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diff --git a/26652.txt b/26652.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a0bea03 --- /dev/null +++ b/26652.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4703 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Standards of Life and Service, by T. H. Howard + +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: Standards of Life and Service + +Author: T. H. Howard + +Release Date: September 18, 2008 [EBook #26652] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK STANDARDS OF LIFE AND SERVICE *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +STANDARDS + +OF + +LIFE AND SERVICE + + + +BY + +COMMISSIONER T. H. HOWARD + + + +THE SALVATION ARMY BOOK DEPARTMENT + +LONDON: 79 & 81 Fortess Road, N.W. +MELBOURNE: 69 Bourke Street +NEW YORK: 120 West Fourteenth Street +TORONTO: Albert Street +CAPE TOWN: Loop Street + +SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD. +4 STATIONERS' HALL COURT, LONDON, E.C. + +1909 + +THE SALVATION ARMY PRINTING WORKS, +ST. ALBANS + + + + +PREFACE + + +The following pages contain reports of addresses delivered by +Commissioner Howard, of our International Headquarters, during an +important series of Holiness Meetings held in the Congress Hall, +London, principally in 1908. Those Meetings were widely used by God, +and at my request the Commissioner has revised the shorthand reports of +his words for this volume. We now send forth his messages in the hope +of still further extending their usefulness. + +Christianity is a present-day call to a good life. If it be anything +less than that, it is really not worth troubling about. It is, of +course, rich in holy memories, and venerable in its association with +all that is true and best in the past. But it is not only ancient in +its origin and triumphs--it is intensely modern in its touch with human +need, and in its demand that the spirit of righteousness should be the +controlling force in human life--in the common life of to-day. It is +the aim of the following addresses to bring that truth home to us, and +to help us to go direct to JESUS CHRIST Himself for power to respond to +that claim. + +Cast in popular form, as was necessary for meeting such occasions as +those which called them forth, these addresses do not attempt any +comprehensive statements of the philosophy of Holiness. Anything of +that kind, no matter how successful, would have been the undoing of the +whole effort. Nevertheless, the diligent reader will, I think, find +underlying these practical counsels certain valuable principles. In +particular, he will find implied, when not actually expressed, an +important distinction between the work of God in the justifying and +purifying of the soul, and the work of man in walking in obedience to +the laws of God. It is that obedience I am thinking of when I say that +Christianity is a demand for righteousness. It is that obedience we +mean when we talk of Holiness--in its practical aspects. + +One of the dangers to which all deeply spiritual teaching is open, is a +kind of antinomianism--a species of religious bargaining between the +soul and God; and that is a thing which is, of course, totally alien to +His will, and completely ruinous to true progress. The process of such +thought is something like this: 'Christ has performed for me a work of +infinite love and merit. If I confess and deplore evil, I may claim +pardon for it and purifying from its guilt by faith in the Divine +Sacrifice made for me. That will ease my burdened soul and free me from +apprehension as to future peril--peril which would otherwise have +proved very real. As to temptation to further evil, I must watch +against it; but if by chance or evil impulse, or even wilful choice, I +fall into it, let me not be too deeply concerned. I can easily obtain +again what I have obtained before.' + +Now, that is not only a false position, but it involves an extremely +dangerous error--an error which in practice is ultimately destructive +of real faith. Salvation--indeed, all spiritual experience, is entered +into by faith, of course; but it can only be maintained by hearty, +determined obedience on our part. Christ has died for us, but He has +not obeyed for us. The 'new heart' is by faith in Him--but the new life +can only be lived by watchful and often painful obedience to the law of +love. 'I counsel thee to buy of Me', saith He that walketh in the midst +of the seven golden candlesticks, 'white raiment that thou mayest be +clothed'; and 'Blessed', He says also, 'is he that watcheth, and +_keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked_'. Paul prayed for the saints +of his day 'that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith'; but he +prayed also that they 'might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, +_being fruitful in every good work_, strengthened _with all might_ +unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness'. + +It is towards standards for this life of rightly living that +Commissioner Howard is working in the following chapters. May the +blessing of the great Standard-Bearer rest upon his words, and give the +light and grace which He alone can afford to every reader. + +BRAMWELL BOOTH. + +THE SALVATION ARMY, +LONDON, _April, 1909_. + + + + +FOREWORD + + +I wish that these Addresses could, in their present form, be marked by +those personal experiences which made the thoughts so alive to me when +the words were uttered in public Meetings. If the flashes of light, the +intensity of conviction, and the sense of Divine help which were mine +when speaking, could be reproduced in cold type, the impression upon +the readers would be much more effective. That may not be fully +possible, but I pray that in His own way God may use the book to the +helping of many souls in the things which make for Holiness and happy +service. + +T. H. H. + + + + + _Thou hidden love of God, whose height, + Whose depth unfathomed no man knows; + I see from far Thy beauteous light, + Inly I sigh for Thy repose: + My heart is pained, nor can it be + At rest till it finds rest in Thee._ + + _Is there a thing beneath the sun + That strives with Thee my heart to share? + Ah, tear it thence, and reign alone, + The Lord of every motion there! + Then shall my heart from earth be free, + When it hath found repose in Thee._ + + _Oh, hide this self from me, that I + No more, but Christ in me, may live; + My vile affections crucify, + Nor let one darling lust survive! + In all things nothing may I see, + Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!_ + + _Each moment draw from earth away + My heart, that lowly waits Thy call: + Speak to my inmost soul, and say, + 'I am thy Lord, thy God, thy All!' + To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice, + To share Thy cross be all my choice._ + + + + + +CONTENTS + + + PAGE + + PREFACE v + + FOREWORD ix + + I. GOD'S CALL 1 + + II. CONSECRATION COMPLETE 8 + + III. DIVINE FELLOWSHIP 15 + + IV. FINDING GOD 23 + + V. THE DOCTRINE ADORNED 31 + + VI. SURENESS 40 + + VII. THE PATHWAY OF THE HOLY 49 + + VIII. CIRCUMSTANCES AND CONSEQUENCES 58 + + IX. BOUND TO THE ALTAR 68 + + X. WHY SHOULD I? 77 + + XI. JUDGED BY FRUIT 87 + + XII. PERPETUAL COVENANTS 95 + + XIII. THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT 104 + + XIV. LOST EARNINGS 113 + + XV. FIGHTING HOLINESS 123 + + XVI. SANCTIFIED COMMONPLACES 132 + + XVII. SPIRITUAL GROWTH 141 + +XVIII. THE INWARD LAWS 151 + + XIX. WORRY VERSUS PEACE 159 + + XX. AN APPEAL AND A RESPONSE 168 + + + + + 'WE believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be "wholly + sanctified", and that their "whole spirit and soul and body" may + "be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ". + That is to say, we believe that after conversion there remain in + the heart of the believer inclinations to evil, or roots of + bitterness, which, unless overpowered by Divine grace, produce + actual sin; but that these evil tendencies can be entirely taken + away by the Spirit of God, and the whole heart, thus cleansed from + everything contrary to the will of God, or entirely sanctified, + will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only. And we believe that + persons thus entirely sanctified may, by the power of God, be kept + unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.'--_The Doctrines of The + Salvation Army._ + + + + +STANDARDS OF LIFE AND SERVICE + + + + +I + +God's Call + +_'What manner of persons ought ye to be?'_ (2 Peter iii. 11.) + +_'As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of +conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.'_ (1 +Peter i. 15, 16.) + + +When we set up standards for life and character we must be quite clear +that our teaching fits in with God's purpose as revealed towards His +people. Therefore, when we enforce the doctrine of personal Holiness, +there is no reason more weighty than that which Peter gives us in the +verses quoted, namely, that God calls us to Holiness. + +The statement I have read seems to me to show that _it is a mistake to +suppose that personal Holiness is left optional_. Many people go to +Meetings, and, when they are shown the teachings of the Bible about +Holiness, they recognize that it is a state of being cleansed, filled +with the love of God, and kept by the indwelling Holy Ghost. They see +it as a very desirable thing and a possible experience. But, somehow or +other, they sit and listen, come and go, and seem to have the idea that +it is quite left to themselves whether they should obey the call and +claim this blessing or not. + +Some talk as if there were two roads to Heaven; I mean the sinning and +repenting life; falling down and getting up again; persevering in their +journey with just enough religion to make them want to save their souls +from going to Hell, in contradistinction to the experience of the +saintly man or woman who says, 'By God's help I am going to live a life +without sin! I am going to have my heart fully sanctified, and walk in +the will of God.' + +Some, I am afraid, even go so far as to deliberately say, 'Holiness is +a very good thing if you want it; but I am not quite prepared for this, +or to give up this, that, and the other. I think I shall get on very +well as I am. If _you_ want the blessing I am glad to see you go in for +it.' + +That is what I mean when I talk about people regarding the matter as if +it were optional; and I like these words of Peter's because they show +us a direct command: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy'. They fit in also with +the other injunction: 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate, +and touch not the unclean thing'. + +It is a grand and glorious privilege to have a clean heart; to have God +Almighty coming and taking full possession of you; and to have His Holy +Spirit day by day, filling your heart with love and keeping you in +Divine fellowship. But I want you also to realize that it is a binding +duty upon every follower of Jesus Christ to seek to become holy. + +I think it was John Wesley who said something to the effect that +professing Christians who had not got the blessing of a clean heart, or +were not earnestly seeking to be delivered from sin, could not +consistently be regarded as Christians at all. I do not put it as +strongly as that; but I do, from deep conviction, say this to you, that +every Salvationist, and other persons who, in Meetings of this kind, +are taught that the will of God is that they shall be delivered from +all sin, that they shall live a life of purity and Holiness, that they +shall walk in the enjoyment of a Full Salvation, and yet are not +willing to follow the light, and do what they know God wants them to +do, are probably heart-backsliders, and in a fair way to backslide +altogether. + +I tell you, God has called you, not unto uncleanness, not to remain in +a state of impurity, but to Holiness; and he that despiseth that +calling despiseth not man, but God. Therefore, I beg of you not to +imagine that, with clear light as to your duty, and the possibility of +Full Salvation, you can either take it or leave it, and yet remain in +the favour of God. + +Then these verses are very useful because they _set the standard for +our personal spiritual condition_. Need I explain what I mean by this? +Let your minds turn to weights and measures, and you will see my +meaning exactly. If you went to a draper's shop, and asked for so many +yards of material, you would not be satisfied by his guessing the +quantity--you would want it measured by the yard-stick, the proper +standard of measurement. So with weights. If you ask for so many pounds +of sugar or potatoes, it would not be for the shopman to say to you, +'Will that do for you? Put another in? All right! Will that do?' You +would say, 'Please weigh them properly according to standard'. + +Now it seems to me that in spiritual character we must have something +by which we can measure and compare ourselves, and Peter gives us just +such a standard when he says, 'As He which hath called you is holy, so +be ye holy'. The standard is the character of God. + +If Peter had said, 'As He is almighty, so be ye almighty', or, 'As He +is infallible, so be ye infallible', then at once you would know that +the standard was altogether out of your reach, and could not be +realized. But, if you are a Christian at all, your inmost conviction +tells you that to be holy is a reasonable requirement, and the law of +consistency endorses it. + +As you study your Bibles you will find many references to this standard +of conformity with the Divine character, and will quickly see that +nothing short of that can satisfy. It is not only the standard that +exists in the Divine mind, but the world rightly expects that we, as +Christian men and women, shall be holy. I know the world is very often +disappointed, and that, unfortunately, the failures of some so-called +Christian people are used as an excuse for disregarding the claims of +God, but the world is right in expecting us to live holy lives. + +That passage of Peter's contains a significant reminder in the +sentence, 'Be ye holy in all manner of conversation'. Now, that word, +'conversation', has a much broader meaning in old English than the +sense attached to our common use of it, generally limiting the word to +mean intercourse between each other by speech. Here it really means the +whole manner of living. + +To me it is a matter of unspeakable joy to think that there is no right +association, no duty, and no proper relationship in life that cannot be +wholly sanctified and have God's smile upon it. Your eatings and +drinkings, your speakings, your workings, your dressings, your +courtings and marriages, also many other things, such as business and +recreation, can all be sanctified, and the functions performed in +harmony with the profession of Holiness and the maintenance of a clean +heart. + +But do not miss _the true inwardness of this command_: 'Be ye holy, for +I am holy'. It is this--we cannot live up to the true standard, we +cannot fulfil life's obligation, without a sanctified heart. + +The General very frequently says, with reference to the failures of +certain classes of people who call themselves Christians, that they +make the mistake of supposing that they can keep the holy law of God +with an unholy heart. The thing is absolutely impossible, and I should +only be deluding you if I told you otherwise. + +We sometimes say that in Heaven there is, and ever will be, an +unwavering fulfilment of the highest will of God. But what secures that +condition in Heaven? Do you think it is the absence of a personal +Devil? Not only that--although the hope of it counts for a good deal +with some of us. Do you think it is the absence of wicked surroundings +and temptations from evil men and women? Not only that. Do you think it +is the possession of things that produce unfailing pleasure and +satisfaction? Not only that. It is just the fact that every heart is +confirmed in its perfect acceptance of the Father's will, and is in the +fullest conformity with the holy law of a holy God. There are many +other things that go to make up Heaven, but without that there can be +no Heaven at all. + +Did you repeat the Lord's Prayer this morning? If so, you came to that +little sentence, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven'. +Now, I ask you, do you really mean that? Do you honestly want that for +yourselves? Because, unless you can put yourselves in line with that +petition, unless there is a compliance with these words of Peter's, 'Be +ye holy, for I am holy', you can never get that prayer answered. + + + + +II + +Consecration Complete + +_'Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, +which is your reasonable service.'_ (Romans xii. 1.) + + +Surely, amongst those who love God and desire His Kingdom to come, +there can be no difference of opinion with regard to the duty of +whole-hearted consecration to the service of God. + +The rightness of God's claims is beyond dispute among His own people; +and so it ought to be recognized as our absolute duty to yield fully to +those claims. The feeling of every professed servant of Christ ought to +be, nay, surely is, 'I am not my own; I am bought with a price: I +should "therefore glorify God in my body and soul, which are God's"'. + +Whilst, however, in so many words all this is acknowledged, when it +comes to practically facing the question, with its personal +responsibility, how few there are who respond to the claims of the +Master, rendering Him that out-and-out devotion of which we hear and +speak. + +Of a consecration that consists in attending Holiness Meetings, singing +hymns, and uniting in prayers full of the most sublime sentiment, we +have an abundance. With eyes closed and hands upraised, many vow that +henceforth they will live, not unto themselves, but unto Him who died +for them, and rose again; but when the Meetings are over, the +surroundings changed, and the actual duty presents itself, how much of +this consecration is found to be mere sentiment, for 'as the early +cloud and morning dew' so it passeth! + +1. Now, let it be understood that _real consecration is a practical +thing_. I have a saying, which cannot be repeated too often--'that +which I give away I no longer have'. If we can only persuade people to +recognize that truth, and make their consecration on these lines, +something practical will follow. + +Men like to say, 'I am the Lord's!' but when the Lord wants to make +practical use of His own, Oh, what backwardness to obey! What slowness +of speech on the part of the tongue that was professedly given to the +Lord! What weariness of body will sometimes be found when that body is +demanded by the Master for some special service! A dumb devil seems to +take possession of the tongue, and the fear of man brings a snare, and +all this often results in a shameful compromise. The fact is, much of +the popular consecration means, 'Everything in general and nothing in +particular'--mere words, clouds without water, leaves without +fruit--and the world is little better for the vows that have been made. + +We may want to follow Jesus without denying ourselves; but He says +plainly that we cannot. If any man will deny himself, and take up his +cross daily, and follow Christ, he, and he only, shall be a true +disciple. + +Real, true consecration is a plain, matter-of-fact piece of business; +sublime, not so much because of the character of the work it does, as +because of the constraining love that is the motive and the results +flowing from it. The beautiful halo and glamour clinging round our vows +and prayers and songs during a Meeting, are gratifying to our senses; +but real consecration manifests itself in hard, self-denying labour, +when no eye but His sees; often, perhaps, when no heart but His +appreciates, and no voice but His commends. The halo no longer seen, +the glamour no longer felt, the soul steps forward and meets its duty, +and, in the strength of God, does it: that is the consecration which +tells for God and the Kingdom. + +2. Let us also understand that _real consecration is an 'all-round' +thing_. Many recognize the claims of God in great things, but are not +so particular in the ordinary matters of everyday life. + +I recall a young man, who, in private Meetings, and on the platform, +would go into rhapsodies as he spoke of his love for a perishing world, +and his intense desire to be sent on some great mission. I spoke to him +of the hundreds of recklessly godless men with whom he daily associated +at his work, and who lived round about his house, and asked him what he +did in reference to these. Need I tell you how suddenly this man +collapsed? He did not think that consecration meant such a commonplace +thing as being faithful in the ordinary duties and walks of life, for I +had inquired as to what happened when the men gathered for meals or +conversation in the intervals of work. + +Does it seem to some of you an evidence of entire consecration that we +stand on platforms and lead Meetings, or are doing some work which +draws other eyes towards us in appreciation of--what is +deemed--untiring devotion? Well, I trust that the appearance does not +go beyond the spirit of the business; but I tell you, the real test +lies elsewhere. It shows itself in such an abandonment to God and the +interests of the Kingdom, that no duty is felt too small or trifling. +The man is not found saying, 'I'll do _this_', or 'I won't do _that_', +and '_that_ doesn't matter'; but whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he +does with his might, and does it unto the Lord. + +Be not deceived, my friends. Consecration in great things will not +atone for neglect in smaller and more trifling matters, and that only +is a perfect consecration which is real and all round in its +application. In little things and great things self is to be denied, +ignored, and God and His glory to be the one end from attaining which +the consecrated soul never swerves. + +Let this be faced at the commencement, and it will save endless +controversy later on. It is because so many do not take all this in at +the beginning, that disappointments come, and very often breakdowns. +Let your consecration take in all time and circumstances, and remember +that the soul's responsibility is only limited by its opportunities. +'All for Jesus' should mean 'nothing left out'. + +3. _Whole-hearted consecration is a joyous thing._ I don't know how the +delusion has become so popular that entire devotion to the service of +God means melancholy and sadness, and irksome duties and burdens. It +may have only come by a roundabout road, but it is a doctrine of the +Devil, who is a liar from the beginning, and the fully consecrated soul +hurls the lie back to its father, proclaiming, with a heart full of +gladness, 'I delight to do Thy will, my God'; 'My meat and my drink is +to do the will of my Father', and 'His fruit is sweet to my taste'. + +Singleness of purpose and simplicity of intention soon clear discontent +and unhappiness out of a man's heart. When the soul has cut loose from +all self-considerations, and has put an end to such wretched questions +as, 'Will it pay to follow the Master?' or such thoughts as, 'If I give +myself fully to God, perhaps I shall have to suffer the loss of many +things I hold dear; people will be down upon me, and chaff me, and, +perhaps, persecute me; and, besides, I really do want to make a little +money for myself and my family, and I must not be righteous over-much'; +when, I say, men or women have cast aside all such thoughts, and come +to the determination to live for God and for God alone, then indeed are +they freed from many things which cause sadness and bitterness. It is +the double-minded who are strangers to true lasting joy and peace. + +The great sorrows of most lives spring from disappointed ambitions, +covetousness, or from love of praise, fear of man, or similar things; +but when this life of selfishness is crucified, and a man is alive only +unto God, none can deprive him of that which he most values. Whilst +others may be saying, 'We know thy poverty', he hears the Lord say, +'But thou art rich'. Christ has been revealed to him as a living +Friend, and though by the outward eye he sees Him not, 'yet believing, +he rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory'. + +Do you remember what John said about that white stone which will be +given to him that overcometh? It had 'written in it a new name which no +man knoweth save he who receiveth it'. The joy of whole-hearted service +for God is like that; no man really understands it save he who +possesses it, but of its reality thousands daily testify. + +Are you fully consecrated? Not after the fashion we spoke of at the +beginning, but practically, and in a whole-hearted, all-round way? Have +you settled it to go all lengths for God? If not, 'I beseech you, by +the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies--yourselves--a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service'. + + + + +III + +Divine Fellowship + +_'That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also +may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the +Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.'_. (1 John i. 3.) + + +My mind and heart have been dwelling upon that sweet word 'fellowship'. +We all know what it means in ordinary social intercourse--it means +acquaintance, friendship, communion of spirit, interchange of thought +and feeling. But I want you to see that all this marks the fellowship +prevailing between the Lord and His sanctified saints. + +There is a chorus we sometimes sing, which expresses something of what +I mean:-- + + _Friendship with Jesus,_ + Fellowship Divine; + Oh, what blessed, sweet communion, + Jesus is a Friend of mine!_ + +I have been reflecting on this principle as it works itself out in the +current everyday life of the sanctified. I will not now try to exhaust +all the wonderful things in the vision which has come to me in relation +to this matter, for I really could not explain to you all that has been +in my mind and heart, but the thing has come to me somewhat in this +fashion:-- + +1. First of all, I have thought of the _fellowship of Salvation_. That +may sound rather low down for a Holiness Meeting, and yet that is just +where true fellowship began, so far as I was concerned. There had to be +a co-operation, a uniting of God and myself before my soul could be +saved at all. Two words were in my mind--'He' and 'I'; He doing His +part, and I doing my part. His heart; my heart; His approaches to me by +the power and influence of His Holy Spirit; my approaches to Him. Jesus +died; I believed. He called; I answered. He gave; I accepted. I +trusted, and Jesus saved me. + +I want you to see what I mean, because it was that union of the Lord +Jesus Christ and my own heart which brought life, and light, and peace +to my soul. My Salvation life began at that point, and I was able to +say, as we often sing:-- + + _'Tis done, the great transaction's done, + I am my Lord's, and He is mine; + He drew me, and I followed on, + Charmed to confess the Voice Divine._ + +2. Then, pursuing this line, my reflection brings me up to this: there +is a _fellowship of love_. 'He loved me, and He gave Himself for me'. +We love Him because He first loved us. So, you see, our relationship +has been built up, and is to be built up, upon that double plank. It is +all in that. I do not suppose there is anybody in this Hall who does +not know something of the power of love. You not only know the power of +loving, but the sweetness of being loved. I am not quite sure which is +the better side of the two, but they are two beautiful sides of +fellowship. + +Do we not see it in our family life? At any rate, I do. I can speak for +myself in this matter because my family always has been a very +affectionate one, and this loving and expressing our love to one +another has brought us very close together. I think about the children. +I go back to the time when they were little, and remember how they +would climb upon my knee, and how they used to press their little faces +against mine, and their little hearts, as it were, against my breast; +and how, with more feeling than their words could express, they used to +say, Dadda, papa, father, you _are_ a dear! I _do_ love you!' You +would readily imagine what I should say back to them. + +It has been just the same with my wife. She has sweetened my life very +much with her expressions of love. She has done it by responding to my +appeals, and by sharing my sorrows and joys. And I have no doubt that +were she here to speak for herself, she would say she has equally felt +the force and sweetness of my expressions of affection during the many +years we have loved and lived together. + +I have only told you these things because I want you to see that the +fellowship of love is just as real between the Lord Jesus Christ and +the soul that is set upon Him, as it is in these sacred human +relationships. + +3. Then there is the _fellowship of service_. Now, it follows that, if +we are fully saved, we are and we should be workers together with God, +not simply going out on 'our own', as you young people say sometimes, +trying to do people good; but really, if it is as it ought to be, your +relations are expressed in those words, 'We are workers together with +God'. + +There are several particulars about that fellowship of service which I +want you to note. For instance, there is _the union of purpose_. You +cannot have fellowship with God in service without a union of purpose. +Are you in for that? Perhaps it may give my words a closer application +if I glance at two or three references: 'For this purpose was the Son +of God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil'. Are +you in union with Him for that purpose? There is the reason round about +us, plain and visible enough. + +Take another: 'To this end came I into the world that I might bear +witness of the truth'. Are you in union with Him in that +witness-bearing? I assure you there is a great need of it. + +Take still another: 'As the Father hath sent Me, even so'--that is a +very powerful little link--'even so send I you'. There is not only the +sender and the one sent, but the same purpose in both minds. + +There is _the unity of effort_; that is, being yoked together for the +work. It is a beautiful thing to be yoked with loving comrades in +service, so that when there is a difficulty to face, some burden to be +carried, or something to be moved, then you can go in for a good pull, +a strong pull, and a pull all together. But this fellowship with Christ +really means having Jesus Christ as a yoke-fellow in your work for God; +that as you are not your own, you are not left to yourselves, but find +that He is yoked up with you, and when the pull comes it is pulling +together--He pulls and you pull. + +4. Then this service sometimes goes so far as to become _the fellowship +of suffering_. Jesus Christ could only redeem men by the sacrifice of +Himself. There was no other way, and if He had not done that man would +not have been redeemed, and the whole world would have remained under +the ban of condemnation and without hope. It is on the same track that +we must work out our union with Him in the service of God and humanity. + +When I was meditating on this Divine union a picture imaged itself +before my mind. The scene was a prison in Rome, where was seated a +prisoner for Christ's sake; his name was Paul. During a visit to Rome +they showed me the place where this was supposed to have occurred. +There is Paul, in this prison-cell, writing a letter which he wants to +send by one who, having visited him in prison, is now returning to his +own people at Philippi. + +The prisoner is reviewing his life. He writes that he was well-born, a +Hebrew of the Hebrews, and that he became very zealous, and persecuted +the Christians until the Lord met him and converted him. He went on, +'But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea, +doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the +knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of +all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.... That +I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship +of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.' And on the +same page of his letter Paul says: 'Brethren, be followers together of +me'. It is one of the plainest things which the Bible and Christian +history confirm, that the union of service does very often include the +fellowship of suffering. + +5. The last feature of this relationship which I want to name is +_fellowship of victory and glory_. Thank God, we are in for that +fellowship! + +We all know that a great victory will crown our Blessed Lord's +sacrificial life and service; that the great Victor over death and the +grave shall not only see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied, +but as He sits upon His throne there will be many crowns of glory. But +the blessedness of that knowledge is the fact that if we suffer with +Christ we are also to reign with Him--glorified together--not only +workers and victors, but 'more than conquerors'. We are to sit down +among that company who are able to say that they overcame by the Blood +of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. We may have to go on +with the service and suffering, but we know that we shall be +transformed into His blessed likeness, and be sharers of His glory. + +Salvation, love, service, victory, glory! These are the things which we +share with our Lord, and that is what I mean by Divine fellowship. + +I do not think, however, I can leave this soul-entrancing vision of +fellowship without specially indicating how men may enter into it. How +shall I do this? By reading to you these words from the First Epistle +of John: 'This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and +declare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. +If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we +lie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the +light, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus +Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' Who shall participate in the +joy of this experience? The people who walk in the light; the people +who are cleansed from all sin in the Blood of Jesus. + + + + +IV + +Finding God + +'_Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all +your heart._' (Jeremiah xxix. 13.) + + +The words of Jeremiah in their relation to God are very appropriate for +men and women in whose hearts there is any longing after personal +Holiness. Look at them: 'Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall +search for Me with all your heart'. I like this word, because it turns +our minds to the true and only source of light and life and power. We +speak of seeking and getting the blessing; but, in reality, the object +is to find God, and that deliverance and blessing which can be secured +only from Him. + +In our prayers and songs we express a great fact when we say, 'Thy +gifts, alas! cannot suffice unless Thyself be given'. + + _Less than Thyself, Oh, do not give, + In might Thyself within me live, + Come, all Thou hast and art._ + +I want to make it plain that Holiness is an aspect of religion in which +the personality of God is very real. We must find God, and have Him +possessing and dwelling within us if we are to live the life and do the +work which Full Salvation implies. To realize this Divine union is as +essential as to experience the forgiveness of sin. We must know God as +well as worship Him, and the text I have read indicates to us that _the +discovery of a personal God belongs to the heart_: 'Ye shall seek Me, +and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart'. + +God's power displayed in Nature may be perceived by the eye, the ear, +and other organs of the senses. On the lines of the Psalmist, we may +walk out at night, and consider the heavens the work of His fingers, +and exclaim, 'All Thy works praise Thee'; 'The heavens declare the +glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork'. The mind also +by reflection and deduction may clothe the Creator with attributes or +qualities of character, such as Almighty skill and benevolence; but +'spiritual things are spiritually discerned'; and it is only when God +reveals Himself to the heart that He is truly known as a personal +Father, Friend, and Saviour. + +To the formal religionist or the casual dealer in pious phrases and +occasional prayers, these revelations do not come. It is when the heart +is set upon finding God that realizing faith makes-- + + _The clouds disperse, the shadows fly, + The invisible appears in sight, + And God is seen by mortal eye._ + +We urge men and women to thus seek God, because He alone can meet their +need; He alone can save after the fashion that they need a Saviour; He +alone, having forgiven, can break the power of sin, and cleanse from +natural impurity. + +But the real trouble with some is that they do not seek Full Salvation +with that full purpose of heart which the prophet's words imply. In a +sense they want the blessing, but I fear they do not want it enough to +make them put their whole heart into seeking God's sanctifying power. + +Turn to the Garden of Gethsemane, on that final night when certain men +came to take Jesus. When they fain would have included and taken +others, His words, you remember, were, '_If ye seek Me, let these go +their way_'. Now, may I not reasonably apply these words to some who +regularly attend our Meetings, but do not obtain the blessing? You are +holding on to things about which it requires no stretch of imagination +to hear Christ say, 'If ye seek Me, let _these_ go their way'. He +desires to be your Saviour and Sanctifier, but cannot until you drop +the things which hinder and which come between you and Him. + +Some of these things may not be positively evil in themselves, but they +are associated with things which are evil or questionable; doubtful +pursuits, questionable friendships or conduct. Do you care enough about +God and Holiness to drop all such? Some have not done so up to the +present, and it is about these very things which hinder that Jesus says +to you, 'If ye seek _Me_, let these things go'. + +Then, again, some have not found God as a perfect Sanctifier, because +their minds are not fully made up as to the lines of service and duty. +The general meaning of our various topics may be put thus, 'Holiness, +and what comes out of it'. Not simply spiritual blessings as an inward +experience, but a gift to be lived out in daily toil and effort to +spread the Kingdom. We must have that or our teaching will be rightly +regarded as 'goody-goody', and be of little real use. + +A very fine young woman, on the occasion of my visit to a certain town, +offered herself as a Candidate for Army Officership. Hearing that the +case did not mature, I inquired a little later, from an Officer who had +seen her, what the difficulty was, and he repeated to me the +explanation she had given him: 'Well, Colonel, I have changed my mind; +I have left The Army and become a Christian'. That seems a strange +putting of the position; but I fear that it was with her, as with some +of you who have sought to dodge the cross, escape the toil, and evade +the testimony, the sacrifice, and the service which are indispensable +to the maintenance of Holiness. Instead of trying to escape from duty +as it is revealed to us from day to day, our hearts should be tuned up +to the idea in the song, which says-- + + _For thee delightfully employ + What e'er Thy bounteous grace hath given; + And run my course with even joy, + And closely walk with Thee to Heaven._ + +The central thought of Jeremiah's text is beautifully illustrated in +the Parable of the Lost Piece of Silver. Look at this woman's anxious +concern and corresponding action; she lights the candle--that is, +uses what light she has; she sweeps the house--turns everything over; +she searches diligently--keeps at it, not giving up at the first +disappointment. Observe also the effect upon herself when her search +is successful. Full of satisfaction she calls in her neighbours and +friends--'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had +lost'. Loud in her testimony, she delights in making her blessing +known. You see, this woman so valued the piece of silver, that she gave +herself up to the search for it, and nothing satisfied her until she +found it. When men appreciate the importance of having a clean heart +and the blessing of God like that, they will not seek long without +result. + +There are two or three things implied in this whole-hearted search +after God which need to be emphasized. Of these I will name, first, +_intensity of desire_. There are blessings that come like God's rain +and sunshine, sought or unsought; but no man ever got a clean heart who +did not badly want it; and if God is to sanctify and keep you in the +enjoyment of the blessing, your heart will have to be moved by strong +desire. + +Jesus put it clearly when He talked about 'hungering and thirsting'. +Even prayer, without strong desire, does not accomplish much. 'What +things soever ye _desire_'; it is that which gives intensity to your +prayers, as well as 'believing that ye receive'. The Psalmist's words +are equally fitting--'As the hart panteth after the water brooks'--as +the hunted deer longs for the stream--'so panteth my soul after Thee, O +God'. That means more than a contention for the doctrine, more than a +sentimental admiration of Holiness. It implies the deep stirrings of +conviction, the heart moved by strong cravings, the crying out, 'Oh, +that I might find Him whom my soul desireth'! + +This whole-hearted seeking the blessing also implies _fullness of +intention_. How often I have spoken of the relation of the will; the +choice, the setting of the mind in strong purpose, the decision--'I +ought, I must, I will secure God's sanctifying blessing'; all this +counts for much. People speak of their desires and hopes, but how slow +they are to make up their minds that, at all costs, they will seek and +find a Saviour, by whose power they shall be fully delivered, and kept +in purity and fellowship with God. I like those Bible words about +'sincerity', 'following the Lord fully', 'cleaving unto Him with full +purpose of heart', for it is to people in that state of mind that God +reveals Himself. + +Finally, _compliance with God's conditions_ is included in whole-heartedly +seeking Holiness. The revealed conditions of entire Sanctification have +often been stated, but may be repeated once more: a turning from all +things known to be evil or doubtful; a full surrender and dedication of +ourselves to God's service; and a simple trust in the all-cleansing +Blood of Jesus Christ. + +The real tests are different with different people, but all who seek +this blessing must face God's conditions, and pay the price by +complying with them, not only as I have stated the conditions in +general terms, but as the Holy Spirit reveals them to each one +personally. To one it is, 'Do this', to another 'Do that'; 'Give up +this', or 'Give up that'; 'Trust Me for this', 'Trust Me for that'. But +all who cast themselves fully into God's hands, letting Him have His +own way with them, shall find the truth of Jeremiah's message, 'Ye +shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your +heart'. + + + + +V + +The Doctrine Adorned + +'_But shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of +God our Saviour in all things._' (Titus ii. 10.) + + +Those of us who are specially interested in this great work often seek +for plans by which the knowledge and enjoyment of a Full Salvation may +be extended. I think I have found a good plan for helping the Kingdom +forward, and I see it in this little sentence which Paul wrote to +Titus: 'That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all +things'. + +When I say that is a plan for spreading Salvation, I mean simply this: +as there is nothing which commends an apple-tree so much as the sight +of the ripened fruit hanging from the branches, so nothing sets people +longing for Holiness like the living exhibition of it. + +First of all, I want you to see the force of that little word 'adorn'. +In speaking about adornment we usually mean something more than +necessary dress. The word in our minds usually expresses the idea of +clothing or covering, with the addition of decorations or ornaments. + +If you fathers and mothers ask your boy or girl the meaning of the +word, they will probably turn to the dictionary, and tell you something +like this: 'To "adorn" is to set off to advantage, to add to the +attractiveness, to beautify, to decorate as with ornaments'. Now that +is exactly what the Apostle meant, and the application is that you and +I must set off to advantage, add to the attractiveness of the Gospel +which we profess to believe. + +Jesus Christ meant that when He said, 'Let your light so shine before +men, that they may see your good works'--and be so influenced that they +shall 'glorify your Father which is in Heaven'. That also was the idea +in Paul's mind in that verse to the Philippians, 'Shine as lights', or +luminaries, 'in the world'. + +Will you also look at that word 'doctrine'? It is not an acceptable +word at public meetings, generally implying some system of theology, +some stated creed, some definition of religious belief. But whilst that +may be the general application, the Apostle had no such idea in his +mind when he wrote these words. + +He was now writing about persons many of whom were of very humble +position, servants in the houses of the ungodly, often mere slaves in +some pagan household. They had never heard about formulated creeds or +theologies, but they did understand the duty of living up to their +profession. They knew the importance of showing in their daily lives +the power of the things which they believed, and thus commending their +religious faith and teaching to all observers. + +There are people who know very little of what you call 'the body of +doctrine', who yet in all simplicity hold the truth of God, and live up +to it. Tens of thousands have crossed the River who could never give +you a definition of any doctrine; but they accepted the simple truths +in their hearts, were ornaments to their profession, and are now in +Glory. + +Now take the two words together--'adorn' and 'doctrine'--and then you +will see your duty. + +There are many doctrines to which this duty of adorning may be made to +apply. I might talk to you about the doctrine relating to God's +government, and bring in _the truth about His good guiding providence_. +We profess to believe in that. But the question is, Does your regular +practice, your daily trust, your hourly following and accepting what +God's providence sends you, adorn the doctrine? + +Then I might also speak to you about _the doctrine of prayer and its +result_. Surely you believe that God 'hears and answers prayer'. But +can you say that your life of faith and victory is such that all who +know you believe it, because they see you living a life of faith and +victory such as can only come to the men and women whose prayers God +does answer? That is, do you adorn the doctrine? + +For the present purpose, however, I want to apply the principle to _the +doctrine of Holiness_. The great object of these Addresses is to help +men and women into the enjoyment of the blessing of Holiness. We hear +about that; sing about that; most of you believe in it, and some of you +proclaim it; but do you know what is really wanted? It is that you +shall so manifest the spirit of Holiness, give such illustrations of it +as to adorn the truth, and make people around you say, 'We are bound to +believe the doctrine when we look at these people, for _they live the +blessing_'. + +You cannot but know what we teach as the doctrine of Holiness. Our +trumpet has no uncertain sound. We not only talk about the pardoning +mercy of God, but about the all-cleansing Blood of Jesus Christ. We not +only point out how the rebel can be transformed into a child, but we +show how a man's heart can be made pure, and his nature renewed by the +indwelling Spirit. Delivered from the love of sin and from its +pollution in his heart, he can be kept from sin and sinning, and be +enabled to rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything +to give thanks. + +A clean heart, filled with love, possessed and directed by the Holy +Ghost--that is the experience which we call Holiness, and the truth +which we are exhorted to adorn. + +Only think what a recommendation of the doctrine it would be if you all +adorned the truth, and showed in your daily lives the power to live in +that Holiness and righteousness of which I am speaking. + +I am not now asking whether you have an intelligent comprehension of +the doctrine, or that you should say what is possible, and what is not. +Some of you could probably define the blessing as well as I can; but +your duty is not simply to define or defend or explain Holiness, but to +adorn the teaching, give exhibitions of it, make everybody see what it +means in living flesh and blood amidst the hurly-burly of life. + +1. And now, what are the means by which you and I can fulfil this +exhortation of Paul? First, you can adorn the doctrine by _personal +testimony_. Personal testimony, coming from the heart, is always good +and helpful; that is, to be able to say about any definite experience, +'Oh, glory! He has done it for me!' But this is especially valuable +about a clean heart, and in relation to a Full Salvation. + +When I was a boy I sometimes heard the doctrine of Entire +Sanctification discussed over pipes and ale; but those discussions, +which were merely theological disputes, had little or no relation to +the personal experience of the people who were debating and contending +and losing their tempers over the doctrine, and so it made no +impression on me. Years after, my own heart was awakened, and desires +arose in my soul. I began to search for the truth about it, and to +listen for references to it, and most of all to rejoice if I could find +or hear a clear testimony about it, for then I saw the possibility of +the blessing for myself. + +I frequently throw my Meetings open for testimony, because I know the +helpful power of such words. Sometimes the wording may be a little +upside down, or some qualifying term be left out, or some exaggerating +word put in; but in spite of all, great is the power of testimony to +encourage other hearts. + +I fear, however, that many people are silent who ought to speak, and I +touch some very closely when I say that owing to this silence the power +of your experience has declined and become like a faded flower or a +moth-eaten garment, and then when you would fain speak you find the +assurance about the blessing has waned. My word, therefore, to you is, +first of all get the blessing, then at every suitable opportunity, +profess it openly and boldly for God, and by your happy testimony you +will adorn the doctrine of Holiness. + +2. Again, you can adorn the doctrine by your _consistent living_. To +profess one thing and practise another is a blot on the profession, and +a despicable thing. What I may call mere Meeting piety, platform or +parlour Holiness, will not stand the weather. It is too much like the +painted sparrows sold as canaries--the paint comes off and the real +nature of the bird is revealed. For instance, how can you ornament the +truth if, after testifying here, you go out to gossip and slander and +injure your neighbour? The word lived out is more powerful than its +mere repetition. The teaching may be good and powerful, the testimony +still more so; but the evidence of the life and spirit is the most +powerful of all. + +I heard somebody tell a story about a man who was too pious to shave +himself on Sunday, and yet he was pretty keen during the other six days +trying, in his business, to 'shave' other people. I hope you are not +among that sort. + +If you want to adorn this doctrine, there must be the beauties of a +happy, consistent character and life, otherwise it goes for nothing. + +I do not ask the adornment of education, nor the polish of culture, +so-called; neither do I ask a sanctimonious attitude; I only claim from +you professors of the blessing the beauties of grace in your personal +character and conduct. The endorsement of the lip by the life is only +equalled by the discount to the teaching caused by some inconsistent +action or unfaithfulness in the teacher or professor. An angry word, +even a flash of the eye, has been known to take the point off some +well-given talk or testimony. A lack of kindly consideration, which +looks like selfish indulgence, is not easily atoned for, even by +illuminating speeches. As one has said, 'The words ever go to the level +of the life--up or down'. + +Talking about Holiness has small effect unless it is to be seen in your +disposition, in your ordinary life, in your loving consideration for +other people, or in your patient endurance of injury, real or +imaginary. Without that your profession of Holiness is mere talk +without adorning. + +3. You must also adorn the doctrine by your _zeal for God and souls_. +Holiness means the possession of the Christ-spirit, the passion for +saving others, with reasonable efforts to secure what you seek. + +When God sanctifies your soul He makes a great inward light; the +purpose is not to be your own selfish enjoyment, but that you may be +better qualified as a minister of blessing and Salvation to the poor +dark souls around you. The love of souls is an essential feature of +inward Holiness, and if this is exhibited in practical effort you will +adorn your profession and compel people to believe in your doctrine. + +There is just one other word of importance in that verse, 'that they +may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour'. I mean the word, 'Saviour'. +I am so glad that is there to meet those who say, 'Ah! you talk about +adornments, but I am distressed because I see so many things about me +that disfigure and discredit the doctrine'. You feel that you need a +power which can give deliverance from the worldly spirit, the light and +frivolous disposition, bad tempers, resentments, and other selfish and +sinful things which hold you more or less in bondage; but in that +beautiful word, 'Saviour', you have a pledge, a guarantee that it can +be made all right, for He is able to deliver you and save you fully. + + + + +VI + +Sureness + +'_The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of +righteousness quietness and assurance for ever._' (Isaiah xxxii. 17.) + + +One reason why I glory in teaching Full Salvation is that it includes a +religion of certainty. It brings a man to a place of sureness as to his +religious relationships. A soul just awakened to a sense of +responsibility is naturally full of wonderment and anxiety, and this +must be disposed of. So that when we speak of a man obtaining +Salvation, we say 'he found peace'. + +Doubt is torment, and torment is the opposite of peace. The soul cannot +rest if it is perpetually on the string. To enjoy religion the mind +must be settled about the main facts of the case; there must be a +feeling of sureness as to one's acceptance with God and His approval of +our spiritual condition. + +We have a wily old Devil to deal with, and I believe that nothing gives +him more malicious delight than to get sincere souls into the bondage +of fear as to their state and standing. I believe many sincere souls +hesitate to claim the blessing, and say they have it, because they are +afraid of deluding themselves or deceiving others by their testimonies. + +Afraid to do right for fear of doing wrong, they go on, sometimes +happy, sometimes sad, falling into discouragement and doubt, and +allowing the Devil to get an advantage over them in this respect. + +Now, we cannot dispute the fact that in the experiences of good people +there are many points of difference. Temptations, surroundings, +position, and work are the cause of these differences. But in the midst +of all, there is the possibility and blessed privilege of being sure +about one's own rightness before God. + +I saw a reference the other day to Charles Spurgeon's method of +treating this matter. He showed how disturbing and distressing it would +be if, in our domestic life, we had elements of uncertainty such as +many people have in regard to their spiritual relationships. + +After quoting the old verse:-- + + _'Tis a point I long to know, + Oft it causes anxious thought; + Do I love the Lord or no, + Am I His or am I not?_ + +Mr. Spurgeon made a humorous parody of the verse by making it read:-- + + _'Tis a point I long to know, + Oft it causes anxious thought; + Do I love my wife or no, + Am I hers or am I not?_ + +Uncertainty about our religious condition is quite as unsatisfactory as +any doubt about our most sacred domestic relationships. Sureness is +vital to peace, and the truly sanctified soul will live in the region +of certainty, Divine things and Divine revelations becoming definite +and real to him. Temptations to doubt and fear will arise; but, in +spite of them, those who are sanctified realize that the Blood cleanses +and the Holy Spirit dwells within. + +I will not ask whether you have any religion or not, because most of +you are professors of religion, but I do ask, Has your religion got +this element of 'sureness' in it? We must settle that point. You may +say, 'If I am to be sure, I must have evidence'. Quite so. We will, +therefore, glance together at several things about which you can either +say, 'It is so', or 'It is not so', and thus arrive at a reasonable +conclusion as to where you are. I will classify the evidence in this +way:-- + +First, there is the testimony of one's own consciousness, or one's own +spirit, as Paul puts it. + +Second, there is the testimony of the Spirit of God--the Holy Ghost. + +Third, there will be the results manifest to ourselves and to others; +effects which testify just as reliably as the hanging fruit indicates +the character and condition of any particular tree. + +1. By the first class of evidence I do not mean a set of fanciful +sensations, or frames of feeling, but such an exercise of our judgment, +when we examine the facts before us, as will enable us to come to a +sound and reasonable conclusion. + +_The witness of one's own spirit_ is largely a matter of consciousness +and faith, and it works like this: 'I am not only conscious of God's +revealed claims upon me, and my own duty to Him; but, as far as I +understand, I have put myself in line with what He wants me to be and +do. For instance, I am told that whilst God will sanctify me I am able +to sanctify myself. I therefore ask, "Have I so far co-operated with +Him as to come out and separate myself from evil?" If I am right I can +say, "Yes, I have"; and as a further evidence of my sincerity I seek to +abstain from all appearance of evil.' + +I am also commanded to present myself for practical and joyful service, +and I am told that I must believe such a sacrifice is acceptable +because whatever touches the Divine altar is holy. Now, I can be quite +sure as to my compliance with these demands, and my willingness to live +as a sanctified soul ought to live. I know whether or not in these +things I have done my part; and, if I know that I have, I can then +reasonably trust God or reckon on Him to do His part. That is what Paul +calls 'a good conscience toward God', and there is no presumption in +such a conclusion. + +If we turn to John's Epistle we shall see how plainly he puts the truth +about assurance. 'If', says the Apostle, 'our heart condemn us, God is +greater than our heart, and knoweth all things'; but 'if our heart +condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God'. Without this +conscious sincerity it is useless to pray for the blessing, for God +cannot sanctify us whilst we are clinging to any known wrong or +compounding with some doubtful habit or folly. If, on the other hand, +we are conscious that we have no reserves, and accept by faith the +cleansing Blood as the cure for our heart's plague, we may with all +reasonableness say, 'I have the testimony of my own spirit'. + +2. Let us look at the second class of evidence, namely, _the testimony +of the Spirit of God_--the assurance of the Holy Ghost. + +If we are to be quite certain about the important things in relation to +the soul, we must have the expression of God's mind and approval. +Nothing is made clearer in the Apostolic writings than the fact that it +is our blessed privilege to have this Divine testimony. Paul not only +tells us that 'the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are +the children of God', but speaks of the marvellous manifestations of +God in saved souls in subsequent revelations: 'We have received the +Spirit, which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely +given to us of God.' + +On first thought we might say, perhaps, that the gift would speak for +itself. But the Lord goes beyond that by giving us not only the +blessing itself, but also the Spirit to assure us that we have got the +blessing. John is on the same line when he says repeatedly about those +spiritual blessings, 'we know', 'we know that we know', and the secret +of sureness is made clear, 'we know by the Spirit which He hath given +unto us'. + +When we speak of the witness of the Spirit, either to our conversion or +our sanctification, we do not mean some audible voice or some +miraculous demonstration, but an inwrought conviction as to the +correctness of our words when, in all sincerity, and to the glory of +God, we profess to have arrived at a certain point, or obtained a +certain blessing. It is a conviction which removes doubt, and satisfies +the soul on the question. The mode of this--the way in which the Holy +Ghost does it--may be quite beyond our comprehension; but the fact is +there, as far beyond dispute as with the assurance of the blind man, +who said, 'This one thing I know, that whereas once I was blind, now I +see'. + +3. Then I also used the word _'results', as indicating a class of +evidence_ without which all other professed experiences are but passing +sentiments and sensations. In the character and life there must be +results in the shape of those holy fruits of which I have so frequently +spoken. + +In a sense often described, and well understood, every child of God +becomes at conversion the temple of the Holy Ghost; we are born of the +Spirit; enlightened by the Spirit; our spiritual life is sustained by +the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are therefore manifest in a +greater or lesser degree, but the advantage to the entirely sanctified +is that not only is the fruit-bearing power increased, but fruits of an +opposite character are absent. In other words, the fully sanctified man +is 'filled with the Spirit'. The fruits of righteousness, which are by +Jesus Christ, are abundant in him. + +To illustrate my meaning, take one passage relating to that spiritual +fruit described by the word _love_. 'We know that we have passed from +death unto life, because we love the brethren.' Now, of course, that +comes into operation at conversion; but in the fully sanctified this is +love without admixture, pure love, without any feeling opposed to love. +We can soon test ourselves. Think of love in the forgiveness of injury; +the love which 'thinketh no evil', 'envieth not', the love which +'worketh no ill to his neighbour'. Where does grudge-bearing, +backbiting, or uncharitableness come in? Pride, passion, +self-assertion, and such things belong not to the results of +sanctification; the opposites are found in those who bring forth +'fruits unto Holiness'. + +I heard a good woman quote a passage with an application of her own +which is true in point of fact, even if not the precise meaning of the +original writer. 'Great peace have they which love Thy law, and nothing +shall offend them.' She meant, literally, that, however she might be +pained by the words or actions of those about her, she would not be +'offended'. This is a pretty high class of result, for nothing is more +common than the readiness to take offence. But this refusal to take +offence is, with the other fruits, clear proof that the heart and life +are sanctified. So I might work out this law of results. These samples +will, however, indicate my line of teaching. + +Now, coming back to my thought at the beginning--the necessity for +'Sureness' in regard to religion, and especially in the experience of +Holiness--let me ask, Where are we found? Have the testings confirmed +that certainty of heart, or have my words disturbed self-satisfaction? +Do not be afraid of facing the direct issue. If you have the evidences +referred to, then be sure to go about proclaiming what God has done. +But if not, then this unsatisfied and unsatisfactory condition cannot +be persisted in when the Fountain which cleanses is open for all, and +when the Holy Spirit is here to apply the Blood, and to take full +possession of every soul. Let this be the hour when you come to the +altar round which the cleansing stream so freely flows. + + + + +VII + +The Pathway of the Holy + +'_ An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way +of holiness._' (Isaiah xxxv. 8.) + + +One would think that Isaiah was speaking of two separate roads, for his +prophetic eye sees 'a highway and a way' along which the course of +God's people runs. + +Perhaps we may interpret the prophet's distinction as referring to the +higher and lower paths along some of the roadways in the Holy City; but +he makes it quite plain that the course of the truly godly may be +correctly described as 'The way of Holiness'. + +Nobody here would like to say there are two separate roads to Heaven, +but as we note the lives and experiences of many Christian professors +it really does appear that there are two levels on which they run their +various religious courses--one the lower, the other the higher path; +one lying oft in shadow, the other up in the open sunshine of Heaven; +one largely a profession of faith and repeated religious observances, +the other full of rich experiences and realizations of God's favour and +spiritual gifts. + +Some people appear to step up and down according to seasons and +inclinations, when, for instance, Holiness Conventions and Higher Life +Conferences are on or off--like the man we heard testifying, who +thanked God that he had had no ins and outs, but admitted many ups and +downs. We want to help you to walk in what Isaiah calls 'The way of +Holiness', or in modern terms, the pathway of the holy. + +There are _three things about a way_. There is a beginning; a finishing +place; and the course between the two points. + +This pathway of the holy may be said to have its beginning at the +cleansing Fountain; it finishes, if it finishes at all, amid the +glories of the Heavenly World; but between these two points lies the +road which must be trodden, the journey which has to be made. + +We often dwell upon that moment where the soul, by an act of submission +and trust, enters upon the highway, or 'gets the blessing', as we say; +but Holiness is, after all, a state, _a continuous experience_, a set +course or way in life where the will of the Lord is supreme, and the +full-hearted love of God is the great moving force. It is in that +course and along that path that you and I ought to travel continually. + +We like testimonies from any who are in the way, but we appreciate +and are helped still more by the words of those who have walked on +in patient faith and obedience for long periods. Reading lately the +life of William Bramwell, I was encouraged by his testimony as to +obtaining the blessing of Holiness and its enjoyment for many long +years. But I was the more delighted to find his words supported by his +acquaintances, who bore testimony that Bramwell adorned the doctrine so +beautifully. Of himself this good man said, 'The Lord came suddenly to +His temple, and I had an immediate evidence that this was the blessing; +my soul was then all wonder, love, and praise. It is now twenty-six +years ago--I have walked in that liberty ever since.' You see, he _went +on_ in the way of Holiness because it had become his way of life. + +One who was closely associated with this man said, 'I knew him +intimately for twenty years. I lived in the same house with him in his +seasons of relaxation as well as occupation, but never saw him in such +a temper that I could reprove. His soul was like a spring, continually +overflowing with the most amiable, benevolent emotion. In his last +years, in particular, he was like a shock of corn fully ripe and fit +for the heavenly garner, or like a beautiful tree whose vigorous and +luxuriant branches were weighted with a diversity of the richest +fruit.' Bramwell trod consistently the pathway of the holy, a worthy +successor of Enoch, who 'walked with God', and was translated after +receiving the testimony that his way pleased God. + +I would like to refer to several features of this pathway of the holy +which appeal strongly to me. + +1. The way of Holiness is a _pathway of the purified_. The prophet +intimates plainly that nothing unclean can pass that way. The hearts of +men and women who are to walk there must be washed from their moral +defilements. I heard of a good man who said, 'Many years ago the Lord +took me out of the mire; some years after, He took the mire out of me'. +I think you quite understand his meaning. Sin is a foul, slimy, miry +thing, defiling whoever it touches. This must be purged away if you are +to walk in the way of Holiness; and it can only be purged by the 'Blood +of Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin'. + +2. The way of Holiness is _a pathway of light and learning_. It is a +way of advancing knowledge. There is a point where the path commences, +when one knows for the first time that the Blood cleanses, and the Holy +Spirit sheds abroad the love of God in the heart; but each succeeding +step brings fuller light, and things unknown are revealed. + +Familiar intercourse with God brings deeper realizations and knowledge +of Divine and spiritual things, so that yours does indeed become the +path of the just 'which shineth more and more unto the perfect day'. As +a result, your own heart is enlarged, your spiritual capacities +increased, and, growing in grace, you advance in knowledge and favour +with God. Those who walk this pathway are they to whom the Lord +whispers His secrets, and whose souls He fills with heavenly delights. +Oh, that we could induce you to step up from the lower to this higher +and better pathway! + +Let me give you a note from the personal experience of another of God's +saints who walked the higher way, one who habitually lived on that +level, and who expressed himself thus: 'Let me say that my spiritual +life is no longer like a leaky suction pump, half the time dry, and +affording scanty water only by desperate tugging of the handle, but it +is like an artesian well of water springing up unto everlasting life. +The Scriptures are sweeter than honey. Prayer and praise are a delight, +and it is like Paradise regained; the glory of Christ has become the +all-absorbing passion of my soul.' + +The sanctified life is not only a lengthening of the spiritual +experience, but a growth or advance in the knowledge of Divine +realities. + +3. Then, further, the way of Holiness is _a path of duty_, not a +pathway of ease and indulgence. We can never leave this practical +thought out, whatever our topic may be, for Holiness and hard work are +inseparable. The eyes being open to see the need, the hand is ever +ready to take up its task; and the labour of love being the sweetest of +all occupations, work for God and souls becomes a delight. + +He who is too holy to work for others will soon step to the lower path. +The willing soul will ever be crying, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to +do?' and the answer will come, 'Do this, do that, come here, go there'. + +The way of Holiness is not free from temptation and suffering; but, +thank God, it can be _the way of victory and safety_. + +Even the ordinary workaday life is full of circumstances which try and +tempt and test you. The more you struggle towards living in God's way +the more the Devil will attack you. The path which the holy Saviour +trod was the way of the cross, and they who follow Him must share the +cross-bearing. The ultimate crown is for the overcomer, and not for the +untempted one. + + _Christ leads us through no darker rooms + Than He went through before; + He who into God's Kingdom comes + Must enter by this door._ + +There is no crown without a previous cross; but with trials and +temptations comes the way of escape and victory, 'these light +afflictions ... work out an exceeding weight of glory'. The Book says, +'All who will live godly ... shall suffer persecution'. And this will +be specially so with those who openly profess and live on the lines of +a Full Salvation. + +Here is a page from the personal experience of one who was determined +to walk the King's highway:-- + +'Perfect love', he says, 'will not go long untested. For a time I was +not called to suffer distinctly for Christ from that hostile spirit +which nailed Him to the cross. The lion, however, was not dead, but +asleep, and presently he awoke and glared at me. My soul was calm as a +summer's evening. When it pleased the Blessed Master that I should +suffer reproach and vilification for my testimony, then it was that the +river of joy which flows from the Throne flowed through my heart as +never before. It was a new experience--a quintessence of joy. The +shouts of burning martyrs were no longer a mystery. I stagger no more +at the account of the saints who took joyfully the spoiling of their +goods. My soul is bathed in an ocean of balm and ineffable joy.' + +4. But I spoke also of _the safety_ of the way of Holiness. I must +speak of that more fully another time, but what I mean is this: So long +as you have the remains of sin in your heart you are exposed to a +double danger--the enemy without and the responding traitor within. One +reason why religion is so unsatisfactory to some people is that they +persist in walking on the low level where doubts often spoil their +worship and the allurements of the world pull very hard, and its siren +song makes discord in their hallelujahs. It is, of course, possible to +backslide from any level; but, believe me, the prospect of stability is +infinitely greater if you get a clean heart, and determine to walk in +the pathway of the holy. + +In closing, let me quote a short prayer. David cried: 'Search me, O +God, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: see if there be +any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting'. If, in +sincerity and simplicity of intention to follow Christ fully, you offer +that prayer, God will not only lead you along the way, but to the Home +of the holy. + +There are, however, two little notes which you should compare in this +connexion. One refers to the passage now before us, 'The way of +Holiness'. It is said, 'The unclean shall not pass over it'. The other +refers to Heaven, and says, 'There shall in no wise enter any thing +that defileth or maketh a lie'. By connecting these two you see that +you need to be not only led along the heavenly way, but to be made fit +for the heavenly courts; and David's prayer, sincerely offered, brings +that fitness--that purity of heart which sees God and delights in the +completion of His holy will. + + + + +VIII + +Circumstances and Consequences + +'_And fears shall be in the way._' (Ecclesiastes xii. 5.) + + +The man who wrote these words was specially emphasizing the importance +of settling one's relationships to the great Creator before the coming +of days when infirmities increase, and decay of natural powers sets in. +The practical outcome of that thought is, that postponement only adds +to one's difficulties when the battle really has to be fought. + +Amongst those difficulties the sacred writer places that natural +foreboding, physical shrinking and hesitation which paralyse men when, +after lives spent in sin and selfish indulgence, they desire to make +their peace with God; for, says he, 'They shall be afraid of that which +is high, and _fears shall be in the way_'. The imaginary obstacles +which arise in people's minds, seeming to make holy living impossible, +are varied in character, but I see that many are influenced by fears +and feelings concerning things which I class under the headings of +'Circumstances and Consequences'. + +How often, when giving earnest advice, one gets the response, 'My +circumstances are against me', 'Placed as I am, it cannot be', or 'The +consequences are too serious', 'The price of the blessing is too high'. +Even with persons who have no doubt as to the possibility of a clean +heart and sanctification of life, these thoughts operate; and we find +the fear of circumstances hindering one, and the fear of consequences +influencing another, so that they are held back from definitely seeking +the blessing. True, in many instances, the idea is a delusion, a snare +of the Devil, by which souls are kept out of God's Full Salvation; but, +there is the fact--'fears are in the way'. + +Fear is like a great magnifying-glass; or one of those mirrors which +give a distorted image of things reflected in them. This effect is +often produced in persons both as regards their own circumstances and +the consequences of following the leadings of God's Spirit. + +You may remember how Bunyan, in his 'Pilgrim's Progress', represents +Christian desiring to enter the House Beautiful, but suddenly he espied +two lions in the way, and was almost frightened out of his purpose +until some one told him that, if he went boldly on, and kept in the +middle of the path, he need not fear, seeing the lions were securely +chained. What an illustration of the quaking fears which hinder +definite action in regard to spiritual blessings! + +1. A few words as to _circumstances_ may be helpful to some one. Let +me, however, first make one thing clear. With some people circumstances +exist which are insurmountable barriers; there are positions in the +world which could not be held by a fully sanctified person any more +than fire can be carried in a man's bosom and he not be burned; +situations involving the practice of evil or resulting in gain through +the unjust sufferings of others. Such positions must be given up, if +men wish to enjoy God's sanctifying power. I am not, however, dealing +now with such positions or the circumstances connected with them; I am +referring to circumstances or conditions of life which are lawful in +themselves and in the light of the Word of God, but which may present +difficulties and involve serious trial to those determined to live +purely and serve God faithfully. + +The fear in some instances is that if they obtain the blessing the +strain of temptation would be such as to render a fall probable. 'I +could not _keep_ the blessing if I got it'; 'If I could change my +position, or surroundings, or connexions, then I would take the +necessary steps'. These are words we frequently hear. A married man or +woman says, 'Ah! if only I were single, then I could live a life of +full consecration'. With equal seriousness the single person says, 'Ah! +if only I were married, then the life of purity and Holiness would be +possible to me'. The mother, fearful about the strain which the care of +the children brings, often speaks in the same way. So it is with +business relationships and many other matters in which the +circumstances are presented as things making Holiness an impossibility. + +When I was a young man in business I yearned for a position in which I +could be separate from all worldly entanglements, so that I could +obtain and enjoy the blessing. But, do you know, since I have been a +Salvation Army Officer, I have often been tempted to think that the +sanctified life is easier in the circumstances of commercial life, and +that if I was so placed the spiritual things would be more appreciated, +and I should be able to live nearer to God. You see, it is the same old +temptation, 'My circumstances, my conditions of life, my work, my +home', and the fear of these things often becomes a snare. + +That is a pathetic picture which the Psalmist gives us of these poor +Jews by the waters of Babylon, who, when urged to sing the songs of +Zion, answered, 'How shall we sing the Lord's songs in a strange land?' +Is not that the feeling which bursts from many lips and many more +hearts, 'How can you expect _me_, in _my_ circumstances, to get +sanctified and live a holy life?' + +But is not that just the point where the triumph of faith comes in? It +is there that we see the value of those exceeding great and precious +promises by which you are to become a partaker of the Divine nature, +and on which your faith is to build. 'As thy days, so shall thy +strength be'; 'My God shall supply all your need'; and that includes +your need in cleansing, your need in keeping, and your need in blessing +adapted to your circumstances. Remember, the Lord is the Master of +circumstances, and you must put yours into His hands, and trust Him not +only to sanctify you wholly, but to preserve you blameless unto the +end. You must trust God to make you equal to your circumstances. + +2. But there is that second class of anxious persons to whom I +referred: those who are held back by _the fear of consequences_. + +Oh, what crowds of enlightened souls might be walking triumphantly +along the King's highway, who are yet tramping on amidst doubts and +fears and frequent condemnation, all because they dread the pressure of +God's claims upon them, and fear the consequences of making a +whole-hearted surrender to Him. + +There is another point of view about which I must speak a word in +passing. When looking at the consequences of fully yielding to God's +claims, and perhaps trembling and hesitating, do you ever think of the +results of holding back what you know God wants? Do not forget that +there are some consequences of saying 'No' to the Lord. When a child +knows his father's wish, but, in answer to a reasonable request, says, +'No', you call it disobedience. Is it not a still more serious thing to +be disobedient in the presence of more than a father's love? You must +count the cost of that, when resisting the light and influence of God's +Spirit. + +Surely, you will not choose to be numbered among those who 'knew their +Lord's will, but did it not'. In the Gospel story such were 'beaten +with many stripes'; that means stripes of loss, stripes of pain, +stripes of sorrow, perhaps even stripes of death. If we are to suffer, +let it be the result of following Him, rather than the consequence of +denying our Lord. + +Now, I do not want to mislead anybody, for, of course, there are +consequences of surrender and determination to live the holy life; but, +unfortunately, these fearful ones look at the wrong side of the list. +They think of the separateness from the world involved in a life of +Holiness; they think of the cold shoulder which some, even Christian +friends, would give them; they think of the toil after souls which the +sanctified must maintain; of the money that they may have to give; of +the partnership in Christ's sufferings, and other self-denying +expressions of devotion to God and the Kingdom. 'Oh, I shall have to +wear uniform!' or 'go to the Open-Air', or 'perhaps become an Army +Officer', and, as an Officer, 'may have to leave my native land'. The +enemy holds these and many similar things before the eyes of a +convicted soul, very often magnifying the facts until the word +difficulty is changed to impossibility, and, like the young ruler of +the Gospel story, they 'go away sorrowful'. + +A man came across London to be present at one of our Thursday Meetings. +When spoken to by an Officer, he admitted the force of all that had +been said, but he found an insurmountable difficulty in his business as +a shopkeeper. He saw that the goods on his shelves and sold over the +counter were mixed, including what he realized to be bad and damaging +to many others. His heart was full of conviction and desire, but +anxiety about his wife and family prevented him closing down, while his +conscience prevented him selling a business which he knew had wrong and +doubtful things connected with it. 'What is wrong for me', he said, +'would be wrong for another'; and so he could not pay the price, and, +like the young ruler referred to, he has gone away sorrowful. + +In the Meeting of the following week a man came to the table seeking +the blessing, and he cried out aloud, 'O Lord, give me a clean heart! +Take the malice out which I have had towards these two persons! O Lord, +I will go straight to them, and confess, and ask them to forgive me!' +Needless to add, the blessing came, and, rejoicing, he went off to his +home, fifty miles out of London, to fulfil his word. The contrast +between this and the man previously mentioned teaches its own lesson. + +Now, it is quite right that seekers of Full Salvation should _look at +the cost, and count it well_; but, Oh, that they would also think of +the tremendous balance of joy and peace and blessing which more than +makes up for what has to be borne or done or given up! Instead of dim +twilight, or hazy doubts or forebodings, the sunshine of the Divine +Presence makes all things bright and gladsome. Instead of depending for +light and peace on 'suns' which 'go down' and 'moons' which 'withdraw' +themselves, the fully sanctified man finds that God has become his +'everlasting light, and the days of his mourning are ended'. As I have +said, there will be sacrifice, but there also will be satisfaction; +and, as with the mother in regard to her new-born babe, the fully saved +soul forgets the suffering and the sacrifice which has been made. + +Sometimes we are tempted to look at sacrifice apart from love. I heard +Mr. Bramwell Booth say in a Meeting, 'Sacrifice is the flower of love'; +and you know full well that things which are otherwise impossible +become comparatively easy to true love and faith. Men do not talk about +sacrifices when they realize that they have received more--much +more--than that which they gave up. + +When I hear people dwelling on how much they have given up for God, I +begin to wonder whether those self-denying ones have realized the joy +and satisfaction which God wants to give to the fully consecrated +heart. If they have, it is strange for them to talk of rushlight +sacrifices whilst they are bathed in the sunlight of the Divine +Presence. + +Sometimes distressing consequences do follow surrender and faith, but +are there not also glorious consequences in the form of joy in the +seasons of sorrow, light and guidance in the hours of perplexity, +Divine approval and communion when others misunderstand and shun us? +Surely the knowledge of this leads me to cry, 'O my Lord, let me have +the blessing with all its consequences!' + +Oh, my friends, whilst counting the cost, look at both sides of God's +gift, the crown as well as the cross; the delight as well as the +denial; the heavenly sunshine as well as the earthly shadows; and the +great, glorious, everlasting reward in eternity. When you have looked +at all these things, make your choice; and, having chosen aright, 'hold +fast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown'. + + + + +IX + +Bound to the Altar + +'_Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar._' +(Psalm cxviii. 27.) + + +Periodically in our Halls we have had what we call Altar Services. At +such times, and more especially during the Self-Denial and Harvest +Festival efforts, Soldiers, friends, and others who are interested in +God's work are invited to come forward with gifts of money to lay upon +the special table which, for that occasion, serves the purpose of an +altar. Those who have been present at these Meetings will not need to +be told that the 'gift' is irrevocable. The giver cannot honestly get +it back--it has been deliberately parted with. + +That is a very definite thing _done_, and it illustrates the central +idea of the verse which I have read to you. + +Some time ago I went with The General to Stockholm, where the Swedish +Officers were gathered together for their annual Congress. At the close +of the Councils I asked an Officer how he liked the Meetings, and what +the result would be. He replied, 'Commissioner, it's just like this. It +is as if The General during these days builded an altar, and to-night +we all climbed upon that altar offering ourselves a sacrifice unto God, +and the fire came down and sanctified the offering.' + +_The true worship and service of God_--it need not be told--_involves +sacrifice_. If any one here feels that religion is all a question of +how much he can get out of God by saying so many prayers or offering so +many donations, he has a totally wrong conception of what it is. I know +that there are many who regard their vows to God very lightly. They +seem to think they can get through their religion without much +self-denial. Religion of that sort, however, is worth nothing either to +those who possess it or to the Lord whom they profess to serve. Without +self-sacrifice, without self-denial, religion comes to nothing, or, at +any rate, amounts to very little. + +I do not desire that you should imitate the senseless practices +prevailing in some countries, where the people are allowed to build +their hopes of Salvation upon penance and self-torture. And yet we are +sometimes put to shame by the things we hear and see. + +A short time ago I received a letter from a young Officer in India. +After describing some pleasing scenes, he said, 'One sees some awful +things out here. I saw a man the other day literally walking upon +nails. It made me shiver. He imagined that by this he could save his +soul. With what passion I wished that man could only understand that +other nails were pierced in other feet for him! But you see how in +earnest the people here are about their religion, and in all these +things they are seeking for Salvation.' + +There are not many who are prepared to do what that poor Indian devotee +did. They are a long way off that. But unless they are prepared to +include sacrifice in their religion, they are not on the lines either +of their Lord's example or their Lord's words. The cross, the +following, the denial of self, the Calvary path, cannot be excluded +from the life of Christ's follower. + +Whilst true service must always be a spiritual thing, do not imagine it +is something merely 'in the mind'. I have heard it talked about in the +same way as a doctor talked to a poor lad who had his thumb crushed in +a machine. + +'Don't shout, my poor boy', he said. 'Don't you know I feel it as truly +as you do?' + +'Perhaps so,' replied the boy; 'but you feels it in your mind, and I +feels it in my thumb!' + +Sacrifice is often talked about by some people who feel it perhaps as +much as the doctor felt the crushed thumb, being largely a matter of +sympathy, without the actual hurting. + +This matter of sacrifice indicates a certain principle, a certain state +of mind, which _expresses itself in two ways_. It is either a giving up +of things which are against God's will, or the contribution of +something which is valuable, to be surrendered or used in His service. +Shall I not say that sacrifice represents the heart saying, on the one +hand, 'I will come out, and be separate, and touch not the unclean +thing'? and, on the other hand, 'What shall I render unto the Lord for +all His benefits toward me?' Not only singing, 'Where He leads I will +follow', 'Lord, I make a full surrender', but actually spending and +being spent for Him. + +I need not dwell at any great length upon the word 'altar'. I referred +to the table in our Altar Services as the place of gifts. It is also +the place of dedication, and the place of sacrifice. Thank God, it has +been so to many, as well as the mercy-seat, where God has sealed the +acceptance of the offering presented to Him. + +How often have we been reminded of that altar of sacrifice in the shape +of the accursed cross, where the Saviour made atonement for our sins! +And it is in reality at that altar we bow when we sincerely sing-- + + _Were the whole realm of nature mine, + That were a present far too small; + Love so amazing, so divine, + Demands my soul, my life, my all!_ + +Not only 'demands' the sacrifice, but 'shall have my soul, my life, my +all'. + +_But what does the binding of the sacrifice to the altar mean?_ The +phrase is very significant. + +The horns were the corner posts, and sometimes the worshipper +presenting a living creature would tether it with a cord to the altar's +horn, so that the gift could be used either for sacrifice or service. +In both cases the figure of speech seems to imply the possibility of +the consecration being reversed by the withdrawal of the offering, or +broken by its loss, the sacrifice slipping off or away from the altar, +or being loosened by the person who had presented the offering. + +The Psalmist therefore urges those to whom he is speaking to maintain +their consecration, and to see to it that their sacrifice is not taken +off the altar after being put on. These corner posts were not there for +ornament, but for use, and the cords were intended to hold the +sacrifice to the altar, so that it could not be snatched away. + +Here is my Bible. If I turned away, and anybody were so minded, it +would be easy to make off with it while my back was turned. But if I +had some cord, and, by crossing it transversely from corner to corner, +tied the Book to the table, that would make it secure. It was thus that +the sacrifices were bound to the Jewish altar. + +What I want to emphasize by this is, that those who come with gifts and +dedications should bind themselves in terms of unalterable covenant. +They should stand to their consecration when loss or pain or temptation +come, as come they will in one form or another. It is just here where +so many fail--they do not really maintain their sacrifice. That is to +say, having made a consecration they do not stand to it. The offering +has been made, but it has been taken back again; the vow has been +registered, but not paid; the promise has been made, but not fulfilled; +the consecration has been broken or reversed. + +Take that wonderful scene in the life of Abraham. At the command of God +he erected an altar, cut the sacrifice in pieces, and laid it there. +Then Abraham waited for the coming of the fire. Before the fire came, +or anything happened, the vultures, those unclean birds, were circling +around his head, and around the altar, trying to defile the sacrifice +or snatch it away or devour it. The story says that when the birds came +down Abraham drove them away, and he stood to his covenant until the +fire came. The vultures of temptation will circle around you. They will +try to frighten you, and to remove the sacrifice wholly or partially, +or to defile it in some way. Your business then is to drive them away, +to bind and rebind the sacrifice to God's altar. + +In the days of Queen Mary, a girl-martyr refused, when pressure was +brought upon her, to deny her Lord and renounce her faith. She was +condemned and taken to the seashore. There she was bound to a stake +near the low tide line, and, as the incoming waters gathered round her +feet, one of her persecutors rode out and offered to spare her life if +she would renounce her faith and turn her back upon her Lord. + +The waters rose to her waist, and he rode out again, and, when half +unconscious, she was dragged out, and urged to recant. Refusing to do +this, the girl was again bound to the stake. + +When the waters reached her shoulders the offer was repeated. To one +and all she replied something like this: 'No, I will not draw back! I +will not deny my Lord!' And as the rising tide came in she bowed her +head, and poured her soul out unto death rather than deny her Master. +She bound her sacrifice to the altar, and died in the faith. + +Some of those who hear my words are disappointed and sad at heart, for +they have gone back on Jesus Christ; not perhaps to save their lives, +but for a mere trifle. Why these neglected vows? Why these defiled +sacrifices? Why these broken consecrations? If they were ever really +put on the altar they were not, I am afraid, bound there. Impulse, +sentiment, desire, intention may have induced the offering, but it was +not bound with 'cords of submission, cords of determination'. +Companionships, some secret indulgence, some selfish pleasure, some act +of reversal, carried off the sacrifice. + +Alas! how many have never seriously and sincerely approached the Divine +altar to make the full surrender of themselves to God. The love of sin, +the selfish gratifications which are so precious to them, have kept +them back, though often convicted about their duty. + +But the act of dedication is very simple, and can be made or renewed +now. While we bow before God around the altar of consecration, bring +yourselves and the sacrifice again and put it on that altar in an +unchangeable covenant, and with a simple faith that will bring from God +that holy fire which makes it possible to maintain it there for ever. + + _A willing sacrifice at last + Myself to Thee I give; + The weary, painful strife is past-- + I die that I may live._ + + _I yield Thee all my hallowed powers, + Thine only will I be, + Contented if I may but know + Thou giv'st Thyself to me._ + + + + +X + +'Why Should I?' + +'_Thou saidst, What advantage will it be? What profit shall I have, if +I be cleansed from my sin? I will answer thee, and thy companions with +thee._' (Job xxxv. 3, 4.) + + +In reading these words I have no wish to enter into the controversy +between Job and his friends as to the relationship of physical +suffering to sin, but to emphasize a certain mental attitude which they +indicate, and which often expresses itself in relation to other things. + +The human mind is so constituted that men will not commit themselves to +a course suggested by another unless it is proved to be worth their +while. When we want to move people to do that which does not at the +moment fit in with their desires, we have to urge motives upon their +consideration. Very few actions are performed without there being some +personal motive. It seems born in us to ask, 'Is it worth while? Why +should I do, or go and accept what I do not want?' and so we hang back +until some motive carries our judgment or feelings. + +We find the same attitude in men's minds towards Salvation and those +spiritual blessings and conditions of life in which the Lord wants men +to live. The immediate gratification of the flesh, or love of selfish +indulgence, lies in the opposite direction to the Altar of +Consecration; so that when the call to surrender and Holiness comes, +naturally, and at once, the cry springs up, 'Why should I? Where is the +advantage? What profit shall I have?' It seems, therefore, absolutely +necessary to find some personal motives by which to urge people to be +saved, or seek a clean heart, and pursue those lines of sacred duty to +which redeemed men should be consecrated. + +Speaking from personal experience, I would say that whilst soul-saving +is hard work, it appears equally difficult to persuade professors of +religion to definitely seek deliverance from inward sin, and to attain +those spiritual realizations which we speak of as 'Full Salvation' or +'The Blessing of Holiness'. As evidence of this difficulty, I may point +to the state of soul and spiritual experience in which even some of you +are now found: receiving light and instruction about Holiness, but +continuing unsanctified; singing of the Cleansing Blood, but yet +remaining uncleansed by it; praying, 'Baptize me with the Holy Ghost', +and yet resisting His gracious leadings to the higher life of Holiness. + +In one of my Meetings my subject was 'Out-and-Out Consecration'. I was +attracted by a man who seemed intensely interested. I spoke with him +afterwards, when he said, 'I was much pleased with your address--I +entirely approve of the sentiments you expressed'. And yet I could not +induce the man to give himself to God. Thus we have to seek for motives +by which to move the hearts of people in this vital matter. + +1. Let me again set before you those motives which should lead you to +seek the blessing. I place first among them the fact which Paul stated +thus, 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification'. I put this +first because the highest motive stimulating the soul of the child of +God should be _the knowledge of his Father's will_. One would think +that to know God's will should be enough to provoke the determination +to do it. To hear the Father's voice should stir the heart in +responsive desire and effort. + +We had a little daughter who, before she went to Heaven, was the joy of +our hearts and the light of our home. The child had a passion for +cleanliness, and as the evening hour came on, she gave the maid no +peace until she was washed and dressed in clean clothes. Then, running +to her mother, she would ask, 'Mamma, am I clean, clean enough for +father?' Soon after my return from business, the child would climb on +my knee, put a little hand on each side of my face, to compel me to +look at her, and then ask, 'Am I clean, papa, am I clean?' Nothing +would delight that child more than for me to say, 'Yes, my darling, you +are clean, even clean enough for father'. + +Let us ask ourselves, 'What does the will of God count for with us? We +know what He wants, and the claims of gratitude and sincere regard for +His glory should influence our attitude, and lead us to say, 'Lo! I +come to do Thy will, O my God!' + + _He wills that I should holy be: + That Holiness I long to feel; + That full, Divine conformity + To all my Saviour's righteous will._ + +2. A second motive to Holiness may be found in _the urgent need of the +people around us_. We all know something of God's plan for saving the +world. It is, broadly speaking, on the line of using one man to save +another. Co-operation on this line is rightly expected from all +professing Christians. + +Personally, I hold that professors of religion who are not moved by a +concern for the souls of others, and a willingness to use all possible +efforts to seek their Salvation, can hardly claim to be properly saved +themselves. The need of saved men and women to act on these lines of +consecrated effort is, indeed, very great, and the knowledge of this +fact should urge us to the fullest consecration. But we need to see +more clearly that unless we exhibit in our own characters and lives the +true fruits of Holiness, we shall either fail in our own consecration, +or our influence will be greatly reduced. + +What do you think will be the effect of a man's words about the +Christian's 'separateness', and about Christ being the satisfying +portion of the human heart, if people see him seeking satisfaction with +the multitude that go to do evil? How will the world be influenced by +Christian talkers who sacrifice honour, truth, and perhaps honesty, in +their daily associations? How often people's tongues are tied, when +they ought to speak and act? They are half paralysed through a sense of +their personal inconsistency. + +Holiness is not only the inspiration to holy effort; it is a necessary +qualification. The power of a holy life is the best evidence of what +God can do. Platform and Meeting-Holiness, or glass-case sanctity, are +feeble when compared with the exhibition of the blessing in daily +association. Therefore, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they +may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven'. +These words indicate my meaning when I urge you to seek and maintain +the blessing of Holiness in the interests of those around you. Holy +lives are the most convincing sermons and testimonies. We often say +'Holiness is power'; and I am sure that you need all the power which +can be obtained to influence the world around for God and Salvation. + +3. Then, as a last motive to stimulate you in the pursuit of Holiness, +I will name _self-interest_. That may seem rather a low-down motive, +seeing that Holiness, which is perfect love, is the extreme opposite of +that selfishness which is the essence or root of all sin. It seems like +a paradox or contradiction to say that self-denial can harmonize with +enjoyment; and yet it is true. A man does advance his highest interests +and truest well-being when he submits to the sanctifying conditions of +the Holy Ghost; for what the world counts loss, he finds to be gain. + +I would point out that we find God Himself appealing to men just at +that point of self-interest. What a chapter is that fifty-fifth of +Isaiah, beginning, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the +waters', and so on, the second verse finishing, 'Eat ye that which is +good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness'. As much as to say, +'You will find it worth while to come into right relations with Me'. + +There is no doubt that people are moved when they properly understand +the fact which Paul set forth in the words: 'Godliness is profitable +unto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of +that which is to come'; 'Godliness with contentment is great gain'. And +I want you to see that to have the blessing of Full Salvation will be +worth your while, because it will meet the deep needs of your +individual life. + +If I am asked to define what you must be in order that your religious +life may be happy and successful, I would state the case thus. + +First, you need to be in right and happy relationship with God. There +must be no enmity there; no clouds in that sky; no closed doors between +you and your Heavenly Father. Salvation does nothing for you if it does +not bring that. + +Second, you need to be delivered from those inward evils which have +darkened your mind, polluted your soul, and will be like roots of +bitterness springing up to trouble you if they are not removed. + +Third, you want power to live up to your own ideals; that is, up to the +standards of life upon which your consecrated heart will be set. You do +not want to be in the position of the man who exclaims, 'The good that +I would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do'. You want +power to live 'unspotted from the world', to walk in Divine fellowship, +to triumph over temptation, and to have victory and success in your +service. These are the things you must have to meet your deepest need, +and they are all secured to you in the blessing of Holiness which we +urge you to seek. + +Believe me, nothing spoils a man's happiness so much as sin in the +heart, and nothing helps in human happiness so much as a holy, +sanctified condition. You see the supreme advantage when you remember +the open fellowship possible to the fully sanctified; the perfect peace +in which God keeps the man whose mind is stayed on Him; the perfect +love which casteth out fear, and the joy unspeakable and full of glory +realized by one filled with the Holy Ghost. + +On the other hand, how much unhappiness and disappointment is caused by +the remains of sin in the heart! Look, for instance, at ill-tempers and +their effect. You may have found a certain amount of gratification in +letting your temper display itself; you have 'spoken your mind', and so +forth, and, perhaps, caused pain to somebody in so doing; but you know +how unhappy and humiliated you have been upon reflection. + +Take also the case of the envious man. We all know that it is wrong to +be envious; but who is the chief sufferer? Why, the envious man +himself. So with grumbling and discontent: it is very unpleasant for +those around; but how unhappy are the grumblers themselves! Similarly +with pride; it may be very self-satisfying, until one sees somebody +better, or something which cuts one out; then comes disappointment. And +so I might go on with other illustrations, but I have said enough to +show what I mean. + +Now look at these motives which I have named; they all appeal to you in +regard to Holiness. It is the will of God concerning you. It is +desirable and necessary to give your religion power with those around +you. It is also to your own happiness and interest to get your nature +sanctified and your own heart and mind and life brought into harmony +with God. To those whose experience includes the enjoyment of the +blessing, I say let these motives influence you in maintaining the +conditions. And to those who have not got the blessing, let these +motives constrain you to seek the blessing without delay. + + _Lord, my will I here present Thee + Gladly, now no longer mine; + Let no evil thing prevent me + Blending it with Thine. + Lord, my life I lay before Thee, + Hear this hour the sacred vow! + All Thine own I now restore Thee, + Thine for ever now._ + + + + +XI + +Judged by Fruit + +'_A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt +tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit. +For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they +grapes._' (Luke vi. 43, 44.) + + +Jesus Christ, in the few sentences quoted, indicates the true secret or +principle of holy living. They show that holy living works from the +heart of things--beginning within--to the outside. + +Many judge their religion the other way about. They take up religious +duties, attend religious Meetings, sing hymns, say prayers, put on what +may be called the outward things of religion. Perhaps they adopt a +dress, make a profession, or assume a religious manner, and hope to +grow good in the process. But really it does not work out that way. I +do not say that the things are not good. Far from that; but what I want +to make plain is this: in none of these things does the secret of true +religion lie, and you will be a failure if you rely upon the outward +form. + +You have the secret, the principle of religion, in the words of Jesus: +'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that +which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart +bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart +his mouth speaketh'. You see, that which is in will come out, and you +cannot bring out that which is not in. + +In these words Jesus tries to enforce a great truth in human life, by +showing how the principle works out in the action of a tree. Nature +cannot teach us everything about God, nor everything about religion; +but Nature does supply us with a great many beautiful illustrations. +Jesus makes use of one when He says, 'Of thorns men do not gather figs, +nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. Every tree is known by his +own fruit.' You see, not only is the fruit according to the tree, but +the quality of the tree is to be judged according to its fruits. + +That is the way by which ordinary people identify a tree. There are +some who are highly skilled in forestry, who can tell you all about a +tree by looking at the bark or the leaves or the blossoms, or even by +its general appearance. But we cannot all do that. I have sometimes +stood in a company, and listened to an argument as to what kind a +particular tree really was. But no arguments are required when the +fruit hangs on the branches. Everybody can tell the apple tree then, +and knows what a pear or a plum tree is when they see the fruit hanging +upon it. You can see the bearing of this upon personal religion and +character. By our fruit, then, we shall be known and judged. + +In the fifth chapter of Galatians you will find a commentary upon this +natural law. Shall we read it? 'Now the works of the flesh'--the fruit +of the flesh, if you like to put it that way--'are manifest, which are +these: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, +witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, +heresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of +the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that +they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the +fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, +goodness, faith, meekness, temperance', or self-control. The two sets +of verses taken together not only show in detail a cluster of virtues +which are like luscious fruit in a beautiful garden, but also a cluster +of evils, which are like poisoned berries upon the roadside bushes. + +The contrast between the two clusters indicates how great is the +difference when one is changed from being a proud, fleshly, corrupt man +into a clean, holy, spiritual person; but the contrast also marks the +grace of God as the transforming power. No matter what change was +wrought in you at conversion, you cannot properly call yourselves fully +sanctified until the transformation is complete; that is, until you are +delivered from the works or fruit of the flesh, and produce the fruit +of the Spirit, and by your fruits you shall be known. Profession of +Holiness without appropriate fruit is no good. That would be just like +the tree to which the Saviour turned on one occasion when He found +nothing but leaves. + +Let me put the matter very simply, but very definitely. Here is a man, +we will suppose, who says, 'I am saved'. That is good. I like to hear +men who are able to stand up and say, 'I am saved'. But if in that +man's dealings with those around him he tells lies--black ones or white +ones--well, then it is obvious that the man still needs Salvation. + +Here is another who stands up and says, 'I have a clean heart'. That is +a testimony in which I glory. But if you see that man's bodily +appetites master him, or see him fall into uncleanness of speech or of +act, you know very well what even those who want to be charitable will +say, 'Either that man fails to understand the meaning of the words he +uses, or his profession of Holiness is a false one'. + +Another person says, 'I love God with all my heart'--or as many do say, +'There is nothing between my soul and God'. But if you see the same +person running after those things which he knows God is against, +however charitable you may feel, you cannot help judging by what he +does rather than by what he says. + +One may stand up and speak about being sanctified; but if his actions +indicate in some form or another that he is jealous, or ill-tempered, +or selfish, everybody will say, 'No matter what that person may say +about himself, testimony or no testimony, profession or no profession, +he still needs the blessing of Full Salvation!' + +Let me, by an illustration or two, help you to see what I mean--the +fruits of the sanctified heart. + +A university professor was afflicted with an ungovernable temper. One +day he went to the house of a relative with a view to adjusting some +property matters in dispute. Now, the man to whom he went not only made +unjust claims, but put forth these claims in a way to provoke his +Christian relative to anger. He did it on purpose; he was determined to +show that this man's religion made him no different from the people +round about him. As a consequence, high words arose, and the professor +left the house in a rage, slamming the door behind him. + +When he got into the street calm reflection came, and in the place of +anger and bitterness a sense of humiliation and shame and defeat. He +went straight home, up to his room, fastened the door, got down on his +knees, and spent the night pleading that God would not only forgive him +for his display of temper, but would deliver him from those angry +passions which made him such a discredit to his profession of religion. +As morning dawned, peace came to his soul, the power of the Holy Ghost +fell upon him, and a sense of deliverance pervaded his whole being. + +He went to the house of his relative, and found him at breakfast. With +deep humility, and in the presence of the family, he confessed his sin, +said not a word about provocation, and only pleaded that they would +forgive him for his display of anger. Thirty years subsequent to this +that professor, who became famous as a man of God, stated that no +temptation or provocation received had ever stirred the emotion of evil +temper within him since that memorable night. He had been delivered. +Instead of the fruit of the flesh, there grew the fruit of the Spirit. + +Take the case of a certain mother with several unconverted children. +She was a fretting, chafing woman, and by her impatience, +fault-finding, and nagging she fretted and vexed the whole family. When +she got the blessing she became so even in her disposition that she was +kept in such 'perfect peace' that, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the +domestic circle became like a little heaven below. + +Resentful and revengeful persons are so changed that the spirit of +forgiveness and forbearance which they exhibit in their lives is the +admiration of all who know them. Self-seeking Christians are made into +self-sacrificing, cross-bearing saints and soldiers, where formerly +they would only be content if they were having their own way. + +Now, what does this mean? This: that such open professors of religion +as we are must justify our profession by bringing forth fruit unto +Holiness. If the condition of your mind and heart, if the state of your +disposition (I will put it that way) is not such as brings forth this +fruit, you must earnestly and sincerely ask the Lord to cleanse and +sanctify and anoint you with the Holy Ghost, so that instead of +bringing forth the fruit of the flesh, everybody shall see displayed +and exhibited by you the fruit of the Spirit. + +Do not say the standard is too high, for it is simply a case of your +experience being too low. We want the whole thing not 'levelled down', +but 'levelled up'. Let God take full possession of you; let the Divine +power be exerted upon your particular difficulty; and seek to be wholly +anointed with that Holy Spirit who can not only cleanse, but keep you, +making you fruitful in every good word and work. + + + + +XII + +Perpetual Covenants + +'_Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant +that shall not be forgotten._' (Jeremiah 1. 5.) + + +We find in our Meetings persons who are perplexed by the doctrinal +statements about Holiness or entire Sanctification and equivalent +terms. Some take our words to mean more than we intend; others think +the statements imply less than we mean; some put the standard too high, +whilst others put it altogether too low. + +At the close of a recent Meeting a gentleman said to me, 'I greatly +enjoyed your address, but I am sure you will never get people to follow +that line, because you advocate an abnormal life. It cannot be lived.' +Equally I find men who in an indefinite way imagine that high states of +emotion dispense with standards of morality such as truth, honour, and +rectitude in business. And it is with great difficulty that we make the +Bible standard plainly understood. + +I think, however, that very few are perplexed as to what we mean by the +consecration side of Holiness. There is, in all who are moderately well +instructed in Bible truth, a living sense of God's claims, a +recognition of what I may call the law of consistency, and a feeling +that, as a matter of duty, we really ought to yield to those claims, +and devote ourselves to doing His will. That is what Jeremiah meant +when he called upon the people to join themselves unto the Lord in '_a +perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten_'. + +We all recognize how right it is for buildings to be dedicated to God's +service; we call them the houses of God. We also see the rightness of +contributing gifts to help God's cause; and yet men and women are so +slow to fully and definitely join themselves unto the Lord, that is, to +put the sacred mark upon their entire lives, and recognize their duty +in spending their lives for God alone. They are slow to regard their +bodily, mental, and other powers and faculties as belonging to God, and +slower still in yielding their hearts in supreme love to Him who loved +them, and gave Himself for them. + +I am often puzzled as to why religious people who, in their business +life, are regularly making covenants and contracts, either for labour +or material, should so fail to follow on similar lines in their +relations to God. My duty called me lately to examine a contract, and I +found the basis expressed in terms like these: 'This is an agreement +between So-and-so in the first part and So-and-so in the second part'. +And then on each side there were pledges and responsibilities and +commitments; finally, the contract was 'signed, sealed, and delivered' +by the two contracting parties. Now, that illustrates precisely what is +meant by a covenant with the Lord. He, on the one part, and we on the +other part, uniting for a common purpose, and each undertaking definite +responsibilities to secure the purpose desired. + +Mind, this covenanting with God is not a case of bargaining. I know +that it pays to be on right relationships with God, and to do His will; +but do not forget--He settles and dictates the terms, our part is to +comply and surrender. + +Moses puts this in a simple but beautiful way to his people when he +said, '_Thou hast avouched_ the Lord this day to be thy God, and to +walk in His ways, and to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and +His judgments, and to hearken unto His voice: and _the Lord hath +avouched_ thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised +thee, and that thou shouldst keep all His commandments'. The appeal of +the Apostle is also familiar to us all, 'I beseech you, therefore, +brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living +sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable +service'. + +Jesus always kept this before His disciples. He certainly talked of +daily cross-bearing, and following and confessing Him before the world; +but He was careful to say to them, 'There is no man that hath left +house, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom +of God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present +time, and in the world to come life everlasting'. + +Our songs and prayers are full of the same ideas, and we are again face +to face with the appeal expressed by Jeremiah: 'Come, let us join +ourselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be +forgotten'. Now, there are certain features of this covenant-making +that I should like to look at. + +1. To begin with, _it is to be an inward act, a thing of the heart_. +I believe in outward tokens of religious life and feeling, such as +standing up, raising the hand, coming to the table, and similar modes +of testimony; but if any of these outward acts are mere forms, they are +next to useless. The heart must be in it if the covenant is to be +properly made and maintained. + +One frequently hears it said, 'Ah, yes, I do it in my heart. I can get +the blessing in my seat or at home quietly. I do not believe in this +public line of declaration, and this parade of one's sacred +experiences'. Well, I believe, in both the inward and the outward. If, +however, we cannot have both, by all means let us have the covenant +made in sincerity of heart, for without that the whole thing is in +vain. + +We may learn much from an old Hebrew custom referred to in the +twenty-first chapter of Exodus, which shows that the Jewish people +understood the nature of true devotion. Under the Mosaic law a +bondservant could only be held by his master for six years; in the +seventh he was 'to go out free for nothing'. But if the servant came to +his master, and said, 'I don't want to go; I love you; I will not go +out free; I will serve you for ever', the master would reply, 'If you +really mean that, let us have it settled, and settled in public'. The +master would then bring the servant to the judges to register the +agreement, and would also take him to the doorpost, and with an awl +bore a hole through the man's ear, fastening him to the post. This was +the sign of a perpetual covenant, and everybody who saw it knew that +the man's self-surrender to his master was real, binding, and +permanent. + +We have no such ceremony in our public Meetings, but we can have the +definite declaration, 'I love Thee, O Lord, and I will serve Thee; and +here and now I bind myself in an everlasting covenant to serve Thee for +ever'. + +2. Then, again, a true covenant is _a deed which commits you to active +and definite service_. Some covenant-makings are largely sentimental; a +kind of religious IOU or promise to pay, and I fear some are treated as +the Irishman treated his responsibility when, having signed a +promissory note for a debt, he exclaimed, 'Thank God, that is done +with!' + +The vows and covenant-making which God wants are those which will be +followed by something practical. The states of emotion and high +spiritual contemplation are right in so far as they assist men to +realize the presence of God and Divine things; but to answer their +purpose they must carry men out to activity and self-denying service +for God and those around them. The highest type of religion is a +combination of the experimental and the practical, the inward and the +outward, the personal and the relative. Our consecration must include +what God can get out of us as well as what we obtain from Him. + +I found a parable the other day in a legend of the Greek Church which +is worth repeating. That Church has two favourite saints--St. +Cassianus, the type of monastic asceticism, and St. Nicholas, the type +of genial, active, unselfish, laborious Christianity. St. Cassianus +enters Heaven, and Christ says to him, 'What hast thou seen on earth, +Cassianus?' 'I saw', he answered, 'a peasant floundering with his wagon +in a marsh'. 'Didst thou help him?' 'No.' 'Why not?' 'I was coming +before Thee,' said St. Cassianus, 'and I was afraid of soiling my white +robes'. + +Just then St. Nicholas enters Heaven, all covered with mud and mire. +'Why so stained and soiled, St. Nicholas?' said the Lord. 'I saw a +peasant floundering in a marsh,' said St. Nicholas, 'and I put my +shoulder to the wheel, and helped him out'. 'Blessed art thou', +answered the Lord. 'Thou didst well; thou didst better than Cassianus.' +And He blessed St. Nicholas with fourfold approval. The moral is so +obvious that I need not labour the application of my parable. + +3. Let me also impress upon you that _covenant-making must be a +believing act_. That is to say, when you come up to the altar of +consecration, and say, 'Here I give my all to Thee', you must believe +that if you are good for your word the Lord is also good for His. So +that what you give, God accepts; what you claim, God gives. That may +appear a very simple way of putting the faith that saves and +sanctifies, but in all its simplicity it is true, for 'He is faithful +who hath promised'. + +4. Then comes the all-important _necessity of standing to your +consecration at all costs_. 'Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a +perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.' God wants men and +women who stand to their covenant; who, having made their pledges and +promises, are not turned aside by difficulties or temptations, but say +and mean, as we sing sometimes-- + + _High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow, + That vow renewed shall daily hear, + Till in life's latest hour I bow, + And bless in death a bond so dear._ + +In the Book of Judges there is the story of a man named Jephthah. He +made a vow, and when the test came he found it involved the sacrifice +of one who was all the world to him--his daughter, and she was his only +child. Jephthah rent his clothes, and almost broke his heart; and, no +doubt, everybody expected him to set aside his vow; but, no, he stood +to it, declaring, 'I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot +go back'. There are some, thank God, who equally stand to their +covenants with Him; but, alas! that so many open their mouths, and sing +and say words of consecration, but when the temptation comes they do +not stand to their vows. + +Of all the people who hinder the cause of Jesus Christ, I think the +most lamentable cases are those who go back upon their Lord. Having +spoken, they do not fulfil their word; having vowed, they do not +perform their vows. They lack that decision which can be expressed in +the words, 'I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of His +people', and I want to urge all such to join with those of us who, +bowing before the Divine altar, renew our covenant, resolving by His +grace to bind ourselves in perpetual devotion and service. + + _Take my poor heart, and let it be + For ever closed to all but Thee; + Seal Thou my breast, and I shall wear + The pledge of love for ever there._ + + + + +XIII + +The Baptism of the Spirit + +'_And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty +wind.... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost._' (Acts ii. +2, 4.) + + +The Holy Ghost is the active force in all spiritual life. It is, +therefore, important that we should realize the close connexion between +the experience of Holiness and that 'Promise of the Father' for which +the early disciples were to wait. All followers of Jesus should +realize, as truly as the disciples did on that historic day, that their +day of Pentecost has fully come, and each of us should be able to say, +'Not only was the Holy Ghost outpoured upon the waiting host in that +Jewish centre, but Pentecost has come to my heart. The Spirit of the +living God has come to me.' + +Now, whatever manifestations of the Holy Ghost there might have been in +Old Testament times--and without question there were some wonderful +displays--the age in which we live is the dispensation of the Holy +Ghost for us. Our Lord said that He should come to convince the world +of sin, and to produce many other mighty effects. + +To my mind, that Pentecostal event was like the launching of God's +great campaign for the evangelization of the world. The world without +the Holy Ghost would be as dark, spiritually, as the material world was +in the beginning before the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters, +and God said, 'Let there be light'. + +Going over Peter's sermon on that occasion, we find him quoting Joel's +very wonderful prophecy, claiming its fulfilment that day. And amongst +all the glorious truths that have been proclaimed in our own time, +there is none grander than that God will dwell with men--yea, the +Spirit of God will dwell _in_ men. + +You cannot read your Bibles, nor look through the books of human +experience, without seeing that God's great purpose in the outpouring +of the Spirit was the setting up of His Kingdom upon the earth. And we +see that as the Son of God humbled Himself to earth's poverty, +ignominy, and death, to redeem men, so the Holy Ghost is sent to be the +great operating force in leading the world back to God. The hope of the +world is in the presence of the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ. + +_It is so in relation to the individual soul._ The Holy Ghost stands at +the door of the Kingdom of God, either to bar the entrance or to fit +the soul to enter. You remember the Saviour's words to Nicodemus, +'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the +kingdom of God'. There is, and can be, no entrance without conversion. + +'No man', says Paul, 'can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.' And +when some would have put outward religion or the profession of it in +the place of this conversion, the deciding point was stated in +unmistakable terms: 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is +none of His.' The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of +Health, the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Power, and there would be no +hope for the human soul or the individual life apart from His gracious +presence and influence. + +This matter cannot be explained in terms of ordinary language, but it +is none the less real and definite in human experience. To Nicodemus, +Jesus said, 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the +sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it +goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit'. The Spirit, like +the wind, is mysterious in movement, uncontrolled by human restriction, +and yet its influences are all-pervading. The courses of the wind are +to be discerned by the effects; equally so will the Spirit's +operations; mysterious, unfettered, unexplainable these operations may +be, but the effects are discernible in ourselves and others. + +Analysing the purpose of God in the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, _we +see its application to ourselves in several ways_. + +There is the rectification of our own hearts, the revealing of Divine +things within us, the transforming of our characters. All these are +indications of the Holy Ghost's work in ourselves; and then comes the +power to help and bless and save others, God making us channels of +blessing, and instruments by which His Kingdom can be extended. + +In this connexion there are two sayings of Jesus, which, although the +figure is changed, come up together in my mind. The first is in the +story of the woman at the well in Samaria. The Saviour said to her what +is very applicable to you, 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that I +shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him +shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life'. +Later, on the last day of the feast, Jesus said, 'He that believeth on +Me, out of him shall flow rivers of living water'. Do you see what +those two sayings of Jesus set before us? The one shows how the Baptism +of the Spirit provides the inward spring, the inward supply, bubbling +up within, fresh, clean, sweet, and vitalizing like a 'fountain ever +springing'; the other indicates the outflow, from us to others, of this +spiritual force and blessing. + +Now, you want both the inward spring and the outward flow. Some of you +are very desirous about the second provision: 'Out of you shall flow +rivers of living water'. It is good that you have such desires; but +before you can become a channel through which the vital force can flow +for the Salvation of others, you must yourselves be the subject of the +Spirit's operations within you. Not only as the great Revealer must the +Holy Ghost make Divine things real to you, but as a purifying flame He +must change your nature, purging away the natural corruption and +sinfulness of your heart. + +An Eastern legend says that an angel once rested by a fair fountain. In +a favoured hour he infused it with a mysterious power, so that if only +some drops of its water were scattered in a barren plain, a fountain of +sweet water would spring up. Any traveller who henceforth came to the +spring might, after refreshing himself, take some portion from it, and +carry with him the secret of unfailing springs, and suffer no fear of +thirst either for himself or those with him. + +We are such travellers, and for us the water which Christ gives is +better than that fabled fountain, for he who carries the precious water +may drop it in places where no spiritual water is, and so bring life +and blessing to the multitudes of needy souls. Oh, note the words, 'The +water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing +up', and 'out of him shall flow rivers of living water'. This He spake +of the Spirit which they that believe on Him should afterwards receive. + +That is a very blessed promise, 'Ye shall receive power after that the +Holy Ghost is come upon you'; and yet, so far as we understand the +prevailing experience of Christian people, the promises of power are +very feebly realized, and very slowly acted upon. When we see the +manifest lack of the Holy Ghost in the experience, and ask, 'Why is +this?' we know that the cause may lie in certain easily defined facts. + +One reason may be the actual _existence of sin in the heart_--some +hidden or secret wrong. There are numbers in whose hearts there is +something wrong. Is it so with you? Is there some inward love of or +desire for evil? Or the world spirit--is that there? Or anything of a +similar character? Now, before the Holy Ghost can flow into you, to say +nothing of Him flowing through and out of you, these wrong things must +be purged away by the cleansing stream; or, to change the figure, the +purifying flame must + + _Burn up the dross of base desire, + And make the mountains flow._ + +Or the hindrance may lie in a _want of surrender and faith_, without +which the Spirit cannot possess and use us. I am not speaking of some +act of surrender or faith only, but also of that condition which must +be maintained. It is just that neglect or withdrawal which disturbs the +touch with God, and so the connexion is broken. You are all familiar +with the electric switch and the light. You know how slight is the +thing which connects or disconnects the current. A child's finger can +touch a button which will turn on enough electricity to blast a rock or +move the machinery of a great factory. + +And so I tell you that little things which are held on to against God's +will switch off the Power. That unwillingness in some hearts to follow +the Lord, and do as He commands, will switch it off; that spirit which +chooses to do this, but won't do that; which says, 'I will go here, but +I won't go there', that sort of thing breaks the connexion. + +This comes home very close to some of you, for, alas! it is just there +that your power fails. You must ask yourselves what are the hindrances, +if any, in your hearts and lives? Some of you are weak, wavering, +wobbling, and uncertain. If you look closely you will find the secret +of that in your want of surrender and faith. Do not make a mistake; the +inward experience is closely related to the outward service. God's plan +is first to do the cleansing, and then the filling; first the inward +spring, and then the outward flowing river. + +One other important thing. If you have not got the Holy Spirit abiding +within you, _no substitute will meet the need_. Many try to make other +things produce the same effects--religious talking, singing, energetic +service, or the memories of spiritual experiences. These are all very +good, but of themselves they will no more meet the necessities of your +hearts and lives than a picture of a fire will warm the man who spreads +out his hands before it. You must have the real thing--the power of the +Holy Ghost. + +Now, the Lord is around and among us, saying, 'Receive ye the Holy +Ghost'; and whether you are an enslaved sinner, or a backslider in +heart; or whether it is the assurance of Salvation, cleansing from sin, +or power for service, which you lack, the Holy Ghost will meet your +particular need. Let God work His will in you, and in Jesus Christ's +name I say, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'. + + _'Tis fire we want, for fire we plead, + Send the fire! + The fire will meet our every need, + Send the fire! + For strength to ever do the right, + For grace to conquer in the fight, + For power to walk the world in white, + Send the fire!_ + + _To make our weak hearts strong and brave, + Send the fire! + To live a dying world to save, + Send the fire! + Oh, see us on Thy altar lay + Our lives, our all, this very day-- + To crown the offering now we pray, + Send the fire!_ + + + + +XIV + +Lost Earnings + +'_He that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with +holes._' (Haggai i. 6.) + + +In our Holiness Meetings we often speak of Full Salvation as a blessing +to be obtained, and also a blessing to be retained; but I want now to +turn the truth the other way round, and speak about 'losing the +blessing'. These words of Haggai about the man who lost his earnings +through a faulty bag will serve me as a text, and are very significant. + +As a figure of speech, the words are well understood. From the boy who, +by holding a horse, or running errands, earns threepence, and puts it +into a pocket with a hole at the bottom, to the man or woman who puts +the savings of years into a rotten speculation, all know the literal +meaning of Haggai's text, 'He that earneth wages earneth wages to put +it into a bag with holes'. + +The central idea is that something gained by hard effort has been lost, +and that the loss was due to the man's own fault. The man had earned +his wages, and then let what he had won by toil slip through holes in +the bag into which he put it. The possibility of this in relation to +spiritual blessings is a danger we are warned against in God's Word, +and the necessity for guarding against such losses is one of the +important lessons to be learned. + +This text reminds me of an incident and parable in the Book of Kings. +During the progress of a battle one of the leaders, having captured a +prisoner, called to a subordinate and placed the captive in his care, +to be kept at the risk of his life. Later, the man had to give an +account, and when admitting the loss of the prisoner he said, 'As thy +servant was busy here and there, he was gone'. Alas! there are many +whose spiritual acquisitions have slipped away like that. + +The spiritual application of this thought is brought home to us by a +verse in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 'Therefore we ought to give the +more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time +we should let them slip'. If you look in the margin of your Bible, you +will see the words, 'run out as leaking vessels', and in the Revised +Version the words read, 'drift away from them'. You see the idea is, +that unless you are careful you will lose your blessing after having +enjoyed it. + +Looking round my audiences I can with fitness use these figures, and +apply the idea to many who, after tears and agonies of heart, secured +the Salvation of their souls, and the heavenly treasure which only the +pardoned sinner knows; but, alas! through the faulty bag, or pocket +with holes, their earnings slipped away, and they are now spiritual +bankrupts, their latter state being worse than the first. Thank God, if +those who have thus lost their Salvation and peace will truly repent +and do their first works, they may again obtain heavenly treasure, and +with it grace and wisdom to prevent the repetition of past follies. Let +others learn and take heed lest they also drift away, as the Apostle +puts it. + +My chief purpose, however, relates to those who, though they once _had +the blessing of a clean heart, have lost it_. Their present lack is not +due to their having exhausted their earnings in lawful pursuits, or +because they invested their treasure in sanctified enterprises, but +because they have let the blessing slip; or, turning back to Haggai's +words, they have been as him 'that earneth wages to put it into a bag +with holes'. The experience is a thing of the past. At times they are +tempted to say that they were deluded, and never had the blessing, or +that they were as a man who only dreamed that he had his wages; but +that is not so. The wages were earned, but lost. + +So you must not regard your experience as the sensations of a dream. +You had the blessing right enough, and some of you had secured it at no +small sacrifice; but, alas! you let it slip out of your possession, and +you woke up to find it gone. + +It is remarkable how many sanctified people have to testify that before +they settled into the regular experience of Full Salvation they lost +the blessing which they had received; in fact, some eminent saints have +recorded repeated experiences of loss before they learned how to carry +themselves and guard against the dangers. + +Perhaps here I ought to say definitely, that the Bible does not tell us +of any stage in our heavenward journey at which we can be saved from +the possibility of losing the blessing. This blessed treasure of +perfect purity, peace which passeth all understanding, and joy +unspeakable, is only ours so long as we maintain that entire +consecration and faith which are the conditions on which the blessing +is received. There is no spot where the advice is not necessary--'Keep +thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life'. +Paul put it clearly, 'Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest +he fall', and showed how seriously he regarded the matter when he +declared that he had to keep his body under and in hand, lest after +preaching to others he should himself become a castaway. + +I have called to mind two remarkable touches of Bunyan, in his +'Pilgrim's Progress'. The first picture shows us Christian, weary with +climbing the Hill Difficulty, turning aside into a pleasant arbour +where he sat down to rest. For the comfort of his own heart he pulled +out his roll of assurance. He also began to examine with great +satisfaction the coat which had been given to him, and 'after pleasing +himself for a while' he fell into a slumber, and in his sleep let the +roll fall from his hand. + +Mercifully, Christian was awakened, and hasted along the road. Later, +he got into great temptation, and, desiring to reassure his own heart, +he put his hand into his bosom to find the roll, 'which was his pass to +the Celestial City'; but, to his horror, it was not there! After great +distress Christian remembered his sleeping in the arbour, and painfully +retraced his steps 'bewailing his sinful sleep in the midst of +difficulty'. He reached the place of his loss, and at last espied the +roll which had slipped out of his hand. He secured it once more, and +after giving thanks for his recovery, the Pilgrim betook himself again +to his journey. + +Bunyan's other picture of Vain-hope is even more pathetic. The vision +shows the gate of the Celestial City, and the entrance of Christian and +other pilgrims. But when this man, Vain-hope, came up, he had no roll +or certificate, having lost it, if he ever had it; the poor wretch +passed away to 'a door on the side of the hill', which caused the +dreamer to write, 'Then I saw that there is a way to Hell even from the +very gates of Heaven'. + +How true, therefore, it is, that at every stage of the heavenward +journey, one has to guard against the loss of that spiritual treasure +which has been secured at such a cost. + +I hope you see clearly that the Divine treasure is all right, and the +possibility of its continued enjoyment is not in question. If lost, the +fault is with the bag or carrier of the bag. But by pointing out some +of the holes in the bag through which certain people have lost their +blessing, we may help them and others. + +As one hole through which spiritual loss is sustained, let me first +speak of _ignorance_. I do not say that in an unkind way. By ignorance +I mean _lack of knowledge_. You cannot imagine a man putting his wages +into a faulty pocket if he knew there was a hole there. + +There are traps and pitfalls for the newly sanctified. Some know of +them; others do not know, and are unprepared for dangers and the +devices of the Devil, who, if he cannot hinder a man getting the +blessing will scheme to rob him of it. For instance, temptations to +doubt are pressed on a soul just entering the path of Holiness: 'Can it +be?' 'Have I been deceiving myself?' 'I thought I should have such and +such sensations; where are the feelings of ecstasy which I expected?' +The uninstructed soul often confuses feelings with assurance, +particularly if in the moment of deliverance some special wave of +feeling swept over the soul. When this wave subsides the sensations are +different, and the soul is tempted to doubt the reality of the +transaction. + +Personally, I am always thankful that both in the matter of conversion +and getting a clean heart, the Lord left me to claim the blessing by +naked faith. I had little or no special feelings; I just had to go on +believing. I stepped out, as upon thin air, and found my feet on the +rock. + +For lack of knowledge many souls imagine that Holiness will mean +ecstasy, or that the sanctified soul will not feel temptation; and +Satan feeds the anxious thought until sometimes the hand of faith is +unclasped, and the blessing lost for the time being. + +Later on the faithful soul learns to hold on, to resist the enemy's +insidious attacks, and understands the meaning of the lines-- + + _Quick as the apple of the eye + The first approach of sin to feel_. + +Again, _unwatchfulness_ is a hole, a danger against which I warn +you. Recently saved people, and those who have recently found Full +Salvation, are tempted to say, 'Glory to God, now I am all right!' +forgetting that, although on the right road, the journey is before +them, and that the rule of the road is, '_As_ ye received the Lord +Jesus, _so_ walk in Him'. Do not forget the relation between those two +little words 'as' and 'so'. + +Now the word _unwatchfulness_, or I might change it for _carelessness_, +is a very general term. I will touch upon two or three things in which +it shows itself. Going where Jesus could not go with you; to do that is +like playing with pitch, or with fire. Keeping company with the wrong +people: some of you lose there; treating Meetings and prayer lightly; +resenting little unkindnesses and persecution; carelessness of speech; +gossiping, frivolity, forgetting that whilst the Holy Ghost is a Spirit +of Joy, He is grieved by lightness and frivolous jesting. These are +some of the little holes through which the blessing drops out. You must +watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation. + +Then, _holding back from testimony_ is a snare into which some of you +have fallen. Listen to me! Some of you have tried to testify, and your +very backwardness and fear have been holes in your bag through which +the blessing has been lost. + +May I once more refer to myself. When, during a long course of years, I +have been bold and outspoken about my possession of the blessing of +Full Salvation and my relations to God, sureness and confidence have +filled my heart; but when I have been tempted to modify and hedge and +hesitate in the terms of my testimony, I have had reason to say, 'Is it +so? Where am I?' Apply what I am saying to your own experience, and +judge ye what I say. + +_Failure to walk in the light_ has been the cause of many professors of +Holiness losing their blessing. The path of Holiness brings many +surprises and tests. Demands not previously thought of come upon one; +duties not expected are presented; sacrifices are required: Do this, do +that. Let that go. Follow here, go there. I doubt whether any single +day passes which does not bring its test of our consecration. If you +follow the light, you will be safe; but if you refuse it, you will go +under. Disobedience and a spirit of unwillingness knock holes in the +bag. It has been so with some of you, and loss has been the result. + +I want to add a word about _personal prayer_ in this connexion, for I +believe many owe their loss to a neglect of that essential. The lack of +prayer shows over-confidence in oneself, and accounts for many falls. +'Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and +watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.' This is +indeed a necessary condition of keeping the blessing. + +My closing question Is a very straight one. Have you got the blessing +of a clean heart now? If you have had it and lost it, seek it once +more. Make haste to the altar; renew your consecration again, claiming +the blessing, and the Lord will restore you. + + + + +XV + +Fighting Holiness + +'_Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life._' (1 Timothy +vi. 12.) + + +My object, in announcing 'Fighting Holiness' as my subject, is to make +it quite clear that a Full Salvation does not mean a hot-house +emotionalism or glass-case sanctity, but a vigorous, daring, aggressive +religion, on the lines of the Saviour's words, 'The Kingdom of Heaven +suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force'. + +If this text, 'Fight the good fight of faith', means anything at all, +it means you must struggle for the thing you believe in. If you do not +fight for it, the inference is either that you have little love for and +confidence in your cause, or that you are indolent and unfaithful to +that cause. + +You say you believe in the rightness of God's claims upon the hearts +and lives of men; you believe in the humiliation and passion of Christ +to redeem men; you believe in the necessity for and possibility of +rescuing human souls from the curse of evil and the eternal penalty of +sin; but, believe me, your faith is vain if you do not stand for, and +labour and fight to enforce, God's claims to proclaim Christ's +redeeming grace, and to deliver men from going down to the pit. + +The aspects of personal Holiness set out in terms such as 'perfect +peace' and the 'rest of faith' are frequently before us, and I do not +desire to reduce their value, for it is a blessed truth that 'we which +have believed do enter into rest'. If by the 'rest of faith' is meant +that calm confidence in the power and grace of God by which the +believing and obedient soul is kept in perfect peace, then, all right; +that, however, is very different from the only-believe-and-do-nothing +policy of some people who adopt the phrase. Let there be no mistake +about the fact that every consecrated man must take his place in God's +fighting line. + +The story of Mary of Bethany, 'who sat at the Lord's feet, and heard +His word', also appeals to me; but the emphasis is not quite as some +people put it. What Christ commended in Mary was not that she sat at +His feet whilst Martha did all the hard work, but that she had 'chosen +the good part--the one thing needful', which her anxious sister seems +to have overlooked. + +There is rest for the struggling soul who finds in Jesus a real +deliverer. There is rest for the soul tossed about on waves of doubt +and fear, who, anchoring in the haven of the Saviour's love, finds +peace in believing. For the faithful but tired servant of Christ who +'works whilst it is called day', for the warrior also who has faced the +enemy and braved the danger, there is rest; but the rest comes after +the working and fighting is over. + +I like the words 'fight' and 'fighting', because _they involve taking a +side_, and devoting oneself to secure victory for the side one belongs +to. I heard some one remark the other day, 'God wants fighting saints +as well as kissing saints'; truly the phrase is not without its lesson +for us. This is the very opposite to the attitude known as 'sitting on +the fence', or that wretched fear which seems to possess some professed +followers of Jesus Christ, who, outside a church or religious Meeting, +are afraid to declare themselves for Him.' I am for Jesus Christ, and I +want everybody to know it'; that is the line of the true Soldier. + +Oh, how the spirit of compromise curses and hinders the work of God! I +think the man who invented the phrase 'out-and-out consecration' was a +benefactor to the cause, seeing it is such a contradiction of the +half-and-half spirit which characterizes so much religious profession +and service. + +When reading the history of the American Civil War, I found instances +of strange fraternizing on the part of the soldiers of contending +armies. Sometimes the soldiers of the North would be on one side of a +river when the Southern troops were on the other side. With the evening +came suspension of hostilities, and under cover of darkness men of one +army would cross over to the enemy's camp to smoke and talk with men +who during the day had sought their destruction. That may have seemed +very fine, from a certain point of view, but is regrettable in +religious warfare. When the Soldiers of Jesus cross over to the Devil's +forces for their pleasure and refreshment, it indicates little devotion +to their King or enthusiasm for His cause. + +Why should we be friends with the enemies of our Lord? If we have +sincerely chosen His side, let all compromise cease, and each of us +declare and stand for Him at all costs. + +Then this idea of Fighting Holiness implies that _the sanctified +Soldier of Christ is an aggressor in the struggle for his Lord's +supremacy_. He cannot be content with following the line of the least +resistance; he is rather in the spirit of the words already quoted, +'The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by +force'. + +The business of attack in Spiritual Soldier-ship is quite as important +as the protection of your own soul or defence of your position. It may +involve doing violence to your own feelings, and oft-times to the +feelings of others, but you cannot be faithful to your profession +unless willing to attack the Devil's strongholds, and fight evil in its +own entrenchments. + +I was much interested a few days ago in the story of a man connected +with a Corps where there has been a marvellous religious awakening. The +man got truly saved, and became a Salvation Soldier. A month later he +was convinced of his need of a clean heart, his chief conviction being +that he ought to become 'a fisher of men'. He went to the mercy-seat, +made his consecration, claimed the blessing and power, and began +fishing for souls. That was a little over a year ago; recently the +results of that man's personal fishing were ascertained, and it was +seen that since his consecration he had personally induced over 300 +persons to go to the mercy-seat for Salvation. That is an illustration +of the aggressive spirit included in Fighting Holiness. + +We each find our own particular difficulties with which we should +grapple, and the enemies whom we ought to attack; but, speaking +generally, I point to the evil influences which are around us, cursing +the people, the victims, alas! being multiplied by those who fatten on +the woes and vices and even ruin of their fellows. These influences +must be resisted, the fiends of Hell in human form must be grappled +with, and 'the prey be taken from the mighty'. People must be aroused +from their indifference and selfishness; the cold-blooded carelessness +and worldliness of formal religionists must be assailed as well as help +rendered to those who are ready to perish. Our fighting programme must +include all this, if we are to be consistent professors of holy +consecration to God and His Kingdom. + +Then, further, I recognize that _personal spiritual conflicts are +included in Fighting Holiness_. That is to say, our battles and +victories relate not only to resistance of the Devil and the rescue of +his captives, but in the varying phases of personal experiences we have +to fight this good fight of faith. + +Spiritual conflicts often have much mystery connected with them. If the +fact had not been recorded, that Christ was tempted in all points like +as we are, and learned obedience in the things which He suffered, we +should wonder whether some of our struggles of faith were not the +result of personal sin. We know, however, that there may be much +temptation without either contracting the guilt or stain of sin. + +It is true that spiritual conflicts are all the more dangerous for +those who have not yet found deliverance from their own unsanctified +passions and tendencies. A heart in which such things as pride and evil +desire, lust, worldly ambition, and ill-tempers remain, is like a +citadel in which traitors lurk to respond to the call of outward +enemies. But when the heart is sanctified, and we are equipped with the +armour of which Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the attacks of the enemy +can be continually resisted. + +I cannot cover the area of spiritual conflict. As varied as our +characters are our temptations, and with all the changes in +circumstances and physical or mental condition come enticements to +evil. We have never taught that Holiness of heart means freedom from +temptation. In one form or another temptation will come to the holiest +of us, and the fight of faith has to be sustained even up to the very +gates of Heaven. + +The fully consecrated soul has not only to resist the temptations to +positive sin, but must manifest its victory in the patient endurance of +physical ills and the trials of life; and that apostolic note of +triumph is also a word of guidance, 'This is the victory which +overcometh ... even your faith'. + +Human nature, even with the best of us, is a marvellous combination. We +have nerves which sometimes vibrate like the wires of a highly-strung +harp. Mental clouds at times seem to shut the sun out of the conditions +of life, and dark shadows stretch across or along the pathway. Some of +us have dispositions which, whilst capable of exquisite pleasure, also +expose us to the most acute pain and disappointment. Then comes the +temptation to charge against our spiritual condition weaknesses which +are purely physical. To resist such temptations is indeed the fight of +faith. + +Physical depression comes upon some people until, for the time being, +life is a burden and death would be a relief. Measured by their bodily +and mental sensations, their experience is sometimes like a stretch of +arid desert, and in such hours the enemy assails the mind with +difficulties and suggestions to doubt, which can only be conquered by +steady confidence in the love and wisdom and prevailing grace of the +living God. That is the good fight of faith. + +I hope that what I have said will not discourage any soul. Remember, if +we are fully given up to God, and seeking to realize His will for us, +we are not fighting a losing battle; 'He that is with us is greater +than they that be against us'. The provision of Divine Grace is such +that, in spite of enemies and dangers, our life can be one of victory; +we can be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. The victor's +palm and the overcomer's crown will more than compensate for the +self-denial and loss of things which the world counts gain. + +Many of you know the story of a certain Indian conqueror who, in his +onward march, came to a temple containing a specially sacred idol. This +he was proceeding to destroy, when the priests and others pleaded with +him, and offered a large sum of money if he would only spare that idol; +but, refusing the bribe, the conqueror demolished the image, and found +within it the treasures of the temple, which for safety had been hidden +there. There are many things which we may lose by fighting our battles +faithfully, but the heavenly treasure will more than make up for it +all. + +'Be thou faithful unto death' is a strong exhortation; but that which +makes it a positive inspiration to loving and enduring service and +fighting is the added sentence, 'I will give thee a crown of life'. + + + + +XVI + +Sanctified Commonplaces + +'_In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness +unto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls +before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be +holiness unto the Lord of hosts._' (Zechariah xiv. 20, 21.) + + +What I have to say may not strike some of you as setting forth any very +high or exalted truth, but I am satisfied as to its being a very +important matter. I want to talk to you about the sanctification of the +commonplace things in life. + +However desirable it may seem, you cannot always be sitting at the +Master's feet in that contemplative, ecstatic mood sometimes attributed +to Mary. Like Martha, we have to do a good deal of serving. Whether we +are _encumbered_ by 'much serving' is a separate question; but if we +are to fulfil the Divine tasks we have to do a great deal of serving as +well as praying and trusting. I may quote, with slight alteration, two +lines of a poem:-- + + _Who sleeps and dreams that life is beauty, + Will wake to find that life is duty_. + +How true that is in practical life many of us know full well. + +The most attractive manifestation of God's power is seen in the fact +that He stoops to touch men at the points of their daily need. It is +that aspect of the grace of God--the meeting your need in the daily +battle of life--which makes it so supremely precious. In the same way, +when we, who profess to be followers and imitators of our Heavenly +Father, and to regulate our conduct by the principles of holy living, +bring these principles to bear upon the ordinary relationships of life, +we are most accepted in our witness for Jesus Christ, and exert the +best, the most effective influence upon others. + +These are the thoughts that have been in my mind, and which have led me +to the subject upon which I wish to speak: the sanctification of the +commonplace things. My thoughts arise from reading this passage in the +Book of Zechariah: 'In that day shall there be upon the bells of the +horses, _Holiness unto the Lord_; and the pots in the Lord's house +shall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem +and in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts'. + +Now, when we look at these things, these pots and pans and horses and +bridles and things of that sort, having to do with our daily toil, our +cooking and eating, our work at home and in the streets, and compare +them with the glories of the Temple, the golden candlesticks, the +golden vessels, the High Priest's wonderful garments, his breastplate, +and, not least, with the Ark of the Covenant, we feel they are very +commonplace things. And yet, you see, according to this statement the +same stamp of holiness is to be put upon them all. Even the most +commonplace of them comes within the scope of this Divine sanctity, and +there is to be in relation to each of them this sacredness, this +sanctification: 'Holiness unto the Lord', is the stamp for all alike. + +As an illustration of how _Jesus did great things by the use of the +commonplace_, look at that narrative of the marriage in Cana of +Galilee. We should probably never have heard of this marriage but for +our Lord's miracle; and yet, apart from His Divine power, the process +of turning the water into wine and transforming the character of the +entire feast, that event was, indeed, a very common one. + +Look, first of all, at these clay pots--common enough--jars and jugs, +standing in a corner, or perhaps standing out on the veranda, near +where the Saviour was sitting. These pots are easily broken, and no +great value is attached to them. If Christ had intended to do this +great thing you would have imagined that He would have called for the +best vessels in the house; but He did nothing of the kind. He took the +very meanest vessel of the whole household, and He consecrated and +sanctified it to His Divine use. + +Look at the water--that is common enough. Wine is costly, but water is +cheap; it is thrown about, slopped about, and the pails containing it +are often upset because easily filled again. Ordinarily speaking, water +is one of the commonest of the commonplace necessaries of life. And yet +that water was sanctified for a display of the Divine power. + +Then there are the servants--never a scarcity in the East, where often +there are three to do one man's work. Christ did not call the master of +the house to stand near and observe Him, or say, 'Ye highly-placed +guests, come and see'. He left the head people, as we should say, and +took the common servants. 'Fill up the jars; draw it out; carry it to +the governor; pass it round', was His simple command. And the water was +turned into wine. Some one has poetically said, 'The modest water saw +its Lord, and blushed'; but it was more than that, for His was the best +wine of the feast. + +Christ, you see, sanctified commonplace things and persons to display +His benevolence and power. Make some practical use of them in regard to +your own lives. + +It is hardly needful for me to point out that life is very largely made +up of commonplaces--commonplace engagements, commonplace relationships, +and commonplace duties. There are some who are a little better off than +others, but even such people have common things to do before they get +through the routine of life. With some of us it is altogether +so--commonplace in the home, commonplace in the situation, commonplace +in the workshop, commonplace in the office, commonplace in what we do +for our living, and commonplace in the persons with whom we are +associated. Nothing great or dignified about it. It is indeed a case of +'the trivial round, the common task'. + +But, whether you are a business man or a road-sweeper, you can live the +sanctified life. + +Some of you may be heads of houses or domestic servants, horse-drivers +or laundry-workers, factory hands or the owners of factories; but +whatever you are, as followers of Jesus Christ, God wants you to put +this label upon each and every section of your life--'Holiness unto the +Lord'. He wants you also to conduct yourselves in every way consistent +with that thought. The pots and the pans, and the bridles of the +horses, and whatever we may have to do, must be labelled with that. + +'Commissioner, can a man have a clean heart and drive a cab?' a man +recently asked me. 'Of course, he can,' I replied, 'and if you come +with me I will show you how to do it'. + +Why, the way in which we use these things is to be a part of our +consecrated service to God. It does not sound very lofty, but that is +just where the highest exhibition of Holiness can be given to the +world. It is not what you do--that may seem very important or may be +very trivial; but it is the manner of doing it and the motive behind it +which is the main thing. + +You have all heard the story of the servant-girl who had got the +blessing, and who, when asked how she knew she had it, said that she +knew it because she 'now swept under the mats'. What a very simple +thing, and yet the blessing of Holiness just shows itself in that. +Sweeping round the mat and in the middle of the room only is not +'Holiness'. The girl was quite right; she knew that the sanctifying +Grace of God had made a change in her, because she wanted to clean +where dirt would not have been seen even if left there. + +How beautiful the lines of George Herbert, where, after speaking of +doing things 'for Christ's sake', he says:-- + + _A servant with this clause + Makes drudgery divine; + Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws + Makes that and the action fine._ + +The fact that you do your work in the spirit of your religion +sanctifies your lives. It transforms them from secular to sacred. Your +work and your worship spring from the same motive, and those who see +this treat you and your work with respect. The Scripture puts it +beautifully in speaking of the Apostles, 'The people took knowledge of +them that they had been with Jesus'. + +Observe carefully how Zechariah combines the great and the commonplace. +He says not only that the pots in the Lord's house shall be as sacred +as the bowls before the altar, but that every pot and pan in the city +shall be sanctified. The great point to be learned is that the Holiness +of the home is to be as the Holiness of the Temple. The dedication +which makes the bowls before the altar holy is also to sanctify the +pots of the household, and the bells and trappings of the horses; the +label which was written upon the priest's forehead, 'Holiness unto the +Lord', is to be stamped upon the common things, in the street, in the +shop, in the house--in fact, upon everything. + +Get rid for ever of the idea that the affairs of human life are divided +into things secular and things sacred; that business is separate from +religion, and religion separate from business; that the consecration of +certain hours to Meetings, to Bible-reading, or to religious work, is a +different sort of thing from the devotion of other hours to labour, or +eating, or physical necessities. Now, such a division may exist with +some, but it cannot be allowed to exist in the lives of those who +profess to have consecrated themselves to God. + +In that case there is only _one label for everything_. For the meanest +act, the commonest duty, the personal and private habits, there is only +one motive, 'Holiness unto the Lord'. God's will, God's honour, God's +service--these are on the labels. And-- + + _The trivial round, the common task, + Will furnish all we ought to ask, + Room to deny ourselves--a road + To bring us daily nearer God._ + +Some have not got there yet. They have not made a dedication such as +Zechariah spoke of, one which governs the whole life, the big and the +little, the work and the worship, their associations and pleasures and +methods of business. There are things in their daily work and personal +habits, little indulgences or selfishnesses, to which that label, +'Holiness unto the Lord', cannot be attached. + +Oh, I beseech you, make no distinctions. Let there be no reserves. +Body, soul, spirit, as we sometimes sing, lay upon the altar. +Consecrate yourselves to your Lord in simplicity and sincerity, with a +simple faith that God will baptize you, and give you His Holy Spirit to +maintain this consecration. + + _What e'er pursuits my time employ, + One thought shall fill my soul with joy; + That silent, secret thought shall be + That all my hopes are fixed on Thee._ + + + + +XVII + +Spiritual Growth + +'_Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose waters +fail not._' (Isaiah lviii. 11.) + +'_Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus +Christ._' (2 Peter iii. 18.) + + +The truths of the Bible exist in counterpart, having at least two +aspects, each of which must be considered in relation to the other, if +their full meaning is to be understood. That is a very necessary +statement in regard to the aspect of truth which we emphasize under the +general heading of 'Spiritual Growth', or 'Growth in the Divine Life'. +On the one hand, we know that spiritual experience is marked by certain +crises which are in some cases like earthquakes or tidal waves; whilst, +on the other hand, the law of progression must be in constant +operation. + +We speak of conversion as a crisis, because a man in a moment 'passes +from death unto life'; or, in the Saviour's words, is 'born again'. +Whatever happens before or after, there must be that definite change +before any man can enter the Kingdom of God. Then, happily, many have +experienced another crisis which we speak of as 'getting a clean +heart'. This happens when an enlightened soul fully and absolutely +consecrates itself to God, and, by faith, claims and realizes that 'the +Blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin'. A man may be a long +time, in coming to that point; but, sooner or later, he must reach and +pass it if he is to secure that 'holiness, without which no man shall +see the Lord'. + +But whilst no amount of improvement in moral character can dispense +with the crises referred to, we cannot rightly magnify the definite +transactions at conversion or cleansing, or any other remarkable point +of religious life, to the detraction of spiritual growth. Each aspect +of the truth, as I have already said, is the counterpart of the other, +and must be viewed in its natural perspective. + +People sometimes express themselves in exaggerated language as regards +both aspects of truth. A lady friend, referring to a young person of +beautiful disposition, said to me, 'Ah, you see, in her case there is +no need of conversion. She was born sanctified like her mother.' Quite +a false notion. But it is equally foolish for persons to exclaim, 'I +am converted, and a child of God; now I am all right'; or, 'Now I have +got a clean heart; it is all done'. As a matter of fact, there is no +more important principle to be cultivated than the law of progression +or advance in the Divine life. That principle is certainly in perfect +harmony with Scripture teaching, and is expressed in Peter's +exhortation, 'Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and +Saviour Jesus Christ'. + +Paul's words about 'growing up unto Him in all things which is the head +even Christ', express the same thought; whilst John shows the ascending +grades of spiritual experience in directing his words to 'little +children', 'young men', and 'fathers'. These grades are not measured by +years, but by progress in spiritual life and vigour and personal +knowledge of God. + +The Bible contains many figures illustrating this idea of growth or +progress, whether applied to character or service. For example, it +refers to the garden as a place where things grow, and thus illustrates +the garden of the soul; to the development of a building in course of +erection, 'all fitly framed together' and growing; to the growth of a +fortune by wise investment, in the use of talents, two becoming four, +five becoming ten, and so forth. The growth of the human body is also +referred to, with its limbs, muscles, and parts developing with the +head; and the growth of the student, as exemplified in the text, 'Add +to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge +temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and +to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity'. + +Then the ideas associated with a garden or the field are also used as +illustrations. The Bible parables from nature are very significant and +powerful. They embrace the vine and its branches, the sower and the +seed, the lily among thorns, the trees planted by the rivers of water; +and thus the facts of the spiritual realm are made clear to us. + +I often speak of _the garden of the soul_. If I widen the figure, and +apply it to our personal character and general make-up, we shall see +the similitude of a garden which is a place where all sorts of things +grow; things related to the body, and to the mind, and to life +generally. + +The gardener studies his ground, and the possible products and +available seed. He seeks to get rid of the weeds and briers and +poisonous plants, in order that the desired products may grow to +perfection. So the ground of our hearts and characters must be purged +from the weeds and hindering things which grow with the affections and +disposition generally. Evil things flourish apace in the garden of +human nature; but if they are removed, sanctified seed may be sown, and +holy plants may be cultivated. + +The Bible also speaks of God's saints as being in '_the garden of the +Lord_', as trees which His right hand planted, or growing from seed +which He has sown, blossoming as the rose, fragrant as the honeysuckle +and almond, and bringing forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory +of His name. But whether you look at your souls as a garden, from which +evil plants are to be removed, and in which the plants of God's grace +are to flourish instead, or regard yourselves as trees in God's garden, +the ideas are always connected with growth, enlargement, and +productiveness. + +Isaiah gives an illustration which is in striking contrast. Speaking of +God's idea concerning His saints, he says, 'Thou shalt be like a +watered garden, and a spring whose waters fail not'; but he supplies +another picture of those 'who forsake the Lord' after having known Him, +God saying to them, 'Ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a +garden that hath no water'. Let us look well at ourselves, and find out +to which class we belong. + +The religion of Jesus Christ is pre-eminently good because it marks +things of evil growth as things to be rooted out, and it produces +qualities in the soul and character which are Christ-like, such as +love, forgiveness of injuries, patience, devotion, and self-sacrifice +for the good of others. These are all things which grow, and must grow, +if we are to be as God wants us to be. Cleansing from evil things we +must definitely seek and secure; but growth in grace and peace and +Divine knowledge, and skill in service, must be sought and cultivated +by us continually. + +It may help our understanding of this truth if we study carefully the +process in the growth of a good tree. If there is satisfactory +development, three things in the tree will be discovered; namely, +growth in the root, growth in the branches, and growth in the form of +flowers and fruit. + +1. I said _growth in the root_. This means that the tree must strike +deep, deeper, and deeper still, so as to get an increasingly firm grip +on the earth below, from which it draws much of its support. Without +this the tree will fall of its own top-weight, or be uprooted by the +storms which will rage about it. So, in the individual soul and +character there must, below the surface, be a deepening and spreading +and gripping of the spiritual forces and principles and realizations, +those hidden connexions with the Divine Unseen without which one cannot +stand before the storms and scorching tests of life. + +One of the sacred writers speaks of a section of God's people in +trouble, and in danger of being wiped out, but reveals God's purpose +for them in these words, 'They shall yet again take root downward, and +bear fruit upward'. It is not difficult to grasp the principle +illustrated; we must cultivate _a religion with roots_, otherwise our +experience will be superficial and shallow, and, like the seed in the +parable, with no depth of earth, and having little root, will +ultimately become dried up. + +This really means growth in secret, growth out of sight, and reminds us +of the beautiful words of Jesus: 'When thou prayest, enter into thy +closet; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is +in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall Himself reward +thee openly'. There are many kinds of prayer, but here is one that +helps growth in the very roots of our religion. It fits in with the +Psalmist's word, 'He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High +shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty'. + +2. I also spoke of _growth in the branches_. It is easy to understand +what the growth of trunk and branches means in a tree; it grows higher, +develops strength, and reaches out farther. It means the same when +applied to growth in grace and character; getting power to grow +stronger in resisting evil and standing for the right; stronger to say +'Yes' and 'No'; stronger to discharge our duty, and to endure hardness +as good soldiers of Christ. Equally it means reaching out, stretching +farther, and extending our efforts to reach and help and bless. + +The banyan tree of the East affords us an apt illustration in this +connexion. Its stem shoots up, its branches dip, touch the earth, and +take root, repeating the process of extension until a great area is +covered, and crowds may shelter beneath it. In like manner the extent +of one's influence may at first be small, and the circle affected by +our power be limited; but if it is wisely used and cultivated, it will +stretch and grow, reaching farther and farther, and touching new people +with new power and blessing. + +You know the old preacher's reproach to the people who sang, 'Oh, for a +thousand tongues!' and yet would not use the one they each possessed to +witness for their Lord. I knew a man who wanted to go to China as a +missionary, who would not testify for Christ in the neighbourhood where +he lived. That meant declension, not growth. Growth comes by using the +grace, stretching out and reaching forth; the power increases by reason +of use. + +3. Finally, there is _growth in the form of flowers and fruit_. God +no more intended His creatures to be barren and unfruitful in religion, +than He intended plants to fail in bloom and fruit. How perfectly clear +Jesus makes this in His Parable of the Vine and the Branches! Of the +branch which abideth in the Vine He says that when purged it shall +experience a certain progression. Observe the order, 'bear fruit--more +fruit--much fruit', and 'fruit which shall remain'. Let us ask +ourselves to which of these stages we have attained, and go on +earnestly to a fuller fruitfulness. + +If I had space to speak of the various kinds of Nature's growth, I +should point out how some fruit is for human food, such as apples, +oranges, grain, and vegetables. Some blossoms are for beauty and +fragrance, and in other cases flowers and fruit appear to be chiefly +for seed purposes; but with almost every plant and tree the best +feature is its reproductive power; that is, fruit is produced whose +seed is in itself, and so multiplies its own kind. + +Is not that what God wants with us? Beauty and grace and gratification, +certainly, for we must adorn the doctrine; but your sanctified fruit +must have the seed in itself, which drops and takes root, and +reproduces itself in the world around you. Remember my last word, +'Herein is your Father glorified that ye bear much fruit'; fruit now +and fruit always; so that, like the trees planted by rivers of water, +you shall 'bring forth fruit even in old age'. + + _Oh, help us, Lord, throughout our time + To test ourselves, by help divine, + To see what fruit we bear; + What promise are we making Thee, + As ripened souls we wish to be, + When harvest home draws near._ + + + + +XVIII + +The Inward Laws + +'_I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write +them. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more._' (Hebrews x. +16, 17.) + + +The beginnings of religion lie in the desire to have our sins forgiven, +and to be enabled to avoid doing the wrong things again. It was so with +David when, in the fifty-first Psalm, he not only cried, 'Have mercy +upon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions', but 'Wash me, cleanse +me from my sin'. + +Sin is a double evil. On the one hand, it creates a record of +wrongdoing which has to be faced; on the other, it creates a disease in +the moral system and spiritual make-up of a man. This disease creates +desires for the evil thing, and so warps and weakens a man's force of +resistance that when the temptation is presented, the inward craving +asserts itself, and makes the man _want_ to go into the temptation. + +To deal with this complex character of sin is a greater problem than +human ingenuity and skill are equal to. God, however, has solved the +problem Himself, and His plan of Salvation is addressed to both aspects +of evil. It includes, first, the forgiveness of sins; and then the +introduction of a new governing force and the power to live according +to the will of God. Both these things are set out in the verses quoted, +although the order of statement is reversed. + +Let me use two stories to illustrate the separate points. The one +relates to a little boy who, having done wrong in his home, had been +dealt with by his mother. Referring to it afterwards, the boy said, +'Yes, I knew mother had forgiven me for the wrong; but I saw in her +face, although she did not frown, that she remembered all day what I +did in the morning'. There are many, no doubt, who forgive in that +fashion; but it is not God's way. He says, 'Their sins and their +iniquities will I remember no more'. He forgets as well as forgives. + +An illustration of the other point came out in the personal testimony +of an eminently religious man who, before his conversion, was addicted +to horse-racing. He said that after his conversion he did not go to the +race-meeting, but very much wanted to do so. Later, when the light came +to him, he got his heart and mind sanctified; and 'Then', said he, 'I +not only did not go, but I had no desires to be there; the Lord had +taken _the want to_ out of my heart'. + +It is the knowledge of these two aspects of evil, and of the necessity +for having the double problem dealt with, which causes us to lay such +emphasis upon the 'clean heart' teaching. First, the forgiveness of the +sins; then cleansing from the evil desire, and getting the power to +live the holy life. This is the essence of our Holiness doctrine. + +There are, as I have frequently pointed out, other things besides inner +experiences connected with true religion; for instance, we read in this +chapter of its outward tokens, such as witnessing for Christ, holding +fast the profession or confession of our faith without wavering. That +is very important. There is also the association with others who are of +the same mind; 'not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together'. +Combination and outward union seem to be within the Divine plan for +extending religion. Stirring one another up to duty is also emphasized, +'exhorting one another', 'provoking one another to love and good +works'; that is, helping each other in the things which make for the +godly life. All these must be in us and abound, if we are to justify +our religion. + +But, after all, _the vital thing about religion is its inward springs +and connexions_; the outer life inspired and regulated by the laws of +God put into our hearts and written in our minds, reproducing +themselves in the activities and relations of daily life. + +We would not undervalue the tables of stone, on which God with His own +finger wrote the Commandments, and delivered them to Moses. We would +ever prize the Blessed Bible, with its sacred records of the wonderful +revelations of the Divine mind and purposes concerning men; for, in +producing these, 'holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy +Ghost'. How much more highly, however, do we value the Spirit of God +writing upon the fleshly tables of the heart, bringing the heart and +mind, not only into the knowledge of God's will, but into harmony with +it, and planting and feeding the living principles which produce the +fruit of good living! + +It is worth while to inquire what are the laws which God undertakes +to put into the hearts and minds of His willing children. In this +connexion we think of _the law of submission and obedience_. Religion +begins there. When seeking Salvation, either at the penitent-form or +elsewhere, we went down, submitted ourselves to God, so far as we knew +it, and declared that we would do what He wanted us to do. + +We saw, felt, and accepted it as the settled thing for us that His will +should be the governing law; that must go on operating all along life's +way. Continuing to follow Him is as important as beginning to do +so--'If any man will deny himself, let him take up his cross, and +follow Me' That means continued submission to His government and +conditions of service. + +In the days of Christ's ministry a large number of people gathered +around Him, but when they saw what was involved, 'they went back from +following Him'. We must see that the surrenders of the sanctified life +are not matters of a moment. There is a supreme moment when +consecration lays its all upon the altar, but every day brings its own +tests even to the most advanced among us. As in Abraham's experience, +the birds of temptation and beasts of prey seek to destroy or defile +the offering, and we have to hold on in our obedience, binding the +sacrifice with fresh cords to the altar. + +Now, we must not miss the point of the Apostle's teaching, which is, +that when the law of God is stamped in the heart and mind, the spirit +of the law prevailing within us makes us desire to obey and serve, and +so we are empowered to sustain the claims of the consecrated life. + +Then, there is _the law of faith_. It is spoken of in these verses. 'We +are to draw near in the full assurance of faith'; that is, with the +confidence that our approaches will not be in vain, because Christ has +opened the way by His own Blood; and we believe that the provisions are +at our disposal. + +Now, faith is a law for the mind as well as for the heart. It is with +the heart that a man 'believeth unto righteousness'; but there must be +an intelligent perception of the facts and of the rightness of the +truth; there must be an apprehension of the reasonableness of God's +requirements before a man will happily submit, obey, and follow. + +May I touch upon our own family sorrow in the death of a beloved son +and Officer in India? Before my heart could rest in the will of God as +exhibited in that bereavement, I had to reach the point of believing +that a Father's hand prepared that cup, and that His will is the best, +and His power and grace will make all things work together for good. +The heart cried out in its agonizing pain and sense of loss; but, +trusting in the Divine Love, rest and peace came to my bereaved soul. + +And so, all along the consecrated way and line of service, it is when +the law of faith is written in the mind, and becomes a settled +perception or conviction, that the sanctified heart is able to find +rest. 'By grace are ye saved through faith', is true at the beginning; +but equally true is the word, 'Kept by the power of God through faith'; +and the principle is that the law in the mind and heart constantly +operates as we tread the appointed path of life and service. + +I cannot leave the subject without touching specially upon one among +other important laws which deserve our consideration; _the law of +love_. Paul was quite right when, comparing the various qualities of +Christian character he declared, 'The greatest of these is love'. 'Love +is the bond of perfectness.' + +Even submission and sacrifice are acts of joy when it is a case of +love's surrender. The blessedness of service is great when love is the +inspiration of that service, and great is the enduring power of true +God-given love. The human will at best is weak; human supports are like +reeds which bend or break when most needed; intellectual capacity or +natural talents are valuable; but, after all, they only stand for so +much in one's life; but 'love never faileth'. I cannot sufficiently +commend to you this law of love in the heart; but, believe me, it +sweetens life's sorrow, lightens life's burdens, and strengthens our +powers of service and endurance. + +How far does our experience harmonize with what has been said about the +nature and conditions of true religion? which is only another way of +presenting the blessing of Holiness. The new and living way of which +the Apostle speaks as opened through the Blood of Jesus, is the only +way to the cleansing fountain and the sanctifying grace. Let his words, +therefore, encourage you to 'enter with boldness', to 'draw near with a +true heart', a heart knowing its need, but believing the promises of +God, and He will meet you and make these inward laws of Holiness and +service your abiding experience. + + + + +XIX + +Worry _versus_ Peace + +'_Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication +with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the +peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts +and minds through Christ Jesus._' (Philippians iv. 6, 7.) + + +Before the full bearing and value of these verses can be realized, I +think they require to be read several times over. Even if the sentences +are read through slowly, just as they stand, a deep sense of blessing +and rest steals into the soul; but the more deeply they are considered, +the richer will the words be found. It would be almost correct for me +to call this a New Testament commentary on Isaiah's beautiful verse, +'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee, +because he trusteth in Thee', for the ideas and their relation are very +similar. + +If we look at the various phases of this message, we shall see that +they are very important. They imply, first, a perfect surrender or +committal of oneself to God, based on a perfect trust; second, open +access to God; freedom of intercourse; telling Him all about things +which try and burden and distress us. We have also perfect peace; that +is, quietness of spirit, rest of soul, deliverance from inward +conflict, consequent upon God's keeping power through Jesus Christ. +Read carefully this Apostolic message, and observe not only the +different sections, but how they are connected, and how, in their +completeness, they express a most desirable spiritual experience. + +Included or connected with Full Salvation are certain blessings to +which we generally refer, such as perfect love and purity, also that +peace to which the Apostle here alludes, as well as a deep, settled +faith in the saving purposes and power of God. But we do not always see +that we may equally include deliverance from that undue anxiety which +we call worry; and yet these verses certainly prescribe a cure for +worry as well as other evils, and it may be helpful for us to look at +that aspect of truth. + +Many are tempted to regard this as an ideal condition, something to +long for, and perhaps to aim at; whereas if the teaching of Paul +here--in fact, of the Bible generally--is not a delusion, this is +intended to be a realized experience; and I remind any who say that +Salvation from worry is too high for us, that they have said just the +same when we have talked about a clean heart, and Salvation from sin +and sinning. + +A thoughtful author has recently written a book bearing the title of +'Worry, the Disease of the Age'. He takes trouble to show that, owing +to commercial competition, the increased desire for luxurious living, +keeping up appearances, and other developments of modern days, heads of +families and persons in responsible positions do a great deal of +worrying. This writer then goes on to say: 'It is, however, more than a +certainty that true religion is a cure for worry, a preventative of +worry, and is utterly incomparable in its performance of these +functions'. 'The religion which Jesus Christ taught in Galilee', says +the same writer, 'is a casting of one's care upon the Lord, an +acceptance of the ills and lashes of life with a settled faith that God +is too good and wise to err or to be unkind, and that He will make all +things work together for good to them that love Him'. + +I know that a state of worry may arise from physical causes. Inflamed +nerves, mental depressions, or hysterical fears, are, in many +instances, quite beyond the control of the sufferer. With others there +is an intense desire to do something or get something done; but I also +know that, as with bad tempers, a good deal is put down to physical and +nervous disorders which ought to be put down to lack of spiritual life +and power. + +Now, when I speak of Salvation from worry, I do not mean deliverance +from nervous agitation or shrinking from physical suffering, although I +do not know how to fix a point where God's gracious power is exhausted, +even as regards these things; but 'worry' is that carking care, that +undue anxiety about one's personal affairs which destroys peace of +mind, burdens the heart, and often leads to distrust of God's love and +power. From such things God's grace is sufficient to deliver. + +Let me be plain, however, on one point. I think carelessness, +recklessness, and indifference to possible happenings, is wrong. You +hear persons say, 'Oh, never mind; what does it matter? Don't fash or +bother yourself.' But such expressions often spring from pure +selfishness, and sometimes exhibit a sinful disregard for the happiness +of other people. Nothing makes it right to ease yourself at the expense +of others, or to shirk burdens by shifting them to other shoulders. +Some are clever at that, but such action may be positively sinful. On +the other hand, God can deliver us from that anxious care and +foreboding and unrest with which so many good people are afflicted. + +Oh, my friends, can you not learn to come to God as the Apostle +directs, making known your requests in 'prayer and supplication with +thanksgiving'? for then 'the peace of God which passeth all +understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ'. + +We need far more trust in the providence of our Heavenly Father. What +needless pain we suffer! what agonies of mind we endure! what clouds +hang above and around us! because we do not trust Him in respect of the +circumstances of life. + +There are those even who are trusting God to forgive their sins and +save their souls, who yet will not trust Him to carry them through a +difficulty in ordinary life and association, or help them with their +bread and butter. The fact is, they doubt God's personal interposition +in the affairs of men; consequently, their affairs get muddled, and +their hearts and minds are disturbed, often to distraction. No truth is +more plainly taught than that God does interpose. 'In all thy ways +acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.' 'The steps of a good +man are ordered by the Lord.' 'Who is he that shall harm you if ye be +followers of that which is good?' 'No weapon that is formed against +thee shall prosper.' + +I know that distrust and doubt can erect all sorts of difficulties, and +perhaps none is more common and specious than what is called by the +sceptical men 'the logic of proportion'. This argument says, 'In a +universe so vast, what is man? As a speck of dust is to a planet, and +as a star is to the vast universe, so is man to the world in which he +lives'. Well, it certainly is not strange that the mind should stagger +at the thought of the Creator of the universe putting His hand to the +management of the details of a human life. And yet God's truth in the +Bible completely wipes out this so-called 'logic of proportion'. + +Let us look at a familiar illustration used by our Master of God's +minute care for those who fully trust and follow Him. One able man has +called what I am referring to 'the doctrine of the odd sparrow'. +Matthew records how, on one occasion, Jesus said, 'Are not two sparrows +sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground +without your Father'. But, turning to Luke, we find a slight variation +in what Jesus said, 'Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and +not one of them is forgotten before God'. Now, do you see the point of +Luke's putting of it? It is as if the dealer had said to the buyer, +'Look here, you want a farthing's worth of sparrows. Well, you can have +two; but, if you will buy two farthingsworth, I will _throw the odd +one in for nothing_'. Two for a farthing; five for a halfpenny. + +But see; of that odd sparrow thrown in as hardly worth counting, Jesus +said, 'Not one of them is forgotten before God. Not one shall fall to +the ground without your Father. Are ye not of more value than many +sparrows?' Now, in the light of that illustration, turn once more to +the Apostolic message, 'Be careful for nothing', and I think you will +find good reason for believing the promise, 'The peace of God shall +keep your hearts through Jesus Christ'. + +Before leaving this matter of worry, I suggest that we look well to +find the cause of the trouble; for, alas! it is not unfrequently the +case that care or undue anxiety arises from positive sin in the heart. +Some of you worry in respect of your position in life as compared with +other people's; but are you sure that some of this fratch and distress +does not arise from feelings of envy, or jealousy, or discontent? +Others may worry because of comparative poverty, but is it not often +pride or ambition concerning yourselves or your children, and a desire +to be level with your neighbours, which causes the trouble? You worry, +perhaps, because people cross your purposes and upset your plans and +irritate you needlessly; but is not the secret really that you resent +interference, and want to have your own way? Now, before blaming your +circumstances, I suggest you have a thorough self-examination, for it +may be that the inward trouble is due to unbelief, selfishness, +ambition, pride, or some other form of heart sin, and that evil must be +dealt with before perfect peace can prevail. + +May I come very close to you, and ask, Is it not true of some that, far +from being kept by the peace of God which passeth all understanding, +you are in a condition, an attitude of mind, which distinctly hinders +the enjoyment of such a blessing? Some, I fear, have not got even as +far as saying, 'Being justified by faith, I have peace with God'. There +is some sin, some indulgence, which God is against; and as rebellion +and peace are opposed to each other, you cannot have guidance and peace +and spiritual blessings until you cast yourselves at the mercy-seat, +and take Christ as your Saviour. + +Again, it may be some point of controversy. Something in regard to your +circumstances, or your consecration, or even your inward condition; you +refuse or hesitate to obey God's call, and follow the light. God has +not left you to yourselves, but the Spirit is grieved by your +unwillingness; and the result is, that you have conflict in your +hearts, clouds in your sky, and failure in your lives. + +Take it from me, that you cannot have this deliverance which the +Apostle describes, this keeping power and peace, unless the will of God +is supreme in your heart. Controversy must be given up, the full +surrender made, and then you must trust yourselves and your lives in +God's hands. If this is done, and the Apostolic direction followed, +then you will be able to sing-- + + _Careless through outward cares I go, + From all distraction free; + My hands are but engaged below, + My heart is still with Thee._ + + + + +XX + +An Appeal and a Response + +'_I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who +will go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me! And He said, Go._' +(Isaiah vi. 8, 9.) + + +The incident with which these words are connected was a real mosaic in +sacred history. You have the record of a vision which was not a dream +but a revelation--a panorama of actualities. The background of this +vision might well absorb our attention. The temple and the glory which +filled it; the throne and Him who sat thereon; the seraphim, with their +wings and ascriptions of Holiness. The atmosphere was, indeed, electric +with the presence of God and the angelic host. + +Isaiah, the solitary human figure in the scene, was overawed with the +glorious majesty of the Divine character; shame at the revelation of +his own impurity overwhelmed him. He rightly felt that he was a blot +upon this temple scene, but the Divine touch of the living fire +transformed him, and prepared him for that which was to follow. + +Analyse this conversation, and you see three things standing in a most +natural order:-- + +First. An Appeal sounds out: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for +Us?' + +Second. A Response is made to that Appeal: 'Here am I; send me'. + +Third. A Commission was given: 'And He said, "Go"'. + +Now this conversation was not only important and imperative as regards +Isaiah and his circumstances, but in its application to ourselves and +our surroundings. I think we shall get some blessing and inspiration +for duty if we consider the three facts as they stand. + +1. _The nature of the appeal was a very simple one._ The Lord wanted a +suitable representative to stand for Him among a sinful, backslidden +people. + +Isaiah was already supposed to fill that position--at any rate, on +special occasions; but he was so much like the people themselves that +in the ordinary way his religion had little weight with them. No doubt +he felt the honour and privilege of being a prophet when a special +message had to be sent, but he hardly realized the high purpose of his +mission, and maybe his cry, 'Here am I; send me', was a pleading for +another chance to better represent His Lord. + +The same appeal, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' is +sounded in our ears to-day. There are certain aspects which I would +like you to note. _It was an appeal based upon a great need._ Then, +as now, the people were without God; indifferent to His claims, few +of them with any experimental knowledge of His Salvation, and, +consequently, having no hope in the world. And in these respects God +wanted a man who would arouse the people, assert His claims, and lead +them back to His service. + +Believe me, the world's need to-day is a deep and terrible one. I need +hardly enlarge upon it. You know it, because samples of it are at your +door and around you. But do not forget that the deepest need of the +people lies in their lack of knowledge of God and that Salvation which, +after all, is the panacea for human woe. + +We live in days when the practical aspects of religion are most +emphasized. The social conditions and physical needs of the poor people +are regarded as affording a sphere for Christ-like effort quite as much +as is the preaching of the Gospel. Bread, not creed; relief as well as +pity; material improvements in place of missions and Gospel addresses +and such-like are demanded on every hand. God forbid, however, that the +doing of these things should be regarded as quite sufficient. + +There are humanitarian considerations, and we must not ignore them. +Squalor, poverty, debauchery, harlotry, oppression, war, and ignorance +are existing evils which must have attention. We must not be so taken +up with the souls as to neglect the temporal, social, and physical +needs of our fellows. But the deepest wail of want and woe which comes +from the world is not to be met by bread, or sovereigns, or sanitation, +or education, or more equal conditions of life. It is the absence of +God and eternal hope which gives the deepest and most sorrowful tone to +the world's bitter cry. + +This was also _an appeal for human help_. I do not know why God has so +tied Himself up as He has, but it is a fact. Although angels are +available, and the direct operations of His Spirit would be almighty, +His plan is to get His will made known by one man telling another. Men +to save men; men to help men; that seems to be God's method, and He +appeals now, as before, 'Who will go for Us?' + +2. The second point I named was _the response to the Divine appeal_: +'Here am I; send me'. Cannot that be repeated in various directions +among us? Thank God for the responses already made, and but for which +dark and hopeless, indeed, would be human hearts and places which have +been illuminated by the light of God's Salvation. But, Oh, for more +ready and larger responses to the appeal which is ever sounding in our +ears! + +Isaiah's response was a _voluntary_ one. Some people are like the horse +whom his owner said had only two faults; one, that he 'took such a lot +of catching', and the other that 'he would not work when he was +caught'. Others have to be disciplined and broken by trouble before +they fall in line with God's will. But why should not every one who +names our Lord's name cry out with a ready spirit, 'Here am I, Lord; +send me'? + +This was also _a response without conditions_; or, as we put it, an +unreserved surrender, an unconditional consecration. It is a matter to +rejoice over when men and women express willingness to do any service, +but it is infinitely better when, coming up to the Divine altar, they +say, 'Here am I, Lord; have your own way; do as you will with me; +anything for Jesus--anywhere for Thee'. Have you got there yet? If not, +let that be the advance which you make now, without further bargaining +and reserves. + +But _this response came from a heart qualified to make it good_. Ah! +that is the secret of all successful service. Isaiah, cleansed, +sanctified, and touched with Divine Fire, was a different person from +the one who lay grovelling in the dust, and crying, 'Woe is me!' Up to +that moment he was too much like those around him; but now, touched, +baptized, and qualified, he was fit to be God's witness and agent. + +That just touches the point where some of you are lacking. You need +this cleansing, this 'unction of the Holy One', or you need it afresh +in the face of the world's crying need. You hold back, you stumble and +often fail; but why? The answer is, you need just what Isaiah got to +qualify him for his mission. You must get this so as to be able to +respond to God's appeal as he did. + +3. Then I also spoke of the _Divine commission which followed the +response_. Observe the process, 'Who will go?' 'Here am I.' '_And He +said, Go_'. That is still the line upon which our Lord acts in sending +out His representatives. + +We sometimes dwell upon the 'Come's' of the Bible, quoting the Divine +invitations for the encouragement of hesitating souls. May we not with +equal force quote the 'Go's' of the Book as indicating the will of God +concerning our duty? + +You remember the Lord's 'Go' to Moses, when, appearing to him in the +burning bush, God set out His plan for Israel's deliverance: 'I will +send thee to bring My people out'. In the same manner the Lord gave +Joshua his marching orders to 'Go over Jordan, and possess the land'. +Paul had a similar experience when the Lord bade him rise and receive +his commission to go to the Gentiles. + +Christ's Parable of the Great Feast strikes the same note when the +liberal host sent out his servants, saying, 'Go out into the highways +and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled'. +But the grand chord was sounded out by our Risen Lord when He said to +His disciples, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to +every creature'. That is the commission given to us. + +During successive years I have, on behalf of The General, had the +privilege of commissioning from our International Training Homes +batches of 400 or 500 young men and women who have been trained to be +Officers of The Salvation Army. That is a grand annual contribution +towards the world's Salvation. But the word comes not only to the +leaders of God's hosts, but to every Soldier and follower of Jesus +Christ who is consecrated to His service. + +_The Lord's 'Go' means different things to different people._ To some, +the Divine finger points one way; perhaps to a distant field, where +millions lie in the darkness of heathendom, or to Army Officership +somewhere. To others it points to spheres of testimony and work near at +hand. The kinds of places and labour are varied, but the purpose is the +same, and all who go out in obedience in God's name will find His +almighty power behind them and blessings in their train. + +I cannot direct you in detail, but in general terms I can say, _Go +where you know God wants you_. Where the streams of sin are sweeping +the people down to damnation and dark despair--go there. Where the poor +people are being ruined by that cup which not only curses now, but at +the last 'biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder'--go there. +Where struggling souls are crying for sympathy and help--go there. +Where the youth of our land are being polluted by depraved men and +women among whom they earn their daily bread--go there. Where God seems +unknown, or His claims unheeded for lack of living witnesses--go there. +Go where you may lift up your voice for your Master; go where a helping +hand or kindly words can minister comfort to depressed and hopeless +hearts. + + _Hark! for the Master calls, + Child, I have need of thee; + Man in thy pride of strength, + Youth in thy beauteous glee, + Aged and young, and rich and poor, + Trifles and toys no more pursue; + The world is wide, and time is short; + There's work for all to do._ + +These thoughts have revived in my memory Scott's poem in which he +records an ancient custom found amongst the traditions of Scottish +history. A chieftain desired to summon his clansmen to war in great +urgency. The shrill blast of the bugle called together his immediate +followers, but those at a distance must be summoned by other means. +Before sending out a swift and trusty messenger, the priest was called +and certain rites which had been observed from time immemorial +performed. + +A cross was constructed from the branches of the yew tree, and then +held aloft by the priest, whilst he pronounced awful curses on the men +who, at the sight of the signal, failed to obey the summons of their +chief. The cross was then held in the fire until it blazed, was again +uplifted and fresh curses added; then it was plunged in the blood of a +newly-slain sacrifice, and, smoking and reeking with gore, the charred +and bloody cross was given into the hands of a swift messenger, who +leaping away as an arrow sped from a bow, flies along the +mountain-path, and, holding the crimson sign before the eyes of the +clansmen, names the place of assembly, and passes the signal on +throughout the borders. + +I have no yew-tree cross, no bleeding sacrifice visible to outward +eyes, but before the eyes of your souls, I lift up the cross of +Calvary, charred by the fires of sin, and reeking with the Blood of the +Divine Victim, and in God's name I charge you to go forth to rescue the +needy souls of men. + + _See the brazen hosts of Hell + Art and power employing, + More than human tongue can tell + Blood-bought souls destroying; + Hark! from ruin's ghastly road + Victims groan beneath their load, + Forward, O ye sons of God, + And dare or die for Jesus._ + + + + +SALVATION ARMY PUBLICATIONS + + +BY THE GENERAL + +Salvation Soldiery. Stirring Addresses on the Requirements of Jesus +Christ's Service. Every page full of Burning Truths. 156 pages. +Illustrated. Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s. + +The General's Letters. Remarkable series of Letters published in 'The +War Cry' of 1885, dealing with Neutrality, Courage, Realities, etc. 204 +pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s. + +The Training of Children. Important to Parents. This book shows how to +make Children into Saints and Soldiers. 260 pages. Cloth, Bevelled +Edges, 2s. 6d.; Limp Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 6d. + +The Doctrines of The Salvation Army. 119 pages. Limp Cloth, 6d. + +Purity of Heart. A Valuable Collection of Letters to Salvationists on +Personal Holiness. 118 pages. Cloth, 1s.; Paper, 6d. + +Religion for Every Day. Vol. I. An Invaluable Work for every +Salvationist, dealing with matters affecting Soul, Body, Family, +Business, etc. 190 pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s. + +Love, Marriage, and Home. Being Vol. II of RELIGION FOR EVERY DAY. 190 +pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s. + +Religion for Every Day. Two Vols. in one; 370 pages. Cloth, 3s. + +Visions. A Reprint of Interesting Articles from 'The War Cry'. 160 +pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s. + +Sergeant-Major Do-Your-Best; or, Sketches of the Inner Life of a +Salvation Army Corps. 287 pages. Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s. + +The Seven Spirits; or, What I Teach my Officers. 112 pages. Cloth, 1s. +6d.; Paper, 1s. + + +BY THE LATE MRS. GENERAL BOOTH + +Life and Death. Stirring Addresses to the Unsaved. Thoughtful and +Powerful Appeals. 206 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt, 2s. 6d.; +Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s. + +Godliness. Searching Disquisitions on Important Phases of the Spiritual +Growth. 177 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, +2s.; Paper, 1s. + +Practical Religion. One of the grandest books of the age. Invaluable +for Teachers of Sanctification. 214 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt +Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s. + +Popular Christianity. All Seekers after True Religion should read this +book. 198 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.; Special Cheap +Edition, 6d. + +Aggressive Christianity. Series of Papers on Christian Warfare. 193 +pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, +1s. + + +BY THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF + +On the Banks of the River. A Brief History of the Last Days of MRS. +GENERAL BOOTH. Cloth, 1s.; Paper, 6d. + +Books that Bless. A Series of Pungent Reviews, reprinted, by request, +from 'The War Cry'. 191 pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Linen, 1s. + +Servants of All. A description of the Officers of The Army and their +Work. 167 pages. Cloth, Bevelled Boards, 1s. 6d.; Cloth, 1s.; Paper, +6d. + +Social Reparation; or, Personal Impressions of Work for Darkest +England. 124 pages. Cloth, 1s. + +Bible Battle-Axes. A reprint of Short Scripture Studies from 'The Field +Officer' magazine. Carefully revised. 178 pages. Cloth, 1s. + +Our Master. Thoughts for Salvationists about their Lord. 168 pages. +Cloth, 2s. + + +THE RED-HOT LIBRARY + +_Cloth Boards_, 1s.; _Paper_, 6d. _per volume_. + +No. 1.--Francis the Saint, or, Less than the Least. By Brigadier EILEEN +DOUGLAS. + +No. 2.--On the Banks of the River. A Brief History of the Last Days of +MRS. GENERAL BOOTH. By THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF. + +No. 3.--George Fox, the Red-Hot Quaker. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + +No. 4--Helps to Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE. + +No. 5--David Stoner; or, The Shy Preacher. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + +No. 6.--Red Flowers of Martyrdom. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + +No. 7.--Heart-Talks on Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE. + +No. 8.--Commissioner Dowdle, the Saved Railway Guard. By Commissioner +RAILTON. + +No. 9.--Peter Cartwright, God's Rough-rider. By Commissioner RAILTON. + +No. 10.--Lieut.-Colonel Junker. By Commissioner RAILTON. + +No. 11.--The Soul-Winner's Secret. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE. + +No. 12.--The Life of Gideon Ouseley. By Commissioner RAILTON. + +No. 13.--Fletcher of Madeley. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN. + +No. 14.--The Cross our Comfort. Selections from the Writings of the +late CONSUL EMMA BOOTH-TUCKER. + +No. 15.--Sighs from Hell. By JOHN BUNYAN. + +No. 16.--What Hinders You? By Mrs. Colonel BRENGLE. + +No. 17.--The Fruits of the Spirit, and The Whole Armour of God. By +Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + + +THE WARRIORS' LIBRARY + +_Cloth Boards_, 8d. _net; Half Cloth Boards_, 6d. _net per volume_. + + No. 1.--Catherine Booth: A Sketch. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF. + + No. 2.--A School of the Prophets. A Sketch of Training Home Life. By + ONE OF THE SCHOLARS. + + No. 3.--Our War in South Africa. By Commissioner RAILTON. + + No. 4.--The Warrior's Daily Portion.--I. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + + No. 5.--The Way of Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE. + + No. 6.--Kingdom-Makers in Shelter, Street, and Slum. By Brigadier +MARGARET ALLEN. + + No. 7.--Three Coronations. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF. + + No. 8.--The Life of Oberlin. By Commissioner W. ELWIN OLIPHANT. + + No. 9.--Farmer Abbott. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN. + +No. 10.--The Warrior's Daily Portion.--II. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS. + +No. 11.--The Life of Hedwig von Haartman. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF. + +No. 12.--The Life of Gerhard Tersteegen. By Commissioner W. ELWIN +OLIPHANT. + +No. 13.--The Life of Colonel Weerasooriya. By Commissioner +BOOTH-TUCKER. + +No. 14.--Bernard of Clairvaux. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN. + +No. 15.--Harvests of the East. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN. + +No. 16.--A Kindled Flame. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN. + + * * * * * + +_Order from THE MANAGER, Publishing Department, +79 & 81 Fortess Road, London, N.W._ + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Standards of Life and Service, by T. H. 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