of the fullness of His love +and power--conscious enough to know how much there is beyond of which +you are not conscious? Does your heart say, "No." Well, things may be +moving smoothly in that church of which you are pastor, and in that +school over which you preside. Business may be in a satisfactory +condition. Your standing in society may be quite pleasing. Your plans +working out well. The family may be growing up around you as you had +hoped. But let me say to you very kindly but very plainly _your life +thus far is a failure_. You have been succeeding splendidly it may be in +a great many important matters, but they are _the details_ and in the +main issue you have failed utterly. + +And to you to-night I bring one message--the Master's Olivet +message--"_tarry ye_." No need of tarrying, as with these disciples, for +_God_ to do something. His part has been done, and splendidly done. And +He waits now upon you. But tarry until you are willing to put out of +your life what displeases Him, no matter what that may mean to you. +Tarry until your eyesight is corrected; until your will is surrendered. +Tarry that you may start the habit of tarrying, for those two Olivet +words, "Go" and "tarry," will become the even-balancing law of your new +life. A constant going to do His will; a continual tarrying to find out +His will. Tarry to get your ears cleared and quieted so you can learn to +recognize that low voice of His. Tarry earnestly, steadily until that +touch of power comes to change, and cleanse, and quiet, and to give you +a totally new conception of what power is. Then you can understand the +experience of the one who wrote:-- + + "My hands were filled with many things + That I did precious hold, + As any treasure of a king's-- + Silver, or gems, or gold. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (The scars were in His own) + And at His feet my treasures sweet + Fell shattered, one by one. + 'I must have empty hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works through thee.' + + "My hands were stained with marks of toil, + Defiled with dust of earth; + And I my work did ofttimes soil, + And render little worth. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (And crimson were His own) + But when, amazed, on mine I gazed, + Lo! every stain was gone. + 'I must have cleansed hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works through thee.' + + "My hands were growing feverish + And cumbered with much care! + Trembling with haste and eagerness, + Nor folded oft in prayer. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (With healing in His own) + And calm and still to do His will + They grew--the fever gone. + 'I must have quiet hands,' said He, + 'Wherewith to work My works for Me.' + + "My hands were strong in fancied strength, + But not in power divine, + And bold to take up tasks at length, + That were not His but mine. + The Master came and _touched_ my hands, + (And might was in His own!) + But mine since then have powerless been, + _Save His are laid thereon_. + 'And it is only thus,' said He, + 'That I can work My works through thee.'" + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Gal., 5:22. + + + + +THE CHANNEL OF POWER. + +A Word that Sticks and Stings. + + +I suppose everyone here can think of three or four persons whom he loves +or regards highly, who are not christians. Can you? Perhaps in your own +home circle, or in the circle of your close friends. They may be nice +people, cultured, lovable, delightful companions, fond of music and good +books, and all that; but this is true of them, that they do not trust +and confess Jesus as a personal Savior. Can you think of such persons in +your own circle? I am going to wait a few moments in silence while you +recall them to mind, if you will--Can you see their faces? Are their +names clear to your minds? + +Now I want to talk with you a little while to-night, not about the whole +world, but just about these three or four dear friends of yours. I am +going to suppose them lovely people in personal contact, cultured, and +kindly, and intelligent, and of good habits even though all that may not +be true of all of them. And, I want to ask you a question--God's +question--about them. You remember God put His hand upon Cain's arm, +and, looking into his face, said: "Where is Abel, thy brother?" I want +to ask you that question. Where are these four friends? Not where are +they socially, nor financially, nor educationally. These are important +questions. But they are less important than this other question: Where +are they as touching _Him_? Where are they as regards the best life +here, and the longer life beyond this one? + +And I shall not ask you what you think about it. For I am not concerned +just now with what you think. Nor shall I tell you what I think. For I +am not here to tell you what I think, but to bring a message from the +Master as plainly and kindly as I can. So I shall ask you to notice what +this old book of God says about these friends of yours. It is full of +statements regarding them. I can take time for only a few. + +Turn, for instance, to the last chapter of Mark's Gospel, and the +sixteenth verse, and you will find these words: "He that believeth and +is baptized shall be saved; he that believeth not shall be--." You know +the last word of that sentence. It is an ugly word. I dislike intensely +to think it, much less repeat it. It is one of those blunt, sharp, +Anglo-Saxon words that stick and sting. I wish I had a tenderer tone of +voice, in which to repeat it, and then only in a low whisper--it is so +awful--"_damned_." + +Let me ask you very gently: Does the first part of that sentence--"he +that believeth--trusteth--not," does that describe the four friends you +are thinking of now? And please remember that that word "believeth" +does not mean the assent of the mind to a form of creed: never that: but +the assent of the heart to a person: always that. "Yes," you say "I'm +afraid it does: that is just the one thing. He is thoughtful and +gentlemanly; she is kind and good; but they do not trust Jesus Christ +personally." Then let me add, very kindly, but very plainly, if the +first part is an accurate description of your friends, the second part +is meant to apply to them, too, would you not say? And that is an awful +thing to say. + +What a strange book this Bible is! It makes such radical statements, and +uses such unpleasant words that grate on the nerves, and startle the +ear. No man would have dared of himself to write such statements. + +I remember one time visiting a friend in Boston, engaged in christian +work there; an earnest man. We were talking one day about this very +thing and I recall saying: "Do you really believe that what the Bible +says about these people can be true? Because if it is you and I should +be tremendously stirred up over it." And I recall distinctly his reply, +after a moment's pause, "Well, their condition certainly will be +unfortunate." _Unfortunate!_ That is the Bostonese of it. That is a much +less disagreeable word. It has a smoother finish--a sort of polish--to +it. It does not jar on your feelings so. But this book uses a very +different word from that, a word that must grate harshly upon every ear +here. + +I know very well that some persons have associated that ugly word with a +scene something like this: They have imagined a man standing with fist +clenched, and eyes flashing fire, and the lines of his face knotted up +hard, as he says in a harsh voice, "He that believeth not shall be +damned," as though he found pleasure in saying it. If there is _one_ +person here to-night who ever had such a conception, will you kindly cut +it out of your imagination at once? For it is untrue. And put in its +place the true setting of the word. + +Have you ever noticed what a difference the manner, and expression of +face, and tone of voice, yes, and the character of a person make in the +impression his words leave upon your mind? Now mark: It is Jesus talking +here. _Jesus_--the tenderest-hearted, the most mother-hearted man this +world ever listened to. Look at Him, standing there on that hilltop, +looking out toward the great world He has just died for, with the tears +coming into His eyes, and His lips quivering with the awfulness of what +He was saying--"he that believeth not shall be damned," as though it +just broke his heart to say it. And it did break His heart that it might +not be true of us. For He died literally of a broken heart, the walls of +that great, throbbing muscle burst asunder by the strain of soul. That +is the true setting of that terrific statement. + +Please notice it does not say that God damns men. You will find that +nowhere within the pages of this book. But it is love talking; love that +sees the end of the road and speaks of it. And true love tells the truth +at all risks when it must be told. And Jesus because of His dying and +undying love seeks to make men acquainted with the fact which _He_ sees +so plainly, and _they_ do not. + +Now turn for a moment to a second statement. You will find it in +Galatians, third chapter, tenth verse. Paul is quoting from the book of +Deuteronomy these words: "Cursed"--there is another ugly word--"cursed +is everyone who continueth not in all the words of the book of this law +to do them." Let me ask: Does that describe your friends? Well, I guess +it describes us all, does it not? Who is there here that has continued +in all the words of the book of this law to do them? If there is some +one I think perhaps you would better withdraw, for I have no message for +you to-night. The sole difference between some of us, and these friends +you have in your mind is that _we_ are depending upon Another who bore +the curse for us. But these friends decline to come into personal touch +with Him. Do they not? And this honest spoken book of God tells us +plainly of that word "cursed" which has been written, and remains +written, over their faces and lives. + +The Bible is full of such statements. There is no need of multiplying +them. And I am sure I have no heart in repeating any more of them. But +I bring you these two for a purpose. This purpose: of asking you one +question--whose fault is it? Who is to blame? Some one is at fault. +There is blame somewhere. This thing is all wrong. It is no part of +God's plan, and when things go wrong, some one is to blame. Now I ask +you: _Who_ is to blame? + + +A Mother-Heart. + +Well, there are just four persons, or groups of persons concerned. There +is God; and Satan; and these friends we are talking about; and, +ourselves, who are not a bit better in ourselves than they--not a +bit--but who are trusting some One else to see us through. Somewhere +within the lines of those four we must find the blame of this awful +state of affairs. Well, we can say very promptly that Satan is to blame. +He is at the bottom of it all. And that certainly is true, though it is +not all of the truth. Then it can be added, and added in a softer voice +because the thing is so serious, and these friends are dear to us, that +these people themselves are to blame. And that is true, too. Because +they _choose_ to remain out of touch with Him who died that it might not +be so. For there is no sin charged where there is no choice made. Sin +follows choice. Only where one has known the wrong and has chosen it is +there sin charged. + +But that this awful condition goes on unchanged, that those two ugly +words remain true of our dear friends, day after day, while we meet +them, and live with them, is there still blame? There are just two left +out of the four: God, and ourselves who trust Him. Let me ask very +reverently, but very plainly: Is it God's fault? You and I have both +heard such a thing hinted at, and sometimes openly said. I believe it is +a good thing with reverence to ask, and attempt to find the answer, to +such a question as that. And for answer let me first bring to you a +picture of the God of the Old Testament whom some people think of as +being just, but severe and stern. + +Away back in the earliest time, in the first book, Genesis, the sixth +chapter, and down in verses five and six are these words: "And the Lord +saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and"--listen to +these words--"that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was +only evil continually." + +What an arraignment! "Every imagination," "evil," "_only_ evil;" no +mixture of good at all; "only evil _continually_," no occasional spurts +of good even--the whole fabric bad, and bad clear through, and all the +time. Is not that a terrific arraignment? But listen further: "And it +repented the Lord that He had made man on the earth, and"--listen to +these last pathetic words--"_it grieved Him at His heart_." + +Will you please remember that "grieve" is always a love word? There can +be no grief except where there is love. You may annoy a neighbor, or +vex a partner, or anger an acquaintance, but you cannot grieve except +where there is love, and you cannot be grieved except wherein you love. + +I have sometimes, more often than I could wish, seen a case like this. A +young man of good family sent away to college. He gets in with the wrong +crowd, for they are not all angels in colleges yet, quite. Gets to +smoking and drinking and gambling, improper hours, bad companions, and +all that. His real friends try to advise him, but without effect. By and +by the college authorities remonstrate with him, and he tries to +improve, but without much success after the first pull. And after a +while, very reluctantly, he is suspended, and sent home in disgrace. He +feels very bad, and makes good resolutions and earnest promises, and +when he returns he does do much better for a time. But it does not last +long. Soon he is in with the old crowd again, the old round of habits +and dissipations, only now it gets worse than before; the pace is +faster. And the upshot of it all is that he is called up before the +authorities and expelled, sent home in utter disgrace, not to return. + +And here is his chum who roomed with him, ate with him, lived with him. +He says, "Well, I declare, I am all broken up over Jim. It's too bad! He +was "hail-fellow, well met," and now he has gone like that. I'm awfully +sorry. It's too bad! too bad!!" And by and by he forgets about it +except as an unpleasant memory roused up now and then. And here is one +of his professors who knew him best perhaps, and liked him. "Well," he +says, "it is too bad about young Collins. Strange, too, he came of good +family; good blood in his veins; and yet he seems to have gone right +down with the ragtag. It's too bad! too bad!! I am so sorry." And the +matter passes from his mind in the press of duties and is remembered +only occasionally as one of the disagreeable things to be regretted, and +perhaps philosophized over. + +And there is the boy's father's partner, down in the home town. "Well," +he soliloquizes, "it is too bad about Collins' boy. He is all broken up +over it, and no wonder. Doesn't it seem queer? That boy has as good +blood as there is: good father, lovely mother, and yet gone clean to the +bad, and so young. It is too bad! I am awfully sorry for Collins." And +in the busy round of life he forgets, save as a bad dream which will +come back now and then. + +But down in that boy's home there is a woman--a mother, +heart-broken--secretly bleeding her heart out through her eyes. She goes +quietly, faithfully about her round of life, but her hair gets thinner, +and the gray streaks it plainer, her form bends over more, and the lines +become more deeply bitten in her face, as the days come and go. And if +you talk with her, and she will talk with you, she will say, "Oh, yes, I +know other mothers' boys go wrong; some of them going wrong all the +time; but to think of _my Jim_--that I've nursed, and loved so, and done +everything for--to think that my Jim--" and her voice chokes in her +throat, and she refuses to be comforted. _She grieves at her heart._ Ah! +that is the picture of God in that Genesis chapter. He saw that the +world He had made and lavished all the wealth of His love upon had gone +wrong, and it grieved Him at His heart. + +This world is God's prodigal son, and He is heartbroken over it. And +what has He done about it. Ah! what has He done! Turn to Mark's twelfth +chapter, and see there Jesus' own picture of His Father as He knew Him. +In the form of a parable He tells how His Father felt about things here. +He sent man after man to try and win us back, but without effect, except +that things got worse. Then Jesus represents God talking with Himself. +"What _shall_ I do next, to win them back?--there is My son--My only +boy--Jesus--I believe--yes, I believe I'll send Him--then they'll _see_ +how badly I feel, and how much I love them; that'll touch them surely; +I'll do it." You remember just how that sixth verse goes, "He had yet +one, a beloved Son; He sent Him _last_ unto them, saying, they will +_reverence_ my Son." And you know how they treated God's Son, His love +gift. And I want to remind you to-night that, speaking in our human +way--the only way we can speak--God suffered more in seeing His Son +suffer than though He might have suffered Himself. Ask any mother here: +Would you not gladly suffer pain in place of your child suffering if you +could? And every mother-heart answers quickly, "Aye, ten times over, if +the child could be spared pain." Where did you get that marvelous +mother-heart and mother-love? Ah, that mother-heart is a bit of the +God-heart transferred. That is what God is like. Let me repeat very +reverently that God suffered more in giving His Son to suffer than +though He had Himself suffered. And that is the God of the Old +Testament! Let me ask: Is _He_ to blame? Has He not done His best? + +Let it be said as softly as you will, and yet very plainly, that those +awful words, "damned" and "cursed," whatever their meaning may be, are +true of your friends. Then add: It is not so because of God's will in +the matter, but in spite of His will. Remember that God exhausted all +the wealth of His resource when He gave His Son. There can come nothing +more after that. + + +Your Personality Needed. + +Then there is a second question from God's side to ask about those ugly +words: thoughtfully, and yet plainly--Is it the fault of Jesus, the Son +of God? And let anyone here listen to Him speaking in that tenth chapter +of John. "I lay down My life for the sheep. No man taketh it from Me. I +lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down and power to take it +again." And then go out yonder to that scene just outside the Jerusalem +wall. There hangs Jesus upon that cross, suspended by nails through +hands and feet. He is only thirty-three. He is intensely human. Life was +just as sweet to Him that day as it is to you and me to-night. Aye, more +sweet: for sin had not taken the edge off his relish of life. Plainly He +could have prevented them. For many a time had He held the murderous mob +in check by the sheer power of His presence alone. Yet there He hangs +from nine until noon and until three--six long hours. And He said He did +it for you, for me. Do not ask me to tell _how_ His dying for us saves. +I do not know. No one statement seems to tell all the truth. When I +study into it I always get clear beyond my depth. In a tremendous way it +tells a double story; of the damnable blackness of sin; and of the +intensity of love. I do know that _He said_ He did it for us, and for +our salvation, and that it had to be done. But as we look to-day on that +scene, again the question: does any of the blame of the awful statements +this book makes regarding your friends belong to Him, do you think? And +I think I hear your hearts say "surely not." + +Well, the Father has done His best. No blame surely attaches there. The +Son has gone to the utmost limit. No fault can be found there. There is +just one other left up yonder, of the divine partnership--the Holy +Spirit. What about Him. Listen. Just as soon as the Son went back home +with face and form all scarred from His brief stay upon the earth, He +and the Father said, "now We will send down the last one of Us, the Holy +Spirit, and He will do His best to woo men back," and so it was done. +The last supreme effort to win men back was begun. The Holy Spirit came +down for the specific purpose of telling the world about Jesus. His work +down here is to convict men of their terrible wrong in rejecting Jesus, +and of His righteousness, and of the judgment passed upon Satan. Only He +can convince men's minds and consciences. A thousand preachers with the +logic of a Paul and the eloquence of an Isaiah could not convince one +man of sin. Only the Spirit can do that. But listen to me as I say very +thoughtfully--and this is the one truth I pray God to _burn_ into our +hearts to-night--that to do His work among men _He needs to use men_. He +needs you. "Oh!" you say, "it is hardly possible that you mean that: I +am not a minister: I have no special ability for christian work: I am +just an obscure, humble christian: I have no gift in that direction." +Listen with your heart while I remind you that He needs not your special +abilities or gifts, though He will use all you have, and the more the +better, but _He needs your personality as a human channel_ through which +to touch the men you touch. And I want to say just as kindly and +tenderly as I can and yet with great plainness that if you are refusing +to let Him use you as He chooses--shall I say the unpleasant +truth?--the practical blame for those ugly words, and the uglier truth +back of them come straight home to _you_. + +That is a very serious thing to say, and so I must add a few words to +make it still more clear and plain. The Spirit of God in working among +men seeks embodiment _in men_, through whom He acts. The amazing truth +is that not only is He willing to enter into and fill you with His very +presence, but He seeks for, He wants, yes, _He needs your personality_ +as a channel or medium, that living in you He may be able to do His work +among the men you touch even though you may not be conscious of much +that He is doing through you. Is not that startling? He wants to live in +your body, and speak through your lips, and look out of your eyes, and +use your hands, really, actually. Have you turned your personality over +to Him as completely as that? + +Remember the law of God's communication with men; namely, He speaks _to_ +men _through_ men. Run carefully through the Bible, and you will find +that since the Cain disaster, which divided all men into two great +groups, whenever God has a message for a man or a nation out in the +world He chooses and uses a man in touch with Himself as His messenger. + +Listen to Jesus' own words in that last night's long talk in John's +Gospel, chapter fourteen, verse seventeen. Speaking about the coming +Spirit, He says, "Whom the world cannot receive." That is a strange +statement. Though an important part of the Spirit's great mission is to +the world yet it cannot receive Him. But chapter sixteen, verses seven +and eight gives the explanation: "I will send Him _unto you_, and He +when He is come (unto you) will convince," and so on. That is to say, a +message from God to one who has come within the circle of personal +relation with Jesus--that message comes along a straight line without +break or crook. But a message to one who remains outside that circle +comes along an _angled_ line--two lines meeting at an angle--and the +point of that angle is in some christian heart. The message He sends out +to the outer circle passes through some one within the inner circle. To +make it direct and personal: He needs to use you to touch those whom you +touch. + + +God's Sub-Headquarters. + +Let me bring you a few illustrations of how God uses men, though the +_fact_ of His using them is on almost every page of this Bible. Back in +the old book of Judges is a peculiar expression which is not brought out +as clearly as it might be in our English Bibles. The sixth chapter and +thirty-fourth verse might properly read: "_the Spirit of Jehovah clothed +Himself with Gideon_." It was a time of desperate crisis in the nation. +God chose this man for leadership among his fellows. If you take his +life throughout you will not think him an ideal character. But he seems +to be the best available stuff there was. He became the general guiding +an army in what, to human eyes, was a perfectly hopeless struggle. Men +saw Gideon moving about giving orders. But this strangely significant +phrase lets us into the secret of his wise strategy and splendid +victory. "The Spirit of Jehovah clothed Himself with Gideon." Gideon's +personality was merely a suit of clothes which God wore that day in +achieving that tremendous victory for His people. The same expression is +used of Amasai, one of David's mighty chieftains,[4] and of Zechariah, +one of the priests during Joash's reign.[5] + +A New Testament illustration is found in the book of Acts in the account +of Philip and the Ethiopian stranger. This devout African official had a +copy of the old Hebrew Scriptures, but needed an interpreter to make +plain their newly acquired significance. The Holy Spirit, _the_ +interpreter of Scripture, longs to help him. For that purpose He seeks +out a man, of whom He has control, named Philip. He is directed to go +some distance over toward the road where this man is journeying. We are +told of Philip that he was "full of the Spirit." And a reading of that +eighth chapter makes plain the controlling presence of the Spirit in +Philip's personality. In the beginning He gives very explicit direction. +"The Spirit (within Philip) said, go near, join thyself to this +chariot." And at the close "the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip." + +These are a few illustrations of what seems to be a common law of God's +intercourse with men. The language of the Bible throughout fits in with +this same conception. Strikingly enough the same seems to be true in the +opposing camp, among the forces of the Evil One. Repeatedly in the +gospels we come across the startling expressions--"possessed with +demons," "possessed of demons," evidently speaking of men whom demons +had succeeded in getting possession of, and clothing themselves with. It +seems to be a law of _spirit_ life that a spirit needs to be embodied in +dealing with embodied beings. And God conforms to this law in His +dealings with men. + +My friend, will you ask your heart, has the Holy Spirit gotten +possession of you like that? With reverence I repeat that He is seeking +for men in whom He may set up a sort of sub-headquarters, from which He +may work out as He pleases. Has He been able to do that with you? Or, +have you been holding back from Him, fearing He might make some changes +in you or your plans? If that is so, may I say just as kindly as these +lips can speak it, but also as plainly, that then _the practical blame_ +for those cutting words about your friends comes straight back to _you_. + +Hugh McAllister Beaver, son of the former governor of Pennsylvania, and +one of the rarest christian young men that ever lived, felt impelled at +a conference of students at Northfield, in '97, to tell this bit of his +inner experience, though naturally reluctant to do so. While at college, +arrangements were made for a series of meetings every night for a week. +"One day going down the hallway of the college building," he said, "I +met a boy we all called Dutchy, one of the toughest fellows in school. I +said to him, 'Dutch, come to the meeting to-night.'" Instead of laughing +or swearing, to Beaver's surprise, he paused a moment as though such a +thing was possible, and Beaver said, "I prayed quietly to myself, and +urged him to come." And he said, "Well, I guess I will." And that night +to every one's surprise Dutch came to the meeting. When Beaver rose to +speak, to his surprise this fellow was not simply intensely interested +but his eyes were full of tears. And Beaver said "a voice as distinct as +an audible voice said to me, 'Speak to Dutchy!' But _I did not_." Again +the next night Dutchy came of his own accord, and one of the boys +putting his arm on Beaver's shoulder said, "Speak to Dutchy. We boys +never saw him like this before." And he said he would. But _he did not_. +And some time after he had a dream and thought he would not walk this +earth any more. It did not trouble him except that his brother was +crying. But he thought he met the Master, who looked into his face, and +said, "Hugh, do you remember, I asked you to speak to Dutchy?" "Yes." +"And you did not." "No." "Would you like to go back the earth and win +him?" And he finished the story by saying, "it's hard work, but he's +coming now." + +I wonder if the Master has ever tried to use your lips like that, and +you have refused? + +A prominent clergyman in New England tells this experience of his. In +the course of his pastoral work he was called to conduct the funeral +service of a young woman who had died quite unexpectedly. As he entered +the house he met the minister in charge of the mission church, where the +family attended, and asked him, "Was Mary a christian?" To his surprise +a pained look came into the young man's face as he replied, "Three weeks +ago I had a strong impulse to speak to her, but _I did not_; and I do +not know." A moment later he met the girl's Sunday school teacher and +asked her the same question. Quickly the tears came, as she said, "Two +weeks ago, Doctor, a voice seemed to say to me, 'Speak to Mary,' and I +knew what it meant, and I intended to, but _I did not_, and I do not +know." Deeply moved by these unexpected answers, a few minutes later he +met the girl's mother, and thinking doubtless to give her an opportunity +to speak a word that would bring comfort to her own heart, he said +quietly, "Mary was a christian girl?" The tears came quick and hot to +the mother's eyes, as she sobbed out, "One week ago a voice came to me +saying, 'Speak to Mary,' and I thought of it, but I did not at the +time, and you know how unexpectedly she went away and I do not know." + +Well, please understand me, I am not saying a word about that girl. I do +not know anything to say. I would hope much and can understand that +there is ground for hope. But this is what I say: How pathetic, beyond +expression, that the Spirit tried to get the use of the lips of three +persons, a pastor, a teacher, aye, _a mother!_ to speak the word that +evidently He longed to have spoken to her, _and He could not_! + +Has He tried to use you _like that_? + + +The Highest Law of Action. + +But these two illustrations are narrower than the truth. They speak of +the lips. He wants to use your lips; but, even more, He wants to use +your _life_. Much as He may use your lips, He will use your personality, +your presence, your life ten times more, when you are wholly unconscious +of it. He loves men so much. He longs to save them. But He needs us--you +and me--as channels through which His power shall flow to touch and +mightily influence those whom we touch. How often has He turned away +disappointed because the channel had broken connections, or could not be +used? + + "He was not willing that any should perish; + Jesus, enthroned in the glory above, + Saw our poor fallen world, pitied our sorrows, + Poured out His life for us, wonderful love. + Perishing, perishing, thronging our pathway, + Hearts break with burdens too heavy to bear; + Jesus would save, but there's no one to tell them, + No one to save them from sin and despair." + +Someone says: "You are putting an awful responsibility upon us. Would +you have us go out and begin speaking to everyone we meet?" No, that is +not what I am saying just now. Though there is a truth there. But this: +Surrender yourself to Jesus as your _Master_, for Him to take +possession. Turn the channel over to Him, that He may tighten the +connections, upward and outward, and clean it out, and then use as He +may choose. He has a passion for winning men, and He has marvelous tact +in doing it. Let Him have His way in you. Keep quiet and close to Him, +and _obey_ Him, gladly, cheerily, constantly, and _He will assume all +responsibility for the results_. + +There is a law of personal service. It is this: Contact means +opportunity; opportunity means responsibility. To come into personal +contact with a man gives an opportunity of influencing him for Christ, +and with opportunity goes its twin partner--responsibility. + +There is another law--a higher law--the highest law of the christian +life. It is this: In everything hold yourself subject to the _Holy +Spirit's leading_. Whenever these two laws come into conflict remember +that the lower law always yields to the higher. It is a law of life that +where two laws come into conflict the lower law always gives way to the +higher. That is a supreme law both of nature and in legislation. Now, +the highest law of the christian life is to yield constantly to the +leading of our Companion--the Holy Spirit. Then quiet time alone with +the Master daily over His word for the training of the ear, and the +training of the judgment, and the training of the tongue becomes the +great essential. + +But to-night the great question is: Have you turned the channel of +power--your personality--over to Him to be flushed and flooded with His +power? Will you? + + "Only a smile, yes, only a smile, + That a woman o'erburdened with grief + Expected from you; 'twould have given relief, + For her heart ached sore the while. + But, weary and cheerless, she went away, + Because, as it happened that very day, + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a word, yes, only a word, + That the Spirit's small voice whispered, 'Speak'; + But the worker passed onward, unblessed and weak, + Whom you were meant to have stirred + To courage, devotion and love anew, + Because, when the message came to you, + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a note, yes, only a note, + To a friend in a distant land; + The Spirit said, 'Write,' but then you had planned + Some different work, and you thought + It mattered little. You did not know + 'Twould have saved a soul from sin and woe-- + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a song, yes, only a song, + That the Spirit said, 'Sing to-night; + Thy voice is thy Master's by purchased right.' + But you thought, ''Mid this motley throng, + I care not to sing of the City of God'; + And the heart that your words might have reached grew cold-- + You were _out of touch_ with your Lord. + + "Only a day, yes, only a day, + But oh! can you guess, my friend, + Where the influence reaches and where it will end + Of the hours that you frittered away? + The Master's command is, 'Abide in Me'; + And fruitless and vain will your service be + If _out of touch_ with your Lord." + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] 1 Chron. xii: 18. + +[5] 2 Chron. xxiv: 20. + + + + +THE PRICE OF POWER. + +Law of Exchange. + + +Every man needs power. Every earnest man covets power. Every willing man +has the Master's promise of power. But every man does not possess the +promised power. And many, it is to be feared, never will. Many a man's +life to-day is utterly lacking in power. Some of us will look back at +the close of life with a sense of keen disappointment and of bitter +defeat. And the reason is not far to seek, nor hard to see through. If +we do not have power it is because _we are not willing to pay the +price_. + +Everything costs. There is a law of exchange that rules in every sphere +of life. It is this, "to get, you must give." It rules in the business +world. If I want a house or a hat I must give the sum agreed upon. It +rules in the intellectual world. If a young man wants a disciplined mind +he must give time, and close application, and some real, hard work. It +holds true in the spirit realm. If you and I wish to have business +transactions in this upper world of spirit-life we must be governed by +this same law. To have power in our lives over sin and selfishness, and +passion, and appetite; over tongue, and temper, and self-seeking +ambition; to have power in prayer, and in winning others over from sin +to Jesus Christ, one must first lay down the required price. + +What is the price of power? Turn to Jesus' talk with Peter and the +others in the latter part of the sixteenth chapter of Matthew's gospel. +Jesus has been telling them of the awful cross-experiences which He +clearly saw ahead. Peter probably fearful that whatever came to his +Master might possibly come to himself also, and shrinking back in horror +from that, has the hardihood to rebuke Jesus. The Master, recognizing +the suggestion as coming from a far subtler individual than Peter, who +is using ignorant Peter's selfishness to repeat the suggestion of the +wilderness, again bids _him_ begone. Then in a few simple words of +far-reaching significance, He states first the standard of power, and +then the price to be paid by one who would reach that standard. Listen +to Him: "If any man would come after Me, let him deny himself and take +up his cross and follow Me." + + +In the Footprints of Jesus. + +Let us look a little into these familiar words. "If any man _would come +after Me_"--that is the standard set before us. Not to be regarded as a +pillar in the church, a leader in religious circles, a good Bible +student, a generous giver, an earnest speaker, an energetic worker, a +spiritually minded person, but, what _may_ not be coupled with any or +all of these admirable things, _to tread in the footprints of Jesus_. + +Think back into that marvelous life. A human life, remember. For though +He was Son of God He lived His life down here as a son of man. Think of +His power over temptation, not alone at the outset in the fierce +wilderness struggle, but through those succeeding years of intense +conflict; His power over Satan, over man-possessing demons, over +disease; His power in dealing with the subtle schoolmen trying their +best to trip Him up, as well as over His more violent enemies who would +have dashed Him over yon Nazareth precipice, or later stoned the life +out of His body in Jerusalem. Recall the power of His rare +unselfishness; His combined plainness and tenderness of speech in +dealing with men; His unfailing love to all classes; His power as a soul +winner, as a man of prayer, as a popular preacher, lovingly wooing men +while unsparingly rebuking their sins. _There_ is the suggestion of +Jesus' standard of power. Would you go _after Him_? You may. For as the +Father sent Him even so sends He us, to do the same work and live the +same life. + +But wait a moment before answering that question. There is another side +in His life to that "come-after-me." Opposites brought into contact +produce a violent disturbance. Such a life as that of Jesus, down in the +atmosphere of this world will of necessity provoke bitter enmities, both +then and now. Listen. He was criticized and slandered. They said He was +peculiar and fanatical. His friends thought Him "beside Himself," swept +off His feet by excessive, hot-headed enthusiasm. They "laughed Him to +scorn," and reviled Him. They picked His words, and nagged His kindliest +acts, and dogged His steps. Repeated attempts were made upon His life, +both at Nazareth and by stoning at Jerusalem. A determined conspiracy +against His life was planned by the Jerusalem officials six months +before the end actually came. He was practically a fugitive for those +months. At the last He was arrested and mocked and _spit_ upon, struck +with open hand and clenched fist, derisively crowned with thorns, and +finally killed--a cruel, lingering, tortured death. + +"If any man would _come after Me_." Plainly this language of Jesus put +back into its original setting begins to assume a new significance. + + +A Fixed Purpose. + +But look at these words a little more closely. "_If_"--it is an open +question, this matter of following Jesus. It is kept open by many people +who want to be known as christian, but who hesitate over what a plain +understanding of Jesus' words may involve. Some of us may be disposed to +shrink back from the simple meaning these words will yet disclose. + +"If any man _would_"--would is the past tense of will. The word will is +one of the strongest in our language. A man's will is the imperial part +of him. It is the autocrat upon the throne; the judge upon the bench of +final appeal. Jesus is getting down to the root of matters here. He is +appealing to the highest authority. No mere passing sentiment is this. +Not attending a meeting and being swept along with the crowd by the +hour's influence. But _a fixed purpose_, calmly, resolutely settled +upon, rooted away down deep in the very vitals of the will to follow +Jesus absolutely, no matter what it may cost or where it may cut. + +I wonder how many of us would form such a purpose, to follow Jesus +_blindly_, utterly regardless of what it might be found to mean as the +days come and go? "Oh, well," I hear some one say, "why talk like that. +Nobody is required to suffer to-day as He did." Do you think not? I am +not so sure about that. There is a young man in Southern India, bright +fellow, full of power, of high class family, who heard of Jesus, and +felt the personal appeal to himself of that marvelous story. He thought +a good while of what it meant, and what it might involve, and at length +resolutely formed his decision to accept and follow Jesus. As he had +anticipated, his dear ones remonstrated with him, coaxed, pleaded, +threatened, and finally, his own father violently put him out of his +life-long home, and he has remained since _an outcast_ from home and +loved ones. These words of Jesus surely are full of significance to +him. + +"But that was in India, far off, heathen India," you say. Well, here is +something of a similar sort at home. I knew a young woman in a certain +New England town visiting away from home. She attended some meetings +where she was visiting, and decided to be a christian. She was betrothed +to a young man, not a christian, in her home town. At once she wrote him +explaining her new step thinking, doubtless how glad he would be. For +most men seem very willing to have their _wives_ christian. But he wrote +back that if she were determined to be a christian that must put an end +to their engagement. He was not a christian and did not want his wife to +be one. Every one here must know how serious a question that brought up +for decision. For she was a true woman, and love's tendrils twine with +wondrous tenacity about a woman's heart. And I presume, too, that +everyone of you has already thought while I am speaking, of the +temptation that, quick as a flash, went through her mind. "You need not +make a public matter of this. Just be a true christian in heart and +life, and in that way _you'll win him over afterwards_." I imagine some +of you have heard something like that before. But she remembered that +her new Master said "Confess" as well as "believe." It was a crisis; a +severe struggle of soul. But she felt she must follow her Master's +leading regardless of what it involved. And so she decided. You are not +surprised to know that she was ill for a time. The intense strain of +spirit affected her body. "If--any--man--would--come--after--Me" meant +much to her. Did it not? + +Without doubt if some of _us_ listening to-day were to follow Jesus +quietly, but absolutely, in all things as His own Spirit plainly led, we +would find as sharp a line of separation drawn against us, as did He in +Palestine, and these young people in India and America. + +Many a social door would be shut in our faces. O, shut _politely_ of +course! Society thinks it in very bad form to get unduly excited about +mere matters of religious opinion. But the door is _shut_, and barred, +too. Some of us would possibly be searching for other business positions +before to-morrow's light faded away if we were determined to go only +where _He_ clearly pointed the way. + +But we have only begun to get at the meaning of Jesus' words. Is there +still a _fixed purpose_ to follow regardless of what meaning these words +may yet disclose? Not impossibly the company of those willing to go +straight through this verse with a calm, determined "yes" to every word +of Jesus, will grow smaller as we go on. + + +A Character Sketch. + +Let us go a little farther. "If any man would come after Me let him +_deny himself_." "Deny himself"--what does that mean? Well, deny means +to say "no," plainly and positively. Himself is the smoother English +word for his self. Let him say "no" to his self. Please notice that +Jesus is not speaking of what is commonly called self-denial. That is, +repressing some desire for a time, sacrificing something temporarily in +order to gain an advantage later. That sort of thing is not peculiar to +the christian life, but is practiced by all classes, even among the +lowest. He is not speaking of that, but of something far more radical. +Reading the verse through again, it will be seen that there are three +distinct persons referred to by Jesus. First, the "any man" He speaks +of, and then the two others represented by these words "himself" and +"Me," either one or the other of whom is influencing this "any man's" +life. "Say no to his self" is coupled with "follow Me." And the opposite +is implied--if any man will not do as _I_ desire, he will continue to do +as he is now doing, namely, deny Me and follow his self. + +These two persons self and Jesus are placed here in sharpest contrast. +An uncompromising antagonism exists between them. They are sworn foes, +and every man must decide to which he will yield his allegiance. To +agree with either one is to oppose the other one. For a man to settle +some matter that comes up for decision by saying "yes" to the desires or +demands of his self involves his saying "no" to Jesus. And on the other +hand his yielding assent to the plans and wishes of this "me," namely +Jesus, is plainly equivalent to saying "no" to his self. + +What is this self in each of us that Jesus sets in such antagonism to +Himself, and instructs us to say a hard, uncompromising, unceasing "no" +to? There are a few words in common use that give some suggestion of its +character. There is the word selfish, that is, being absorbed in one's +own self; in getting every stream to flow by his own door. That is +commonly regarded, even in absolutely worldly circles, as a detestable +trait. Its opposite, self-forgetful, being full of forgetting one's self +in thinking of others, is as commonly regarded in all circles as a +charming, winsome trait of character. The words self-centered, and +self-willed, are as familiar and suggestive. + +The fact is, there is an individual living inside each one of us whom +Jesus refers to, by this word "his self." This individual takes on the +degree of intensity and other local coloring of the person it inhabits. +It may be polished, scholarly, cultured; or, coarse, ignorant and +ill-mannered. But "scratch a Russian and you find a Tartar." Scratch +through the veneering here and, whether coarse or highly polished, you +will find the same individual--self. + +There are some quite marked characteristics by which its presence may be +recognized. They may not all be noticeable together in any one person. +But one or more will be found in every person whom it succeeds in +influencing and dominating. One characteristic is this: _it covets +praise_. It feeds and fattens on commendation. It constantly seeks to +be highly esteemed, to have its worth properly appraised. It is +immensely impressed with its own importance, its value to society, its +keenness, wisdom or aptness, and wishes others to be so impressed also. +It is fond of a mirror, especially one made to magnify. It seeks +recognition. It presses forward, rudely or politely, according as its +habitat has been trained in rude or polite circles. It may put on the +garb of humility, and use the language of depreciation. But its ear is +none the less keenly alert to hear the agreeable things and to cherish +them. + +Another characteristic, which really is simply the other side of this +first named one, is this: _it shrinks from criticism_. How it writhes +and twists at the least touch of unfavorable criticism! It is always on +the defensive. The cheek colors at the suggestion of its being wrong, or +having blundered, or of being peculiar. + +How quickly it explains and defends and brings evidence of its being in +the right. It is extremely sensitive. "It is that _touchy_ thing in +you." It is chronically troubled with "the disease of _touchiness_." Its +feelings are readily hurt. It is easily slighted. It remembers +grievances. It has an interrogation point constantly on sentinel duty, +namely, What will _they_ think? What will _they_ say? It lives in +constant fear, under the lash of that huge, vague, awful _they_. + +I remember knowing a Sunday school teacher who had a mission class of +rather rough boys from non-christian homes. I asked one day how she was +getting along with them. "Going to give them up," she replied. "Is that +so? They have all become christians?" No, none of them were christians, +and they liked her, and said they would not come if she gave them up, +but she felt discouraged, and anyway she had decided to give them up. +Lawyers and women do not always give their reasons, very wisely. I +ventured to suggest that before giving them up, she have the boys come +up to her home, one at a time, perhaps for tea; have a pleasant chatty +time at tea and afterwards, and then before the boy left have a quiet +friendly talk with him by himself about being a christian, and, a few +words of prayer with him. Wouldn't she try that before giving them up? +And I remember distinctly that her face blushed as red as a bright red +rose, as she replied, "Why, Mr. Gordon, _he'd laugh at me_!" And she +could not bear the possible chance of being laughed at for the other +more likely possibility of winning a soul--a man--a life. That was +"self" in her, shrinking back from a laugh; dreading that look of +possibly contemptuous surprise that _might_ come. + +Another person, speaking about certain recreations very common in +society, and which he was in the habit of joining, though freely +questioning the propriety of so doing, said, "O, I don't care much for +those things. I could easily give them up, but people think you are so +queer if you decline, and you feel as if you were a back number." Ah! +there was the rub. The desire to be thought well of; the dislike of +being considered peculiar; the fear of that thinly veiled sneering curl +on the lip--that was _self_ in him asserting its presence, and even +more, ruling his action. Do you recognize the individual inside of you +that Jesus is speaking of? + +There is a third tell-tale ear-mark of self that is difficult to +conceal--_it is assertive_. It dearly loves to have its own way. It has +plans and ambitions, and proposes to carry them through regardless of +man, or--let the plain truth be spoken softly--of God. Its opinions are +held tenaciously. Its favorite pronoun is I, capitalized, with +variations of my and me. The personal equation is extremely powerful and +persuasive. + +The true follower of Jesus holds every plan subject to change from +above. But this self, if allowed to rule, takes the bit in its +tightly-shut teeth, and drives determinedly ahead, reckless of either +man's or God's preferences, even though religious phraseology may be +upon its tongue. + +Still another trait of character of this self whose closer acquaintance +we are making is this: _It has an insatiable appetite_. It grows +hungrier by that on which it feeds. Its capacity is beyond the measuring +line. If given free rein it will debase the holiest functions of the +body, and degrade the highest powers of the mind to appease its gnawing, +passion-bitten hunger. The noblest gifts, the purest emotions, the most +sacred relationships, are dragged down to the slimy gutter to tempt and +temporarily stay its jaded palate. + + +Unmasked. + +_That_ is something of a suggestion of the character of this other +master than Jesus, who seeks to get control of us, and from whose +relentless, vise-like grip Jesus would fain free us. He says there is +only one thing to do with it. No half-way compromise--the great American +expedient--will do here. The Master says plainly it is to be denied, +repressed, put determinedly down, starved, strangled. To every +suggestion or demand there is to be a prompt, positive, jaw-locked no. + +There is war to the knife, and the knife clear up to the hilt, between +these two claimants for the control of our powers--self and Jesus. Paul +understood this antagonism thoroughly. It comes out repeatedly in his +writings. His name for this inner enemy, by an accidental turn in +English, is Jesus' word "self" spelled backwards with the letter "h" +added--f-l-e-s-h. His remarks in Romans, eighth chapter, verses four to +eight, and twelve to thirteen, are simply an enlargement of these words +in the sixteenth of Matthew's gospel. If one will read these verses, +substituting Jesus' word "self" for Paul's word he will be surprised to +find how strikingly Paul is expressing this very thought of Jesus. A +free translation of part of these verses would read like this: Verse +five--"They that choose to walk after self (as a slave walked after, or +behind, his master) will show their choice by obeying the desires of +self, and they that choose to walk after the Spirit will obey the +desires of the Spirit." Verse seven--"For the purposes of self are +opposed to God's purposes; for it does not hold itself subject to God's +wishes; indeed, in its very nature it cannot; and they that choose to +obey self cannot please God." Verse thirteen--"If by the Holy Spirit's +aid ye kill off the plans and doings of self, ye shall therein find real +true life, and only so." + +Plainly, the deep searching experiences of Paul's great soul, and his +wide observation of others, in his ceaseless travels, confirm the +statements already made, that there is the intensest hatred, the +bitterest antagonism, between these two personalities represented by +Jesus' words, "himself" and "me." There can be no patched-up truce here. +The only way the lion and the lamb can lie down together in this case is +for the one to lie down underneath the other--conquered; or inside the +other--devoured. + +In his other letters Paul sometimes uses still another name, "the old +man," and names the characteristics of this omnipresent self, which crop +out with varying degrees of prominence, in different persons, and under +different circumstances. Notice only a few of these: In Galatians, fifth +chapter, nineteenth verse: "The deeds of self are ... improper sexual +intercourse, impurity, shameless looseness...." It will, wherever +possible, debase the holiest functions of the body. In Colossians, third +chapter, fifth verse, speaking of the "old man": "And covetousness, +which is reckoning of highest worth that which is less worthy than God." +That is to say, the ambitious longings of self, will if unchecked become +the ruling passion, thrusting all else ruthlessly aside and degrading +the highest powers of the mind to satisfying its feverish desire. In +Ephesians, fourth chapter, thirty-first verse: "Bitterness, passion, +anger, loud disputing, evil-speaking ... malice." Its assertiveness, and +demand for a due recognition of its worth, its rights, its opinions, its +proper place, bring bitterest burnings, and worse. It will not be +needful to review congressional, and political, and society life for +illustrations. They may be found much nearer one's own door. + +Was there ever such a list? Such a being whose heart begets and nurses +such progeny! This being has the smell of hell, and of the evil one +himself. Ah! now we are getting at the straight truth. Self is Satan's +personal representative in every human heart. Its door of entrance is +the door of disobedience. It can have control only where one allows +himself to get out of intelligent sympathy with God. The self in Peter +was recoiling from that cross of which Jesus spoke. How keen Jesus was +in recognizing the suggestor of the thought that found expression +through Peter's lips--"Get thee behind me, _Satan_." Self is Satan, +condensed into each man's life, though in some he dare not exhibit his +coarser traits; and in others he is being _constantly conquered_ by that +power of the Spirit of Jesus which comes through absolute, glad +surrender to Him. + +This sly Satan-self may often be recognized by a favorite question it +asks among christian people about a great many so-called unimportant +matters:--What's the harm? But a true follower of Jesus never lives down +upon the plane of "what's-the-harm?" He lives up in a higher sphere with +his Master, who "pleased not Himself," but made it the steady, +unfaltering aim of His life to do always those things that were pleasing +to His Father. Men thought Him narrow and fanatical, but He cared not so +long as He could daily hear that clear, sweet voice saying "This is My +beloved Son, in whom _I_ am well pleased." The final touchstone which +the follower of Jesus applies to every matter is this: _Would it please +Him?_ + +Let everyone here who earnestly desires to fit into, and to fill out, +Jesus' plan for his life, take paper and pencil and make a list of his +personal habits; such as his eating, what he eats and how; his drinking, +other things he puts into his mouth, his dress, the use and care of his +body, his recreations, his reading, his conversation, his use of money, +his use of time, his life plans and his daily plans, his social +engagements; and regarding each ask plainly the question--what is the +_motive_ that _controls_ me in this? Is it my own preference or +enjoyment? Or, is it to please and honor Jesus? Let him further go +through the list of his business methods, his friendships, the various +organizations he belongs to, with the same question. If he will do +thorough work he will probably have some stiff fighting on hand both at +the start and afterwards. Many a life would thereby be radically +changed. For example, I know a christian storekeeper who has on his +shelves a certain article bearing the label of a tonic medicine, but he +knows perfectly well, as does anyone who stops to think about it, that +the stuff back of the label is one form of an intoxicant. There can be +no question of what the Master would say about it. But it brings a good +profit. And his money-fevered self asserts its mastery and carries the +day. And the man tightly grips the profits, while Satan chuckles with +unholy glee, and souls are being damned by this christian man's aid. +Certainly there can be none of the power of God in such a life. Let us +rather speak the truth and say that this man is exerting a positive +power for Satan and for hell. + +All this is included in these few simple words, "let him deny himself." +Is there still a fixed purpose to follow Jesus without regard to what it +may cost us, or where the keen edge of separation may cut in? + + +The Battle of the Forks. + +Here is a forking of the road. I bring this whole company up to this +dividing, and therefore deciding, point. Let each choose his own road +deliberately, prayerfully, with open eyes. This road to the left has as +its law, yielding to self; saying "yes" to the desires and demands of +self; with some modifications possibly, here and there, for I am talking +to professing christian people. Yes to Jesus _sometimes_, but at _other_ +times, when it suits circumstances and inclinations better to do +otherwise--well, a pushing of the troublesome question aside. And that +means a decided yes to self, with as positive a negative to Jesus' +desires implied thereby. That is the left-hand fork. + +This right-hand road knows only one law to which exception is never +made, namely: _Yes to Jesus_, everywhere, always, regardless of +consequences, though it may entail loss of friendships, or money, or +position, or social standing, or personal preference, or radical change +of plans, or, what not. + +Judas assented to the cravings of his ambitious self and said "no" to +his Master, thinking possibly, with his worldly shrewdness, thereby to +force Jesus to assert His power. He little knew what a time of crisis it +was, and what terrific results would follow. + +Peter stood on the side of his cowardly, shrinking self in the +court-yard that dark night, and against his Master. And though with +matchless love he was forgiven, he never forgave himself, nor was able +to get that night's doings out of his memory. Judas and Peter were +brothers in action that night, and there are evidences that many other +disciples are standing over in the same group. Are you? Which road do +you choose to-night: this--to the left? Or, this--to the right? + +I knew a young man who was deeply attached to an admirable young woman, +both refined christian persons, much above the average in native +ability, and in culture. He made known to her his feelings. But as many +a woman who does not trust her best Friend in such matters is apt to do +she held him off, testing him repeatedly, to find out just how real his +attachment was. Finally revealing indirectly her own feeling she still +withheld the consent he pleaded for, until he would yield acquiescence +in a certain plan of hers for him. The plan, proper enough in itself, +was an ambitious one, and tended decidedly toward swinging him away from +the high, tenderly spiritual ideals that had swayed his life in college +and afterwards, though he probably was not clearly conscious of this +tendency. The only safe thing to do under such strong circumstances was +to take time, aside, alone, for calm, poised, thought and prayer, to +learn if her plan was also the Master's plan for him. But the personal +element proved too strong for such deliberation. The possibility of +losing her swung him off of his feet. It was no longer a question +between her plan and the Master's plan. The latter dropped out of view, +probably half-unconsciously because hurriedly. _He must have her_, he +thought. That rose before his eyes above all else. And so the decision +was made. With what result? He is to-day prominent in christian service, +an earnest speaker, a tireless worker, with a most winsome personality. +But his inner spiritual life has perceptibly dwarfed. His ideals, still +high and noble, are distinctly lower than in his earlier life. +Intellectual ideals, admirable in themselves, but belonging in second +place in a christian life, now command the field. His conceptions and +understanding of spiritual truth have undergone a decided change. + +The proposal of the self-life came in very fascinating guise to him. He +hastily said "yes" to it: that meant as decided a refusal of Another's +plan for him, which had once been clearly recognized, and accepted, but +was now set aside, be it sadly said, as he swung quickly off to the left +fork of the road. + +There is an incident told of a European pastor, an earnest, eloquent +man. The realization came in upon him that he had not been fully +following the Master. In much of his life self was still ruling. He came +to this forking of the road, and the battle was a fierce one, for self +dies hard. But finally "by the Spirit," he got the victory, as every one +may, and calmly stepped off to the right. He has vividly described that +battle of the forks in language, the accuracy of which will be +recognized by others who have been in action on that field. + + "Oh, the bitter shame and sorrow, + That a time could ever be + When I let the Saviour's pity + Plead in vain, and proudly answered: + '_All of self, and none of Thee_.' + + "Yet He found me: I beheld him + Bleeding on the accursed tree; + Heard Him pray, 'forgive them, Father,' + And my wistful heart said faintly: + '_Some of self and some of Thee_.' + + "Day by day, His tender mercy, + Healing, helping, full and free, + Sweet and strong, and oh, so patient, + Brought me lower, while I whispered: + '_Less of self and more of Thee_.' + + "Higher than the highest heaven, + Deeper than the deepest sea, + Lord, thy love at last has conquered; + Grant me now my soul's desire, + '_None of self and all of Thee_.'" + +Is there still a fixed purpose? Will you take this right fork? Let those +who will, and those who linger reluctantly listen to the further word +that Jesus adds: "Let him deny himself and take up his cross." "_Take up +his cross_"--what does that mean? The cross has come to be regarded in +these days as a fine ornament. It looks beautiful bejeweled; on the end +of a sword; or worked into regalia. It makes such an artistic finish to +a church building, finely chiseled in stone, or enwreathed with ivy. It +looks pretty in jewelry and flowers. But to Jesus and the men of His +time it had a grim, hard, painful significance. In Roman usage a man +condemned to this death was required to take up the crude wooden cross +provided, carry it out to the place of execution, and there be +transfixed upon it. Plainly to these men listening, Jesus' words meant: +Let him say "no" to his self, and then nail it up on the cross and leave +it there _to die_. + +Paul understood this thoroughly. To help the young christians in Galatia +he explains his own experience by saying: "_I have been crucified_ with +Christ;" and to the unknown friends in Rome he writes: "if ye by the +Spirit _put to death_ the doings of the self life ye shall live." The +only thing to do with this self is to kill it. + +In Luke's account an intensely practical word is added to Jesus' remark: +"Let him take up his cross _daily_." A cat is said to have nine lives, +because it is so hard to kill. I do not know what your experience may +have been, but, judged by this rule, the self in me is tougher-lived +than that. It has about ninety-nine, or nine hundred and ninety-nine +lives. I put it on the cross to-day in the purpose of my will by the +power of the Spirit, and I find it trying to sneak down and step into +active control again to-morrow through some sly, subtle suggestion which +it hopes may get past the vigilance of my sentinel. That word _daily_ +becomes, of necessity, my constant keynote--a _daily_ conflict, a +_daily_ sleepless vigilance, and, thank God, a _daily victory_. + +Every man's heart is a battlefield. If self has possession, Jesus is +lovingly striving to get possession. If possession has been yielded to +Jesus, there is a constant besieging by the forces of self. And self is +a skilled strategist. In every heart there is a cross, and a throne, and +each is occupied. If Jesus is on the throne, ruling, self is on the +cross, dying. But if self is being obeyed, and so is ruling, then it is +on the throne. And self on the throne means that _Jesus has been put on +the cross_. And it seems to be only too pathetically true that not only +in New Testament times, but in these times, there are numbers of +professing christians, who, in the practice of daily life, are +crucifying the Son of God afresh, and openly exposing Him to shame +before the eyes of the crowd. + +Suppose that to-night I determine to make this absolute surrender to +Jesus as my Master. To-morrow in some matter, possibly a small +matter--speaking a word to some one--asking a silent blessing at the +meal--making a change in some personal habit--or some other apparently +trivial matter--the Spirit quietly makes clear _His wish_ as to what I +should do. But I hesitate: it seems hard. I do not say that I will not +obey, but actually _I do not_. Let me plainly understand that in such a +single failure to obey, self is again mounting the throne, and Jesus is +being dethroned and put over yonder on the cross. + +Do some of us still hesitate at this forking of the roads, irresolute? A +crowned Christ is attractive. But self's tendrils, though small, are +tenaciously tough, and twine into so many corners and around some hidden +things. And the uprooting and outcutting mean sharp pain. Is that so? +And you hesitate? Please take another frank look. + + +Lock-Step. + +These two forks differ radically. They differ in direction. One is to +the _left_; the other to the _right_. And these two words are +significant of more than direction. They differ in grade. This left-hand +road does not seem to have any grade. It is smooth and level, and +straightaway, _apparently_. But a keener look reveals a slant _down_, +very slight at first, but steadily increasing, not only in its downward +grade, but in the _proportionate_ grade down. + +This right-hand road has a decided grade _up_ from the beginning, a +steep slant, that causes many to avoid it, though they feel impelled to +take it. Those who take it say that after the first decided step into it +the slant does not seem nearly so hard as before starting, and that +climbing it makes splendid muscle and gives an inspiring sense of +exhilaration from the very start. The atmosphere is rare and purifying +and invigorating. It is not traveled by so many, though the number keeps +increasing. But such rare companionship, hitherto unknown, they afford! + +_The striking peculiarity_ of this road, however, is this, that each one +keeps lock-step with a certain One who leads the way. This One is +remarkable in appearance. His face combines all the strength and +resolution of the strongest man's with all the fineness and gentleness +of the finest woman's. But He bears peculiar marks as though He had been +through some terrible experience. His face has a number of small scars +as though it had been torn by thorns and cut by thongs. His hands and +feet look as though huge spikes had been forced through them. But the +glory-light of another world is in His eyes, and illumines His face +radiantly, and a glad ring is in His low, musical, singularly clear +voice. + +The walking in step with Him is _so_ close that one can feel the tender +throbbing of His heart, and can talk confidentially with Him in low, +quiet tones, and can hear distinctly His gentle still-like voice in +reply. + +As one steps off quietly, determinedly to the right from the battle of +the forks he hears the closing words of Jesus' remarks to Peter--"_and +follow Me_." Jesus sends no one ahead alone. He blazes out every path +through the unknown, unbroken forest, and asks us simply to come along +after Him. He did what He asks us to do. The self-life was alluringly +and repeatedly presented to Him by Satan, in the wilderness, in the +remark of Peter, by the visit of the Greeks, in Gethsemane where the +struggle of soul almost broke the tie that held body and spirit +together, and many other times. In many a hard battle--for the divine +Jesus was intensely human in His earthly life--He repeatedly said a +never-varying "no" to the self-life, and lived a constant victory until +the very last triumphant shout of victory on Calvary. It was a life of +constant conflict, but of splendid, calming, scarce-broken peace within, +and of marvelous power without. + +Earnestly, lovingly, gently, yet passionately, He stands just ahead in +that path now, with pierced hands outstretched in open invitation, with +a heart-yearning in the depths of His great eyes, wooing us on to follow +where He goes on before. + +Let us follow. It may be, it _will_ be, in some measure, through the +experiences of the wilderness temptation, and of Gethsemane, and of +Calvary, but it will also be to share the victory which was always +coupled with every testing _He_ met. It will as certainly be following +Him in power, and victory, on past Calvary to the new life of the +resurrection morning, that saw the greatest display of power. And even +past that, to the upper chamber where His words burn their way into our +hearts--"as the Father sent Me (clothed with power unconquerable) even +so send I you." And then to Olivet where the victorious words ring out, +"All power hath been given unto me in heaven and on earth, therefore go +ye and make disciples." + + "If any man + would come alter me, + let him say "no" to his self, + and nail it to the cross daily, + and follow me." + +Jesus, Master, by the Holy Spirit's help, _I will_. + + + + +THE PERSONALITY OF POWER. + +A Personally Conducted Journey. + + +Everyone enjoys the pleasure of travel; but nearly all shrink back from +its tiresomeness and drudgery. The transportation companies are +constantly scheming to overcome this disagreeable side for both pleasure +and business travel. One of the popular ways of pleasure travel of late +is by means of personally conducted tours. A party is formed, often by +the railroad company, and is accompanied by a special agent to attend to +all the business matters of the trip. A variation of this is to arrange +for a group of congenial people to accompany some well-known +accomplished gentleman. This gives the trip, not alone the convenience +of having all business matters cared for, but also the decided enjoyment +which this gentleman's wide knowledge and experience, and personal +contact incidentally give. There are some criticisms however of such +parties, from the standpoint of greatest comfort and of freedom in +moving about. + +Probably the very pleasantest way--the ideal way, to travel anywhere, +either in our own home land, or abroad--is to form a party of only a +very few persons, mutually congenial, and personally agreeable, _one of +whom is an experienced traveler_, to whom checking baggage, buying +tickets, studying timetables, planning connections and all the rest of +that sort of thing which, to most, is disagreeable drudgery, to whom all +that is mere pleasant detail; and who in addition knows all the ground +you will cover, the best hotels, the inconveniences to avoid, the +desirable places and things, and who finds rare enjoyment in making the +trip delightful and inspiring, and restful too, to these dear friends of +his. + +For instance if the trip is a foreign one beginning with a run through +Great Britain it would add immensely to have such a friend in London who +knew that great whirling world-metropolis, as you know your own home. +After a bit you may slip over the Channel to Holland. It is only a few +hours away, but the strange language, new custom-house rules, new +usages, new sights, different sort of people, all make it a totally +different world. A few hours will bring you into Sweden, or west from +the hollow-landed Dutch to the higher-landed Germans, or south through +Belgium into sunny France, and so on. And in each place the customs, and +language, and sights, and people, the food, the sleeping arrangements, +and apparently everything, especially to a stranger, are totally +different. It is this very variety--the constant change of +surroundings--that constitutes much of the charm of it all. There is +nothing so refreshing and invigorating as that. But on the other hand +to an entire stranger who has no guide, it is apt to be confusing and +wearisome. And the tiresome side often overcomes the pleasant side. Now +this is what I am saying, that, if there are just a few together, and +this experienced traveler, who is also a dear friend, is one of them, +the trip is radically changed. You move in a new world. He can talk +Dutch in Holland, and German in Germany, Swedish in Scandinavia, and +French in Switzerland. He sees the baggage past the customs officials, +and provides restful stopping places, and keeps the disagreeables away +from you. He knows the places to visit, and is familiar with the +historic occurrences, and is a quiet, cheery companion, and _if_ with it +all he has an unlimited letter-of-credit, and makes you feel that +somehow you are favoring him by letting him help you out when you run +short--that, I say, would be _the ideal way of traveling_. + +Now why take so much time speaking about all that? Listen! I will tell +you why. Living is like traveling. Life is a journey. It is a trip +through a strange land where you have never been before, and you never +know a moment ahead where you are going next. Strange languages, strange +scenes, strange dilemmas; new tangles, new experiences, and some old +ones with new faces so you do not know them. It is just as chock-full of +pleasure and enjoyment as it can be, if you could only make some +provision for the drudgery and hard things that seem to crowd in so +thick and fast sometimes, as to make people forget the gladness of it. + +Now I have something to tell you that seems too utterly good to be +believed, and yet keeps getting better all the way along. It is this: +the Master has planned that your life journey shall be a personally +conducted one on this ideal plan. It was said a night or two ago that +the Master has thought into your life and made arrangement for all its +needs. Let me add to-night this further fact: _He has arranged with His +best friend, who is an experienced traveler, to go with you and devote +Himself wholly to your interests._ + +Some of you, I am afraid, will smile, and think that I am just indulging +in a fancy sketch--drawing on my imagination. And so I pray our Master +to burn into our hearts that it is plain, matter-of-fact truth, for +every day life. I would say that it is cold fact were it not that such a +fact can never be cold. + + +Power is a Person. + +Each of these talks, you have noticed, has led up to the one idea of +surrender. That word surrender stands for one side only of a +transaction--_our_ side. As in all transactions, there is another +side--_His_ side to whom the surrender is made. To-night we want to take +a step in advance and talk about the part which Jesus has in this +surrender-transaction. All truth goes in pairs. The partnership word +with surrender is mastery. Surrender on my part is followed by mastery +on His part. There are two personalities in this transaction. You are +one: an important one, but only one. To-night we shall try to get a +better acquaintance with the other One. The One who assumes control of +the surrendered life, who is to be our personal guide and friend. + +Will you recall again the Master's good-bye Olivet message, and notice +just what it means? Listen to the very words: "Ye shall receive power." +Let me ask you--what is power? Will some one give a simple definition of +that word? There are four words, four of the commonest, most familiar in +our language, for which I have not been able to find a definition. If +some one here can help me I will be grateful. They are the words life, +light, love, and power. What do they mean? I can find plenty of +statements _about_ them, descriptions of what each of these is like, but +no definitions. + +What is life? Recently I looked into the statement regarding life made +by three of the most famous English scientists of the nineteenth +century, whose names are household words. I read them carefully. The +wisdom and keenness of observation they show are amazing. But when I had +studied and read them repeatedly I found myself asking--what is life? +They have described rarely the functions and characteristics of life, +but have not told what it is. They do not seem to know. Do you? + +What is light? Will some one tell me? The corpuscular theory, which the +famous Newton advocated, is long since abandoned. The later wave theory +is pretty generally accepted, and yet they can not all agree upon that. +These people say that light is a part of the kind of energy called +radiant energy. Now, we all know what light is! The sun of course is not +light, only a light-holder and distributer. According to the oldest +record we have of the creation, light existed before these +light-holders, the sun and moon and stars. + +What is love? Well, you all _know_, I hope. Pity the poor man who does +not know by experience what love is. But you cannot tell what it is. +"Oh!" you say, "it is emotion." Yes, so is hate, its very opposite. +"Well, love is affection." Yes. What is affection? "Well, it is a +pleasurable feeling, or regard, which may be very intense, and which +leads us to unlimited sacrifice if need be. It is a devotion that grips +the soul tremendously." That is true; yet that is only telling what love +is like. No simple, plain definition of love, or light or life has ever +been formed yet by man so far as I can learn. + +What is power? You may say it is force. And what is force? "Well, force +is a form of energy." What is energy? "Well," you reply, "it is a strong +inward movement whose strength is very impressive." Some one says "power +is ability." And ability? "Well, that is the innate power to do +something." And so we get to use our word in the attempted definition +itself, which is simply talking in a circle. We can find good +descriptive words, but no defining words. + +Now mark a singular fact. In the writings of John, in this old book I +have here, you will find a few statements regarding these things which +combine wondrous simplicity of language with marvelous, yes, +unfathomable, depth of meaning. First, about life: in chapter one, verse +four, of the gospel:--"in Him was life," being an evident allusion to +the remarkable Genesis statement: "the Lord God breathed into his +nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul." Then, about +love: in chapter four, verse seven, of his first epistle:--"love is of +God"; coupled with the twice spoken words "God is love" in the same +chapter. About light: in chapter one, verse five, of the same epistle, +"God is light." + +I know some of you, perhaps some skilled theologian here, is saying to +himself, "Those are statements of _moral_ truths." And I understand that +that is the common conception. But I want to state here my own profound +conviction, based on the Spirit-breathed words of John, that some day, +when we shall know about all these deep things, we shall be finding that +there is a basis not only of moral truth, but of far more than moral +truth underlying those profoundly simple statements. + +And I believe in that day we shall find that life--all life--is, in some +actual, marvelous way, the outbreathing of God's own being. And that +light is the inherent radiance of His person and face, and that the +universal passion of love is the throbbing pulse-beat of His own great +heart. + +Now why take time to speak about these things to-night when we are +talking about power? I will tell you why. Because they give the +intensest practical significance to a similar statement about that word +power with which we _are_ greatly concerned just now. + +Mark the language Luke uses in describing that memorable Olivet scene in +which we are so deeply interested in these talks together. The old King +James version reads: "ye shall receive power _after_ that the Holy +Spirit is come upon you." The revised version puts it in this way, "ye +shall receive power _when_ the Holy Spirit is come upon you." Some of +you have probably noticed that some editions give a marginal note, +which, in this case, proves to be the literal reading namely: _ye shall +receive power the Holy Spirit coming upon you_. Not "after," nor "when," +but simply "the Holy Spirit coming," etc. That is to say, the _Holy +Spirit is power_. That you will observe fits in with the form of +statement John uses. The Holy Spirit in control, unhindered, unhampered, +means power manifest in the life. That is the profound truth of God's +book. And as a bit of side evidence it is striking to observe that all +Scripture statements throughout fit in with that conception. Power is a +person. Not some thing, nor influence, nor sentiment, nor some working +upon our hearts at a distance by God seated up yonder on the throne. +That were wonderful indeed. But a person, called the Holy Spirit, living +in me--shall I make it very definite by saying, living _in my +body_?--that is power. If restrained by sin, or disobedience, or +ignorance, or wilfulness of any sort, then power _restrained_, held in +check, not evident. If utterly unrestrained, given free sway and +control--ah! then power manifest, limitless, wonderful, all exercised in +carrying out God's will in, and with, and through me. + +And the marvelous message I bring you from the old book of God is this: +_The Master has sent a dear friend of His, and of yours, who is +experienced, and strong, and loving, personally to conduct you through +your daily life, and His presence unrestrained, means power unlimited._ + + +A Significant Name. + +Do you remember that heart-to-heart talk that Jesus had with the eleven +disciples that last night they spent together in the upper room? John +tells us about it in chapters thirteen to sixteen. The Master talks a +great deal that night, about some One else, who was coming to take His +place with them. They did not understand what He meant till afterwards. +He packs more into that one evening's talk about this coming One than +all He had said before put together. Notice that now He gives a name, a +new name, to this person, repeated four times that night. It is an +intensely significant name--_the Comforter_. Will you remember, and keep +constantly in mind, the actual meaning of that new name? it is simply +this: _one called alongside to help_. + +Let me attempt to suggest a little of its practical meaning. + +Here is a little girl standing on the curbstone down town on Broadway in +New York, with a bundle in her arms. She has been sent on an errand, and +wants to get across the street. But the electric cars are whizzing past +in both directions, and wagons, and carriages, and omnibuses, and horses +jam the street from curb to curb, and she cannot get across. She stands +there gripping her bundle, watching eagerly for a chance, and yet afraid +to venture. But the jam seems endless, and she grows very tired, and by +and by the corners of her mouth begin to twitch down suspiciously, and a +big tear is just starting in each eye. Just then a big policeman steps +up, one of the finest, six feet tall, and heavy and broad. He seems like +a giant to her. He stoops down. Would you imagine he had such a gentle +voice? "What's the matter?" "Can't--get--'cross." Oh! is that all; he'll +fix that. And he takes her little hand in his with a reassuring "come +along." And along she goes, past cars, under horses' heads, close up to +big wheels. She is just as small as before, and just as weak. But +though her eyes stay pretty big, the tears are gone, and there is an air +of confidence, because this big, kind-hearted giant by her side is +walking across the street as though he owned the whole place, _and he is +devoting his entire attention to her_. That policeman is a comforter in +the strict meaning of the word. + +Here is a boy in school, head down close to the desk, puzzling over a +"sum." It won't "come out." He figures away, and his brow is all knitted +up, and a worried look is coming into his face for he is a conscientious +little fellow. But he cannot seem to get it right and the clouds gather +thicker. By and by the teacher comes up and sits down by his side. It +awes him a little to have her quite so close. But her kindliness of +manner mellows the awe. "How are you getting along?" "Won't come out +right"--in a very despondent tone. "Let me see, did you subtract +that...?" "Oh-h-h! I forgot that," and a little light seems to break, as +he scratches away for a few moments; then pauses. "And this figure here, +should it be...." "Oh-h-h, I see." More scratching, and a soft sigh of +relief, and the knitting brows unravel, and the face brightens. The +teacher did not do the problem for him. She did better. She let him feel +her kindly interest first of all, and gave just the light, experienced +touch that showed him the way out, and yet allowed him the peculiar +pleasure of getting through himself. _That is what "Comforter" means._ + +One summer a friend suggested to me spending a week on Lake Chautauqua. +I did not have the money to spare, and so told him I was not sure I +could arrange to get away. But he seemed to divine the basis of my +objection, and insisted on my going along. We went. I had very little +money with me. I got on the train without a ticket, took a seat in the +parlor car, stopped at the best hotel, had a choice room on the ground +floor, patronized the well-ordered dining-room regularly, and made free +use of the place. And all the time I had practically no money with me. +But would you believe me I was not a particle concerned about paying for +those privileges. Never felt less concern about anything in my life. You +know why. _I had a trustworthy friend, with me who was concerned for +me._ + +Now these are simple suggestions, illustrating _partly_ the meaning of +that marvelous name Jesus gave to the Holy Spirit. I will send another +Comforter, one who will be right by your side to help, sympathetic, +experienced, strong; and He will stay with you all the time. In the +kitchen, in the sitting-room, the sick-room, with the children, when +work piles up, when things jangle or threaten to, when the baby's cross, +and the patching and sweeping and baking, and all the rest of it seem +endless, on the street, in the office, on the campus, in the store, when +tempted--almost slipped, when opportunity opens for a quiet personal +word, everywhere, every time, in every circumstance, one alongside to +help. Is not that wonderful? + + +A Pictorial Illustration. + +There is one bother about illustrations: they never do tell all the +truth. They never are as vivid, nor as good as the truth, that is when +you are talking about our Master, or His arrangements. The very best +illustrations of Bible truth are Bible illustrations. Now there is a +striking pictorial illustration back in the Old Testament of the meaning +of this name of the Holy Spirit. It is in the story of a most remarkable +journey from Egypt to the border line of Palestine. The journey was +remarkable for two things. First, for the sort of country it was +through. It is a trackless waste of sand, that spreads over thousands of +square miles. It was infested with venomous serpents and scorpions, and +is described as "all that great and terrible wilderness," "a waste +howling wilderness," and "a land of deserts and pits, of drought and of +the shadow of death, that none passed through, and where no man dwelt." +Think of taking a trip through a country like that! But it was even more +remarkable because of the transformation that took place in the +travelers. For a mob of four millions of people was changed into a +well-organized nation. The explanation given is fully as remarkable as +the trip, and the transformation. It must strike very strangely on the +cold, matter-of-fact ears of this materialistic world we dwell in. It is +this: that the Lord God Himself actually went with them in person, and +lived with them, and took immediate charge of everything. He had +promised Moses, their leader, that He would do this. Just how definite +or indefinite a thing that meant to Moses' mind we cannot know. But it +became very definite and tangible that memorable night of departure from +the iron furnace of Egypt. For there was a real physical evidence of His +presence. There appeared a column or pillar of fleecy-like cloud which +came down close to the ground, and which every one could plainly see. At +night time it shone and flamed as a pillar full of partly concealed +fire. God's voice spake out of it in their hearing. And that +presence-cloud never left them. In spite of complaints, and criticisms, +and rebellions of the most mean and exasperating kind, it never left +them until they had safely arrived at the border line of the promised +Palestine. + +Now it is extremely fascinating in tracing that journey to notice just +what that cloud came to mean to them. If you will run rapidly through +the three wilderness books, Exodus, Leviticus and Numbers, you will find +there twenty distinct incidents[6] which illustrate how God's actual +presence in that cloud was made very real to them in practical affairs. +In those incidents there are ten different ways in which they were made +to feel that powerful Presence. + +At the outset it is mentioned that the chief purpose was "to lead them +the way," and, by night "to give them light." Five incidents speak of +bodily nourishment, including fresh food daily, with occasional extras, +and a full supply of pure living water. Five speak of protection from +bodily harm. Two tell of the defeat of an enemy. Once there is chiding +for ingratitude. Six times rebuke or punishment for sin. In four they +are held back when dead-set on a very wrong course. Twice there is +instruction in their leader's plan for them. Three times a fuller +manifestation of Himself, and each time this is preceded by obedience on +their part in some particular matter. Once there is a special plan +suggested for relief in managing the nation's affairs. And then the fact +is stated that whenever Moses went apart to talk with God the cloud +descended lower, that is, _God came nearer_ when Moses desired to talk +with Him. So you see, the cloud meant guidance through that trackless +desert, food supplies, protection, defeat for the enemy, chiding, +restraint, punishment, instruction, help in business matters, a more +intimate manifestation of the glorious personality of their Guide, and a +gracious coming nearer whenever desired. Was not that a real practical +presence of the great God with them all those days? + +Now that is the Bible's own graphic illustration of the meaning of that +new name given to the Holy Spirit, by Him who knew Him best, +_Comforter--one alongside to help_. + + +On a Higher Level. + +Before we leave that illustration we must notice a very significant +thing which is no small part of the truth illustrated. Though the cloud +appeared the very night of that sudden going out of Egypt, and was never +absent from them, by day or by night, yet a full year afterwards there +was a new experience. By God's direction a special tent was made and set +up in which He said He would dwell. It was known as God's dwelling +place, the tent of meeting, the tabernacle, the tent of testimony. When +everything concerning its setting up had been fully done as specified +then there was an experience the most remarkable they had yet had with +God. It was a new manifestation of the glorious presence of their unseen +Friend-Guide. It is twice said that the tent was "_filled_" with His +glory. And this nearer disclosure, which God gave of Himself, was so +marvelously glorious and overpowering that even Moses, who had spent +almost twelve weeks in that mount with God, in closer intimacy than any +one else--even Moses was not able to enter into the tent, so over-awing +was that Presence. + +Now it is of intensest interest to mark four things about that +experience. _First_ of all, before it came, there was _obedience_ to +God's instructions. Eighteen times within the narrow limits of the last +two pages of the Exodus record, it is said that Moses and the people did +everything, in every particular, just exactly as "the Lord commanded +Moses." There was explicit obedience before anything else. _Then_ +followed the wondrous _infilling_ of the tent with God's presence. The +_third_ thing is particularized very carefully: all their movements were +directed and controlled by that Presence. Clearly the only safe rule for +living in that terrible desert, was to plan to live a planless life so +far as their own planning was concerned. Besides the last two verses of +Exodus which emphasize this, I find that in my revised Oxford edition +forty-five lines in the ninth chapter of Numbers are given to telling +how exactly they were guided, and how explicitly they followed their +Guide. It seems almost at first reading as though there was a decidedly +needless repetition. You seem to understand the thing easily enough +without that. But as one reads it again, and yet again, slowly, it +begins to dawn upon the mind that the purpose is to put marked emphasis +on this feature of their new life in the wilderness. The people would +rise in the morning, and probably the first thing done was to look out +toward the cloud to learn if there was to be any change that day. And so +during the day there would come to be an instinctive habit of watching +that cloud. They might remain in a new camping place for months, or only +for a few weeks, or, possibly only for a few days. They never knew a day +ahead. They lived literally a day at a time. It was certainly a +hand-to-mouth existence so far as the daily manna was concerned. But +then it was from _His_ hand to _their_ mouths and that made a great +difference. It was equally so in their movements and in all of their new +life. When, one morning as thousands of heads peep out, the cloud is +seen to have lifted up from over the tent, the next question was--which +direction? It might be toward the west, or it might be just the +opposite, toward the east. Both the time of going, and the direction, +and the pace were regulated by the presence of their Friend in that +cloud. Their life was a life of obedience to the will of their wise, +loving Companion. + +The _fourth_ thing was intimacy of intercourse. It is a little +unfortunate that in reading our Bibles we sometimes allow the gaps that +come in the printing to break the continuity of thought. There is a +break for instance between the last verse of Exodus and the first verse +of Leviticus. The reading is meant to be continuous, and shows that +after the infilling, and the explanation about guidance, that God +"_called_" Moses to Him and _commenced talking about their new life_. +Now in connection with that call, and all their after talks, notice a +remarkable statement in the last verse of that long seventh chapter of +Numbers. It explains just _how_ God talked with Moses. Listen: "Whenever +Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with Him, _then he heard +the voice_ speaking unto him from above the mercy-seat that was upon the +ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubim; and _He_ speaketh +unto him." There was the living, loving voice of their Companion-God, +which Moses could plainly hear, and which others heard, talking +familiarly and intimately about all their affairs. Several times when in +doubt what to do Moses promptly went off into the tent, then the cloud +would come down nearer, and Moses would state his difficulty, and back +would come that clear distinct voice with an answer. Group up those four +things--obedience; the never-to-be-forgotten infilling; the controlling +guidance; and intimate companionship. + +That is the very best illustration I can find of the meaning of that +word which Jesus now chooses out and uses as the new name which would +most vividly tell what the Holy Spirit was to be to all believers after +His own departure. All that the presence of God in that pillar was to +those people, and to Moses personally, all that the Holy Spirit will be +to you. And my own conviction is that Jesus had that Old Testament scene +in His mind. For if you will turn again to that last night's talk you +will find a striking repetition of the steps or peculiarities of that +wilderness experience. Though here the whole experience is on a much +higher, finer plane. There is a closeness of personal regard, a depth of +that deepest of all loves, friendship love, that is not found in the Old +Testament story, except perhaps between Moses himself and God. + +But now read the twenty-first verse of the fourteenth chapter of John: +"He that hath My commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth +Me; and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father and I will love +him, and _will manifest Myself unto him_." And the twenty-third verse +adds to it: "If a man love Me, he will keep My word: and My Father will +love him, and _We will come unto him and make Our abiding place with +him_." Notice: there is obedience; it is accepted as an evidence of +love: there is a return love--a new, higher, reciprocal love: then there +is a revealing of Himself; and, constant abiding. Now run your eye +through the remaining part of that evening's conversation and you can +quickly pick out these words: "teach," "bring to your remembrance," +"guide," "bear witness of me," "tell you coming things," "tell you about +me." + +Does that not parallel remarkably the wilderness experience? Only it is +all put on such a higher plane. There is a fullness, and richness, and +tenderness, of personal intimacy here. The Presence in the wilderness +was for the national life: here it is peculiarly for the personal life. +There He dwelt actually in the heart of the nation. Here He dwells +actually in one's own very person. And then, too, now He can do so much +more _in_ us because so much more has been done for us through the +person of Jesus. + + +How to Find the Meaning. + +May I say right here plainly: there seems to be even yet in some +quarters a hazy idea about the Holy Spirit being a person. It is +extremely common, even among people of excellent christian training, to +find Him referred to, both in prayer and speech as _it_. Could anything +be more disrespectful or insulting, if it were intentional instead of +being thoughtless or, in ignorance, as I am sure it really is. Imagine +my speaking of the pastor of this church in that way. "_It_ is a good +preacher. _It_ is a helpful pastor." You smile, and he smiles. But if I +said it repeatedly, and in sober earnest, you know how insulted he would +be. I suppose that the use of the word "itself" for the Holy Spirit in +the eighth chapter of Romans is largely responsible for this. The +revisers have properly substituted the word "himself." That very usage +so common has doubtless accustomed many persons to a vague idea of the +personality of the Spirit. And yet apart from that, there is without +doubt much mistiness, and uncertainty, in some minds, because of the +difficulty of thinking of a person without a form. It seems impossible +for our minds to grasp the idea of existence without bodily shape, yet +of course we believe in a personal God. Probably another reason is that +the Holy Spirit's work is not to speak of Himself but of Another--of +Jesus. He is Jesus' representative, and is constantly absorbed in +filling us with thoughts of His Chief. And when our minds are most +deeply stirred with thoughts of Jesus then it is that in that very fact +of being so stirred we have clearest evidence of the Holy Spirit's +presence within us. His very faithfulness to His mission has led to +Himself suffering depreciation at our hands, through our ignorance. + +I am sure it must help us all decidedly in getting a clear-cut, sharply +defined idea of His personality to notice the language Jesus uses in +speaking of Him that night. For instance, notice that in our English +version the personal pronouns "he," "whom," "him," "which" (used in the +sense of who as is common with the British translators), occur +twenty-four times. A study of the actual words used would prove helpful +and interesting. One of them, used several times, is peculiarly +emphatic, its meaning being equivalent to the expression "that person +there." + +And then notice the words used to describe what this person will do: "He +shall teach," "bring to your remembrance," "bear witness of Me," +"convict the world of" three distinct things, "shall guide," "shall +hear," "shall speak," "shall declare," "shall glorify Me," "shall take +of Mine and declare it unto you." Everyone of these ten different +expressions imply intelligence and discrimination, and therefore of +course personality. And then added to this is the name given to Him here +of which so much has been said. + +May we take just another look at that name--_The Comforter_--as we close +our talk together? I wish with my whole heart, and I pray, that a vivid +sense of the meaning of that name may be one result of this evening's +meeting. I was traveling alone in Germany one hot July day on a train +going down to the city of Worms. It was quite hot and I was very tired, +and my head aching, I distinctly remember. The conductor came along and +objected to my ticket. Before leaving this country, I thought I knew a +_little_ of German, enough to worry through on. My ideas on that subject +changed a trifle over there, however. That day my tired ears refused to +recognize any familiar sounds on the conductor's lips, and my tired +tongue refused to utter anything satisfactory to him. And there I was, a +complete stranger in a strange land too tired to think or have any +mental resources, not knowing but I might be put off at the next +station. In fact just tired enough for fine worrying. It looked blue for +a few moments. But not for long. A young man by my side, a Jew, spoke to +me in excellent English. Was any sound ever so welcome! He straightened +the conductor out, and then we fell to talking together. He proved to be +a very intelligent, agreeable companion. I found his home was in the +city where I was going. So we got off there together, and he simply +devoted himself to me for the day. He took me up to a good hotel, and +while I was eating dinner, went and got his brother who had been in +America, and who entertained me while I ate. Then he took me to his +father's home, a large old mansion, overlooking the famous Luther +monument where I rested a while. And then a quick run to a few +interesting points, and finally when leaving time came, he insisted on +accompanying me to the station, and making sure I had a good seat, and +then bade me a gracious good-bye. + +That day lingers in my memory as one of the green spots of that trip. It +touched me to think that my Master graciously sent one of His own +despised race to be my friend. Do you not think that that man, +experienced where I was ignorant, and so sympathetic, was a living +illustration to me of Jesus' name for the Holy Spirit--_one called +alongside to help_? + +One day recently, riding on a Lake Shore train in Ohio, I chanced to +notice the conductor stopping to speak to a little girl sitting behind +me. Then I noticed that she was alone and crying a little, quietly. She +did not answer his questions, but he must have been a father, I thought, +because he seemed to understand so well. Speaking to a kind-faced +motherly looking woman in the next seat he had the little girl go back +and sit beside her, next the window. They did not talk much, if any, I +noticed. But the girl was snuggled up close, and I knew from her face +that she felt the warm sympathy of that friendly presence, and that the +terrible feeling of loneliness had gone. Is not that woman another +illustration of that name Comforter? Her mere presence was all that was +needed to clear the skies and change the atmosphere for the little lone +and lonely traveler. + +But Jesus Himself has a very striking way of making clear just what He +meant, by coupling another word with that new name the first time He +used it. He says, "I will send _another_ Comforter." The comparison is +with Himself. He is one comforter. The Holy Spirit another one. The only +other time this word is used is by John in his first epistle, and is +translated by our word advocate, and refers to Jesus. Jesus practically +says: "You know what I have been to you these months past." And they +would think through, the close intimacy of nearly two years. How He had +spoken with unmistakable plainness when they were in the wrong, but also +how loving with a strong love He had been, how patient, and gentle, and +resourceful, and how He seemed to yearn over them that they might grow +into His ideal for them. "Now," He says, "I am going away, but I will +send you _another_ one who will be to you all that I have been--_and +more_." _And more!_ That comparative more, either spoken or implied, +runs all through this last long confidential talk. "More, much more, +_because I go unto the Father_." Jesus crucified, risen, glorified can +do much more by far in us by His other self, the Holy Spirit, than He +could in person on the earth those years. And the wondrous meaning of +that "another comforter" to you and me, my friends, to-night is simply +this: it is the same as though the Lord Jesus had actually come back +again and _you had Him all to yourself--and more_. + +But I cannot tell you the meaning of that wonderful name. Nor yet the +wondrous charm of Him who, for our sakes, embodies it. You may put +together all these illustrations in the attempt to get a real, close-up, +idea of what Jesus meant in that love-gift of His to you. And then you +will not know. There is really only one way to gain that knowledge. It +is this: take the step which belongs to _your_ side of the transaction +between you and the Master. Surrender yourself to Him to be changed and +cleansed and used as He may choose. Then _He_ will begin at once working +out the side that belongs to Him. _You shall be filled with His +presence._ Then you will _begin_ to know. Then you can sing-- + + "I have a wonderful guest, + Who speeds my feet, who moves my hands, + Who strengthens, comforts, guides, commands, + Whose presence gives me rest. + + "He dwells within my soul, + He swept away the filth and gloom; + He garnished fair the empty room, + And now pervades the whole." + +And you shall go on knowing more and better until the day dawn and the +shadows flee away. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] See note at the end.[A] + +[Transcriber's Note A: The note in question follows immediately below, as +the footnote was moved to the end.] + + + Of the twenty incidents referred to three do not directly + mention the cloud, and in two others it is over the mount, with + its characteristics much intensified. The references are given + for those who will want to get closer up to this famous + illustration. + + Guidance: Ex. xiii: 21-22, with Numbers xiv: 14. + + Bodily nourishment. Ex. xv: 25; xvi: 13-14, 45; xvii: 6. + Numbers xi: 31-32. xx: 1-12. + + Protection from bodily harm: The nation--Ex. xiv: 19-20. The + leaders--Num. xiv: 10 and on. xvi: 19 and on. xvi: 42 and on. + xx: 1-12. + + Defeat of an enemy: Ex. xiv: 24-31, xvii: 8-16. + + Chiding: Ex. xvi: 4-7, 10-12. + + Rebuke or punishment for sin: Numbers xi: 33; xii: 1-10; xiv: + 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; 42 and on; xx: 1-12. + + Held back from wrong: Numbers xiv: 10 and on; xvi: 19 and on; + 42 and on; xx: 1-12. + + Instruction and training: Ex. xix: 9, 16 and on; xxiv: 15-18. + + Fuller manifestation: Ex. xxxiv: 5 and on; xi: 34-38. Lev. ix: + 6, 23. + + Special plan of relief in managment: Numbers xi: 16, 17, 25. + + Coming nearer: Ex. xxxiii: 7-11, revised version. + + + + +MAKING AND BREAKING CONNECTIONS. + +Many Experiences, but One Law. + + +In mechanics power depends on good connections. A visit to any great +machine shop makes that clear. There must be good connections in two +directions--inward toward the source of power, and outward for use. The +same law holds true in spiritual power as in mechanical. There must be +good connections. + +These nights we have been together a few things have seemed clear. We +have seen that from the standpoint of our lives there is _need_ of +power, as well as from the standpoint of the Master's use of us among +others. Jesus' promise and insistent words make plain the _necessity_ of +our having power if His plan for us is not to fail. His words about the +_price_ of power have set many of us to doing some honest thinking and +heart-searching. And we have gotten some suggestion, too, of the meaning +of that word power, and of the _personality_ back of the word. + +To-night I want to talk with you a little about how to secure good +connections between the source of power and the channel through which it +is to flow out to others; and, once secured, how to preserve the +connections unbroken. + +It has been one of the peculiar characteristics of recent years in +religious circles that much has been spoken and written about the Holy +Spirit. Thousands of persons have been led into a clearer understanding +of His personality and mission, and into intimate relationship with +Himself. And yet, may I say frankly, that I read much and listened to +much without being able to get a simple workable understanding of how I +was to receive the much-talked-of baptism of power. That may quite +likely have been due to my own dullness of comprehension. But whatever +the cause, my failing to understand led to a rather careful study of the +old Book itself until somewhat clearer light has come. And now in this +convention I am anxious to put the truth as simply as I may that others +may not blunder and bungle along and lose precious time as I have done. + +Many an earnest heart, conscious of weakness and failure, is asking, how +may I have power to resist temptation, and live a strong, useful, +christian life? In the search for an answer some of us have run across +two difficulties. One of these is in _other people's experiences_. It is +very natural to try to find out how someone else has succeeded in +getting what we are after. Many a godly man has told of his experience +of waiting and pleading with God before the thing he sought came. +Personal experiences are intensely interesting, and often helpful. But +there are apt to be as many different sorts of experiences as there are +persons. Yet there is one unchanging law of God's dealing with men +underlying them all. But unless one is more skilled than many of us are +in analyzing experiences and discovering the underlying law, these +experiences of others are often misleading. We are so likely to think at +once of the desirability of having the same experience as someone else, +rather than trying to find God's law of spirit life in them all. And so, +some of the written experiences have clouded rather than cleared the +sky. We should rather try _first_ to get something of a clear +understanding of God's law of dealing with men as a sort of basis to +build upon. And then fit into that, even though it may develop +differently in our circumstances. We may then get much help from others' +experiences. If possible, we want to-night to get something of an +inkling of that law. + +Another difficulty that has bothered some of us is in the great variety +of language used in speaking of this life of power; a variety that seems +confusing to some of us. "The baptism of the Holy Spirit," "the +induement," "the filling," "refilling," "many fillings," "special +anointings"--these terms are familiar, though just the distinctive +meaning of each is not always clear. Let us look a little at the +language of the Book at this point. A run through the New Testament +brings out five leading words used[B] in speaking of the Holy Spirit's +relation to us. These words are "baptized," "filled," "anointed," +"sealed," and "earnest." It seems to take all five words to tell all of +the truth. Each gives a different side. + +[Transcriber's note B: Original had "word sused"] + +The word _baptized_ is the distinctive word always used _before_ the day +of Pentecost, in speaking of what was to occur then. It is not used +afterward except in referring back to that day. It belongs peculiarly to +the day of Pentecost. Each of the gospels tells that John the Baptist +said that Jesus was to baptize with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Himself uses +the word, during the forty days, in Acts, first chapter. Peter, in Acts, +eleventh chapter, recalls this remark. Paul uses it once in referring +back to Pentecost.[7] These seem to be the only instances where the word +is used in speaking of the Holy Spirit. One other word is used once in +advance of Pentecost. "Tarry until ye be _endued_ or clothed upon."[8] +We shall see in a few moments that the meaning of this fits in with the +meaning of baptized, emphasizing one part of its meaning. + +"Baptized" may be called the _historical_ word. It describes an act done +once for all on that great day of Pentecost, with possibly four +accessory repetitions to make clear that additional classes and groups +were included.[9] It tells God's side. + +In this connection it will be helpful to note the significance of the +word baptize. Of course you will understand that I am not speaking now +of the matter or mode of water baptism. But I am supposing that +originally or historically the word means a plunging or dipping into. We +commonly think of the act of immersion-baptism from the side of the +object immersed because the action is on the side of the thing or person +which is plunged down into the immersing flood. But in the historical +baptism of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost the standpoint is reversed. +Instead of a plunging down into there is a coming down upon, exactly +reversing the order with which we are familiar, but with the same +result--submersion. Notice the phrases in Acts used in describing the +baptism of the Holy Spirit on that historical Pentecost: "Coming upon +you," "pour out," "poured forth," "fallen upon," "fell upon," "poured +out," "fell on them," "came upon,"[10] all suggesting an act from above. + + +A Four-Sided Truth. + +Now notice that the word used at the time of the actual occurrence and +afterwards is another word--"_filled_" and "full," which occurs eleven +times in the first nine chapters of Acts. It tells what was +_experienced_ by those persons at Pentecost and afterwards. It describes +_their_ side. Baptism was the _act_; filling was the _result_. If you +plunge a book into water you are submerging the book: that is your side. +The leaves of the book quickly become soaked, filled with the water: +that is the other side. When a baby is born it is plunged out into the +atmosphere. That is an immersion into air. It begins at once to cry and +its lungs become filled with the air into which it has been plunged. So +here "filled" is the _experience_ word; it tells our side. + +The third word, "_anointed_," indicates the _purpose_ of this filling; +it is to qualify for living and for service. It is the word commonly +used in the Old Testament for the setting apart of the tabernacle to its +holy use; and of priests and kings, and sometimes prophets for service +and leadership. In the New Testament it is four times used of Jesus, +each time in connection with His public ministry.[11] Paul uses it of +himself in answering those who had criticised his work and leadership at +Corinth.[12] And John uses it twice in speaking of ability to discern +and teach the truth.[13] It is the _power_ word, indicating that the +Holy Spirit's coming is for the specific purpose of setting us apart, +and to qualify us for right living, and for acceptable and helpful +service. + +The fourth word, "_sealed_," explains our personal connection with the +Lord Jesus. It is used once by Paul in writing to his friends at +Corinth, and twice in the Ephesian epistle.[14] The seal was used, and +still is to mark ownership. In our lumber regions up in the Northwest it +is customary to clear a small spot on a log and strike it with the blunt +end of a hatchet containing the initials of the owner, and then send it +adrift down the stream with hundreds of others, and though it may float +miles unguarded, that mark of ownership is respected. On the Western +plains it is common to see mules with an initial branded on the flank. +In both cases the initial is the owner's seal, recognized by law as +sufficient evidence of ownership. So the Holy Spirit is Jesus' ownership +mark stamped upon us to indicate that we belong to Him. He is our sole +Owner. And if any of us are not allowing Him to have full control of His +property, we are dealing dishonestly. Sealed is the _property_ or +_ownership_ word. + +The last one of these words, "_earnest_," is a peculiarly interesting +one. It is found three times in Paul's epistles.[15] An earnest is a +pledge given in advance as an evidence of good faith. We are familiar +with the usage of paying down a small part of the price agreed upon to +make a business transaction binding. In old English it is called caution +money. My mother has told me of seeing her mother many a time pay a +shilling in the Belfast market-house to insure the delivery of a bag of +potatoes, paying the remainder on its delivery. + +Now here the Holy Spirit is called "the earnest of our inheritance unto +the redemption of the purchased possession." That means two things to +us: First--that the Holy Spirit now filling us is Jesus' pledge that He +has purchased us, and that some day He is coming back to claim His +possessions; and then that the measure of the Spirit's presence and +power now is only a foretaste of a greater fullness at the time of +coming back; a sort of partial advance payment which insures a payment +in full when the transaction is completed. Paul speaks of this to the +Romans as the _first fruits_ of the Spirit.[16] + +So, if you will take all five words you will get all of the truth about +our friend the Holy Spirit, and just what His coming into one's life +means. The first word, "baptism," is the _historical_ word, pointing us +_back_ to the day of Pentecost. The other four words, taken together, +tell us the four sides of the Holy Spirit's relation to us now. "Filled" +is the _experience_ word, pointing us _inward_ to what actually takes +place there. "Anointed" is the _power_ word, pointing us _outward_ to +the life and service among men to which we are set apart. "Sealed" is +the _personal-relation_ word, pointing us _upward_ to our Owner and +Master. "Earnest" is the _prophetic_ word, pointing us _forward_ to the +Master's coming back to claim His own, and to bestow the full measure of +the Spirit's presence. + +And to-night we want to get some hint of how to have this infilling, +which shall also be an anointing of power and a seal of ownership and an +earnest of greater things at Jesus' return. + + +Broken Couplings. + +But perhaps some one is saying, "Have not we all received the Holy +Spirit if we are christians?" Yes, that is quite true. It is the Holy +Spirit's presence in us that makes us christians. His work begins at +conversion. Conversion and regeneration are the two sides of the same +transaction. Conversion, the human side: regeneration, the divine side. +My turning clear around to God is my side, and instantly His Spirit +enters and begins His work. But here is a distinction to be made: the +Holy Spirit is in every christian, but in many He is not allowed free +and full control, and so there is little or none of His power _felt_ or +_seen_. Only as He has full sway is His power _manifest_. If at the time +of conversion or decision there is clear instruction and a whole-hearted +surrender, there will be evidence of the Spirit's presence at once. And +if the new life goes on _without break_ there will be a continuance of +that power in ever-increasing measure. But many a time, through +ignorance, or through some disobedience or failure to obey, there has +come a break, a slipping of a cog somewhere, and so an interruption of +the flow of power. Many a time lack of instruction regarding the +cultivation of the Spirit's friendship has resulted in just such a +break. And so a new start is necessary. Then a full surrender is +followed by a new experience or, shall I better say, a re-experience of +the Spirit's presence. And this new experience sometimes is so sharply +marked as to begin a new epoch in the life. Some of the notable leaders +of the Church have gone through just such an experience. + +Yet, I know a man--have known him somewhat intimately for years--one of +the most saintly men it has been my privilege to know. For some years he +was a missionary abroad, but now is preaching in this country. His +private personal life is fragrant, and his public speech is always +accompanied with rare power. In conversation with a young minister at a +summer conference, he said he had never known this second blessing or +experience on which such stress was being laid there. And I think I can +readily understand that he had not. For, apparently, so far as one can +see, his first surrender or decision had been a whole-hearted one. He +had followed simply, fully, as he saw the way. There had been no break, +but a steady going on and up, and an ever-increasing manifestation of +the Spirit's presence from the time of that first decision. So that it +may be said, quite accurately, I think, that _in God's plan_ there is no +need of any second stage, but _in our actual experience_ there has been +a second stage, and sometimes more than a second, too, because with so +many of us the connections have been broken, making a fresh act on our +part a necessity. + + +The Real Battlefield. + +But now the main topic we are to talk about is making and breaking +connections. First, making connections with the source of power. How may +one who has been willing to go thus far in these talks go a step further +and have power in actual _conscious_ possession? + +There are many passages in this old Book that answer that question. But +let me turn you to one which puts the answer in very simple shape. +John's gospel, seventh chapter, verses thirty-seven to thirty-nine. +Listen: "Now, on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood +and cried, saying, if any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. He +that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall +flow rivers of living water." Then John, writing some fifty years or so +afterwards, adds what he himself did not understand at the time: "But +this spake He of the Spirit who they that believed on Him were to +receive; for not yet was the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus +glorified." + +There are four words here which tell the four steps into a new life of +power. Sometimes these steps are taken so quickly that they seem in +actual experience like only one. But that does not matter to us just +now, for we are after the practical result. Four words--thirst, +glorified, drink, believe--tell the whole story. Thirst means desire, +intense desire. There is no word in our language so strong to express +desire as the word thirst. Physical thirst will completely control your +actions. If you are very thirsty, you can do nothing till that gnawing +desire is satisfied. You cannot read, nor study, nor talk, nor transact +business. You are in agony when intensely thirsty. To die of thirst is +extremely painful. Jesus uses that word thirst to express intensest +desire. Let me ask you--Are you thirsty for power? Is there a yearning +down in your heart for something you have not? That is the first step. +No good to offer food to a man without appetite. "Blessed are they that +hunger and thirst." Pitiable are they that need and do not know their +need. Physicians find their most difficult work in dealing with the man +who has no desire to live. He is at the lowest ebb. Are you thirsty? +There is a special promise for thirsty ones. "I will pour water on him +that is thirsty." If you are not thirsty for the Master's power, are you +thirsty to be made thirsty? If you are not really thirsty in your heart +for this new life of power, you might ask the Master to put that thirst +in you. For there can be nothing before that. + +The second word is the one added long afterwards by John, when the +Spirit had enlightened his understanding--"glorified." "For not yet was +the Spirit given, because not yet was Jesus glorified." That word has +two meanings here: the first meaning a historical one, the second a +personal or experimental one. The historical meaning is this: when Jesus +returned home all scarred in face and form from His trip to the earth, +He was received back with great enthusiasm, and was glorified in the +presence of myriads of angel beings by being enthroned at the Father's +right hand. Then the glorified Jesus sent the Holy Spirit down to the +earth as His own personal representative for His new peculiar mission. +The presence of the Spirit in our hearts is evidence that the Jesus whom +earth despised and crucified is now held in highest honor and glory in +that upper world. The Spirit is the gift of a _glorified_ Jesus. Peter +lays particular stress upon this in his Pentecost sermon, telling to +those who had so spitefully murdered Jesus that He "being at the right +hand of God _exalted_ ... hath poured forth this." That is the +historical meaning--the first meaning--of that word "glorified." It +refers to an event in the highest heaven after Jesus' ascension. The +_personal_ meaning is this: when Jesus is enthroned in my life the Holy +Spirit shall fill me. The Father glorified Jesus by enthroning Him. I +must glorify Him by enthroning Him. But the throne of my heart was +occupied by another who did not propose to resign, nor to be deposed +without resistance. So there had to be a dethronement as well as an +enthronement. I must quietly but resolutely place the crown of my life, +my love, my _will_ upon Jesus' brow for Him henceforth to control me as +He will. That act of enthroning Him carries with it the dethronement of +self. + +Let me say plainly that here is _the_ searching test of the whole +matter. _Why_ do you want power? For the rare enjoyment of ecstatic +moods? For some hidden selfish purpose, like Simon of Samaria, of which +you are perhaps only half conscious, so subtly does it lurk underneath? +That you may be able to move men? These motives are all selfish. The +streams turn in, and that means a dead sea. Better stop before you +begin. For thy heart is not right before God. But if the uppermost and +undermost desire be to glorify Jesus and let Him do in you, and with you +_what He chooses_, then you shall know the flooding of the channel-ways +of your life with a new stream of power. + +Jesus Himself, when down here as Son of Man, met this test. With +reverence be it said that His highest purpose in coming to earth was not +to die upon the cross, but to glorify His Father. That memorable passage +opening the sixty-first chapter of Isaiah, which Jesus applied to +Himself in the Nazareth synagogue, contains eight or nine statements of +what He was to do, but closes with a comprehensive statement of the +underlying purpose--"_that He might be glorified_." As it turned out, +that could best be done by yielding to the awful experiences through +which He passed. But the supreme thought of pleasing His Father was +never absent from His thought. It drove Him to the wilderness, and to +Gethsemane, and to Calvary. + +Is that the one purpose in your heart in desiring power? He might send +some of us out to the far-off foreign mission field. He might send some +down to the less enchanted field of the city slums to do salvage service +night after night among the awful social wreckage[C] thrown upon the +strand there; or possibly it would mean an isolated post out on the +frontier, or down in the equally heroic field of the mountains of the +South. He might leave some of you just where you are, in a commonplace, +humdrum spot, as you think, when your visions had been in other fields. +He might make you a seed-sower, like lonely Morrison in China, when +_you_ wanted to be a harvester like Moody. Here is the real battlefield. +The fighting and agonizing are here. Not with God but with yourself, +that the old self in you may be crucified and Jesus crowned in its +place. + +[Transcriber's Note C: Original had "weckage"] + +Will you _in the purpose of your heart_ make Jesus absolute monarch +whatever that may prove to mean? It _may_ mean great sacrifice; it +_will_ mean greater joy and power at once. May we have the simple +courage to do it. Master, help us! Thou wilt help us. Thou art helping +some of us now as we talk and listen and think. + + +Power Manifest in Action. + +Well, then, if you have won on that field of action, the rest is very +simple. Indeed, after a victory there, your whole life moves up to a new +level. The third word is drink. "Let him come unto Me _and drink_." +Drinking is one of the easiest acts imaginable. I wish I had a glass of +water here just to let you see how easy a thing it is. Tip up the glass +and let the water run in and down. Drink simply means _take_. It is +saying, "Lord Jesus, I take from Thee the promised power.... I thank +Thee that the Spirit has taken full control." But you say, "Is that +all?" Yes. "Why, I do not feel anything." Do you remember saying +something like that when you were urged to take Jesus as your Savior? +And some kind friend told you not to wait for feeling, but to trust, and +that when you did that, the light came? Now, the fourth word is +_believe_. The law of God's dealing with you has not changed. Jesus +says, "Out of his belly _shall flow_ rivers of living water." You are to +believe His word. "But," you say, "how shall I _know_ I have this +power?" Well, first, by _believing_ that Jesus has done what He agreed. +He promised the Spirit to them that obey Him. The Holy Spirit fills +every surrendered heart. Then there is a second way--you will experience +the power as need arises. How do you know _any_thing? Here is this +chair. Suppose I tell you I have power to pick it up and hold it out at +arm's length. Well, you think, I look as though I might have that much +power in my arm. But you do not know. Perhaps my arm is weak and does +not show it. But now I pick it up and hold it out--(holding chair out at +arm's length)--now you _know_ I have at least that much power in my arm. +Power is always manifest in action. That is a law of power. How did that +man by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, who had not walked for +thirty-eight years--how did he _know_ that he had received power to +walk? _He got up and walked!_ He did not know he had received the power +till he got up. Power is shown in action always. Faith acts. It pushes +out, in obedience to command. And when you go out of here to-day, _as +the need arises_ you will find the power rising within you to meet it. +When the hasty word comes hot to your lips, when that old habit asserts +itself, when the actual test of sacrifice comes, when the opportunity +for service comes, as surely as the need comes, will come the sense of +_His power_ in control. Believe means _expect_. + +"Thirst," "glorify," "drink," "believe"--_desire_, _enthrone_, _accept_, +_expect_--that is the simple story. Are you thirsty? Will you put Jesus +on the throne? Then accept, and go out with your eyes open, expecting, +expecting, _expecting_, and He will never fail to reveal His power. +Shall we bow in silence a few moments and settle the matter, each of us, +with the Master direct? + + +Three Laws of Continuous Power. + +Power depends on good connections. In mechanics: the train with the +locomotive; the machinery with the engine; the electrical mechanism with +the power house. In the body: the arm with the socket; the brain with +the heart. In the christian life the follower of Jesus with the Spirit +of Jesus. We have been talking together about making connections, and I +believe some of us have made the vital connection this hour, which means +new inflow and outflow of power. + +Now there will be time for only a brief word about _breaking_ +connections. "But," you say, "we do not want to break connections." No, +_you_ do not. But there is someone else who does. Since you have put +yourself into intimate contact with Jesus this someone else has become +intensely interested in breaking that contact. And this enemy of ours, +this Satan, the hater, is subtle and deep and experienced and more than +a match for any of us. But greater is He that is now in you than he that +is in the world. Satan will do his best by bold attack and cunning +deceit to tamper with your couplings. + +One of the saddest sights, and yet a not uncommon one, is to see a man +who has been mightily used of God, but whose usefulness is now wholly +gone. One can run back through only recent years and recall, one after +another, those through whom multitudes were blessed, but who, yielding +to some subtle temptation, have utterly and forever lost their +opportunity Of service. The same is true of scores in more secluded +circles whose lives, spiritually blighted and dwarfed, tell the same sad +story. + +These recent instances are but repetitions of older ones. Three times +the writer of Judges tells of Samson that "the spirit of the Lord came +mightily upon him," and then is added the pathetic sentence--"but he +wist not that the Lord was departed from him." And between the two +occurs the story of an act of disobedience. Twice the same thing is +recorded of King Saul, "the spirit of God came mightily upon him," and +the same sequel follows, "the spirit of the Lord had departed." And +between the two is found an act of disobedience to God's command. The +ninth of Luke tells a similar story. The disciples had been given power; +had used the power for others; were requested to relieve a demonized +boy; had tried to; had expected to; but utterly failed, to their own +chagrin, and the father's disappointment, amid the surprise and +criticism of the crowd. The Master explains that a slipshod connection +with God was at the bottom of their failure. Power is not stored in us +apart from God's presence. It merely passes through as He has sway. Once +the connection between Him and you is disturbed, the flow of power is +interrupted. We do not run on the storage battery plan, but on the +trolley plan. Constant communication with the source of power is +absolutely essential. The spirit of God never leaves us. We do not lose +His presence. But whatever grieves Him prevents His presence being +manifest. The _evidence_ of His presence may be lost through wrongdoing. +So I want to give you in very brief compass _the three laws_ of the life +of power--continued and increasing power. I wish some one had given them +to me long ago. It might have saved me many a bad break. + +_The first law_ can be put in a single word--_obey_. Obedience is the +great foundation law of the christian life. Indeed it is the common +fundamental law of all organization, in nature, in military, naval, +commercial, political and domestic circles. Obedience is the great +essential to securing the purpose of life. Disobedience means disaster. +If you turn to scripture you must read almost every page if you would +get all the statements and illustrations of obedience and its opposite. +Begin with the third of Genesis, where the first disastrous act of +disobedience brought a ruin still going on. Run through the three +wilderness books, where the new nation is grouped about the smoking +mountain. Listen in Deuteronomy to the old man Moses talking during the +thirty days' conference they had in Moab's plains before he was taken +away. Then into Joshua's book of victory and the Judges' dark story of +defeats, through the kingdom books, and the prophecies, and you will +find the changes rung more frequently upon _obedience_ than anything +else. The same is true of the New Testament clear to the last column of +the last page. + +The fact is, every heart is a battlefield whose possession is being +hotly contested. If Jesus is in possession Satan is trying his best by +storm or strategy to get in. If Satan be in possession whether as a +coarse or a cultured Satan, then Jesus is lovingly storming the door. +Satan _can_ not get in without your consent, and Jesus _will_ not. An +act of obedience to God is slamming the door in Satan's face, and +opening it wider for Jesus' control. Listen with your heart! An act of +disobedience, however slight, as _you_ think, is slamming the door of +your heart in Jesus' face and flinging it open to Satan's entrance. Is +that mere rhetoric? It is cold fact. No, it is hot fact. The first great +simple law is obedience. + +But someone asks, "How shall I know what--whom, to obey? Sometimes the +voices coming to my ear seem to be jarring voices; they do not agree. +Pastors do not all agree: churches are not quite agreed on some matters: +my best friends think differently: how shall I know?" Here comes in _the +second law_, _Obey the book of God as interpreted by the Spirit of God_. +Not the book alone. That will lead into superstition. Not to say the +Spirit without the book He has indited. That will lead to fanaticism. +But the book as interpreted by the Spirit, and the Spirit as He speaks +through His book. There is a voice of God, and a Spirit of God and a +book of God. God speaks by His Spirit through His word Sometimes He +speaks directly without the written word. But _very, very rarely_. The +mental impressions by which the Spirit guides are frequent. But I am +speaking now, not of that but of His audible inner voice. He is chary in +the use of that. And when he so speaks the _test_ is that, of necessity, +the voice of God always agrees with itself. The spoken word is never out +of harmony with the written word. And as He has given us the written +word, it becomes our standard of His will. This book of God was +inspired. It _is_ inspired. God spoke in it. He speaks in it to-day. You +will be surprised to find how light on every sort of question will come +through this in-Spirited book. + +But someone with a practical turn of mind is thinking: "but it is such a +big book. I do not know much about it. I read the psalms some, and some +chapters in Isaiah, and the gospels and some in the epistles, but I have +no grasp of the whole book; and your second law seems a little beyond +me." Then _you_ listen to the third law, namely: _time alone with the +book daily_. It should be unhurried time. Time enough not to think about +time. At least a half hour every day, I would suggest, and preferably +the first half hour of the morning, rising at least early enough to get +this bit of time before any duty can claim you. It may seem very +difficult for some. But it is an absolute essential, for the first two +laws depend on this one for their practical force. + +When Joshua, trembling, was called upon to assume the stupendous task of +being Moses' successor, God came and had a quiet talk with him. In that +talk He emphasized just one thing as the secret of his new leadership. +Listen: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but +thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to +do according to all that is written therein." There are the three laws +straight from the lips of God, packed into a single sentence. + +Let us plan to get alone with the Master daily over His word, with the +door shut, other things shut out, and ourselves shut in, that we may +learn His will, and get strength to do it. And when in doubt _wait_. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[7] 1 Cor. xii. 13. + +[8] Luke xxiv. 49. + +[9] That is to make perfectly plain that this experience was for _all_: +a very difficult fact for these intensely Jewish disciples to grasp. + +(1) Not limited to the original one hundred and twenty, but for the +whole body of Jewish disciples--Acts iv. + +(2) For the hated half-breed Samaritans--Acts viii. + +(3) For the "dogs" of Gentiles--Acts x. + +(4) For individual disciples anywhere, and at any distance in time from +Pentecost--Acts xix. + +[10] Acts i: 8; ii: 17, 33; viii: 15; x: 45; xix: 6. + +[11] (1) Luke iv. 18, quo. from Isa. lxi: 1. (2) Acts iv: 27. (3) Acts +x: 38. (4) Heb. i: 9, quotation from Ps. xlv: 7. + +[12] 2 Cor. i: 21. + +[13] 1 John i: 20, 27. + +[14] 2 Cor. i: 22. Eph. i: 13; iv: 30. + +[15] 2 Cor. i: 22; v: 5. Eph. i: 14. + +[16] Romans viii: 23. + + + + +THE FLOOD-TIDE OF POWER. + +God's Highest Ideal. + + +A flood-tide is a rising tide. It flows in and fills up and spreads out. +Wherever it goes it cleanses and fertilizes and beautifies. For untold +centuries Egypt has depended for its very life upon the yearly +flood-tide of the Nile. The rich bottom lands of the Connecticut Valley +are refertilized every spring by that river's flood-tide. The green +beauty and rich fruitage of some parts of the Sacramento Valley, whose +soil is flooded by the artificial irrigation-rivers, are in sharp +contrast with adjoining unwatered portions. + +The flood-tide is caused by influences from above. In the ocean and the +portions of rivers under its influence by the heavenly bodies. In the +rivers by the fall of rain and snow swelling successively the upper +streams and lakes. + +God's highest ideal for men is frequently expressed under the figure of +a river running at flood-tide. Ezekiel's vision of the future capital of +Israel gives prominence to a wonderful river gradually reaching +flood-tide and exerting untold influence. + +John's companion vision of the future church in the closing chapters of +Revelation finds its radiating center in an equally wonderful river of +water of life. When Jesus would give a picture of a christian man up to +His ideal He exclaims, "Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living +water." John's explanation years after was that He was speaking of the +Holy Spirit's presence in the human life. Jesus' ideal would put our +lives at the flood-tide. No ebb-tide there. No rise and fall. But a +constant flowing in and filling up and flooding out. + +Love is ambitious. God is love. And therefore God is ambitious for us. +In the best sense of the word He is ambitious for our lives. The old +impression has been that salvation is for the soul, and for heaven. +Well, it is for the soul, and it is for heaven, but it is for the +present life and for this earth. Some of God's most far-reaching plans +have to do with this earth. To-night we want to get a glimpse of God's +ambitious ideal for our lives down here; something of an understanding +of the _results_ of the unrestrained presence within us of His Holy +Spirit. + +It is not surprising that there have been some mistaken ideas about the +results. It has been a common supposition that somehow the baptism of +the Holy Spirit is always connected with an evangelistic gift and, +further, connected with marked success in soul-winning. Men have thought +of Mr. Moody facing great crowds, who were swayed and melted at his +words, and of people in great multitudes accepting Christ. Probably the +world has never had a finer illustration of a Spirit-filled man than in +dear old Moody. And it is not to be wondered at that the rare +evangelistic gift of service with which he was endowed and the great +results attending it should be so closely allied in our minds with the +Spirit-filled life which he exemplified so unusually. In sharp contrast +however with that conception will you note that we are told over here in +Exodus of a man named Bezalel[17] who was filled with the Spirit of God +that he might have skill in carpentry, in metal working, and weaving of +fine fabrics, for the construction of the old tent of God. Will you note +further that a company of seventy men[18] were filled in a like manner +that they might be skilled in conducting the business affairs of the +nation; and that Luke tells of Elizabeth[19] being filled that she might +become a true mother for John. + +A second misconception has been that marked success always accompanies +the Spirit's control. In contrast with that will you please note the +results in some of the Spirit-swayed men whom God used in Bible times. +Isaiah was called to a service that was to be barren of results, though +long continued; and Jeremiah's was not only fruitless but with great +personal peril. Jesus' public work led through a rough path to a crown +of thorns and a cross. Stephen's testimony brought him a storm of +stones. And Paul passed through great danger and distress to a cell, +and beyond, a keen-edged ax. These are leaders among Spirit-filled men. + +Paul's teaching in the Corinthian epistle helps one to a clear +understanding about results. He explains that while it is one Spirit +dwelling in all who acknowledge Jesus as Lord, yet the _evidence_ of His +presence differs widely in different persons. It is one God working all +things in all persons, but with great variety in the gifts bestowed, in +the service with which they are intrusted, and in the inner experiences +they are conscious of.[20] + +What results then may be expected to follow the filling of the Holy +Spirit? It may be said in a sentence that Jesus fills us with the same +Spirit that filled Himself that He may work out in us His own image and +ideal, _and_ make use of us in His passionate reaching out after others. +If we attempt to analyze these results we shall find them falling into +three groups. First--results in the _life_, that is in the inner +experiences, and the habits. Second--results in the _personality_, that +is in the appearance, and the mental faculties. Third--results in +_service_. Let us look a little at each of these. + + +A Transfigured Life. + +First regarding the inner experiences. Without doubt the first result +experienced will be a new sense of _peace_: a glad, quiet stillness of +spirit which nothing seems able to disturb. The heart will be filled +with a peace still as the stars, calm as the night, deep as the sea, +fragrant as the flowers. + +How many thousands of lips have lovingly lingered over those sweet +strong words: "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall +guard your heart and thought in Christ Jesus." It is God's peace. It +acts as an armed guard drawn up around heart and thoughts to keep unrest +out. It is too subtle for intellectual analysis, but it steals into and +steadies the heart. You cannot understand it but you can feel it. You +cannot get hold of it with your head, but you can with your heart. You +do not get it. It gets you. You need not understand in order to +experience. Blessed are they that have not understood and yet have +yielded and experienced. + + "Peace beginning to be + Deep as the sleep of the sea + When the stars their faces glass + In its blue tranquillity: + Hearts of men upon earth + That rested not from their birth + To rest, as the wild waters rest, + With the colors of heaven on their breast." + +With that will come a new intense longing to do the Master's will; to +_please Him_. As the days come and go this will come to be the +master-passion of this new life. It will drive one with a new purpose +and zest to studying the one book which tells His will. That book +becomes literally the book of books to the Spirit-dominated man. + +With that will come a new desire to talk with this new Master, who talks +to you in His word, and is ever at your side sympathetically listening. +His book reveals Himself. And better acquaintance with Him will draw you +oftener aside for a quiet talk. The _pleasure_ of praying will grow by +leaps and bounds. Nothing so inspires to prayer as reverent listening to +His voice. Frequent use of the ears will result in more frequent use of +the voice in prayer and praise. And more: Prayer will come to be a part +of service. Intercession will become the life mission. + +But I must be frank enough to tell you of another result, which is as +sure to come as these--_there will be conflict_. You will be tempted +more than ever. Temptations will come with the subtlety of a snake; with +the rush of a storm; with the unexpected swiftness of a lightning flash. +You see the act of surrender to Jesus is a notice of fight to another. +You have changed masters, and the discarded master does not let go +easily. He is a trained, toughened fighter. You will think that you +never had so many temptations, so strong, so subtle, so trying, so +unexpected. But listen--_there will be victory_! Truth goes in pairs. +You will be tempted. The devil will attend to that. That is one truth. +Its companion truth is this: you will be victorious over temptation as +the new Master has sway. Your new Master will attend to that. Great and +cunning and strong is the tempter. Do not underrate him. But greater is +He that is in you. You cannot overrate Him. He got the victory at every +turn during those thirty-three years, and will get it for you as many +years and turns as shall make out the span of your life. Your one +business will be to let Him have full control. + +Still another result, of the surprising sort, will be a new feeling +about _sin_. There will be an increased and increasing _sensitiveness_ +to sin. It will seem so hateful whether coarse or cultured. You will +shrink from contact with it. There will also be a growing sense of the +_sinfulness_ of that old heart of yours, even while you may be having +constant victory over temptation. Then, too, there will grow up a +yearning, oh! such a heart-yearning as cannot be told in words, _to be +pure_, really pure in heart. + +A seventh result will be an intense desire to get others to know your +wonderful Master. A desire so strong, gripping you so tremendously, that +all thought of sacrifice will sink out of sight in its achievement. He +is such a Master! so loving, so kind, so wondrous! And so many do not +know Him: have wrong ideas about Him. If they only _knew_ Him--that +surely would settle it. And probably these two--the desire to please +Him, and the desire to get others to know Him will take the _mastery_ of +your ambition and life. + + +The All-Inclusive Passion. + +But all of these and much more is included in one of Paul's packed +phrases which may be read, "the _love_ of God hath _flooded_ our hearts +through the Holy Spirit given unto us."[21] The all-inclusive result is +_love_. That marvelous tender passion--the love of God--heightless, +depthless, shoreless, shall _flood_ our hearts, making us as gentle and +tender-hearted and self-sacrificing and gracious as He. Every phase of +life will become a phase of love. Peace is love resting. Bible study is +love reading its lover's letters. Prayer is love keeping tryst. Conflict +with sin is love jealously fighting for its Lover. Hatred of sin is love +shrinking from that which separates from its lover. Sympathy is love +tenderly feeling. Enthusiasm is love burning. Hope is love expecting. +Patience is love waiting. Faithfulness is love sticking fast. Humility +is love taking its true place. Modesty is love keeping out of sight. +Soul-winning is love pleading. + +Love is revolutionary. It radically changes us, and revolutionizes our +spirit toward all others. Love is democratic. It ruthlessly levels all +class distinctions. Love is intensely practical. It is always hunting +something to do. Paul lays great stress on this outer practical side. Do +you remember his "fruit of the Spirit"?[22] It is an analysis of love. +While the first three--"love, joy, peace"--are emotions within, the +remaining six are outward toward others. Notice, "long-suffering, +gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness," and then the climax is +reached in the last--"self-control." And in his great love passage in +the first Corinthian epistle,[23] he picks out four of these last six, +and shows further just what he means by love in its practical working in +the life. "Long-suffering" is repeated, and so is "kindness" or +"goodness." "Faithfulness" is reproduced in "never faileth." Then +"self-control" receives the emphasis of an eight-fold repetition of +"nots." Listen:--"Envieth not," "boasteth not," "not puffed up," "not +unseemly," "seeketh not (even) her own," "is not provoked," "taketh not +account of evil" (in trying to help others, like Jesus' word "despairing +of no man"[24]), "rejoiceth not in unrighteousness" (that is when the +unrighteous is punished, but instead feels sorry for him). What +tremendous power of self-mastery in those "nots"! Then the positive side +is brought out in four "alls"; two of them--the first and last--passive +qualities, "beareth all things," "endureth all things." And in between, +two active "hopeth all things," "believeth all things." The passive +qualities doing sentinel duty on both sides of the active. These passive +traits are intensely active in their passivity. There is a busy time +under the surface of those "nots" and "alls." What a wealth of +underlying power they reveal! Sometimes folks think it sentimental to +talk of love. Probably it is of some stuff that shuffles along under +that name. But when the Holy Spirit talks about it, and fills our hearts +with it there is seen to be an intensely practical passion at work. + +Love is not only the finest fruit, but it is the final test of a +christian life. How many splendid men of God have seemed to lack here. +What a giant of faith and strength Elijah was. Such intense indignation +over sin! Such fearless denunciation! What tremendous faith gripping the +very heavens! What marvelous power in prayer. Yet listen to him +criticising the faithful remnant whom God lovingly defends against his +aspersions. There seems a serious lack there. God seems to understand +his need. He asks him to slip down to Horeb for a new vision of his +Master. And then He revealed Himself not in whirlwind nor earthquake nor +lightning. He doubtless felt at home among these tempestuous outbreaks. +They suit his temper. But something startlingly new came to him in that +exquisite "sound of gentle stillness," hushing, awing, mellowing, giving +a new conception of the dominant heart of his God. Some of us might well +drop things, and take a run down to Horeb. + +I know an earnest scholarly minister with strong personality, and +fearless in his preaching against sin, but who seems to lack this spirit +of love. He is so cuttingly critical at times. The other ministers of +his town whom he might easily lead, shy off from him. There is no +magnetism in the edge of a razor. His critical spirit can be felt when +his lips are shut. I recall a woman, earnest, winsome when she chooses +to be, an intelligent Bible student, keen-scented for error, a generous +giver, but what a sharp edge her tongue has. One is afraid to get close +lest it may cut. + +When the Holy Spirit takes possession there is _love_, aye, more, a +_flood_ of love. Have you ever seen a flood? I remember one in the +Schuylkill during my boyhood days and how it impressed me. Those who +live along the valley of that treacherous mountain stream, the Ohio, +know something of the power of a flood. How the waters come rushing +down, cutting out new channels, washing down rubbish, tearing valuable +property from its moorings, ruling the valley autocratically while men +stand back entirely helpless. + +Would you care to have a flood-tide of love flush the channelways of +your life like that? It would clean out something you have preferred +keeping. It would with quiet, ruthless strength, tear some prized +possessions from their moorings and send them adrift down stream and +out. Its high waters would put out some of the fires on the lower +levels. Better think a bit before opening the sluice-ways for that +flood. But ah! it will sweeten and make fragrant. It will cut new +channels, and broaden and deepen old ones. And what a harvest will +follow in its wake. Floods are apt to do peculiar things. So does this +one. It washes out the friction-grit from between the wheels. It does +not dull the edge of the tongue, but washes the bitter out of the mouth, +and the green out of the eye. It leaves one deaf and blind in some +matters, but much keener-sighted and quicker-eared in others. Strange +flood that! Would that we all knew more of it. + + +The Fullness of the Stature of a Man. + +Now note some of the changes _in the personality_ which attend the +Spirit's unrestrained presence. Without doubt the face will change, +though it might be difficult to describe the change. That Spirit within +changes the look of the eye. His peace within the heart will affect the +flow of blood in the physical heart, and so in turn the clearness of the +complexion. The real secret of winsome beauty is here. That new dominant +purpose will modulate the voice, and the whole expression of the face, +and the touch of the hand, and the carriage of the body. And yet the one +changed will be least conscious of it, if conscious at all. Neither +Moses nor Stephen knew of their transfigured faces. + +It is of peculiar interest to note the changes in the mental make-up. It +may be said positively that _the original group of mental faculties +remain the same_. There seems to be nothing to indicate that any change +takes place in one's natural endowment. No faculty is added that nature +had not put there, and certainly none removed. + +But it is very clear that there is a _marked development_ of these +natural gifts, and that this change is brought about by the putting in +of _a new and tremendous motive power_, which radically affects +everything it touches. + +Regarding this development four facts may be noted. + +First fact:--_Those faculties or talents which may hitherto have lain +latent, unmatured, are aroused into use._ Most men have large +undeveloped resources, and endowments. Many of us are one-sided in our +development. We are strangers to the real possible self within, +unconscious of some of the powers with which we are endowed and +intrusted. The Holy Spirit, when given a free hand, works out the +fullness of the life that has been put in. The change will not be in the +sort but in the size, and that not by an addition but by a growth of +what is there. + +Moses complains that he is slow of speech and of a slow tongue. God does +not promise a new tongue but that he will be _with_ him and _train_ his +tongue. Listen to him forty years after in the Moab Plains, as with +brain fired, and tongue loosened and trained he gives that series of +farewell talks fairly burning with eloquence. Students of oratory can +find no nobler specimens than Deuteronomy furnishes. The unmatured +powers lying dormant had been aroused to full growth by the indwelling +Spirit of God. + +Saintly Dr. A. J. Gordon, whose face was as surely transfigured as was +Moses' or Stephen's used to say that in his earlier years he had no +executive ability. Men would say of him, "Well, Gordon can preach but--" +intimating that he could not do much else; not much of the practical +getting of things done in his makeup. When he was offered the +chairmanship of the missionary committee of the Baptist Church, he +promptly declined as being utterly unfit for such a task. Finally with +reluctance he accepted, and for years he guided and molded with rare +sagacity the entire scheme of missionary operation of the great Baptist +Church of the North. He was accustomed with rare frankness and modesty +to speak of the change in himself as an illustration of how the Spirit +develops talents which otherwise had lain unsuspected and unused. + +The second fact: _ALL of one's faculties will be developed, to the +highest normal pitch._ Not only the undeveloped faculties, but those +already developed will know a new life. That new presence within will +sharpen the brain, and fire the imagination. It will make the logic +keener, the will steadier, the executive faculty more alert. + +The civil engineer will be more accurate in his measurements and +calculations. The scientific man more keenly observant of facts, better +poised in his generalization upon them, and more convincing in his +demonstrations. The locomotive engineer will handle his huge machine +more skillfully. The road saves money in having a christian hand on the +throttle. The lawyer will be more thorough in his sifting of evidence, +and more convincing in the planning of his cases. The business man will +be even more sharply alive to business. The college student can better +grasp his studies, and write with stronger thought and clearer diction. +The cook will get a finer flavor into the food. And so on to the end of +the list. Why? Not by any magic, but simply and only because man was +created to be animated and dominated by the Spirit of God. That is his +normal condition. The Spirit of God is his natural atmosphere. The +machine works best when run under the inventor's immediate direction. +Only as a man--any man--is swayed by the Holy Spirit, will his powers +rise to their best. And a man is not doing his best, however hardworking +and conscientious, and therefore not fair to his own powers, who lives +otherwise. + +Some one may enter the objection, that many of the keenest men with +finely disciplined powers may be found among non-christian men. But he +should remember two facts, first, that a like truth holds good in the +opposite camp. There are undoubtedly men whose genius is brilliant +because inspired by an evil spirit. There are cultured scholarly men, +and keen shrewd business men who have yielded their powers to another +than God and are greatly assisted by evil spirits, though it is quite +likely that they are not conscious that this is the true analysis of +their success. + +The second fact to note is that no matter how keen or developed a man's +powers may be either as just suggested, or, by dint of native strength +and of his own effort they are still of necessity less than they would +be if swayed by the Spirit of God. For man is created to be indwelt and +inspired by God's Spirit, and his powers _can_ not be at their best +pitch save as the conditions of their creation are met. + +The third fact:--_There will be a gradual bringing back to their normal +condition of those facilities which have been dwarfed, or warped, or +abnormally developed through sin and selfishness._ Sometimes these moral +twists and quirks in our mental faculties are an inheritance through one +or more generations. The man with excessive egotism often carries the +evidence of it in the very shape of his head. But as he yields to the +new Spirit dominant within, a spirit of humility, of modesty will +gradually displace so much of the other as is abnormal. The man of +superficial mind will be deepened in his mental processes. The man of +hasty judgment or poor judgment will grow careful in his conclusions. +The lazy man will get a new lease of ambition and energy. + +These results will be gradual, as all of God's processes are. Sometimes +painfully gradual, and will be strictly in proportion as the man yields +himself unreservedly to the control of the indwelling Spirit. And the +process will be by the injection of a new and mighty motive power. The +shallow-minded man will have an intense desire to study God's wondrous +classic so as to learn His will. And though his studies may not get much +farther, yet no one book so disciplines and deepens the mind as that. +The lazy man will find a fire kindling in his bones to please his Master +and do something for Him, that will burn through and burn up his +indolence. The man of hasty judgment will find himself stopping to +consider what his Master would desire. And the mere pause to think is a +long step toward more accurate judgment. He will become a reverent +student of the word of God, and nothing corrects the judgment like that. + +The self-willed, headstrong man will likely have the toughest time of +any. To let his own plan utterly go, and instead fit into a radically +different one will shake him up terrifically. But that mighty One within +will lovingly woo and move him. And as he yields, and victory comes, he +will be delighted to find that the highest act of the strongest will is +in yielding to a higher will when found. He will be charmed to discover +that the rarest liberty comes only in perfect obedience to perfect law. + +And so every sort of man who has gotten some moral twist or obliquity in +his mental make-up will be straightened out to the normal standard of +his Maker, _as he allows Him to take full control_. + +The fourth fact:--_All this growth and development will be strictly +along the groove of the man's natural endowment._ The natural mental +bent will not be changed though the moral crooks will be straightened +out. Peter's rash, self-assertive twists are corrected, but he remains +the same Peter mentally. He does not possess the rare logical powers of +Paul, nor the judicial administrative temper of James, before the +infilling, and is not endowed with either after that experience. John's +intensity which would call down fire to burn up supposed foes is not +removed but turned into another channel, and burns itself out in love. +Jonathan Edwards retains and develops his marvelous faculty of +metaphysical reasoning and uses it to influence men for God. Finney's +intensely logical mind is not changed but fired and used in the same +direction. + +Moody has neither of these gifts, but has an unusually magnetic +presence, and a great executive faculty which leaves its impress on his +blunt direct speech. His faculties are not changed, nor added to, but +developed wonderfully and used. Geo. Mueller never becomes a great +preacher like these three; nor an expositor, but finds his rare +development in his marked administrative skill. Charles Studd remains a +poor speaker with jagged rhetoric and with no organizing knack, though +the fire of God in his presence kindles the flames of mission zeal in +the British universities, and melts your heart as you listen. +Shaftsbury's mental processes show the generations of aristocratic +breeding even in his costermonger's cart lovingly winning these men, or +after midnight searching out the waifs of London's nooks and docks. +Clough is refused by the missionary board because of his lack of certain +required qualifications, and when finally he reaches the field none of +these qualities appears, but his skill as an engineer gives him a hold +upon thousands whom his presence and God-breathed passion for souls win +to Jesus Christ. Carey's unusual linguistic talent, Mary Lyon's teaching +gift are not changed but developed and used. The growth produced by the +Spirit's presence is strictly along the groove of the natural gift. But +note that in this great variety of natural endowment there is one +trait--a moral trait, not a mental--that marks all alike, namely a +pervading purpose, that comes to be a passion, to do God's will, and get +men to know Him, and that everything is forced to bend to this dominant +purpose. Is not this glorious unity in diversity? + + +Saved and Sent to Serve. + +The third group of results affects our _service_. We will want to serve. +Love must act. We must _do_ something for our Master. We must do +_something_ for those around us. There will be a new _spirit_ of +service. Its peculiar characteristic and charm will be the _heart of +love_ in it. Love will envelop and undergird and pervade and exude from +all service. There will be a fine graciousness, a patience, a strong +tenderness, an earnest faithfulness, a hopeful tirelessness which will +despair of no man, and of no situation. + +The _sort_ of service and the _sphere_ of service will be left entirely +to the direction of the indwelling Holy Spirit, "dividing to every man +_as He will_." There will be no choosing of a life work but a prayerful +waiting till _His choice_ is clear, and then a joyous acceptance of +that. There will be no attempt to open doors, not even with a single +touch or twist of the knob, but only an entering of _opened_ doors. + +If the work be humble, or the place lowly, or both, there will be a +cheery eager using of the highest powers keyed to their best pitch. If +higher up, a steady remembering that there can be no power save as the +Spirit controls, and a praying to be kept from the dizziness which +unaccustomed height is apt to produce. Large quantities of paper and ink +will be saved. For many letters of application and indorsement will +remain _unwritten_. + +The Master's say-so is accepted by Spirit-led men as final. He chooses +Peter to _open_ the door to the outer nations, and Paul to _enter_ the +opened door. He chooses not an apostle but Philip to open up Samaria, +and Titus to guide church matters in Crete. A miner's son is chosen to +shake Europe, and a cobbler to kindle anew the missionary fires of +Christendom. Livingston is sent to open up the heart of Africa for a +fresh infusion of the blood the Son of God. A nurse-maid, whose name +remains unknown, is used to mold for God the child who became the +seventh Earl of Shaftsbury, one of the most truly Spirit-filled men of +the world. Geo. Mueller is chosen for the signal service of re-teaching +men that God still lives and actually answers prayer. Speer is used to +breathe a new spirit of devotion among college students, and Mott to +arouse and organize their service around the world. Geo. Williams and +Robert McBurney become the leaders, British and American, in an +in-Spirited movement to win young men by thousands. An earnest woman is +chosen to mother and to shape for God the tender years of earth's +greatest queen, who through character and position exerted a greater +influence for righteousness than any other woman. The common factor in +all is the Chooser. Jesus is the Chief Executive of the campaign through +His Spirit. The direction of it belongs to Him. He knows best what each +one can do. He knows best what needs to be done. He is ambitious that +each of us shall be the best, and have the best. He has a plan thought +out for each life, and for the whole campaign. His Spirit is in us to +administer His plan. He never sleeps. He divideth to every man severally +as He will. And His is a loving, wise will. It can be trusted. + +A Spirit-mastered man slowly comes to understand that service now is +apprenticeship-service. He is in training for the time when a King shall +reign, and will need tested and trusted and trained servants. He is in +college getting ready for commencement day. That _may_ explain in part +why some of the workers whom _we_ think can be least spared, are called +away in their prime. Their apprentice term is served. School's out. They +are moved up. + + +The Music of the Wind Harp. + +Please remember that these are _flood-tide_ results. Some good people +will never know them except in a very limited way. For they do not open +the sluice-gates wide enough to let the waters reach flood-tide. _These +results will vary in degree with the degree and constancy of the +yielding to the Spirit's control._ A full yielding at the start, and +constantly continued will bring these results in full measure and +without break, though the growth will be gradual. For it is a rising +flood, ever increasing in height and depth and sweep and power. Partial +surrender will mean only partial results; the largest and finest results +come only as the spirit has full control, for the work is all His, by +and with our consent. + +In one of her exquisite poems Frances Ridley Havergal tells of a friend +who was given an aeolian harp which, she was told, sent out unutterably +sweet melodies. She tried to bring the music by playing upon it with her +hand, but found the seven strings would yield but one tone. Keenly +disappointed she turned to the letter sent before the gift and found +she had not noticed the directions given. Following them carefully she +placed the harp in the opened window-way where the wind could blow upon +it. Quite a while she waited but at last in the twilight the music came: + + "Like stars that tremble into light + Out of the purple dark, a low, sweet note + Just trembled out of silence, antidote + To any doubt; for never finger might + Produce that note, so different, so new: + Melodious pledge that all He promised should come true. + + * * * * * + + "Anon a thrill of all the strings; + And then a flash of music, swift and bright, + Like a first throb of weird Auroral light, + Then crimson coruscations from the wings + Of the Pole-spirit; then ecstatic beat, + As if an angel-host went forth on shining feet. + + "Soon passed the sounding starlit march, + And then one swelling note grew full and long, + While, like a far-off cathedral song, + Through dreamy length of echoing aisle and arch + Float softest harmonies around, above, + Like flowing chordal robes of blessing and of love. + + "Thus, while the holy stars did shine + And listen, the aeolian marvels breathed; + While love and peace and gratitude enwreathed + With rich delight in one fair crown were mine. + The wind that bloweth where it listeth brought + This glory of harp-music--not my skill or thought." + +And the listening friend to whom this wondrous experience is told, who +has had a great sorrow in her life, and been much troubled in her +thoughts and plans replies: + + " ... I too have tried + My finger skill in vain. But opening now + My window, like wise Daniel, I will set + My little harp therein, and listening wait + The breath of heaven, the Spirit of our God." + +May we too learn the lesson of the wind-harp. For man is God's aeolian +harp. The human-taught finger skill can bring some rare music, yet by +comparison it is at best but a monotone. When the instrument is set to +catch the full breathing of the breath of God, then shall it sound out +the rarest wealth of music's melodies. As the life is yielded fully to +the breathing of the Spirit we shall find the peace of God which passeth +all understanding filling the heart; and the power of God that passeth +all resisting flooding the life; and others shall find the beauty of +God, that passeth all describing, transfiguring the face; and the dewy +fragrance of God, that passeth all comparing, pervading the personality, +though most likely _we_ shall not know it. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[17] Exodus xxxi: 1-5. + +[18] Numbers xi: 16, 17. + +[19] Luke i: 13-17, 41. + +[20] 1 Cor. xii: 4-6, 11. + +[21] Rom. v: 5. + +[22] Gal. v: 22-23. + +[23] 1 Cor. xiii. + +[24] Luke vi: 35. R. V., margin. + + + + +FRESH SUPPLIES OF POWER. + +"As the Dew." + + +There is another very important bit needed to complete the circle of +truth we are going over together in these quiet talks. Namely, _the +daily life_ after the act of surrender and all that comes with that act. +The steady pull day by day. After the eagle-flight up into highest air, +and the hundred yards dash, or even the mile run, comes the steady, +steady walking mile after mile. The real test of life is here. And the +highest victories are here, too. + +I recall the remark made by a friend when this sort of thing was being +discussed:--"I would make the surrender gladly but as I think of my home +life I know I cannot keep it." There was the rub. The day-by-day life +afterwards. The habitual steady-going when temptations come in, and when +many special aids, and stimulating surroundings are withdrawn. This last +talk together is about this _afterlife_. What is the plan for that? +Well, let us talk it over a bit. + +Have you noticed that the old earth receives a fresh baptism of life +daily? Every night the life-giving dew is distilled. The moisture rises +during the day from ocean, and lake, and river, undergoes a chemical +change in God's laboratory and returns nightly in dew to refresh the +earth. It brings to all nature new life, with rare beauty, and fills the +air with the exquisite fragrance drawn from flowers and plants. Its +power to purify and revitalize is peculiar and remarkable. It distils +only in the night when the world is at rest. It can come only on clear +calm nights. Both cloud and wind disturb and prevent its working. It +comes quietly and works noiselessly. But the changes effected are +radical and immeasurable. Literally it gives to the earth a nightly +baptism of new life. That is God's plan for the earth. And that, too, +let me say to you, is His plan for our day-by-day life. + +It hushes one's heart with a gentle awe to go out early in the morning +after a clear night when air and flower and leaf are fragrant with an +indescribable freshness, and listen to God's voice saying, "_I will be +as the dew unto Israel._" That sentence is the climax of the book where +it occurs.[25] God is trying through Hosea to woo His people away from +their evil leaders up to Himself again. To a people who knew well the +vitalizing power of the deep dews of an Oriental night, and their own +dependence upon them, He says with pleading voice, "_I_ will be to you +_as the dew_." + +The setting of that sentence is made very winsome. The _beauty_ of the +lily, and of the olive-tree; the _strength_ of the roots of Lebanon's +giant cedars, and the _fragrance_ of their boughs; the _fruitfulness_ +of the vine, and the _richness_ of the grain harvest are used to bring +graphically to their minds the meaning of His words: "as the dew." + +Tenderly as He speaks to that nation in which His love-plan for a world +centered, more tenderly yet does He ever speak to the individual heart. +That wondrous One who is "alongside to help" will be by the atmosphere +of His presence to you and to me as the dew is to the earth--a daily +refreshing of new life, with its new strength, and rare beauty and fine +fragrance. + +Have you noticed how Jesus Himself puts His ideal for the day-by-day +life? At that last Feast of Tabernacles He said, "He that believeth on +me out of his inner being shall flow rivers of water of life."[26] Jesus +was fairly saturated with the Old Testament figures and language. Here +He seems to be thinking, of that remarkable river-vision of +Ezekiel's.[27] You remember how much space is given there to describing +a wonderful river running through a place where living waters had never +flowed. The stream begins with a few strings of water trickling out from +under the door-step of the temple, and rises gradually but steadily +ankle-deep, knee-deep, loin-deep, over-head, until flood-tide is +reached, and an ever rising and deepening flood-tide. And everywhere the +waters go is life with beauty, and fruitfulness. There is no drought, +no ebbing, but a continual flowing in, and filling up, and flooding out. +In these two intensely vivid figures is given our Master's carefully, +lovingly thought out plan for the day-by-day life. + +In actual experience the reverse of this is, shall I say too much if I +say, _most commonly_ the case? It seems to be so. Who of us has not at +times been conscious of some failure that cut keenly into the very +tissue of the heart! And even when no such break may have come there is +ever a heart-yearning for more than has yet been experienced. The men +who seem to know most of God's power have had great, unspeakable +longings at times for a fresh consciousness of that power. + +There is a simple but striking incident told of one of Mr. Moody's +British campaigns. He was resting a few days after a tour in which God's +power was plainly felt and seen. He was soon to be out at work again. +Talking out of his inner heart to a few sympathetic friends, he +earnestly asked them to join in prayer that he might receive "a fresh +baptism of power." Without doubt that very consciousness of failure, and +this longing for more is evidence of the Spirit's presence within wooing +us up the heights. + +The language that springs so readily to one's lips at such times is just +such as Mr. Moody used, a fresh baptism, a fresh filling, a fresh +anointing. And the _fresh consciousness_ of God's presence and power is +to one as a fresh act of anointing on His part. Practically it does not +matter whether there is actually a fresh act upon the Spirit's part, +_or_ a renewed consciousness upon our part of His presence, and a +renewed humble depending wholly upon Him. Yet to learn the real truth +puts one's relationship to God in the clearer light that prevents +periods of doubt and darkness. Does it not too bring one yet nearer to +Him? In this case it certainly suggests a depth and a tenderness of His +unparalleled love of which some of us have not even dreamed. So far as +the Scriptures seem to suggest there is not a fresh act upon God's part +at certain times in one's experience, but His wondrous love is such that +there is _a continuous act_--a continuous flooding in of all the +gracious power of His Spirit that the human conditions will admit of. +The flood-tide is ever being poured out from above, but, as a rule, our +gates are not open full width. And so only part can get in, and part +which He is giving is restrained by us. + +Without doubt, too, the incoming flood expands that into which it comes. +And so the capacity increases ever more, and yet more. And, too, we may +become much more sensitive to the Spirit's presence. We may grow into +better mediums for the transmission of His power. As the hindrances and +limitations of centuries of sin's warping and stupefying are gradually +lessened there is a freer better channel for the through-flowing of His +power. + + +A Transition Stage. + +Such seems to be the teaching of the old Book. Let us look into it a +little more particularly. One needs to be discriminating in quoting the +Book of Acts on this subject. That book marks _a transition stage_ +historically in the experience possible to men. Some of the older +persons in the Acts lived in three distinct periods. There was the Old +Testament period when a salvation was foretold and promised. Then came +the period when Jesus was on the earth and did a wholly new thing in the +world's history in actually working out a salvation. And then followed +the period of the Holy Spirit applying to men the salvation worked out +by Jesus. All these persons named in the Book of Acts lived both before +and after the day of Pentecost, which marked the descent of the Holy +Spirit. The Book of Acts marks the clear establishing of the transition +from the second to the third of these three periods. Ever since then men +have lived _after_ Pentecost. The transitional period of the Book of +Acts is behind us. + +Men in Old Testament times both in the Hebrew nation and outside of it +were born of the Spirit, and under His sway. But there was a limit to +what He could do, because there was a limit to what had been done. The +Holy Spirit is the executive member of the Godhead. He applies to men +what has been worked out, or achieved for them, and only that. Jesus +came and did a new thing which stands wholly alone in history. He lived +a sinless life, and then He died sacrificially for men, and then +further, arose up to a new life after death. The next step necessary was +the sending down of the divine executive to work out in men this new +achievement. He does in men what Jesus did for them. He can do much more +for us than for the Old Testament people because much more has been done +for us by God through Jesus. The standing of a saved man before +Pentecost was like that of a young child in a rich family who cannot +under the provisions of the family will come into his inheritance until +the majority age is reached. After the Son of God came, men are _through +Him_ reckoned as being _as He is_, namely in full possession of all +rights conferred by being a born son of full age. Now note carefully +that this Book of Acts marks the transition from the one period to the +other. And so one needs to be discriminating in applying the experiences +of men passing through a transition period to those who live wholly +afterwards. + + +The After-Teaching. + +The after-Pentecost teaching, that is the personal relation to the +Spirit by one who has received Him to-day, may best be learned from the +epistles. Paul's letters form the bulk of the New Testament after the +Book of Acts is passed. They contain the Spirit's _after-teaching_ +regarding much which the disciples were not yet able to receive from +Jesus' own lips. They were written to churches that were far from ideal. +They were composed largely of people dug out of the darkest heathenism. +And with the infinite patience and tact of the Spirit Paul writes to +them with a pen dipped in his own heart. + +A rather careful run through these thirteen letters brings to view two +things about the relation of these people to the Holy Spirit. First +there are certain _allusions_ or references to the Spirit, and then +certain _exhortations_. Note first these _allusions_.[28] They are +numerous. In them it is constantly _assumed_ that these people _have +received the Holy Spirit_. Paul's dealing with the twelve disciples whom +he found at Ephesus[29] suggests his habit in dealing with all whom he +taught. Reading that incident in connection with these letters seems to +suggest that in every place he laid great stress upon the necessity of +the Spirit's control in every life. And now in writing back to these +friends nearly all the allusions to the Spirit are in language that +_assumes_ that they have surrendered fully and been filled with His +presence. + +There are just four _exhortations_ about the Holy Spirit. It is +significant to notice what these are not. They are not exhorted to seek +the baptism of the Holy Spirit nor to wait for the filling. There is no +word about refillings, fresh baptisms or anointings. For these people, +unlike most of us to-day, have been thoroughly instructed regarding the +Spirit and presumably have had the great radical experience of His full +incoming. On the other hand notice what these exhortations _are_. To the +Thessalonians in his first letter he says, "_Quench not_ the +Spirit."[30] To the disciples scattered throughout the province of +Galatia who had been much disturbed by false leaders he gives a rule to +be followed, "_Walk_ by the Spirit."[31] The other two of these +incisive words of advice are found in the Ephesian letter--"_Grieve not_ +the Spirit of God,"[32] and "_be ye filled_ with the Spirit."[33] + +These exhortations like the allusions assume that they have received the +Spirit, and know that they have. The last quoted, "be ye filled," may +seem at first flush to be an exception to this, but I think we shall see +in a moment that a clearer rendering takes away this seeming, and shows +it as agreeing with the others in the general teaching. + +This letter to the Ephesians may perhaps be taken as a fair index of the +New Testament teaching on this matter after the descent of the Spirit; +the _after-teaching_ promised by Jesus. It bears evidence of being a +sort of circular letter intended to be sent in turn to a number of the +churches, and is therefore a still better illustration of the +after-teaching. The latter half of the letter is dealing wholly with +this question of the day-by-day life after the distinct act of surrender +and infilling. Here are found two companion exhortations. One is +negative: the other positive. The two together suggest the rounded truth +which we are now seeking. On one side is this:--"Grieve not the Spirit +of God," and on the other side is this:--"be ye filled with the Spirit." +Bishop H. C. G. Moule calls attention to the more nearly accurate +reading of this last,--"be ye _filling_ with the Spirit." That suggests +two things, a _habitual inflow_, and, that _it depends on us_ to keep +the inlets ever open. Now around about these two companion exhortations +are gathered two groups of friendly counsels. One group is about the +_grieving_ things which must be avoided. The other group is about the +positive things to be cultivated. And the inference of the whole passage +is that this avoiding and this cultivating result in the habitual +filling of the Spirit's presence. + + +Cross-Currents. + +Fresh supplies of power then seem to be dependent upon two things. The +first is this:--_Keeping the life dear of hindrances._ This is the +negative side, though it takes very positive work. It is really the +abnormal side of the true life. Sin is abnormal, unnatural. It is a +foreign element that has come into the world and into life disturbing +the natural order. It must be kept out. The whole concern here is +keeping certain things _out_ of the life. The task is that of staying in +the world but keeping the world-spirit _out_ of us. We are to remain in +the world for its sake, but to allow nothing in it to disturb our full +touch with the other world where our citizenship is. The christian's +position in this world is strikingly like that of a nation's ambassador +at a foreign court. Joseph H. Choate mingles freely with the subjects of +King Edward, attends many functions, makes speeches, grants occasional +interviews, but he is ever on the alert with his rarely keen mind, and +long years of legal training not to utter a syllable which might not +properly come from the head of his home government. Never for one moment +is he off his guard. His whole aim is to keep in perfect sympathy with +his home country as represented by its head. He never forgets that he is +there as a stranger, sojourning for a while, belonging to and +representing a foreign country. So, and only so, all the authority and +power of his own government flows through his person and is in every +word and act. Such a man invariably provides himself with a home in +which is breathed the atmosphere of his far away homeland. Now we are +strangers, sojourners, indeed more, ambassadors, representatives of a +government foreign to the present prince of this world. It is only as we +keep in perfect sympathy with the homeland and its Head that there can +flow into and through us all the immeasurable power of our King. +Whatever interrupts that intercourse with headquarters interrupts the +flow of power in our lives and service. We must guard most jealously +against such things. + +Electricity helps a man here, in the similes it suggests. For instance +the electric current passing into a building is sometimes mysteriously +turned aside and work seriously interrupted. A cross-wire dropping down +out of place, and leaning upon the feed-wire has drawn the power into +itself and off somewhere else. The cross is apt to be in some unknown +place, and much searching is frequently necessary before it can be found +and fixed. And all the work affected by that feed-wire waits till the +fixing is done. + +The spirit atmosphere in which we live is full, chock-full, of +cross-currents. And a man has to be keenly alert to keep his feed-wire +clear. If it be crossed, or grounded, away goes the power, while he may +be wondering why. + +What are some of the cross-currents that threaten to draw the power of +the feed-wire? Well, just like the electric currents some of them seem +very trivial. Here are a few of the commoner ones:-- + +Failure to keep bodily appetites under control. Intimate fellowship with +those who are enemies of our Lord, it may be in some organization, or +otherwise. The absence of a spirit of loving sympathy. The dominance in +one's life of a critical spirit which saps the warmth out of everything +it touches. Jealousy, and the whole brood which that single word +suggests. Keeping money which God would have out in service for himself. +Self-seeking. Self-assertion. A frivolous spirit, instead of a joyous +winsomeness, or a sweet seriousness. Overworking one's bodily strength, +which grows out of a wrong ambition, and is trusting one's own efforts +more than God's power, and which always involves disobedience of His law +for the body. Over-anxiety which robs the mind of its freshness, and the +spirit of its sweetness, and whose roots are the same as overwork. + +The hot hasty word. The uncontrolled temper. The pride that will not +confess to having been in the wrong. Lack of rugged honesty in speech. +Carelessness in money matters. Lack of reverence for the body. The +unholy use between two, whose relation is the most sacred of earth, of +that hallowed function of nature which has rigidly but one normal use. + +Some personal habit which may be common enough, and for which plausible +arguments can be made, but which does take the fine edge off of the +inner consciousness of the Master's approval. Keen shrewd scheming for +position by those in holy service. + +Paul's Galatian letter supplies these items:--wrangling; wordy disputes; +passionate outbursts of anger; wire-pulling or electioneering, that is, +using the world's methods to attain one's ends by those in God's +service. + +These are some of the cross-currents that are surely drawing the power +out of many a life to-day. But how may one know surely about the wrong +thing? Well, that One who resides within the heart is very sensitive and +is very faithful. If I will jealously keep on good terms, aye on the +best terms, with Him, ever listening, ever obeying, I will come to know +at first touch the thing that disturbs His sensitive spirit. And to keep +that thing _out_, uncompromisingly, unflinchingly _out_, is the only +safeguard here. + +But there will be continual testings and temptings. Testings by God. +Temptings by Satan. There will be testings by God that the realness of +the surrender may be made clear, and, too, that in these repeated +siftings the dross may all go, and only the pure gold remain. The will +must be exercised in rejecting and accepting that its fiber may be +toughened. No man knows how deep is his conviction until the test comes. +God will test for love's sake to strengthen. Satan will tempt for hate's +sake to trip up and weaken. God's testings will give strength for +Satan's temptings. And out of this double furnace the gold comes doubly +purified. + +Some circumstance arises involving a decision. There is a clear +conviction of what the inner One prefers but it runs against our plans +in which friends or loved ones are concerned who may not see eye-to-eye +with us. To follow the conviction means misunderstanding and some +sacrifice. And so the test is on. To be tactful, and gentle in following +rigidly the clear conviction will take grace, _and_, will bring a +refining of life's strength and fabric. + +To run through this old Book and call the names is to bring to mind the +men who have gone through just such testings and temptings; some with +splendid victory, and some with shameful defeat. + +So it comes to pass that surrender is not simply the initial _act_ into +this life of power. It must become the continuous _habit_. There must be +a habitual living up to the act. Surrender comes to be an attitude of +the will affecting every act and event of life. And by and by the +instinctive measuring of everything by its relation to Jesus comes to be +the involuntary habit of the life. + + +Friends with God. + +_The second thing_ upon which fresh supplies of power hinge is _the +cultivation of personal friendship with God_. This is the positive side +of the new life. This is the true natural life. It is the living +constantly in the atmosphere of the Spirit's presence. + +The highest and closest relation possible between any two is friendship. +The basis of friendship is sympathy, that is, fellow-feeling. The +atmosphere of friendship is mutual unquestioning trust. In the original +meaning of the word, a friend is a lover. A friend is one who loves you +for your sake alone, and steadfastly loves, regardless of any return, +even return-love. Friendship hungers for a closer knowledge, and for a +deeper intimacy. Friendship grows with exchange of confidences. Friends +are confidants. + + "As in a double solitude, ye think in each other's hearing." + +A man's friendships shape his life more than aught else, or all +else. + +Now this is the tender relation which God Himself desires with each of +us. Did Jesus ever speak more tenderly than on that last Thursday night +when He said to those constant companions of two years, "I have called +you _friends_, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made +known unto you"? Out of his own experience David writes, "The friendship +of the Lord is with those that reverently love Him, and He will give +evidence of His friendship by showing to them His covenant, His plans, +and His power." And David knew. Abraham had the reputation of being a +friend of God. He even trusted his darling boy's life to God when he +_could not_ understand what God was doing. And he found God worthy of +his friendship. He spared that darling boy even though later He spared +not His own darling boy. It thrills one's heart to hear God saying, +"Abraham _my friend_." Friendship with God means such oneness of spirit +with Him that He may do with us and through us what He wills. This and +this alone is the true power--God in us, and God with us free to do as +He wills. + +Now trust is the native air of friendship. A breath of doubt chills and +chokes. If one is filled and surrounded by trust in God as the +atmosphere of his life his touch with God then becomes most intimate. +Satan cannot breathe in that atmosphere. It chokes him. Air is the +native element of the bird. Away from air it gasps and dies. Water is +the native element of the fish. Out of water it chokes and gasps and +dies. Trust is the native element of friendship--friendship with God. A +constant feeling of confidence in GOD that believes in His overruling +power, and in His unfailing love, and rests in Him in the darkness when +the thing you prize most is lying bound on the stony altar. + +The Spirit of God is a friend, a lover. He is ever wooing us up the +heights. Let us climb up. He is every wooing us into the inner recesses +of friendship with Himself. Shall we not go along with Him? This is the +secret of a life ever fresh with the presence of God. It is the only +pathway of increasing youthfulness in the power of God. + + "And in old age, when others fade, + They fruit still forth shall bring; + They shall be fat, and full of sap, + And aye be flourishing." + + +A Bunch of Keys. + +To those who would enter these inner sacred recesses here is a small +bunch of keys which will unlock the doors. Three keys in this bunch; a +key-time, a key-book, and a key-word. _The key-time_ is time alone with +God daily. With the door shut. Outside things shut outside, and one's +self shut in alone with God. This is the trysting-hour with our Friend. +Here He will reveal Himself to us, and reveal our real selves to +ourselves. This is going to school to God. It is giving Him a chance to +instruct and correct, to strengthen and mellow and sweeten us. One must +get alone to find out that he never is alone. The more alone we are so +far as men are concerned the least alone we are so far as God is +concerned. It must be unhurried time. Time enough to forget about time. +When the mind is fresh and open. One _must_ use this key if he is to +know the sweets of friendship with God. + +_The key-book_ is this marvelous old classic of God's Word. Take this +book with you when you go to keep tryst with your Friend. God speaks in +His Word. He will take these words and speak them with His own voice +into the ear of your heart. You will be surprised to find how light on +every sort of question will come. It is remarkable what a faithful +half-hour daily with a good paragraph[34] Bible in wide, swift, +continuous reading will do in giving one a swing and a grasp of this +old Book. In time, and not long time either, one will come to be +saturated with its thought and spirit. Reading the Bible is listening to +God. It is fairly pathetic what a hard time God has to get men's ears. +He is ever speaking but we will not be quiet enough to hear. One always +enjoys listening to his friend. What _this_ Friend says to us will +change radically our conceptions of Himself, and of life. It will clear +the vision, and discipline the judgment, and stiffen the will. + +_The key-word_ is obedience: a glad prompt doing of what our Friend +desires _because He desires it_. Obedience is saying "yes" to God. It is +the harmony of the life with the will of God. With some it seems to mean +a servile bondage to details. It should rather mean a spirit of +_intelligent_ loyalty to God. It aims to _learn_ His will, and then to +do it. God's will is revealed in His word. His particular will for my +life He will reveal to me if I will listen, _and_, if I will obey, so +far as I know to obey. If I obey what I know, I will know more. +Obedience is the organ of knowledge in the soul. "He that willeth to do +His will shall know." + +God's will includes His plan for a world, and for each life in the +world. Both concern us. He would first work in us, that He may work +_through_ us in His passionate outreach for a world. His will includes +every bit of one's life; and therefore obedience must also include every +bit. A run out in a single direction may serve as a suggestion of many +others. + +The law of my body, which obeyed brings or continues health is God's +will, as much as that which concerns moral action. Our bodies are holy +because God lives in them. Overwork, insufficient sleep, that imprudent +diet and eating which seems the rule rather than the exception, +carelessness of bodily protection in rain or storm or drafts or +otherwise:--these are sins against God's will for the body, and no one +who is disobedient here can ever be a channel of power up to the measure +of God's longing for us. + +And so regarding all of one's life, one must ever keep an open mind +Godward so as to get a well balanced sense of what His will is. Practice +is the great thing here. This is school work. By persistent listening +and practising there comes a mature judgment which avoids extremes in +both directions. But the rule is this: cheery prompt obeying regardless +of consequences. Disobedience, failure to obey, is _breaking with our +Friend_. + +These are the three keys which will let us into the innermost chambers +of friendship with God. And with them goes a _key-ring_ on which these +keys must be strung. It is this:--_implicit trust in God_. Trust is the +native air of friendship. In its native air it grows strong and +beautiful. Whatever disturbs an active abiding trust in God must be +driven out of doors, and kept out. Doubt chills the air below normal. +Anxiety overheats the air. A calm looking up into God's face with an +unquestioning faith in _Him_ under every sort of circumstance--this is +trust. Faith has three elements: knowledge, belief and _trust_. +Knowledge is acquaintance with certain facts. Belief is accepting these +facts as true. _Trust is risking_ something that is very precious. Trust +is the life-blood of faith. This is the atmosphere of the true natural +life as planned by God. + + "If a wren can cling + To a spray a-swing + In a mad May wind, and sing, and sing, + As if she'd burst for joy; + Why cannot I, + Contented lie, + In His quiet arms, beneath His sky, + Unmoved by earth's annoy?" + +Shall we take these keys, and this key-ring and use them faithfully? It +will mean intimate friendship with God. And that is the one secret of +power, fresh, and ever freshening. + +There is a simple story told of an old German friend of God which +illustrates all of this with a charming picturesqueness. Professor Johan +Albrecht Bengal was a teacher in the seminary in Denkendorf, Germany, in +the eighteenth century. "He united profound reverence for the Bible with +an acuteness which let nothing escape him." The seminary students used +to wonder at the great intellectuality, and great humility and +Christliness which blended their beauty in him. One night, one of them, +eager to learn the secret of his holy life, slipped up into his +apartments while the professor was out lecturing in the city, and hid +himself behind the heavy curtains in the deep recess of the +old-fashioned window. Quite a while he waited until he grew weary and +thought of how weary his teacher must be with his long day's work in the +class-room and the city. At length he heard the step in the hall, and +waited breathlessly to learn the coveted secret. The man came in, +changed his shoes for slippers, and sitting down at the study table, +opened the old well-thumbed German Bible and began reading leisurely +page by page. A half-hour he read, three-quarters of an hour, an hour, +and more yet. Then leaning his head down on his hands for a few minutes +in silence he said in the simplest most familiar way, "Well, Lord Jesus, +we're on the same old terms. Good-night." + +If we might live like that. Begin the day with a bit of time alone, a +good-morning talk with Him. And as the day goes on in its busy round +sometimes to put out your hand to Him, and under your breath say, "let's +keep on good terms, Lord Jesus." And then when eventide comes in to go +off alone with Him for a quiet look into His face, and a good-night +talk, and to be able to say, with reverent familiarity: "Good-night, +Lord Jesus, we are on the same old terms, you and I, good-night." Ah! +such a life will be fairly fragrant with the very presence of God. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[25] Hosea xiv: 5. + +[26] John vii: 37-39. + +[27] Ezekiel xlvii: 1-12. + +[28] 1 Thessalonians iv: 8 + 1 Corinthians xii: 1-11. + 2 Corinthians xi: 4 + Galatians iii: 2-5; iv: 6; v: 5, 18,[D] 22-25. + Romans viii: 1-27, xv: 13. + Colossians i: 8. + Philippians iii: 3. + Titus iii: 5-6. + +[Transcriber's Note D: Original had "18, 18,"] + +[29] Acts xix: 1-7. + +[30] 1 Thessalonians v: 19. + +[31] Galatians v: 16. + +[32] Ephesians iv: 30. + +[33] Eph. v: 18. + +[34] One beauty of the revised version is its paragraphing. + + + + + * * * * * + +WORKS BY G CAMPBELL MORGAN + + +_A New Popular Edition_ + +THE CRISES OF THE CHRIST. + + DR. 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