STEPS TO CHRIST
by Ellen G. White
Foreword
FEW books attain a distribution reckoned in millions or exert so great an influence in the uplifting of humanity as has Steps to Christ. In countless editions, this little volume has been printed in more than seventy languages, bringing inspiration to hundreds of thousands of men and women throughout the world, even those who dwell in the remote corners of the earth. From the appearance of the first edition in 1892, the publishers have been called upon to add printing to printing to meet the immediate and sustained demand from the reading public.
The author of this work, Ellen G. White (1827-1915), was a religious speaker and writer, well known on three continents. Born near Portland, Maine, she spent her early life in the New England States, and then her travels and labors led her to the rapidly expanding central and western areas of the United States. The years 1885 to 1887 she devoted to work in the leading countries of Europe, where she often addressed large audiences, and continued her writing. Subsequently she spent nine active years in Australia and New Zealand. From her pen have come forty-five volumes, large and small, in the fields of theology, education, health, and the home, and practical Christianity, several with a distribution exceeding the million-copy mark. Of these, Steps to Christ is the most popular and widely read.
The title of the book tells its mission. It points the reader to Jesus Christ as the only One who is able to meet the needs of the soul. It directs the feet of the doubting and haltering to the pathway of peace. It leads the seeker after righteousness and wholeness of character, step by step, along the way of Christian living, to that experience where he can know the fullness of blessing which is found in the complete surrender of self. It reveals to him the secret of victory as it unfolds in simplicity the saving grace and the keeping power of the great Friend of all mankind.
This edition marks a forward step in standardizing the paging of the book in forthcoming English-language printings. With no change in the text, but with a format, spelling, and capitalization in keeping with the times, this little compendium of devotion will continue on its mission, but now in such form, regardless of the size of the type or page, as to conform to the new Index to the writings of Ellen G. White.
Jacob of old, when oppressed with the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, lay down to rest, and "he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven." The connection between earth and heaven was thus revealed to him, and words of comfort and hope were spoken to the wanderer by Him who stood at the top of the shadowy stairs. That the heavenly vision may be repeated to many as they read this story of the way of life, is the sincere wish of the publishers, and--
The Trustees of the Ellen G. White Publications
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CHAPTER 1
God's Love for Man
NATURE and revelation alike testify of God's love. Our
Father in heaven is the source of life, of wisdom, and of joy. Look at the
wonderful and beautiful things of nature. Think of their marvelous adaptation
to the needs and happiness, not only of man, but of all living creatures. The
sunshine and the rain, that gladden and refresh the earth, the hills and seas
and plains, all speak to us of the Creator's love. It is God who supplies the
daily needs of all His creatures. In the beautiful words of the psalmist--
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"The eyes of all wait upon Thee; And Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, And satisfiest the desire of every living thing." -Psalm 145:15, 16.
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God made man perfectly holy and happy; and the fair earth, as it came from
the Creator's hand, bore no blight of decay or shadow of the curse. It is
transgression of God's law--the law of love--that has brought woe and
death. Yet even amid the suffering that results from sin, God's love is
revealed. It is written that God cursed the ground for man's sake. Genesis
3:17. The thorn and the thistle--the difficulties and trials that make his life
one of toil and care--were appointed for his good as a part of the training
needful in God's plan for his uplifting from the ruin and degradation that sin
has wrought. The world, though fallen, is not all sorrow and misery. In nature
itself are messages of hope and comfort. There are flowers upon the thistles, and
the thorns are covered with roses.
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"God is love" is written upon every opening bud, upon every spire of
springing grass. The lovely birds making the air vocal with their happy songs,
the delicately tinted flowers in their perfection perfuming the air, the lofty
trees of the forest with their rich foliage of living green -- all testify to
the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make His children
happy.
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The word of God reveals His character. He Himself has declared His infinite
love and pity. When Moses prayed, "Show me Thy glory," the Lord answered, "I
will make all My goodness pass before thee." Exodus 33:18, 19. This is His
glory. The Lord passed before Moses, and proclaimed, "The Lord, The Lord God,
merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and
sin." Exodus 34:6, 7. He is "slow to anger, and of great
kindness," "because He delighteth in mercy." Jonah 4:2; Micah 7:18.
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God has bound our hearts to Him by unnumbered tokens in heaven and in
earth. Through the things of nature, and the deepest and tenderest earthly ties
that human hearts can know, He has sought to reveal Himself to us. Yet these
but imperfectly represent His love. Though all these evidences have been given,
the enemy of good blinded the minds of men, so that they looked upon God with
fear; they thought of Him as severe and unforgiving. Satan led men to conceive
of God as a being whose chief attribute is stern justice,--one who is a severe
judge, a harsh, exacting creditor. He pictured the Creator as a being who is
watching with jealous eye to discern the errors and mistakes of men, that He
may visit judgments upon them. It was to remove this dark shadow,
by revealing to the world the infinite love of God, that Jesus came to live
among men.
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The Son of God came from heaven to make manifest the Father. "No man hath
seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the
Father, He hath declared Him." John 1:18. "Neither knoweth any man the Father,
save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him." Matthew
11:27. When one of the disciples made the request, "Show us the Father," Jesus
answered, "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me,
Philip? He that hath seen Me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then,
Show us the Father?" John 14:8, 9.
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In describing His earthly mission, Jesus said, The Lord "hath anointed Me to
preach the gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to
preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to
set at liberty them that are bruised." Luke 4:18. This was His work. He went
about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by Satan. There were whole
villages where there was not a moan of sickness in any house, for He had passed
through them and healed all their sick.
His work gave evidence of His divine anointing. Love, mercy, and compassion
were revealed in every act of His life; His heart went out in tender sympathy
to the children of men. He took man's nature, that He might reach man's
wants. The poorest and humblest were not afraid to approach Him. Even little
children were attracted to Him. They loved to climb upon His knees and gaze
into the pensive face, benignant with love.
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Jesus did not suppress one word of truth, but He uttered it always in
love. He exercised the greatest tact and thoughtful, kind attention in His
intercourse with the people. He was never rude, never needlessly spoke a severe
word, never gave needless pain to a sensitive soul. He did not censure human
weakness. He spoke the truth, but always in love. He denounced hypocrisy,
unbelief, and iniquity; but tears were in His voice as He uttered His scathing
rebukes. He wept over Jerusalem, the city He loved, which refused to receive
Him, the way, the truth, and the life. They had rejected Him, the Saviour, but
He regarded them with pitying tenderness. His life was one of self-denial and
thoughtful care for others. Every soul was precious in His eyes. While He
ever bore Himself with divine dignity, He bowed with the tenderest regard to
every member of the family of God. In all men He saw fallen souls whom it was
His mission to save.
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Such is the character of Christ as revealed in His life. This is the
character of God. It is from the Father's heart that the streams of divine
compassion, manifest in Christ, flow out to the children of men. Jesus, the
tender, pitying Saviour, was God
"manifest in the flesh." 1 Timothy 3:16.
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It was to redeem us that Jesus lived and suffered and died. He became "a Man
of Sorrows," that we might be made partakers of everlasting joy. God permitted
His beloved Son, full of grace and truth, to come from a world of indescribable
glory, to a world marred and blighted with sin, darkened with the shadow of
death and the curse. He permitted Him to leave the bosom of His love, the
adoration of the angels, to suffer shame, insult, humiliation, hatred, and
death. "The chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes we are
healed." Isaiah 53:5. Behold Him in the wilderness, in Gethsemane, upon the
cross! The spotless Son of God took upon Himself the burden of sin. He who had
been one with God, felt in His soul the awful separation that sin makes between
God and man. This wrung from His lips the anguished cry, "My God, My God, why
hast Thou forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46. It was the burden of sin, the sense of
its terrible enormity, of its separation of the soul from God--it was this that
broke the heart of the Son of God.
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But this great sacrifice was not made in order to create in the Father's
heart a love for man, not to make Him willing to save. No, no! "God so loved
the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son." John 3:16. The Father loves us,
not because of the great propitiation, but He provided the propitiation because
He loves us. Christ was the medium through which He could pour out His infinite
love upon a fallen world. "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto
Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19. God suffered with His Son. In the agony of
Gethsemane, the death of Calvary, the heart of Infinite Love paid the price of
our redemption.
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Jesus said, "Therefore doth My Father love Me, because I lay down My life,
that I might take it again." John 10:17. That is, "My Father has so loved you
that He even loves Me more for giving My life to redeem you. In becoming your
Substitute and Surety, by surrendering My life, by taking your liabilities,
your transgressions, I am endeared to My Father; for by My sacrifice, God can
be just, and yet the Justifier of him who believeth in Jesus."
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None but the Son of God could accomplish our redemption; for only He who was
in the bosom of the Father could declare Him. Only He who knew the height and
depth of the love of God could make it manifest. Nothing less than the infinite
sacrifice made by Christ in behalf of fallen man could express the Father's
love to lost humanity.
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"God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son." He gave Him
not only to live among men, to bear their sins, and die their sacrifice. He
gave Him to the fallen race. Christ was to identify Himself with the interests
and needs of humanity. He who was one with God has linked Himself with the
children of men by ties that are never to be broken. Jesus is "not ashamed to
call them brethren" (Hebrews 2:11); He is our Sacrifice, our Advocate, our
Brother, bearing our human form before the Father's throne, and through eternal
ages one with the race He has redeemed--the Son of man. And all this that man
might be uplifted from the ruin and degradation of sin that he might reflect
the love of God and share the joy of holiness.
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The price paid for our redemption, the infinite sacrifice of our heavenly
Father in giving His Son to die for us, should give us exalted conceptions of
what we may become through Christ. As the inspired apostle John beheld the
height, the depth, the breadth of the Father's love toward the perishing race,
he was filled with adoration and reverence; and, failing to find suitable
language in which to express the greatness and tenderness of this love, he
called upon the world to behold it. "Behold, what manner of love the Father
hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." 1 John
3:1. What a value this places upon man! Through transgression the sons of man
become subjects of Satan. Through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ the
sons of Adam may become the sons of God. By assuming human nature, Christ
elevates humanity. Fallen men are placed where, through connection with Christ,
they may indeed become worthy of the name "sons of God."
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Such love is without a parallel. Children of the heavenly King! Precious
promise! Theme for the most profound meditation! The matchless love of God for
a world that did not love Him! The thought has a subduing power upon the soul
and brings the mind into captivity to the will of God. The more we study the
divine character in the light of the cross, the more we see mercy, tenderness,
and forgiveness blended with equity and justice, and the more clearly we
discern innumerable evidences of a love that is infinite and a tender pity
surpassing a mother's yearning sympathy for her wayward child.
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Back to Table of Contents MAN was originally endowed with noble powers
and a well-balanced mind. He was perfect in his being, and in harmony
with God. His thoughts were pure, his aims holy. But through
disobedience, his powers were perverted, and selfishness took the place
of love. His nature became so weakened through transgression that it
was impossible for him, in his own strength, to resist the power of
evil. He was made captive by Satan, and would have remained so forever
had not God specially interposed. It was the tempter's purpose to
thwart the divine plan in man's creation, and fill the earth with woe
and desolation. And he would point to all this evil as the result of
God's work in creating man. In his sinless state, man held joyful communion with Him "in whom
are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." Colossians 2:3. But
after his sin, he could no longer find joy in holiness, and he sought
to hide from the presence of God. Such is still the condition of the
unrenewed heart. It is not in harmony with God, and finds no joy in
communion with Him. The sinner could not be happy in God's presence; he
would shrink from the companionship of holy beings. Could he be
permitted to enter heaven, it would have no joy for him. The spirit of
unselfish love that reigns there --every heart responding to the heart
of Infinite Love --would touch no answering chord in his soul. His
thoughts, his interests, his motives, would be alien to those that
actuate the sinless dwellers there. He would be a discordant note in
the melody of heaven. Heaven would be to him a place of torture; he
would long to be hidden from Him who is its light, and the center of
its joy. It is no arbitrary decree on the part of God that excludes the
wicked from heaven; they are shut out by their own unfitness for its
companionship. The glory of God would be to them a consuming fire. They
would welcome destruction, that they might be hidden from the face of
Him who died to redeem them. It is impossible for us, of ourselves, to escape from the pit of sin
in which we are sunken. Our hearts are evil, and we cannot change
them. "Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one." "The
carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of
God, neither indeed can be." Job 14:4; Romans 8:7. Education, culture,
the exercise of the will, human effort, all have their proper sphere,
but here they are powerless. They may produce an outward correctness of
behavior, but they cannot change the heart; they cannot purify the
springs of life. There must be a power working from within, a new life
from above, before men can be changed from sin to holiness. That power
is Christ. His grace alone can quicken the lifeless faculties of
the soul, and attract it to God, to holiness. The Saviour said, "Except a man be born from above," unless he shall
receive a new heart, new desires, purposes, and motives, leading to a
new life, "he cannot see the kingdom of God." John 3:3, margin. The
idea that it is necessary only to develop the good that exists in man
by nature, is a fatal deception. "The natural man receiveth not the
things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." "Marvel not
that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." 1 Corinthians 2:14; John
3:7. Of Christ it is written, "In Him was life; and the life was the
light of men"--the only "name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved." John 1:4; Acts 4:12. It is not enough to perceive the loving-kindness of God, to see the
benevolence, the fatherly tenderness, of His character. It is not
enough to discern the wisdom and justice of His law, to see that it is
founded upon the eternal principle of love. Paul the apostle saw all
this when he exclaimed, "I consent unto the law that it is good." "The
law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good." But he
added, in the bitterness of his soul-anguish and despair, "I am carnal,
sold under sin." Romans 7:16, 12, 14. He longed for the purity, the
righteousness, to which in himself he was powerless to attain, and
cried out, "O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from this
body of death?" Romans 7:24, margin. Such is the cry that has gone up
from burdened hearts in all lands and in all ages. To all, there is but
one answer, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world." John 1:29. Many are the figures by which the Spirit of God has sought to
illustrate this truth, and make it plain to souls that long to be freed
from the burden of guilt. When, after his sin in deceiving Esau, Jacob
fled from his father's home, he was weighed down with a sense of
guilt. Lonely and outcast as he was, separated from all that had made
life dear, the one thought that above all others pressed upon his soul,
was the fear that his sin had cut him off from God, that he was
forsaken of Heaven. In sadness he lay down to rest on the bare earth,
around him only the lonely hills, and above, the heavens bright with
stars. As he slept, a strange light broke upon his vision; and lo, from
the plain on which he lay, vast shadowy stairs seemed to lead upward to
the very gates of heaven, and upon them angels of God were passing up
and down; while from the glory above, the divine voice was heard in a
message of comfort and hope. Thus was made known to Jacob that which
met the need and longing of his soul--a Saviour. With joy and gratitude
he saw revealed a way by which he, a sinner, could be restored to
communion with God. The mystic ladder of his dream represented Jesus,
the only medium of communication between God and man. This is the same figure to which Christ referred in His conversation
with Nathanael, when He said, "Ye shall see heaven open, and the angels
of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man." John 1:51. In the
apostasy, man alienated himself from God; earth was cut off from
heaven. Across the gulf that lay between, there could be no
communion. But through Christ, earth is again linked with heaven. With
His own merits, Christ has bridged the gulf which sin had made, so that
the ministering angels can hold communion with man. Christ connects
fallen man in his weakness and helplessness with the Source of infinite
power. But in vain are men's dreams of progress, in vain all efforts for
the uplifting of humanity, if they neglect the one Source of hope and
help for the fallen race. "Every good gift and every perfect
gift" (James 1:17) is from God. There is no true excellence of
character apart from Him. And the only way to God is Christ. He says,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by Me." John 14:6. The heart of God yearns over His earthly children with a love
stronger than death. In giving up His Son, He has poured out to us all
heaven in one gift. The Saviour's life and death and intercession, the
ministry of angels, the pleading of the Spirit, the Father working
above and through all, the unceasing interest of heavenly beings,--all
are enlisted in behalf of man's redemption. Oh, let us contemplate the amazing sacrifice that has been made for
us! Let us try to appreciate the labor and energy that Heaven is
expending to reclaim the lost, and bring them back to the Father's
house. Motives stronger, and agencies more powerful, could never be
brought into operation; the exceeding rewards for right-doing, the
enjoyment of heaven, the society of the angels, the communion and love
of God and His Son, the elevation and extension of all our powers
throughout eternal ages--are these not mighty incentives and
encouragements to urge us to give the heart's loving service to our
Creator and Redeemer? And, on the other hand, the judgments of God pronounced against sin,
the inevitable retribution, the degradation of our character, and the
final destruction, are presented in God's word to warn us against the
service of Satan. Shall we not regard the mercy of God? What more could He do? Let us
place ourselves in right relation to Him who has loved us with amazing
love. Let us avail ourselves of the means provided for us that we may
be transformed into His likeness, and be restored to fellowship with
the ministering angels, to harmony and communion with the Father and
the Son. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 3
HOW shall a man be just with God? How shall the
sinner be made righteous? It is only through Christ that we can be
brought into harmony with God, with holiness; but how are we to come to
Christ? Many are asking the same question as did the multitude on the
Day of Pentecost, when, convicted of sin, they cried out, "What shall
we do?" The first word of Peter's answer was, "Repent." Acts 2:37,
38. At another time, shortly after, he said, "Repent, ... and be
converted, that your sins may be blotted out." Acts 3:19. Repentance includes sorrow for sin and a turning away from it. We
shall not renounce sin unless we see its sinfulness; until we turn away
from it in heart, there will be no real change in the life. There are many who fail to understand the true nature of
repentance. Multitudes sorrow that they have sinned and even make an
outward reformation because they fear that their wrongdoing will bring
suffering upon themselves. But this is not repentance in the Bible
sense. They lament the suffering rather than the sin. Such was the
grief of Esau when he saw that the birthright was lost to him
forever. Balaam, terrified by the angel standing in his pathway with
drawn sword, acknowledged his guilt lest he should lose his life; but
there was no genuine repentance for sin, no conversion of purpose, no
abhorrence of evil. Judas Iscariot, after betraying his Lord,
exclaimed, "I have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent
blood." Matthew 27:4. The confession was forced from his guilty soul by an awful sense of
condemnation and a fearful looking for of judgment. The consequences
that were to result to him filled him with terror, but there was no
deep, heartbreaking grief in his soul, that he had betrayed the
spotless Son of God and denied the Holy One of Israel. Pharaoh, when
suffering under the judgments of God, acknowledged his sin in order to
escape further punishment, but returned to his defiance of Heaven as
soon as the plagues were stayed. These all lamented the results of sin,
but did not sorrow for the sin itself. But when the heart yields to the influence of the Spirit of God, the
conscience will be quickened, and the sinner will discern something of
the depth and sacredness of God's holy law, the foundation of His
government in heaven and on earth. The "Light, which lighteth every man
that cometh into the world," illumines the secret chambers of the soul,
and the hidden things of darkness are made manifest. John
1:9. Conviction takes hold upon the mind and heart. The sinner has a
sense of the righteousness of Jehovah and feels the terror of
appearing, in his own guilt and uncleanness, before the Searcher of
hearts. He sees the love of God, the beauty of holiness, the joy of
purity; he longs to be cleansed and to be restored to communion with
Heaven. The prayer of David after his fall, illustrates the nature of true
sorrow for sin. His repentance was sincere and deep. There was no
effort to palliate his guilt; no desire to escape the judgment
threatened, inspired his prayer. David saw the enormity of his
transgression; he saw the defilement of his soul; he loathed his
sin. It was not for pardon only that he prayed, but for purity of
heart. He longed for the joy of holiness--to be restored to harmony and
communion with God. This was the language of his soul: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is
covered. Blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity,
And in whose spirit there is no guile." -Psalm 32:1, 2. "Have mercy upon me, O God, according to Thy
loving-kindness: According unto the multitude of Thy tender mercies
blot out my transgressions ... For I acknowledge my transgressions: and
my sin is ever before me ... Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be
clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ... Create in me a
clean heart, O God; And renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not
away from Thy presence; And take not Thy Holy Spirit from me. Restore
unto me the joy of Thy salvation; And uphold me with Thy free spirit
... Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, Thou God of my
salvation: And my tongue shall sing aloud of Thy righteousness." -Psalm
51:1-14. A repentance such as this, is beyond the reach of our own power to
accomplish; it is obtained only from Christ, who ascended up on high
and has given gifts unto men. Just here is a point on which many may err, and hence they fail of
receiving the help that Christ desires to give them. They think that
they cannot come to Christ unless they first repent, and that
repentance prepares for the forgiveness of their sins.It is true that
repentance does precede the forgiveness of sins; for it is only the
broken and contrite heart that will feel the need of a Saviour. But
must the sinner wait till he has repented before he can come to
Jesus? Is repentance to be made an obstacle between the sinner and the
Saviour? The Bible does not teach that the sinner must repent before he can
heed the invitation of Christ, "Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are
heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Matthew 11:28. It is the virtue
that goes forth from Christ, that leads to genuine repentance. Peter
made the matter clear in his statement to the Israelites when he said,
"Him hath God exalted with His right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour,
for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." Acts
5:31. We can no more repent without the Spirit of Christ to awaken the
conscience than we can be pardoned without Christ. Christ is the source of every right impulse. He is the only one that
can implant in the heart enmity against sin. Every desire for truth and
purity, every conviction of our own sinfulness, is an evidence that His
Spirit is moving upon our hearts. Jesus has said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all
men unto Me." John 12:32. Christ must be revealed to the sinner as the
Saviour dying for the sins of the world; and as we behold the Lamb of
God upon the cross of Calvary, the mystery of redemption begins to
unfold to our minds and the goodness of God leads us to repentance. In
dying for sinners, Christ manifested a love that is
incomprehensible; and as the sinner beholds this love, it softens the
heart, impresses the mind, and inspires contrition in the soul. It is true that men sometimes become ashamed of their sinful ways,
and give up some of their evil habits, before they are conscious that
they are being drawn to Christ. But whenever they make an effort to
reform, from a sincere desire to do right, it is the power of Christ
that is drawing them. An influence of which they are unconscious works
upon the soul, and the conscience is quickened, and the outward life is
amended. And as Christ draws them to look upon His cross, to behold Him
whom their sins have pierced, the commandment comes home to the
conscience. The wickedness of their life, the deep-seated sin of the
soul, is revealed to them. They begin to comprehend something of the
righteousness of Christ, and exclaim, "What is sin, that it should
require such a sacrifice for the redemption of its victim? Was all this
love, all this suffering, all this humiliation, demanded, that we might
not perish, but have everlasting life?" The sinner may resist this love, may refuse to be drawn to
Christ; but if he does not resist he will be drawn to Jesus; a
knowledge of the plan of salvation will lead him to the foot of the
cross in repentance for his sins, which have caused the sufferings of
God's dear Son. 28 The same divine mind that is working upon the things of nature is
speaking to the hearts of men and creating an inexpressible craving for
something they have not. The things of the world cannot satisfy their
longing. The Spirit of God is pleading with them to seek for those
things that alone can give peace and rest--the grace of Christ, the joy
of holiness. Through influences seen and unseen, our Saviour is
constantly at work to attract the minds of men from the unsatisfying
pleasures of sin to the infinite blessings that may be theirs in
Him. To all these souls, who are vainly seeking to drink from the
broken cisterns of this world, the divine message is addressed, "Let
him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of
life freely." Revelation 22:17. You who in heart long for something better than this world can give,
recognize this longing as the voice of God to your soul. Ask Him to
give you repentance, to reveal Christ to you in His infinite love, in
His perfect purity. In the Saviour's life the principles of God's
law--love to God and man--were perfectly exemplified. Benevolence,
unselfish love, was the life of His soul. It is as we behold Him, as
the light from our Saviour falls upon us, that we see the sinfulness of
our own hearts. We may have flattered ourselves, as did Nicodemus, that our life has
been upright, that our moral character is correct, and think that we
need not humble the heart before God, like the common sinner: but when
the light from Christ shines into our souls, we shall see how impure we
are; we shall discern the selfishness of motive, the enmity against
God, that has defiled every act of life. Then we shall know that our
own righteousness is indeed as filthy rags, and that the blood of
Christ alone can cleanse us from the defilement of sin, and renew our
hearts in His own likeness. One ray of the glory of God, one gleam of the purity of Christ,
penetrating the soul, makes every spot of defilement painfully
distinct, and lays bare the deformity and defects of the human
character. It makes apparent the unhallowed desires, the infidelity of
the heart, the impurity of the lips. The sinner's acts of disloyalty in
making void the law of God, are exposed to his sight, and his spirit is
stricken and afflicted under the searching influence of the Spirit of
God. He loathes himself as he views the pure, spotless character of
Christ. When the prophet Daniel beheld the glory surrounding the heavenly
messenger that was sent unto him, he was overwhelmed with a sense of
his own weakness and imperfection. Describing the effect of the
wonderful scene, he says, "There remained no strength in me: for my
comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no
strength." Daniel 10:8. The soul thus touched will hate its
selfishness, abhor its self-love, and will seek, through Christ's
righteousness, for the purity of heart that is in harmony with the law
of God and the character of Christ. Paul says that as "touching the righteousness which is in the
law"--as far as outward acts were concerned --he was
"blameless" (Philippians 3:6); but when the spiritual character of the
law was discerned, he saw himself a sinner. Judged by the letter of the
law as men apply it to the outward life, he had abstained from sin; but
when he looked into the depths of its holy precepts, and saw himself as
God saw him, he bowed in humiliation and confessed his guilt. He says,
"I was alive without the law once: but when the commandment came, sin
revived, and I died." Romans 7:9. When he saw the spiritual nature of
the law, sin appeared in its true hideousness, and his self-esteem was
gone. God does not regard all sins as of equal magnitude; there are
degrees of guilt in His estimation, as well as in that of man; but
however trifling this or that wrong act may seem in the eyes of men, no
sin is small in the sight of God. Man's judgment is partial,
imperfect; but God estimates all things as they really are. The
drunkard is despised and is told that his sin will exclude him from
heaven; while pride, selfishness, and covetousness too often go
unrebuked. But these are sins that are especially offensive to God; for
they are contrary to the benevolence of His character, to that
unselfish love which is the very atmosphere of the unfallen
universe. He who falls into some of the grosser sins may feel a sense
of his shame and poverty and his need of the grace of Christ; but pride
feels no need, and so it closes the heart against Christ and the
infinite blessings He came to give. The poor publican who prayed, "God be merciful to me a sinner" (Luke
18:13), regarded himself as a very wicked man, and others looked upon
him in the same light; but he felt his need, and with his burden of
guilt and shame he came before God, asking for His mercy. His heart was
open for the Spirit of God to do its gracious work and set him free
from the power of sin. The Pharisee's boastful, self-righteous prayer
showed that his heart was closed against the influence of the Holy
Spirit. Because of his distance from God, he had no sense of his own
defilement, in contrast with the perfection of the divine holiness. He
felt no need, and he received nothing. If you see your sinfulness, do not wait to make yourself better. How
many there are who think they are not good enough to come to Christ. Do
you expect to become better through your own efforts? "Can the
Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also
do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Jeremiah 13:23. There is help
for us only in God. We must not wait for stronger persuasions, for
better opportunities, or for holier tempers. We can do nothing of
ourselves. We must come to Christ just as we are. But let none deceive themselves with the thought that God, in His
great love and mercy, will yet save even the rejecters of His
grace. The exceeding sinfulness of sin can be estimated only in the
light of the cross. When men urge that God is too good to cast off the
sinner, let them look to Calvary. It was because there was no other way
in which man could be saved, because without this sacrifice it was
impossible for the human race to escape from the defiling power of sin,
and be restored to communion with holy beings,--impossible for them
again to become partakers of spiritual life,--it was because of this
that Christ took upon Himself the guilt of the disobedient and suffered
in the sinner's stead. The love and suffering and death of the Son of
God all testify to the terrible enormity of sin and declare that there
is no escape from its power, no hope of the higher life, but through
the submission of the soul to Christ. The impenitent sometimes excuse themselves by saying of professed
Christians, "I am as good as they are. They are no more self-denying,
sober, or circumspect in their conduct than I am. They love pleasure
and self-indulgence as well as I do." Thus they make the faults of
others an excuse for their own neglect of duty. But the sins and
defects of others do not excuse anyone, for the Lord has not given us
an erring human pattern. The spotless Son of God has been given as our
example, and those who complain of the wrong course of professed
Christians are the ones who should show better lives and nobler
examples. If they have so high a conception of what a Christian should
be, is not their own sin so much the greater? They know what is right,
and yet refuse to do it. Beware of procrastination. Do not put off the work of forsaking your
sins and seeking purity of heart through Jesus. Here is where thousands
upon thousands have erred to their eternal loss. I will not here dwell
upon the shortness and uncertainty of life; but there is a terrible
danger--a danger not sufficiently understood--in delaying to yield to
the pleading voice of God's Holy Spirit, in choosing to live in
sin; for such this delay really is. Sin, however small it may be
esteemed, can be indulged in only at the peril of infinite loss. What
we do not overcome, will overcome us and work out our destruction. Adam and Eve persuaded themselves that in so small a matter as
eating of the forbidden fruit there could not result such terrible
consequences as God had declared. But this small matter was the
transgression of God's immutable and holy law, and it separated man
from God and opened the floodgates of death and untold woe upon our
world. Age after age there has gone up from our earth a continual cry
of mourning, and the whole creation groaneth and travaileth together in
pain as a consequence of man's disobedience. Heaven itself has felt the
effects of his rebellion against God. Calvary stands as a memorial of
the amazing sacrifice required to atone for the transgression of the
divine law. Let us not regard sin as a trivial thing. Every act of transgression, every neglect or rejection of the grace
of Christ, is reacting upon yourself; it is hardening the heart,
depraving the will, benumbing the understanding, and not only making
you less inclined to yield, but less capable of yielding, to the tender
pleading of God's Holy Spirit. Many are quieting a troubled conscience with the thought that they
can change a course of evil when they choose; that they can trifle with
the invitations of mercy, and yet be again and again impressed. They
think that after doing despite to the Spirit of grace, after casting
their influence on the side of Satan, in a moment of terrible extremity
they can change their course. But this is not so easily done. The
experience, 34 the education, of a lifetime, has so thoroughly molded
the character that few then desire to receive the image of Jesus. Even one wrong trait of character, one sinful desire, persistently
cherished, will eventually neutralize all the power of the
gospel. Every sinful indulgence strengthens the soul's aversion to
God. The man who manifests an infidel hardihood, or a stolid
indifference to divine truth, is but reaping the harvest of that which
he has himself sown. In all the Bible there is not a more fearful
warning against trifling with evil than the words of the wise man that
the sinner "shall be holden with the cords of his sins." Proverbs 5:22. Christ is ready to set us free from sin, but He does not force the
will; and if by persistent transgression the will itself is wholly bent
on evil, and we do not desire to be set free, if we will not accept His
grace, what more can He do? We have destroyed ourselves by our
determined rejection of His love. "Behold, now is the accepted
time; behold, now is the day of salvation." "Today if ye will hear His
voice, harden not your hearts." 2 Corinthians 6:2; Hebrews 3:7, 8. "Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the
heart"--the human heart, with its conflicting emotions of joy and
sorrow; the wandering, wayward heart, which is the abode of so much
impurity and deceit. 1 Samuel 16:7. He knows its motives, its very
intents and purposes. Go to Him with your soul all stained as it
is. Like the psalmist, throw its chambers open to the all-seeing eye,
exclaiming, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the
way everlasting." Psalm 139: 23, 24. Many accept an intellectual religion, a form of godliness, when the
heart is not cleansed. Let it be your prayer, "Create in me a clean
heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51:10. Deal
truly with your own soul. Be as earnest, as persistent, as you would be
if your mortal life were at stake. This is a matter to be settled
between God and your own soul, settled for eternity. A supposed hope,
and nothing more, will prove your ruin. Study God's word prayerfully. That word presents before you, in the
law of God and the life of Christ, the great principles of holiness,
without which "no man shall see the Lord." Hebrews 12:14. It convinces
of sin; it plainly reveals the way of salvation. Give heed to it as the
voice of God speaking to your soul. As you see the enormity of sin, as you see yourself as you really
are, do not give up to despair. It was sinners that Christ came to
save. We have not to reconcile God to us, but--O wondrous love!--God in
Christ is "reconciling the world unto Himself." 2 Corinthians 5:19. He
is wooing by His tender love the hearts of His erring children. No
earthly parent could be as patient with the faults and mistakes of his
children, as is God with those He seeks to save. No one could plead
more tenderly with the transgressor. No human lips ever poured out more
tender entreaties to the wanderer than does He. All His promises, His
warnings, are but the breathing of unutterable love. When Satan comes to tell you that you are a great sinner, look up to
your Redeemer and talk of His merits. That which will help you is to
look to His light. Acknowledge your sin, but tell the enemy that
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" and that you may be
saved by His matchless love. 1 Timothy 1:15. Jesus asked Simon a
question in regard to two debtors. One owed his lord a small sum, and
the other owed him a very large sum; but he forgave them both, and
Christ asked Simon which debtor would love his lord most. Simon
answered, "He to whom he forgave most." Luke 7:43. We have been great
sinners, but Christ died that we might be forgiven. The merits of His
sacrifice are sufficient to present to the Father in our behalf. Those
to whom He has forgiven most will love Him most, and will stand nearest
to His throne to praise Him for His great love and infinite
sacrifice. It is when we most fully comprehend the love of God that we
best realize the sinfulness of sin. When we see the length of the chain
that was let down for us, when we understand something of the infinite
sacrifice that Christ has made in our behalf, the heart is melted with
tenderness and contrition. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 4
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth
and forsaketh them shall have mercy." -Proverbs 28:13. THE conditions of obtaining mercy of God are
simple and just and reasonable. The Lord does not require us to do some
grievous thing in order that we may have the forgiveness of sin. We need
not make long and wearisome pilgrimages,
or perform painful penances, to commend our souls to the God of heaven or
to expiate our transgression; but he that confesseth and forsaketh his
sin shall have mercy. The apostle says, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed." James 5:16. Confess your sins to
God, who only can forgive them, and your faults to one another. If you
have given offense to your friend or neighbor, you are to acknowledge
your wrong, and it is his duty freely to forgive you. Then you are to
seek the forgiveness of God, because the brother you have wounded is the
property of God, and in injuring him you sinned against his Creator and
Redeemer. The case is brought before the only true Mediator, our great
High Priest,
who "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin," and who
is "touched with the feeling of our infirmities," and is able to cleanse
from every stain of iniquity. Hebrews 4:15. Those who have not humbled their souls before God in acknowledging
their guilt, have not yet fulfilled the first condition of acceptance. If
we have not experienced that repentance which is not to be repented of,
and have not with true humiliation of soul and brokenness of spirit
confessed our sins, abhorring our iniquity,
we have never truly sought for the forgiveness of sin; and if we have
never sought, we have never found the peace of God. The only reason why
we do not have remission of sins that are past is that we are not willing
to humble our hearts and comply with the conditions of the word of truth.
Explicit instruction is given concerning this matter. Confession of sin,
whether public or private, should be heartfelt and freely expressed. It
is not to be urged from the sinner. It is not to be made in a flippant and
careless way, or forced from those who have no realizing sense of the
abhorrent character of sin. The confession that is the outpouring of the
inmost soul finds its way to the God of infinite pity. The psalmist says,
"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such
as be of a contrite spirit." Psalm 34:18. True confession is always of a specific character, and acknowledges
particular sins. They may be of such a nature as to be brought before God
only; they may be wrongs that should be confessed to individuals who have
suffered injury through them; or they may be of a public character, and
should then be as publicly confessed. But all confession should be
definite and to the point, acknowledging the very sins of which you are
guilty. In the days of Samuel the Israelites wandered from God. They were
suffering the consequences of sin; for they had lost their faith in God,
lost their discernment of His power and wisdom to rule the nation, lost
their confidence in His ability to defend and vindicate His cause. They
turned from the great Ruler of the universe and desired to be governed as
were the nations around them. Before they found peace they made this
definite confession: "We have added unto all our sins this evil, to ask
us a king." 1 Samuel 12:19. The very sin of which they were convicted had
to be confessed. Their ingratitude oppressed their souls and severed them
from God. Confession will not be acceptable to God without sincere repentance
and reformation. There must be decided changes in the life; everything
offensive to God must be put away. This will be the result of genuine
sorrow for sin. The work that we have to do
on our part is plainly set before us: "Wash you, make you clean; put
away the evil of your doings from before Mine eyes; cease to do evil;
learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the
fatherless, plead for the widow." Isaiah 1:16, 17. "If the wicked restore
the pledge, give again that he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life,
without committing iniquity; he shall surely live, he shall not die."
Ezekiel 33:15. Paul says, speaking of the work of repentance: "Ye
sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea,
what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea,
what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye
have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter." 2 Corinthians 7:11.
40 When sin has deadened the moral perceptions, the wrongdoer does not
discern the defects of his character nor realize the enormity of the evil
he has committed; and unless he yields to the convicting power of the
Holy Spirit he remains in partial blindness to his sin. His confessions
are not sincere and in earnest. To every acknowledgment of his guilt he
adds an apology in excuse of his course, declaring that if it had not
been for certain circumstances he would not have done this or that for
which he is reproved. After Adam and Eve had eaten of the forbidden fruit, they were filled
with a sense of shame and terror. At first their only thought was how to
excuse their sin and escape the dreaded sentence of death. When the Lord
inquired concerning their sin, Adam
replied, laying the guilt partly upon God and partly upon his companion:
"The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I
did eat." The woman put the blame upon the serpent, saying, "The serpent
beguiled me, and I did eat." Genesis 3: 12, 13. Why did You make the
serpent? Why did You suffer him to come into Eden? These were the
questions implied in her excuse for her sin, thus charging God with the
responsibility of their fall. The spirit of self-justification originated
in the father of lies and has been exhibited by all the sons and daughters of
Adam. Confessions of this order are not inspired by the divine Spirit and
will not be acceptable to God. True repentance will lead a man to bear
his guilt himself and acknowledge it without deception or hypocrisy. Like
the poor publican, not lifting up so
much as his eyes unto heaven, he will cry, "God be merciful to me a
sinner," and those who do acknowledge their guilt will be justified, for
Jesus will plead His blood in behalf of the repentant soul. The examples in God's word of genuine repentance and humiliation
reveal a spirit of confession in which there is no excuse for sin or
attempt at self-justification. Paul did not seek to shield himself; he
paints his sin in its darkest hue, not attempting to lessen his guilt. He
says, "Many of the saints did I shut up in
prison, having received authority from the chief priests; and when they
were put to death, I gave my voice against them. And I punished them oft
in every synagogue, and compelled them to blaspheme; and being
exceedingly mad against them, I persecuted them even unto strange
cities." Acts 26: 10, 11. He does not hesitate to declare that "Christ
Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." 1 Timothy
1:15. The humble and broken heart, subdued by genuine repentance, will
appreciate something of the love of God and the cost of Calvary; and as a
son confesses to a loving father, so will the truly penitent bring all
his sins before God. And it is written, "If we confess our sins, He is
faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all
unrighteousness." 1 John 1:9. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 5
GOD'S promise is, "Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29:13. The whole heart must be yielded to God, or the change can never be
wrought in us by which we are to be restored to His likeness. By nature
we are alienated from God. The Holy Spirit describes our condition in
such words as these: "Dead in trespasses and sins;" "the whole head is
sick, and the whole heart faint;" "no soundness in it." We are held fast
in the snare of Satan, "taken captive by him at his will." Ephesians 2:1;
Isaiah 1:5, 6; 2 Timothy 2:26. God desires to heal us, to set us free.
But since this requires an entire transformation, a renewing of our whole
nature, we must yield ourselves wholly to Him. The warfare against self is the greatest battle that was ever fought.
The yielding of self, surrendering all to the will of God, requires a
struggle; but the soul must submit to God before it can be renewed in
holiness. The government of God is not, as Satan would make it appear, founded
upon a blind submission, an unreasoning control. It appeals to the
intellect and the conscience. "Come now, and let us reason together" is
the Creator's invitation to the beings He has made. Isaiah 1:18. God does
not force the will of His creatures. He cannot accept an homage that is
not willingly and intelligently given. A mere forced submission would
prevent all real development of mind or character; it would make man a
mere automaton. Such is not the purpose of the Creator. He desires that
man, the crowning work of His creative power, shall reach the highest
possible development. He sets before us the height of blessing to which
He desires to bring us through His grace. He invites us to give ourselves
to Him, that He may work His will in us. It remains for us to choose
whether we will be set free from the bondage of sin, to share the
glorious liberty of the sons of God. In giving ourselves to God, we must necessarily give up all that would
separate us from Him. Hence the Saviour says, "Whosoever he be of you
that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple." Luke
14:33. Whatever shall draw away the heart from God must be given up.
Mammon is the idol of many. The love of money, the desire for wealth, is
the golden chain that binds them to Satan. Reputation and worldly honor
are worshiped by another class. The life of selfish ease and freedom from
responsibility is the idol of others. But these slavish bands must be
broken. We cannot be half the Lord's and half the world's. We are not
God's children unless we are such entirely. There are those who profess to serve God, while they rely upon their
own efforts to obey His law, to form a right character, and secure
salvation. Their hearts are not moved by any deep sense of the love of
Christ, but they seek to perform the duties of the Christian life as that
which God requires of them in order to gain heaven. Such religion is
worth nothing. When Christ dwells in the heart, the soul will be so
filled with His love, with the joy of communion with Him, that it will
cleave to Him; and in the contemplation of Him, self will be forgotten.
Love to Christ will be the spring of action. Those who feel the
constraining love of God, do not ask how little may be given to meet the
requirements of God; they do not ask for the lowest standard, but aim at
perfect conformity to the will of their Redeemer. With earnest desire
they yield all and manifest an interest proportionate to the value of the
object which they seek. A profession of Christ without this deep love is
mere talk, dry formality, and heavy drudgery. Do you feel that it is too great a sacrifice to yield all to Christ?
Ask yourself the question, "What has Christ given for me?" The Son of God
gave all--life and love and suffering--for our redemption. And can it be
that we, the unworthy objects of so great love, will withhold our hearts
from Him? Every moment of our lives we have been partakers of the
blessings of His grace, and for this very reason we cannot fully realize
the depths of ignorance and misery from which we have been saved. Can we
look upon Him whom our sins have pierced, and yet be willing to do
despite to all His love and sacrifice? In view of the infinite
humiliation of the Lord of glory, shall we murmur because we can enter
into life only through conflict and self-abasement? The inquiry of many a proud heart is, "Why need I go in penitence and
humiliation before I can have the assurance of my acceptance with God?" I
point you to Christ. He was sinless, and, more than this, He was the
Prince of heaven; but in man's behalf He became sin for the race. "He was
numbered with the transgressors; and He bare the sin of many, and made
intercession for the transgressors." Isaiah 53:12. But what do we give up, when we give all? A sin-polluted heart, for
Jesus to purify, to cleanse by His own blood, and to save by His
matchless love. And yet men think it hard to give up all! I am ashamed to
hear it spoken of, ashamed to write it. God does not require us to give up anything that it is for our best
interest to retain. In all that He does, He has the well-being of His
children in view. Would that all who have not chosen Christ might realize
that He has something vastly better to offer them than they are seeking
for themselves. Man is doing the greatest injury and injustice to his own
soul when he thinks and acts contrary to the will of God. No real joy can
be found in the path forbidden by Him who knows what is best and who
plans for the good of His creatures. The path of transgression is the
path of misery and destruction. It is a mistake to entertain the thought that God is pleased to see
His children suffer. All heaven is interested in the happiness of man.
Our heavenly Father does not close the avenues of joy to any of His
creatures. The divine requirements call upon us to shun those indulgences
that would bring suffering and disappointment, that would close to us the
door of happiness and heaven. The world's Redeemer accepts men as they
are, with all their wants, imperfections, and weaknesses; and He will not
only cleanse from sin and grant redemption through His blood, but will
satisfy the heart-longing of all who consent to wear His yoke, to bear
His burden. It is His purpose to impart peace and rest to all who come to
Him for the bread of life. He requires us to perform only those duties
that will lead our steps to heights of bliss to which the disobedient can
never attain. The true, joyous life of the soul is to have Christ formed
within, the hope of glory. Many are inquiring, "How am I to make the surrender of myself to God?"
You desire to give yourself to Him, but you are weak in moral power, in
slavery to doubt, and controlled by the habits of your life of sin. Your
promises and resolutions are like ropes of sand. You cannot control your
thoughts, your impulses, your affections. The knowledge of your broken
promises and forfeited pledges weakens your confidence in your own
sincerity, and causes you to feel that God cannot accept you; but you
need not despair. What you need to understand is the true force of the
will. This is the governing power in the nature of man, the power of
decision, or of choice. Everything depends on the right action of the
will. The power of choice God has given to men; it is theirs to exercise.
You cannot change your heart, you cannot of yourself give to God its
affections; but you can choose to serve Him. You can give Him your will;
He will then work in you to will and to do according to His good
pleasure. Thus your whole nature will be brought under the control of the
Spirit of Christ; your affections will be centered upon Him, your
thoughts will be in harmony with Him. Desires for goodness and holiness are right as far as they go; but if
you stop here, they will avail nothing. Many will be lost while hoping
and desiring to be Christians. They do not come to the point of yielding
the will to God. They do not now choose to be Christians. Through the right exercise of the will, an entire change may be made
in your life. By yielding up your will to Christ, you ally yourself with
the power that is above all principalities and powers. You will have
strength from above to hold you steadfast, and thus through constant
surrender to God you will be enabled to live the new life, even the life
of faith. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 6
AS your conscience has been quickened by the Holy
Spirit, you have seen something of the evil of sin, of its power, its
guilt, its woe; and you look upon it with abhorrence. You feel that sin
has separated you from God, that you are in bondage to the power of evil.
The more you struggle to escape, the more you realize your helplessness.
Your motives are impure; your heart is unclean. You see that your life
has been filled with selfishness and sin. You long to be forgiven, to be
cleansed, to be set free. Harmony with God, likeness to Him--what can you
do to obtain it? It is peace that you need--Heaven's forgiveness and peace and love in
the soul. Money cannot buy it, intellect cannot procure it, wisdom cannot
attain to it; you can never hope, by your own efforts, to secure it. But
God offers it to you as a gift, "without money and without price." Isaiah
55:1. It is yours if you will but reach out your hand and grasp it. The
Lord says, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as
snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." Isaiah
1:18. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put
within you." Ezekiel 36:26. You have confessed your sins, and in heart put them away. You have
resolved to give yourself to God. Now go to Him, and ask that He will
wash away your sins and give you a new heart. Then believe that He does
this because He has promised . This is the lesson which Jesus taught
while He was on earth, that the gift which God promises us, we must
believe we do receive, and it is ours. Jesus healed the people of their
diseases when they had faith in His power; He helped them in the things
which they could see, thus inspiring them with confidence in Him
concerning things which they could not see--leading them to believe in
His power to forgive sins. This He plainly stated in the healing of the
man sick with palsy: "That ye may know that the Son of man hath power on
earth to forgive sins, (then saith He to the sick of the palsy,) Arise,
take up thy bed, and go unto thine house." Matthew 9:6. So also John the
evangelist says, speaking of the miracles of Christ, "These are written,
that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that
believing ye might have life through His name." John 20:31. From the simple Bible account of how Jesus healed the sick, we may
learn something about how to believe in Him for the forgiveness of sins.
Let us turn to the story of the paralytic at Bethesda. The poor sufferer
was helpless; he had not used his limbs for thirty-eight years. Yet Jesus
bade him, "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk." The sick man might have
said, "Lord, if Thou wilt make me whole, I will obey Thy word." But, no,
he believed Christ's word, believed that he was made whole, and he made
the effort at once; he willed to walk, and he did walk. He acted on the
word of Christ, and God gave the power. He was made whole. In like manner you are a sinner. You cannot atone for your past sins;
you cannot change your heart and make yourself holy. But God promises to
do all this for you through Christ. You believe that promise. You confess
your sins and give yourself to God. You will to serve Him. Just as surely
as you do this, God will fulfill His word to you. If you believe the
promise,--believe that you are forgiven and cleansed,--God supplies the
fact; you are made whole, just as Christ gave the paralytic power to walk
when the man believed that he was healed. It is so if you believe it. Do not wait to feel that you are made whole, but say, "I believe it;
it is so, not because I feel it, but because God has promised." Jesus says, "What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that
ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Mark 11:24. There is a
condition to this promise--that we pray according to the will of God. But
it is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children,
and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings,
and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have received
them. It is our privilege to go to Jesus and be cleansed, and to stand
before the law without shame or remorse. "There is therefore now no
condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the
flesh, but after the Spirit." Romans 8:1. Henceforth you are not your own; you are bought with a price. "Ye were
not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold; ... but with
the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without
spot." 1 Peter 1:18, 19. Through this simple act of believing God, the
Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in your heart. You are as a child
born into the family of God, and He loves you as He loves His Son. Now that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not draw back, do not
take yourself away from Him, but day by day say, "I am Christ's; I have
given myself to Him;" and ask Him to give you His Spirit and keep you by
His grace. As it is by giving yourself to God, and believing Him, that
you become His child, so you are to live in Him. The apostle says, "As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him."
Colossians 2:6. Some seem to feel that they must be on probation, and must prove to
the Lord that they are reformed, before they can claim His blessing. But
they may claim the blessing of God even now. They must have His grace,
the Spirit of Christ, to help their infirmities, or they cannot resist
evil. Jesus loves to have us come to Him just as we are, sinful,
helpless, dependent. We may come with all our weakness, our folly, our
sinfulness, and fall at His feet in penitence. It is His glory to
encircle us in the arms of His love and to bind up our wounds, to cleanse
us from all impurity. Here is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons
them personally, individually. They do not take God at His word. It is
the privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for
themselves that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the
suspicion that God's promises are not meant for you. They are for every
repentant transgressor. Strength and grace have been provided through
Christ to be brought by ministering angels to every believing soul. None
are so sinful that they cannot find strength, purity, and righteousness
in Jesus, who died for them. He is waiting to strip them of their
garments stained and polluted with sin, and to put upon them the white
robes of righteousness; He bids them live and not die. God does not deal with us as finite men deal with one another. His
thoughts are thoughts of mercy, love, and tenderest compassion. He says,
"Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts:
and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to
our God, for He will abundantly pardon." "I have blotted out, as a thick
cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins." Isaiah 55:7;
44:22. "I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord
God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye." Ezekiel 18:32. Satan is
ready to steal away the blessed assurances of God. He desires to take
every glimmer of hope and every ray of light from the soul; but you must
not permit him to do this. Do not give ear to the tempter, but say,
"Jesus has died that I might live. He loves me, and wills not that I
should perish. I have a compassionate heavenly Father; and although I
have abused His love, though the blessings He has given me have been
squandered, I will arise, and go to my Father, and say, 'I have sinned
against heaven, and before Thee, and am no more worthy to be called Thy
son: make me as one of Thy hired servants.'" The parable tells you how
the wanderer will be received: "When he was yet a great way off, his
father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and
kissed him." Luke 15:18-20. But even this parable, tender and touching as it is, comes short of
expressing the infinite compassion of the heavenly Father. The Lord
declares by His prophet, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love:
therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee. " Jeremiah 31:3. While
the sinner is yet far from the Father's house, wasting his substance in a
strange country, the Father's heart is yearning over him; and every
longing awakened in the soul to return to God is but the tender pleading
of His Spirit, wooing, entreating, drawing the wanderer to his Father's
heart of love. With the rich promises of the Bible before you, can you give place to
doubt? Can you believe that when the poor sinner longs to return, longs
to forsake his sins, the Lord sternly withholds him from coming to His
feet in repentance? Away with such thoughts! Nothing can hurt your own
soul more than to entertain such a conception of our heavenly Father. He
hates sin, but He loves the sinner, and He gave Himself in the person of
Christ, that all who would might be saved and have eternal blessedness in
the kingdom of glory. What stronger or more tender language could have
been employed than He has chosen in which to express His love toward us?
He declares, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I
not forget thee." Isaiah 49:15. Look up, you that are doubting and trembling; for Jesus lives to make
intercession for us. Thank God for the gift of His dear Son and pray that
He may not have died for you in vain. The Spirit invites you today. Come
with your whole heart to Jesus, and you may claim His blessing. As you read the promises, remember they are the expression of
unutterable love and pity. The great heart of Infinite Love is drawn
toward the sinner with boundless compassion. "We have redemption through
His blood, the forgiveness of sins." Ephesians 1:7. Yes, only believe
that God is your helper. He wants to restore His moral image in man. As you draw near to Him with confession and repentance, He will draw near to you with mercy and forgiveness. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 7
"If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are
passed away; behold, all things are become new." 2 Corinthians
5:17. A person may not be able to tell the exact time
or place, or trace all the chain of circumstances in the process of
conversion; but this does not prove him to be unconverted. Christ said
to Nicodemus, "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 everyone that is born of the Spirit." John 3:8. Like the
wind, which is invisible, yet the effects of which are plainly seen and
felt, is the Spirit of God in its work upon the human heart. That
regenerating power, which no human eye can see, begets a new life in
the soul; it creates a new being in the image of God. While the work of
the Spirit is silent and imperceptible, its effects are manifest. If
the heart has been renewed by the Spirit of God, the life will bear
witness to the fact. While we cannot do anything to change our hearts
or to bring ourselves into harmony with God; while we must not trust at
all to ourselves or our good works, our lives will reveal whether the
grace of God is dwelling within us. A change will be seen in the
character, the habits, the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and
decided between what they have been and what they are. The character is
revealed, not by occasional good deeds and occasional misdeeds, but by
the tendency of the habitual words and acts. It is true that there may be an outward correctness of deportment
without the renewing power of Christ. The love of influence and the
desire for the esteem of others may produce a well-ordered
life. Self-respect may lead us to avoid the appearance of evil. A
selfish heart may perform generous actions. By what means, then, shall
we determine whose side we are on? Who has the heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to
converse? Who has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we
are Christ's, our thoughts are with Him, and our sweetest thoughts are
of Him. All we have and are is consecrated to Him. We long to bear His
image, breathe His spirit, do His will, and please Him in all things. Those who become new creatures in Christ Jesus will bring forth the
fruits of the Spirit, "love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." Galatians 5:22, 23. They will
no longer fashion themselves according to the former lusts, but by the
faith of the Son of God they will follow in His steps, reflect His
character, and purify themselves even as He is pure. The things they
once hated they now love, and the things they once loved they hate. The
proud and self-assertive become meek and lowly in heart. The vain and
supercilious become serious and unobtrusive. The drunken become sober,
and the profligate pure. The vain customs and fashions of the world are
laid aside. Christians will seek not the "outward adorning," but "the
hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit." 1 Peter 3: 3, 4. There is no evidence of genuine repentance unless it works
reformation. If he restore the pledge, give again that he had robbed,
confess his sins, and love God and his fellow men, the sinner may be
sure that he has passed from death unto life. When, as erring, sinful beings, we come to Christ and become
partakers of His pardoning grace, love springs up in the heart. Every
burden is light, for the yoke that Christ imposes is easy. Duty becomes
a delight, and sacrifice a pleasure. The path that before seemed
shrouded in darkness, becomes bright with beams from the Sun of
Righteousness. The loveliness of the character of Christ will be seen in His
followers. It was His delight to do the will of God. Love to God, zeal
for His glory, was the controlling power in our Saviour's life. Love
beautified and ennobled all His actions. Love is of God. The
unconsecrated heart cannot originate or produce it. It is found only in
the heart where Jesus reigns. "We love, because He first loved us." 1
John 4:19, R.V. In the heart renewed by divine grace, love is the
principle of action. It modifies the character, governs the impulses,
controls the passions, subdues enmity, and ennobles the
affections. This love, cherished in the soul, sweetens the life and
sheds a refining influence on all around. There are two errors against which the children of God--particularly
those who have just come to trust in His grace--especially need to
guard. The first, already dwelt upon, is that of looking to their own
works, trusting to anything they can do, to bring themselves into
harmony with God. He who is trying to become holy by his own works in
keeping the law, is attempting an impossibility. All that man can do
without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It is the grace of
Christ alone, through faith, that can make us holy. The opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ
releases men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we
become partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do
with our redemption. But notice here that obedience is not a mere outward compliance, but
the service of love. The law of God is an expression of His very
nature; it is an embodiment of the great principle of love, and hence
is the foundation of His government in heaven and earth. If our hearts
are renewed in the likeness of God, if the divine love is implanted in
the soul, will not the law of God be carried out in the life? When the
principle of love is implanted in the heart, when man is renewed after
the image of Him that created him, the new-covenant promise is
fulfilled, "I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds
will I write them." Hebrews 10:16. And if the law is written in the
heart, will it not shape the life? Obedience--the service and
allegiance of love--is the true sign of discipleship. Thus the
Scripture says, "This is the love of God, that we keep His
commandments." "He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him." 1 John
5:3; 2:4. Instead of releasing man from obedience, it is faith, and
faith only, that makes us partakers of the grace of Christ, which
enables us to render obedience. We do not earn salvation by our obedience; for salvation is the free
gift of God, to be received by faith. But obedience is the fruit of
faith. "Ye know that He was manifested to take away our sins; and in
Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth
hath not seen Him, neither known Him." 1 John 3:5, 6. Here is the true
test. If we abide in Christ, if the love of God dwells in us, our
feelings, our thoughts, our purposes, our actions, will be in harmony
with the will of God as expressed in the precepts of His holy
law. "Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth
righteousness is righteous, even as He is righteous." 1 John
3:7. Righteousness is defined by the standard of God's holy law, as
expressed in the ten precepts given on Sinai. That so-called faith in Christ which professes to release men from
the obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. "By
grace are ye saved through faith." But "faith, if it hath not works, is
dead." Ephesians 2:8; James 2:17. Jesus said of Himself before He came
to earth, "I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within
My heart." Psalm 40:8. And just before He ascended again to heaven He
declared, "I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His
love." John 15:10. The Scripture says, "Hereby we do know that we know
Him, if we keep His commandments. ... He that saith he abideth in Him
ought himself also so to walk even as He walked." 1 John
2:3-6. "Because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example,
that ye should follow His steps." 1 Peter 2:21. The condition of eternal life is now just what it always has
been,--just what it was in Paradise before the fall of our first
parents,--perfect obedience to the law of God, perfect
righteousness. If eternal life were granted on any condition short of
this, then the happiness of the whole universe would be imperiled. The
way would be open for sin, with all its train of woe and misery, to be
immortalized. It was possible for Adam, before the fall, to form a righteous
character by obedience to God's law. But he failed to do this, and
because of his sin our natures are fallen and we cannot make ourselves
righteous. Since we are sinful, unholy, we cannot perfectly obey the
holy law. We have no righteousness of our own with which to meet the
claims of the law of God. But Christ has made a way of escape for
us. He lived on earth amid trials and temptations such as we have to
meet. He lived a sinless life. He died for us, and now He offers to
take our sins and give us His righteousness. If you give yourself to
Him, and accept Him as your Saviour, then, sinful as your life may have
been, for His sake you are accounted righteous. Christ's character
stands in place of your character, and you are accepted before God just
as if you had not sinned. More than this, Christ changes the heart. He abides in your heart by
faith. You are to maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the
continual surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He
will work in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. So
you may say, "The life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself for
me." Galatians 2:20. So Jesus said to His disciples, "It is not ye that
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you." Matthew
10:20. Then with Christ working in you, you will manifest the same
spirit and do the same good works --works of righteousness,
obedience. So we have nothing in ourselves of which to boast. We have no ground
for self-exaltation. Our only ground of hope is in the righteousness of
Christ imputed to us, and in that wrought by His Spirit working in and
through us. When we speak of faith, there is a distinction that should be borne
in mind. There is a kind of belief that is wholly distinct from
faith. The existence and power of God, the truth of His word, are facts
that even Satan and his hosts cannot at heart deny. The Bible says that
"the devils also believe, and tremble;" but this is not faith. James
2:19. Where there is not only a belief in God's word, but a submission
of the will to Him; where the heart is yielded to Him, the affections
fixed upon Him, there is faith--faith that works by love and purifies
the soul. Through this faith the heart is renewed in the image of
God. And the heart that in its unrenewed state is not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be, now delights in its holy precepts,
exclaiming with the psalmist, "O how love I Thy law! it is my
meditation all the day." Psalm 119:97. And the righteousness of the law
is fulfilled in us, "who walk not after the flesh, but after the
Spirit." Romans 8:1. There are those who have known the pardoning love of Christ and who
really desire to be children of God, yet they realize that their
character is imperfect, their life faulty, and they are ready to doubt
whether their hearts have been renewed by the Holy Spirit. To such I
would say, Do not draw back in despair. We shall often have to bow down
and weep at the feet of Jesus because of our shortcomings and mistakes,
but we are not to be discouraged. Even if we are overcome by the enemy,
we are not cast off, not forsaken and rejected of God. No; Christ is at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Said the
beloved John, "These things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if
any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the
righteous." 1 John 2:1. And do not forget the words of Christ, "The
Father Himself loveth you." John 16:27. He desires to restore you to
Himself, to see His own purity and holiness reflected in you. And if
you will but yield yourself to Him, He that hath begun a good work in
you will carry it forward to the day of Jesus Christ. Pray more
fervently; believe more fully. As we come to distrust our own power,
let us trust the power of our Redeemer, and we shall praise Him who is
the health of our countenance. The closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in
your own eyes; for your vision will be clearer, and your imperfections
will be seen in broad and distinct contrast to His perfect nature. This
is evidence that Satan's delusions have lost their power; that the
vivifying influence of the Spirit of God is arousing you. No deep-seated love for Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not
realize its own sinfulness. The soul that is transformed by the grace
of Christ will admire His divine character; but if we do not see our
own moral deformity, it is unmistakable evidence that we have not had a
view of the beauty and excellence of Christ. The less we see to esteem in ourselves, the more we shall see to
esteem in the infinite purity and loveliness of our Saviour. A view of
our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and when the soul,
realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He will reveal
Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to Him and to
the word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His character,
and the more fully we shall reflect His image. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 8
THE change of heart by which we become children
of God is in the Bible spoken of as birth. Again, it is compared to the
germination of the good seed sown by the husbandman. In like manner those
who are just converted to Christ are, "as new-born babes," to "grow up"
to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. 1 Peter 2:2; Ephesians
4:15. Or like the good seed sown in the field, they are to grow up and
bring forth fruit. Isaiah says that they shall "be called trees of
righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."
Isaiah 61:3. So from natural life, illustrations are drawn, to help us
better to understand the mysterious truths of spiritual life. Not all the wisdom and skill of man can produce life in the smallest
object in nature. It is only through the life which God Himself has
imparted, that either plant or animal can live. So it is only through the
life from God that spiritual life is begotten in the hearts of men.
Unless a man is "born from above," he cannot become a partaker of the
life which Christ came to give. John 3:3, margin. As with life, so it is with growth. It is God who brings the bud to
bloom and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops,
"first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear."
Mark 4:28. And the prophet Hosea says of Israel, that "he shall grow as
the lily." "They shall revive as the corn, and grow as the vine." Hosea
14:5, 7. And Jesus bids us "consider the lilies how they grow." Luke
12:27. The plants and flowers grow not by their own care or anxiety or
effort, but by receiving that which God has furnished to minister to
their life. The child cannot, by any anxiety or power of its own, add to
its stature. No more can you, by anxiety or effort of yourself, secure
spiritual growth. The plant, the child, grows by receiving from its
surroundings that which ministers to its life --air, sunshine, and food.
What these gifts of nature are to animal and plant, such is Christ to
those who trust in Him. He is their "everlasting light," "a sun and
shield." Isaiah 60:19; Psalm 84:11. He shall be as "the dew unto Israel."
"He shall come down like rain upon the mown grass." Hosea 14:5; Psalm
72:6. He is the living water, "the Bread of God ... which cometh down
from heaven, and giveth life unto the world." John 6:33. In the matchless gift of His Son, God has encircled the whole world
with an atmosphere of grace as real as the air which circulates around
the globe. All who choose to breathe this life-giving atmosphere will
live and grow up to the stature of men and women in Christ Jesus. As the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beams may aid in
perfecting its beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to the Sun of
Righteousness, that heaven's light may shine upon us, that our character
may be developed into the likeness of Christ. Jesus teaches the same thing when He says, "Abide in Me, and I in you.
As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine;
no more can ye, except ye abide in Me. ... Without Me ye can do nothing."
John 15:4, 5. You are just as dependent upon Christ, in order to live a
holy life, as is the branch upon the parent stock for growth and
fruitfulness. Apart from Him you have no life. You have no power to
resist temptation or to grow in grace and holiness. Abiding in Him, you
may flourish. Drawing your life from Him, you will not wither nor be
fruitless. You will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. Many have an idea that they must do some part of the work alone. They
have trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sin, but now they seek by
their own efforts to live aright. But every such effort must fail. Jesus
says, "Without Me ye can do nothing."
Our growth in grace, our joy, our usefulness,--all depend upon our union
with Christ. It is by communion with Him, daily, hourly,--by abiding in
Him, --that we are to grow in grace. He is not only the Author, but the
Finisher of our faith. It is Christ first and last and always. He is to
be with us, not only at the beginning and the end of our course, but at
every step of the way. David says, "I have set the Lord always before me:
because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved." Psalm 16:8. Do you ask, "How am I to abide in Christ?" In the same way as you
received Him at first. "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the
Lord, so walk ye in Him." "The just shall live by faith." Colossians 2:6;
Hebrews 10:38. You gave yourself to God, to be His wholly, to serve and
obey Him, and you took Christ as your Saviour. You could not yourself
atone for your sins or change your heart; but having given yourself to
God, you believe that He for Christ's sake did all this for you. By faith
you became Christ's, and by faith you are to grow up in Him--by giving
and taking. You are to give all,--your heart, your will, your
service,--give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you must
take all,--Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in your heart,
to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting helper,--to
give you power to obey. Consecrate yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first
work. Let your prayer be, "Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my
plans at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let
all my work be wrought in Thee." This is a daily matter. Each morning
consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to Him,
to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate. Thus day
by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and thus your
life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ. A life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of
feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. Your hope is not
in yourself; it is in Christ. Your weakness is united to His strength,
your ignorance to His wisdom, your frailty to His enduring might. So you
are not to look to yourself, not to let the mind dwell upon self, but
look to Christ. Let the mind dwell upon His love, upon the beauty, the
perfection, of His character. Christ in His self-denial, Christ in His
humiliation, Christ in His purity and holiness, Christ in His matchless
love --this is the subject for the soul's contemplation. It is by loving
Him, copying Him, depending wholly upon Him, that you are to be
transformed into His likeness. Jesus says, "Abide in Me." These words convey the idea of rest,
stability, confidence. Again He invites,"Come unto Me, ... and I will
give you rest." Matthew 11:28. The words of the psalmist express the same
thought: "Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." And Isaiah gives
the assurance, "In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."
Psalm 37:7; Isaiah 30:15. This rest is not found in inactivity; for in
the Saviour's invitation the promise of rest is united with the call to
labor: "Take My yoke upon you: ... and ye shall find rest." Matthew
11:29. The heart that rests most fully upon Christ will be most earnest
and active in labor for Him. When the mind dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the
source of strength and life. Hence it is Satan's constant effort to keep
the attention diverted from the Saviour and thus prevent the union and
communion of the soul with Christ. The pleasures of the world, life's
cares and perplexities and sorrows, the faults of others, or your own
faults and imperfections--to any or all of these he will seek to divert
the mind. Do not be misled by his devices. Many who are really
conscientious, and who desire to live for God, he too often leads to
dwell upon their own faults and weaknesses, and thus by separating them
from Christ he hopes to gain the victory. We should not make self the
center and indulge anxiety and fear as to whether we shall be saved. All
this turns the soul away from the Source of our strength. Commit the
keeping of your soul to God, and trust in Him. Talk and think of Jesus.
Let self be lost in Him. Put away all doubt; dismiss your fears. Say with
the apostle Paul, "I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the
life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me, and gave Himself for me." Galatians 2:20. Rest in God. He
is able to keep that which you have committed to Him. If you will leave
yourself in His hands, He will bring you off more than conqueror through
Him that has loved you. When Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself
by a tie of love that can never be broken by any power save the choice of
man himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce us to
break this tie--to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. Here is
where we need to watch, to strive, to pray, that nothing may entice us to
choose another master; for we are always free to do this. But let us keep
our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us. Looking unto Jesus,
we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. In constantly
beholding Him, we "are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord." 2 Corinthians 3:18. It was thus that the early disciples gained their likeness to the dear
Saviour. When those disciples heard the words of Jesus, they felt their
need of Him. They sought, they found, they followed Him. They were with
Him in the house, at the table, in the closet, in the field. They were
with Him as pupils with a teacher, daily receiving from His lips lessons
of holy truth. They looked to Him, as servants to their master, to learn
their duty. Those disciples were men "subject to like passions as we are."
James 5:17. They had the same battle with sin to fight. They needed the
same grace, in order to live a holy life. Even John, the beloved disciple, the one who most fully reflected the
likeness of the Saviour, did not naturally possess that loveliness of
character. He was not only self-assertive and ambitious for honor, but
impetuous, and resentful under injuries.
But as the character of the Divine One was manifested to him, he saw his
own deficiency and was humbled by the knowledge. The strength and
patience, the power and tenderness, the majesty and meekness, that he
beheld in the daily life of the Son of God, filled his soul with
admiration and love. Day by day his heart was drawn out toward Christ,
until he lost sight of self in love for his Master. His resentful,
ambitious temper was yielded to the molding power of Christ. The
regenerating influence of the Holy Spirit renewed his heart. The power of
the love of Christ wrought a transformation of character. This is the
sure result of union with Jesus. When Christ abides in the heart, the
whole nature is transformed. Christ's Spirit, His love, softens the
heart, subdues the soul, and raises the thoughts and desires toward God
and heaven. When Christ ascended to heaven, the sense of His presence was still
with His followers. It was a personal presence, full of love and light.
Jesus, the Saviour, who had walked and talked and prayed with them, who
had spoken hope and comfort to their hearts, had, while the message of
peace was still upon His lips, been taken up from them into heaven, and
the tones of His voice had come back to them, as the cloud of angels
received Him--"Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."
Matthew 28:20. He had ascended to heaven in the form of humanity. They
knew that He was before the throne of God, their Friend and Saviour
still; that His sympathies were unchanged; that He was still identified
with suffering humanity. He was presenting before God the merits of His
own precious blood, showing His wounded hands and feet, in remembrance of
the price He had paid for His redeemed. They knew that He had ascended to
heaven to prepare places for them, and that He would come again and take
them to Himself.
As they met together after the ascension they were eager to present
their requests to the Father in the name of Jesus. In solemn awe they
bowed in prayer, repeating the assurance, "Whatsoever ye shall ask the
Father in My name, He will give it you. Hit herto have ye asked nothing in
My name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full." John
16:23, 24. They extended the hand of faith higher and higher with the
mighty argument, "It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen
again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession
for us." Romans 8:34. And Pentecost brought them the presence of the
Comforter, of whom Christ had said, He "shall be in you." And He had
further said, "It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not
away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send
Him unto you." John 14:17; 16:7. Henceforth through the Spirit, Christ
was to abide continually in the hearts of His children. Their union with
Him was closer than when He was personally with them. The light, and
love, and power of the indwelling Christ shone out through them, so that
men, beholding, "marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had
been with Jesus." Acts 4:13. All that Christ was to the disciples, He desires to be to His children
today; for in that last prayer, with the little band of disciples
gathered about Him, He said, "Neither pray I for these alone, but for
them also which shall believe on Me through their word." John 17:20. Jesus prayed for us, and He asked that we might be one with Him, even
as He is one with the Father. What a union is this! The Saviour has said
of Himself, "The Son can do nothing of Himself;" "the Father that
dwelleth in Me, He doeth the works." John 5:19; 14:10. Then if Christ is
dwelling in our hearts, He will work in us "both to will and to do of His
good pleasure." Philippians 2:13. We shall work as He worked; we shall
manifest the same spirit. And thus, loving Him and abiding in Him, we
shall "grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ."
Ephesians 4:15. Back to Table of Contents CHAPTER 9
GOD is the source of life and light and joy to
the universe. Like rays of light from the sun, like the streams of water
bursting from a living spring, blessings flow out from Him to all His
creatures. And wherever the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will
flow out to others in love and blessing. Our Saviour's joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen men.
For this He counted not His life dear unto Himself, but endured the
cross, despising the shame. So angels are ever engaged in working for the
happiness of others. This is their joy. That which selfish hearts would
regard as humiliating service, ministering to those who are wretched and
in every way inferior in character and rank, is the work of sinless
angels. The spirit of Christ's self-sacrificing love is the spirit that
pervades heaven and is the very essence of its bliss. This is the spirit
that Christ's followers will possess, the work that they will do. When the love of Christ is enshrined in the heart, like sweet
fragrance it cannot be hidden. Its holy influence will be felt by all
with whom we come in contact. The spirit of Christ in the heart is like a
spring in the desert, flowing to refresh all and making those who are
ready to perish, eager to drink of the water of life. Love to Jesus will be manifested in a desire to work as He worked for
the blessing and uplifting of humanity. It will lead to love, tenderness,
and sympathy toward all the creatures of our heavenly Father's care. The Saviour's life on earth was not a life of ease and devotion to
Himself, but He toiled with persistent, earnest, untiring effort for the
salvation of lost mankind. From the manger to Calvary He followed the
path of self-denial and sought not to be released from arduous tasks,
painful travels and exhausting care and labor. He said, "The Son of man
came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a
ransom for many." Matthew 20:28. This was the one great object of His
life. Everything else was secondary and subservient. It was His meat and
drink to do the will of God and to finish His work. Self and
self-interest had no part in His labor. So those who are the partakers of the grace of Christ will be ready to
make any sacrifice, that others for whom He died may share the heavenly
gift. They will do all they can to make the world better for their stay
in it. This spirit is the sure outgrowth of a soul truly converted. No
sooner does one come to Christ than there is born in his heart a desire
to make known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus; the
saving and sanctifying truth cannot be shut up in his heart. If we are
clothed with the righteousness of Christ and are filled with the joy of
His indwelling Spirit, we shall not be able to hold our peace. If we have
tasted and seen that the Lord is good we shall have something to tell.
Like Philip when he found the Saviour, we shall invite others into His
presence. We shall seek to present to them the attractions of Christ and
the unseen realities of the world to come. There will be an intensity of
desire to follow in the path that Jesus trod. There will be an earnest
longing that those around us may "behold the Lamb of God, which taketh
away the sin of the world." John 1:29. And the effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves.
This was the purpose of God in giving us a part to act in the plan of
redemption. He has granted men the privilege of becoming partakers of the
divine nature and, in their turn, of diffusing blessings to their fellow
men. This is the highest honor, the greatest joy, that it is possible for
God to bestow upon men. Those who thus become participants in labors of
love are brought nearest to their Creator. God might have committed the message of the gospel, and all the work
of loving ministry, to the heavenly angels. He might have employed other
means for accomplishing His purpose. But in His infinite love He chose to
make us co-workers with Himself, with Christ and the angels, that we
might share the blessing, the joy, the spiritual uplifting, which results
from this unselfish ministry. We are brought into sympathy with Christ through the fellowship of His
sufferings. Every act of self-sacrifice for the good of others
strengthens the spirit of beneficence in the giver's heart, allying him
more closely to the Redeemer of the world, who "was rich, yet for your
sakes ... became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." 2
Corinthians 8:9. And it is only as we thus fulfill the divine purpose in
our creation that life can be a blessing to us. If you will go to work as Christ designs that His disciples shall, and
win souls for Him, you will feel the need of a deeper experience and a
greater knowledge in divine things, and will hunger and thirst after
righteousness. You will plead with God, and your faith will be
strengthened, and your soul will drink deeper drafts at the well of
salvation. Encountering opposition and trials will drive you to the Bible
and prayer. You will grow in grace and the knowledge of Christ, and will
develop a rich experience. The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth, stability, and
Christlike loveliness to the character, and brings peace and happiness to
its possessor. The aspirations are elevated. There is no room for sloth
or selfishness. Those who thus exercise the Christian graces will grow
and will become strong to work for God. They will have clear spiritual
perceptions, a steady, growing faith, and an increased power in prayer.
The Spirit of God, moving upon their spirit, calls forth the sacred
harmonies of the soul in answer to the divine touch. Those who thus
devote themselves to unselfish effort for the good of others are most
surely working out their own salvation. The only way to grow in grace is to be disinterestedly doing the very
work which Christ has enjoined upon us--to engage, to the extent of our
ability, in helping and blessing those who need the help we can give
them. Strength comes by exercise; activity is the very condition of life.
Those who endeavor to maintain Christian life by passively accepting the
blessings that come through the means of grace, and doing nothing for
Christ, are simply trying to live by eating without working. And in the
spiritual as in the natural world, this always results in degeneration
and decay. A man who would refuse to exercise his limbs would soon lose
all power to use them. Thus the Christian who will not exercise his
God-given powers not only fails to grow up into Christ, but he loses the
strength that he already had. The church of Christ is God's appointed agency for the salvation of
men. Its mission is to carry the gospel to the world. And the obligation
rests upon all Christians. Everyone, to the extent of his talent and
opportunity, is to fulfill the Saviour's commission. The love of Christ,
revealed to us, makes us debtors to all who know Him not. God has given
us light, not for ourselves alone, but to shed upon them. If the followers of Christ were awake to duty, there would be
thousands where there is one today proclaiming the gospel in heathen
lands. And all who could not personally engage in the work, would yet
sustain it with their means, their sympathy, and their prayers. And there
would be far more earnest labor for souls in Christian countries. We need not go to heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of
the home, if it is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ.
We can do this in the home circle, in the church, among those with whom
we associate, and with whom we do business. The greater part of our Saviour's life on earth was spent in patient
toil in the carpenter's shop at Nazareth. Ministering angels attended the
Lord of life as He walked side by side with peasants and laborers,
unrecognized and unhonored. He was as faithfully fulfilling His mission
while working at His humble trade as when He healed the sick or walked
upon the storm-tossed waves of Galilee. So in the humblest duties and
lowliest positions of life, we may walk and work with Jesus. The apostle says, "Let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide
with God." 1 Corinthians 7:24. The businessman may conduct his business
in a way that will glorify his Master because of his fidelity. If he is a
true follower of Christ he will carry his religion into everything that
is done and reveal to men the spirit of Christ. The mechanic may be a
diligent and faithful representative of Him who toiled in the lowly walks
of life among the hills of Galilee. Everyone who names the name of Christ
should so work that others, by seeing his good works, may be led to
glorify their Creator and Redeemer. Many have excused themselves from rendering their gifts to the service
of Christ because others were possessed of superior endowments and
advantages. The opinion has prevailed that only those who are especially
talented are required to consecrate their abilities to the service of God.
It has come to be understood by many that talents are given to only a
certain favored class to the exclusion of others who of course are not
called upon to share in the toils or the rewards. But it is not so
represented in the parable. When the master of the house called his
servants, he gave to every man his work. With a loving spirit we may perform life's humblest duties "as to the
Lord." Colossians 3:23. If the love of God is in the heart, it will be
manifested in the life. The sweet savor of Christ will surround us, and
our influence will elevate and bless. You are not to wait for great occasions or to expect extraordinary
abilities before you go to work for God. You need not have a thought of
what the world will think of you. If your daily life is a testimony to
the purity and sincerity of your faith, and others are convinced that you
desire to benefit them, your efforts will not be wholly lost. The humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing
to others. They may not realize that they are doing any special good, but
by their unconscious influence they may start waves of blessing that will
widen and deepen, and the blessed results they may never know until the
day of final reward. They do not feel or know that they are doing anything
great. They are not required to weary themselves with anxiety about
success. They have only to go forward quietly, doing faithfully the work
that God's providence assigns, and their life will not be in vain. Their
own souls will be growing more and more into the likeness of Christ; they
are workers together with God in this life and are thus fitting for the
higher work and the unshadowed joy of the life to come. Back to Table of Contents
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CHAPTER 2
The Sinner's Need of Christ
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Repentance
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Confession
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Consecration
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Faith and Acceptance
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The Test of Discipleship
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Growing Up Into Christ
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The Work and the Life
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