1952 Keswick Week - X-tended Missions Network

Transcription

The Keswick Week
1952
O glorious Keswick! Can we e'er forget
The blest hours spent in meditation sweet
Within the sacred tent,
Where earnest souls in chastened spirits met,
All calmly gathered—filling every seat,
And Spirit-sent,
To hear God's Word propounded and made
clear,
That hungry souls might haply f ind sweet
peace
And full surrender make;
Where holy men of God, their Saviour dear
Upholding faithfully, strove to increase,
For His dear sake,
God's f amily, who vow hencef orth to serve,
In singleness of heart and purpose deep,
Their Master, Jesus Christ.
Oh, may we follow on and never swerve
From our allegiance, but in meekness keep
Our holy tryst.
Oh, may God bless His servants mightily,
G ive them the S pir it's po wer a s leeping
Church to rouse,
Win to a deeper love
For Christ, all careless Christians. May they
be
Stirred to the depths; then in the Father's
house
All meet above.
-E SSIE B ERNSTEIN
NOT FOR RESALE
Reproduced by the
X-tended Missions Network
By the authority of
The Keswick Convention
Not to be reproduced.
The Keswick Week
1952
MARSHALL, MORGAN & SCOTT, LTD.,
LONDON.
THE KESWICK CONVENTION
FOR NEXT YEAR
will (D.v.) begin on
Saturday, July 11th
and end on
Saturday, July 18th, 1953
First Edition 1952
MADE AND PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY
R . W . S I M P S O N A N D C O . , LT D . ,
70 SHEEN RO AD, RICHMON D, SURREY
_
C ON T E N T S
SATURDAY, JULY 12th
Revive the Hearts of All!
Comparing Spiritual Things
REV. W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D.D.
S
REV. GEORGE B. DUNCAN, M.A. ..
10
DR. WILB UR M. SM ITH . .
REV. GEORGE B. DUNCAN, M.A. . .
REV. ALAN REDPATH
14
18
20
28
REV. WILLIAM STILL
PREB. COLIN C. KERR, M.A.,
H.C.F.
..
35
DR. WILB UR M. SM ITH . .
THE BISHOP OF BARKING, THE R.T.
REV. HUGH R. G OUGH , O.B.E.,
M. A. ..
.
MR. FRED MITCHELL
40
RE V. W. W. M AR T IN, M.A. . .
MR, FRED MITCHELL
53
60
62
SUNDAY, JULY 13th
Waiting Upon God
An Evidence of Genuine Christian
Life
THE WORD OF GOD AND THE LIFE OF
HOLINESS
(i) The Holy Word of God
Crippled, Challenged, Cured
Filled With All the Fullness of God.
MONDAY, JULY 14th
Hindrances to Blessing
SALVATION AND EHAVIOUR
(i)
The Christian Message (Romans
1-5) ..
Disastrous Consequences of Sin in the
Believer ..
.
An Almost Forgotten Truth
HOLINESS
(ii) The Word as the Revealer of Sin
The Price of Becoming Christlike .
Conditions of Blessing
..
37
44
47
TUESDAY, JULY 15th
Barriers Broken Down
SALVATION AND BEHAVIOUR
(ii) The Christian Life (Romans 6-8)
The Heart's Unsatisfied Cry
The God of Difficult People
..
HOLINESS
..
(iii) The Sanctifying Power of the
Word
..
..
The Price of Holiness
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
DR. WILB UR M. SM ITH ..
REV. ALAN REDPATH
REV. GEORGE B. DUNCAN, M.A.
65
69
72
WEDNESDAY, JULY 16th
Free Unbounded Grace
(iii) Holiness and Glory (Romans 8)
Open Secrets of Victory
Salem or Sodom ?
THE WORD OF GOD AND THE LIFE
OF HOLINESS
(iv)
The Power of the Word to Give
Victory Over Sin ..
Th e P roo f o f Lo ve ..
Sacrifice and Song ..
REV. W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D,D,
77
REV. M. A. P. WOOD, D.S.C. M.A.
MR. ROBERT A. LAIDLAW
86
89
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH ..
MR. STEPHEN F. OLFORD „
MR. FRED MITCHELL
..
.
.
•
92
98
101
THURSDAY, JULY 17th
The Spirit's Quickening Power
(iv) Philosophy of Behaviour
(Romans 12:1-15:13) ..
The Cruse of Oil
..
Be of Good Cheer .
HOLINESS
(v) T h e W o r d a n d Defeated
Disciples
The Rest of Faith ..
A Prince With God
REV. W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D.D. 107
REV. WILLIAM STILL
..
116
R.T. REV. THE BISHOP OF BARKING 119
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH ..
PREB. COLIN C. KERR, M,A.,
H.C.F..
..
..
..
127
130
FRIDAY, July 18th
Thanks be Unto God !
THE FIELD IS THE WORLD
The Next Step
Triumph in the Place of Defeat
The Revival in the Hebrides
REV. WILLIAM STILL
REV. ALAN REDPATH
REV. DUNCAN CAMPBELL
.
.
.
122
139
141
114
SATURDAY, JULY 12th
7.45 p . m . - O P E N I N G MEETING
COMPARING SPIRITUAL THINGS
REV. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D.D.
Revive the Hearts of All!
D
EEP longing for revival—a true visitation
from on high—gave to the Keswick
Convention this year its key-note from the
start. There was a manifest spirit of
expectancy in the opening meeting, and it
deepened
as
the
week
proceeded,
becoming the dominating note of the
Convention. It was sounded again and
again, but even more potently it made
itself felt in a spirit of yearning manifest in
all the gatherings; it was freely expressed
in the prayer-meetings and in houseparties, and in countless conversations.
Most of all, in the special meeting
convened on Friday afternoon, when the
Rev. Duncan Campbell spoke on the
revival in the island of Lewis.
Would that we could say revival had
come! In His sovereign orderings—and Mr.
Duncan Campbell's story made clearer
than ever that "the wind bloweth where it
listeth"—revival did not "break" upon
Keswick; but very many came away
convinced that the Convention was a
prelude, a vital preparation for it. For if
one thing is clear, it is this, that desire for
revival, and laying hold upon God in
earnest, prevailing prayer, always precedes
it. And that was very manifest at Keswick.
God was indeed in the midst of His
people. We were deeply conscious of His
quickening power—convicting concerning
sin; exalting the Lord Jesus, our Saviour;
leading to deeper faith, and yielding of life
to His Lordship. If the wistful expectation
of the "rending of the heavens" tarried, yet
the purpose of the Convention in the
proclaiming of the "life more abundant" in
Christ was fully realized, and many
entered into the blessing of the secret of
victory.
A larger gathering than ever before at an
opening meeting, on the Saturday evening,
presaged attendances throughout the week
which exceeded even those of last year,
when previous records were surpassed.
The meeting began with the singing of the
paraphrase, by the ninth Duke of Argyll, of
Psalm 121—
Mr. Fred Mitchell voiced in prayer the gratitude of all for journeying mercies, and for
gathering us at Keswick; and the Rev. A. T.
Houghton read Psalm 85, containing the words
which he later repeated in his address, "Wilt
Thou not revive us again ...?" The hymn "Full
Salvation!" for many years associated with
the opening meeting of the Convention, was
then sung; and Mr. Houghton gave his
message of welcome, as Chairman of the
Convention Council. He recalled the earliest
days of the Convention, and all the blessing
which has flowed out from it in the
succeeding years. "Never let us imagine," he
proceeded, "That Keswick is the only place
where such happenings can take place; but
it is true to say that if some thousands of
God's people come together for the sole
purpose of meeting with God, and spend a
whole week in fellowship together with that
one aim, something is bound to happen, for
'the Lord will not forsake His people for His
great Name's sake'."
After expressing an especial welcome to
visitors from overseas and to missionaries on
furlough, the Chairman concluded—
"It is only when we know the rest of faith
for ourselves that we can expect to see God
working in the Church at large, fulfilling that
crescendo of longing for revival, such as He
has already granted in measure in the farthest
corners of these islands, in the Hebrides. May
this be the longing of all our hearts, 'Wilt
Thou not revive us again: that Thy people
may rejoice in Thee? Show us Thy mercy, 0
Lord, and grant us Thy salvation,' that full
salvation, which is the rightful heritage of
all God's people."
It was with a deep sense of gratitude to God
for the restoration of Dr. W. Graham Scroggie
after his recent serious illness, that the vast
congregation listened to his opening address,
as he "compared spiritual things" in characteristically lucid style. Toward the end, as he
spoke of the possible consequences and
effects of the Convention, reaching out to the
uttermost parts of the earth, Dr. Scroggie
was greatly moved: he then voiced the
longing of all in prayer, and closed the
meeting with the Benediction.
Unto the hills around do I lift up
My longing eyes,
Oh, whence for me shall my salvation come.
From whence arise?
From God the Lord doth come my certain
aid,
From God the Lord, who heaven and earth
hath made.
4
Comparing Spiritual Things
BY THE REV. W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D.D.
IT has been said that this meeting sets
the key-note of the whole Convention.
That makes this opportunity a very
serious and a very solemn one for those
who have to speak. And yet we have to
remind ourselves that our responsibility is
limited, and that we must look to the Spirit of
God to direct not only the speakers but the
hearers. We are cast upon Him, and I want
in the time appointed to me its evening to
endeavour to present the standpoint that will
be assumed throughout the week in all the
addresses. I do not know what the
addresses will be, but I do not need to now
to make that statement, because this great
Convention rests upon certain truths hat
are unalterable, and that are proclaimed a
various ways from year to year.
In 1 Corinthians 2:13 we read: "We speak,
no t in th e wo rds wh ich m an' s wisdo m
teacheth, but which the Spirit teacheth;
comparing s p i r i t u a l things with spiritual."
The last phrase of this verse is variously
interpreted by the scholars, no fewer than
six distinct meanings being given to it; but
we shall follow the translation in the
Authorized Version as being the most
satisfactory.
B y "co m parin g spir itua l things w ith
spiritual" is implied that revealed truths are
combined so as to form a consistent and wellproportioned system of truth, and for want
of a careful comparison of these truths much
confusion of mind and much failure in
experience have resulted. Let us, then, make
this comparison relative to several important
subjects; and first of all—
I. Justification and Sanctification.
These, of course, are vitally related, and yet
they are quite dist inct. One cannot be
sanctified who is not justified, but one
may be justified and yet not be experimentally
sanctified. Most of us here are justified, but
we have come together to consider
whether or not we are sanctified. In Romans
5:1, Paul says that all believers are "justified
by faith," but elsewhere, addressing believers,
he says, "This is the will of God, even your
sanctification" (1 Thess. 4:3).
Justification relates to our standing in
Christ, but sanctification relates to our experimental state.
Justification points to our position, but
sanctification affects our condition.
B y justif icatio n we are bro ught into
relationship with God, but by sanctification
we are brought into fellowship with Him.
Justification is based on the work of Christ
for us, but sanctification results from the
work of the Spirit in us.
Justification tells of acceptance, but sanctification, of attainment.
Justification admits of no degrees, but
sanctification does. Justification is complete
and eternal, but sanctification is progressive,
for in Hebrews 10:14 we read of "them that
are being sanctified."
And so by "comparing spiritual things with
spiritual" we are led to see the relation to one
another of justification and sanctification,
and to discern the distinctiveness of each; we
are shown that by justification a condemned
sinner is received into a state of grace, and
that by sanctification a pardoned sinner is
brought into fellowship with God.
Justification is not a terminus, but a startingpoint, and is instantaneous, but sanctification
starts—or should start—from justification,
and is progressive. Comparing spiritual
things, then, is of great importance.
Closely connected with what has just been
said, and indeed implicit in it, we should distinguish—
II. Relationship and Fellowship,
There can be no fellowship with God by one
who is not savingly related to Him. But this
relationship can exist in the absence of fellowship. In John 1:12 we read: "As many as
received Him, to them gave He the right to
become children of God, even to them that
believe on His Name." And in John 15:14,
we read: "Ye are my friends, if ye do the
things which I command you," From these two
passages we learn that one becomes a child of
God by faith, and that one becomes a
friend of God by obedience. No one can be a
friend of God who is not a child of God,
but there are many who are children of God
but not His friends.
There is a difference between union and
communion in human and in spiritual rela-
tions. There is union where a man and a
woman are legally married, but the divorce
courts show us that that union does not always
eventuate in communion. Fathers and sons
are indissolubly related, but by no means are
they always friends. What strangers to one
another members of a family can be!
In human relationships friendship is never
conditioned by obedience, but by mutual sympathy, understanding and affection; but if a
Christian would be one of Christ's friends he
must obey Him. Christ shows and tells His
friends things which He does not show and
tell all His children. Abraham was called "the
friend of God" because he obeyed Him, but
Lot was not one of God's friends, because he
did not obey Him.
Friendship with God is based on relationship with Him, but it is a great deal more than
relationship. One could be a Christian for
fifty years and yet never be in the circle of
God's friends. May it indeed be that during
the week upon which we have entered many
will resolve to obey the Lord, and so add to
the privilege of sonship the joy of friendship.
A third comparison must be made between—
III. The Believer's Position and Condition.
About this more will be said in detail next
week, but at the moment let us apprehend the
essential truth which these terms convey.
Whether we speak of position and condition,
or of standing and state, or what is judicial
and experimental, the same truth emerges.
In the New Testament Epistles the believer
is viewed in two ways—as perfect in Christ,
and as imperfect in himself. A striking passage in this connection is 1 Corinthians 5:7,
which says: "Purge out the old leaven . .
as ye are unleavened," The first of these
phrases—"purge out the old leaven"—shows
that the Christian is imperfect in himself; and
the second phrase—"as ye are unleavened"—
shows that he is perfect in Christ. It is a
seeming contradiction, but a profound
spiritual truth.
What Paul says is "Because there is no evil
in you, put away all the evil that is in you."
That is the whole philosophy of the Christian
life. It means—become what you are; approximate actually to what you are ideally; let your
condition come ever nearer to your position;
let your actual state in this world ever more
worthily represent your wonderful standing in
Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
This truth is represented in two hymns
which we sing. The first tells of our perfect
position in Christ:
So near, so very near to God,
Nearer I cannot be;
For in the Person of His Son
I am as near as He.
And the other tells of our imperfect condition in experience:
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to
Thee, E'en though it be a cross that
raiseth me.
Both these views are true, but they are
looking at a truth from opposite ends.
Paul says: "In Christ ye are complete" (Col.
2:10), yet we know that in actual
experience we are far from being complete.
If we apprehend this double fact a vexing
problem will be solved, and we shall see
clearly that our actual experience may and
should draw ever closer to our judicial
position in Christ,
Another distinction of great importance
is to be drawn between—
IV. Life and Health.
Of course, every Christian has life,
but every Christian has not health. The
Christian Church is very much of a hospital
in which many sick doctors and nurses
are trying to help many sick patients. But
it is God's will not only that we should live
spiritually, but that our life should be
robust and vigorous. Christ said: "I came
that they may have life, and have it
abundantly" (John 10: 10),
There the ideas of life and health are distinguished
and
related—life
and
abundant life. We have our difficulties and
doubts about physical health and ill-health,
but no doubt can exist about spiritual
health. Holiness is wholeness or health,
and we shall see, I trust, in the Bible
Readings, what is meant by spiritual
health, and how it can be either missed
or secured.
Health, both physical and spiritual, is conditioned, and if spiritually we are invalids
when we should be athletes, it will not be
difficult to discover the reason.
All the people on whom Jesus when on
earth performed miracles of healing had
life, but not abundant life; and it was His
touch that gave healing. But before they
were healed their life was a liability and not
an asset, but after healing how different
everything was! So will it be with us,
When the Spirit makes the cripple to walk,
the deaf to hear, the dumb to speak, the
blind to see, and the impotent to work;
and this He will do if we are willing that it
shall be done.
Spiritual invalidism is not in God's plan
for the believer, but life abounding.
Another distinction which claims our
attention is that between—
V. The Instantaneous and the Progressive,
In 2 Corinthians 7:1 we read: "Let us
cleanse ourselves from all defilement of
flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the
fear of God."
"Let us cleanse ourselves" is in a tense
which signifies that it is something
which must be done instantaneously and
completely; and "perfecting holiness" is in
a tense which shows that this must be a
progressive action. This distinction must
be drawn if we are to understand the
meaning of the Christian life. The Bible
does not speak of progressive cleansing,
nor of instantaneous holiness. The one is
a preparation for the other. There cannot
be holiness where there is not cleansing,
but there may be cleansing which is not
followed by holiness just as one may start
a race and not finish it, The impartation
of spiritual life is instantaneous, but
spiritual growth is progressive; and both
Scripture and observation show that,
notwithstanding life, growth can be
arrested.
The writer to the Hebrews says:
"Though by this time you ought to be
teachers, you need someone to teach you
again the first principles of God's Word.
You need milk, not solid food; for
every one who lives on milk is unskilled
in the word of righteousness, for he is a
babe. But solid food is for the mature, for
those who have their faculties trained by
practice to distinguish good from evil"
(Heb. 5:12-14).
The tragedy of many a life is that
the Christian has never grown up; that
whereas there has been an instantaneous
experience of regeneration, there has not
been
a
progressive
experience
of
sanctification.
The word of Paul to the Galatians, "Ye
were running well, Who did hinder
you?" (5:7), shows that a Christian may
start and then stop. That is what is
meant by backsliding, of which Demas
is a notable example. Not without good
reason does the writer to the Hebrews
exhort us to "go on to maturity" (6:1).
The instantaneous in spiritual things
should always be followed by the
progressive, and where this is not done,
the Christian at last will lose, not his life,
but his reward.
There is one more comparison we
must briefly consider, one which lies in
the very foundation of the teaching of this
Convention, though perhaps too often
overlooked, It is the difference between—
VI. The Saviourship and the Lordship
of Christ.
In 1 Corinthians 12:3 we read: "No one
can say 'Jesus is Lord' but by the Holy
Spirit." No
doubt the first meaning of this statement
relates to the Divinity of the Man Jesus,
but this by no means exhausts its
meaning, "Jesus" means Saviour, and
"Lord" means Sovereign; and these
functions are the Alpha and Omega of His
relations to His people.
Christ is the Saviour of every Christian,
but not of every Christian is He Lord. As
Saviour He gives us life, and as Lord He
governs the life He gives; and while every
believer can truly say, "He has given me
life," not every believer can truly say, "He
governs my life."
The acceptance of Christ as Lord has constituted in the experience of a multitude of
Christians a spiritual crisis. We have
heard talk of the second blessing. No one
can put a limit to the number. There must be
a second before there can be a third! The
difference between His Saviourship and His
Lordship is the difference between His
work for us and His work in us; it is the
difference between the atoning blood and the
sanctifying oil.
He cannot be Lord in the life of anyone
who has not accepted Him as Saviour, but
many who accept Him as Saviour refuse
Him as Lord, If this were not so there
would
be
no
meaning
in
Peter's
exhortation: "Sanctify in your hearts Christ
as Lord" (1 Peter 3:15). If anyone asked,
"What are we all here for?" there is the
answer: we are here to sanctify in our
hearts Christ as Lord.
As Saviour Christ regenerates us, but as
Lord He rules over us. As Saviour we must
trust Him, but as Lord we must obey Him;
and He says to-day, as He said of old, "Why
call ye Me, Lord, Lord, and do not the
things which I say?" (Luke 6: 46). If we all
go down from this Convention saying truly
in our hearts, "My Saviour is my Lord," it
will bring revival not only to the Church to
which we belong, but surely throughout
the whole of the holy catholic Church in the
world something will happen; the course of
history will be altered. The things that we
fear and deplore and tremble concerning
are not going to be solved by politics or
diplomacy, by the wit or the wisdom of
men, but by a Spirit-filled Church, a
multitude of people of all nations and kindreds and tongues, who have not only a
Saviour but a Lord, who not only trust but
obey, That is the objective set before us
these days: may we fall into alignment with
it this very night!
Hear the Father's ancient promise,
Listen, thirsty, weary one!
"I will pour My Holy Spirit
On Thy chosen seed, 0 Son.Promise to the Lord's anointed!
Gift of God to Him for thee!
Now, by covenant appointed,
All thy springs in Him shall be.
Springs of life in desert places
Shall thy God unseal for thee;
Quickening and reviving graces,
Dew-like, healing, sweet, and free.
Springs of sweet refreshment flowing
When thy work is hard and long,
Courage, hope, and power bestowing,
Lightening labour with a song.
Springs of peace when conflict heightens,
Thine uplifted eyes shall see;
Peace that strengthens, calms, and brightens
Peace itself a victory.
Springs of comfort, strangely springing
Through the bitter wells of woe;
Fount of hidden gladness bringing
Joy that earth can ne'er bestow.
Thine, 0 Christian, is this treasure,
To Thy risen Head assured!
Thine in full and gracious measure,
Thine by covenant secured!
Now arise! His Word possessing,
Claim the promise of the Lord;
Plead through Christ for showers of blessing,
Till the Spirit be outpoured.
-FRANCES R. HAVERGAL.
SUNDAY, JULY 13th
11a.m.—FORENOON MEETING
AN EVIDENCE OF GENUINE CHRISTIAN LIFE
3 p.m.—AFTERNOON MEETING
THE WORD OF GOD AND THE LIFE OF HOLINESS
(i) THE HOLY WORD OF GOD
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH
5.45 p.m.—BROADCAST SERVICE
CRIPP LED, CHALLEN GE D, CURED
REV. GEORGE B. DUNCAN, M. A.
6.30 p.m.—EVENING SERVICE
FILLED WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD
REV. ALAN REDPATH
9
Waiting Upon God
FIERCE storm broke over Keswick at
5 a.m. on Sunday, and it was still
A
raining and gusty as some 400 people gathered
Word of God in the Life of Holiness." As he
spoke, the challenge of his words plainly
reached every heart. An occasional
humorous aside made a ripple of laughter
run throughout the large gathering; but the
serious purpose and purport of the message
dominated the whole meeting, and held the
rapt attention of all.
While this service was proceeding, a
children's meeting was being held in the small
tent —which was quite full, the term
"children"
being
rather
elastically
interpreted! The Rev. Maurice A. P. Wood
spoke from Revelation 3:20, illustrating
his talk with a fine model of a door, and
cards indicating that it was generally kept
closed for one of three reasons: fear,
laziness, or ignorance. The invitation to
open the heart's door to Christ was
responded to by some of the young folk
present.
Some four thousand, it was estimated,
crowded into the great tent for the broadcast
service, at 5.45 p.m. It was led by the
Rev. G. B. Duncan, who in an introductory
word described the setting and objective of
the Convention. Then "Full Salvation!" was
sung as only a Keswick congregation can
sing it; and Mr. Fred Mitchell led in
prayer. The Rev. A. T. Houghton read
Mark 1:1-12, and the hymn "Speak, Lord,
in the stillness" was sung before Mr.
Duncan gave the address. The brief,
impressive service closed with the singing of
"I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus." The Rev,
W. W. Martin pronounced the Benediction,
The evening service in the tent followed
soon after the broadcast. It was led by Mr.
Fred Mitchell, who announced as the opening
hymn Charles Wesley's "And can it be." Mr.
Robert A. Laidlaw, visiting the Convention
from New Zealand, led in prayer; and Mr.
Mitchell read Ephesians 3:14-21. Then,
after the singing of "Jesus, the very
thought of Thee," Mr. Mitchell handed
over the service to the Rev. Alan Redpath.
For most people the day might have been
considered full enough; but two further
meetings were held at 9 o'clock. In the
small tent the first of the young people's
meetings drew a very large number;
while a huge crowd filled the Market Place
and overflowed to the street leading to it, for
the first of the open-air meetings. Reports
of these will be found among the
appendices.
in the small tent at 7 o'clock, for the first of
the general prayer meetings. These meetings
were led throughout the week by Mr. P. S.
Henman a member of the Convention
Council. Again the longing for revival was
voiced, in the reading of Acts 1:14 and 2: 1-4,
by the Rev. Alan Redpath, and in prayer,
when he asked that the wind which has
swept through this town in the night might
come upon us all." No addresses were given
at these meetings this year, in order that the
whole hour might be devoted to prayer. At
the close, all united in the saying of the
Lord's Prayer.
According to custom, Convention speakers
occupied the pulpits of all the churches in the
town; and every church was filled well before
10.45, the time of starting the morning service,
In St. John's, the Bishop of Barking preached
upon the phrase "the glory of the Lord," in
2 Con 3 :18. He spoke first of its use in the
Old Testament, referring to the presence of
God among His people. Now, that glory is
revealed "in the face of Jesus Christ." Beholding Him, we shall be changed—transformed; the figure of self being superseded by
the figure of Christ. The condition is, beholding Him with open face—no veil to dim the
glory; no veil of insincerity, half-heartedness
or disobedience.
Although so many Convention visitors were
attending church services, and some 800
Brethren met in the Pavilion for the Breaking
of Bread, there was a large congregation for
the Convention service in the tent, conducted
by the Rev. G. B. Duncan. It began with the
singing of the hymn, "Father, again in Jesus'
name we meet," and after prayer and the
reading of Psalm 51 and Philippians 1: 1-11,
Mr. Duncan preached on the text, "The fruit
of the Spirit is ... joy." Echoing the key-note
of the opening meeting, he pointed out that
revival and rejoicing are linked together—
"Wilt Thou not revive us again: that Thy
people may rejoice in Thee."
The sun was breaking through the heavy
clouds, fitfully, by the time of the afternoon
meeting, over which the Rev. A. T. Houghton
presided. It began with the hymn, "0 Word
of God incarnate," and prayer by Mr. Stephen
F. Olford. Then Dr. Wilbur M. Smith was
cordially welcomed to the Convention platform
by the Chairman; and in a thought-provoking
address he considered "The Place of the
10
An Evidence of Genuine Christian Life
BY THE REV. G. B. DUNCAN, M.A.
WANT to base our thoughts this
I
morning on the familiar verse in
Galatians concerning the fruit of the Spirit,
and to pick just one out of the cluster of
graces and virtues and attributes that are
brought before us there—"The fruit of the
Spirit is . . . joy."
One of the very real needs among
Evangelical Christians to-day is that of
rethinking our conception of what constitutes a
full Christian experience, a genuine, out-andout Christian life, For so many, the really
keen Christian life has for long been
identified with a mere abstinence from
certain worldly things; or en aggressiveness in
Evangelical endeavour; or it may be that we
associate Christian maturity with a close
exactitude to our Evangelical faith and
belief.
It is tremendously important that we should
realize that the fruit of the Spirit is character,
and that the really mature Christian, the fully
developed Christian, is a Christlike man or
woman. Unless you and I are becoming
increasingly Christlike, everything else matters little. It does not matter that you are a
saved, orthodox Christian, if you have a vile
temper or are impossible to get on with;
flaws in our character will nullify our
testimony. But the truth I want to stress
this morning is that one of the most
noticeable marks of the fully-developed
Christian life, lived out in the power of the
Holy Spirit, is joy; for our text in Gal. 5: 22
reminds us that "The fruit of the Spirit is
love, joy . . ."
One of my earliest memories of Keswick is
of making my way with great difficulty into
St. John's Church, where I heard a sermon by
Bishop Taylor Smith. I have forgotten the
sermon, as we so often forget sermons; but
remember the tone of that wonderful, deep
voice, as the Bishop spoke of "living a life of
continual rejoicing." The life of rejoicing is
God's purpose for His people.
Did you notice in the Scripture reading last
night the words. "Wilt Thou not revive us
again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?"
There revival and rejoicing are linked
together. Again this morning we have read:
"Restore unto me the joy of Thy
salvation.... then will I teach transgressors
Thy ways; and sinners shall be converted
unto Thee" (Psa. 51: 12, 13). The Christian,
the man of God, cannot really be effective
unless he is joyful in
spirit. In Psalm 126 we read: "When the
Lord turned again the captivity of Zion, .
. . then was our mouth filled with laughter,
and our tongue with singing; then said they
among the heathen, The Lord hath done great
things . . . for us; whereof we are glad."
We do not want to think of joy as a
superficial exuberance—a kind of slap-youon-the-back, "Keep rejoicing, brother," sort
of thing. That is not what I mean; I am
thinking of an inner radiance of spirit that
shines quietly and steadily, dimmed at
times from the outward eye by the mists of
sorrow, but burning steadfastly in the quiet
places of the heart. Jesus was "a Man of
sorrows and acquainted with grief," and we
must not confuse the superficial experience
with the inner radiance we are meant to
have.
May I then direct your attention to the
Epistle of Paul to the Philippians, where the
word "rejoice" comes again and again?
We find that Paul seems to shift the
emphasis in the theme and thought as he
moves through that Epistle. The first eleven
verses
are
introductory,
giving
the
background of Christian fellowship and
love. Then we find he moves through
different aspects of Christian life and
experience. First of all, he refers to the
things which have happened to him, in 1: 12,
where he speaks of himself as a Christian in a
particular
physical
environment how
often that has a great deal to do with our
joy. Then in v. 27 the emphasis shifts,
and he is not speaking of himself and his
own environment, but of other folk and their
social relationships —how often
our
relationships with other people have a
great deal to do with our joy, or lack of it.
We do well to remember that those
wonderful verses in the second chapter concerning the mind of Christ are distinctly
related to human relationships.
Then in chapter 3 we find that Paul has
got on to another emphasis, that of
spiritual experience, speaking entirely of his
own personal spiritual experience—and that is
closely related to joy, is it not! And in
chapter 4 he deals with personal anxieties.
All these things are closely linked with our
joy, or absence of it: our physical environment, or, if you like, the place I am in; social
relationships, or the people I am with;
spiritual experience, or the person I am;
—
per-
11
so all anxieties, or the problems I have. Would
you read through this Epistle and see if God
can teach you the secret of the joy the Apostle
knew in his own heart and life? Shall we
take a quick glance at it, and try and sift out
for ourselves some of the main lessons, the
main principles that constitute the foundation
of a life of continual rejoicing?
What about joy in relation to my physical
environment—the place I am in? How often
the things which happen to me are the very
things which rob my life of joy. 'Take a look
at Paul. He was in prison when he wrote this
Epistle, and his physical environment was a
difficult one. Let us analyse it closely: first
of all. note the perplexities that confused.
He might very well have been perplexed by
God's ways. First note his perplexity concerning the unwanted path. Paul did not
want to be in prison; the whole of his temperament would react violently against the
limitations and confinement that prison
meant, He was a man to whom preaching
was the very breath of life; yet here he was
denied the opportunity of preaching. He was
a man who wanted always to be on the move,
always pushing out with the Gospel; yet here
the only feet that moved were the feet of those
who went past outside, and there he was
limited within the four walls of the prison.
The unwanted path: how perplexing it must
have been for him; the uncongenial surroundings!
It sometimes happens in life that we find
ourselves treading the unwanted path. Here
is a girl who is passionately fond of children,
whose whole being cries out for the privilege
of motherhood, but that privilege is denied
her; love does not come her way, and the one
who would give anything to have children of
her own is denied them—the unwanted path.
Here is someone who craves for fellowship
and love and understanding and companionship, and God seems to put that one where
there is no love and understanding and fellowship. Here is one who would give anything
to be on the mission field, but a sick mother or
an old father, dependent on them, keeps them
tied and bound, and while the heart is going
out to Africa, the fingers are hammering a
typewriter in an office—the unwanted path,
alien to their whole desire.
That is what Paul experienced. And linked
with the unwanted path was the perplexity of
the unanswered prayer. I am quite sure Paul
prayed that he might get out of prison; yet the
weeks and months passed and that prayer was
not answered. He must sometimes have
thought, "Peter was liberated from prison;
why am not I?" You, too, have prayed with
all your heart that God would take your feet
off the unwanted path; and that prayer has
not been answered. But Paul was rejoicing
there. Perplexity might have confused him,
but he made discoveries which comforted him.
What were they? He discovered an
unexpected ministry. Paul wanted a crowd,
but God wanted a particular ministry fulfilled;
and once Paul got on to that, he was happy.
I suggest to you that again and again in our
lives God has an unexpected ministry either
for us, or through us for others, and instead
of concentrating on the thing we have not got,
if you and I would only prayerfully get down
and discover the thing that God is giving, we
would find that joy which He has promised.
Paul says, "The things that have happened
unto me have fallen out not to the hindrance,
but to the furtherance of the Gospel" Paul
was not there because God did not want to use
him; he was there because God needed him
and God was using him. I suggest to you that
every time that you and I find out there is an
unwanted path, something against which our
whole being tends to cry out, that that is the
place where God ministers. Pray that God
may help you to discover what you are there
for, and you will rejoice in what you are being
enabled to do.
Right at the heart of Paul's mind and
thought was an unselfishness of motive. The
trouble with most of us is that, though we are
Christians, we are selfish. We want God to
deal with us in our own way; we are not prepared to be the instruments of God's will.
Paul was only concerned with the glory of
the work of God, and not with his place in it.
Passing on to Paul's comments on social
relationships, you will find two things emerge
from his emphasis here. First of all, there
is the unity that must be preserved—the unity
of believers. We are to be "of one mind'';
there is the same love—we are to be "likeminded." There is no better disturber of
Christian joy than disunity. If you show me
a church where there is disunity, I will show
you a church where there is no praise and joy.
If you show me a united church, I will show
you a church whose members are rejoicing and
praising God. That is one of the greatest
joys of this Convention. It is because here
Christians of every denomination, who are
one in Christ Jesus, are so very largely
agreed! There is a unity that must be preserved. Will you remember that, if ever in
your social relationships there is a possibility
of severance of unity? Until that is restored
there will be no praise. Do not let us dictate
to all the other Churches how they ought to
worship. Let us recognize the unity of the
Spirit among all believers; the same Christ
that is in me is in you; the same Holy Spirit
that dwells with you dwells with me; the same
12
purpose of God that He is trying to work
out in you He is trying to work out in me.
If this real unity of the Spirit of Christ is
going to be preserved, we must face a great
challenge: that of the humility that must be
practised--"Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus; who,
being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God: but made
Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him
the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men: and being found in
fashion as a man, He humbled Himself,
and became obedient unto death, even the
death of the Cross." What does that
suggest to you? It suggests to me that in
human relationships there is to be no
limit at all to the injuries I am prepared to
receive. Christ set no limit.
Have you set a limit? Is the unity between
you and other believers a broken thing to-day,
because you have set a limit as to the
amount of injury you are prepared to
tolerate? You have said, "I do not so much
mind the other things, but this is going
too far." Listen: Christ was insulted on His
way to the Cross; they spat on Him; Christ
was forsaken and let down by His friends on
the way to the Cross; Christ was betrayed on
the way to the Cross; He was falsely
accused on the way to the Cross; but He set
no limit as to the amount of injury He was
prepared to receive.
Are you prepared to do that? It is costly,
but it may be this is God's word to someone
here this morning. You have come to Keswick, but there is a great break in your
relationships with others; somewhere in your
life, whether imaginary or real, whether just
or unjust, you have been hurt, and you have
put a limit there on the amount of injury you
are prepared to receive. Your song and your
praise to God has got into a minor key; you
are not the happy Christian you once were.
Christ set no limit, and He makes this terrific
challenge: If I am to know joy in my relationship with other folk, I must set no limit to the
injuries I receive. It does not matter what
they say about me, or do to me; whether it is
false or untrue; I shall set no limit as to the
amount of injury I am to receive; none. If
you set a limit, you will lose your song.
Then comes Paul's emphasis on his own personal experience: joy in relation to the
person I am. To me it seems the lesson lies
in two directions. First, Paul was not
concerned with the externals of his life or
faith. In the opening verses of that chapter
we find Paul discarding all the externals; it is
so easy to get wrapped up in externals—the
reputation you have, the impression you
make upon people, the position you hold,
your ability in speaking, your witness or
service—externals. Paul washed them all
out, and said, "I count them
as dung," and he concentrated, not on the
externals, but on the living person of his
Lord. If, in your spiritual experience and
mine, we have been losing the song, it is
because we have lost sight of the Saviour.
Our Christian life has become a kind of
external activity, and we have not that
personal intimacy and knowledge and
fellowship with Christ. Your Christian
experience is just a sort of husk of external
things, and the living heart has gone; your
communion with Christ, your knowledge of
Him, your obedience to Him, your anticipation of His will, your desire to go the whole
way, has wilted and withered; the love has
gone.
Paul
was
not
content
with
the
experience of his heart. It is desperately
easy to get to the position where we are
content. Listen to Paul: "I count not
myself to have apprehended; but this one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth..." and Paul was
a wonderful Christian! The moment you
and I live on the experiences of the past,
the song goes. Has God used you? Never
be content with that, The fact that God used
you yesterday does not mean He will use
you again. The fact that you fulfilled all
the conditions with careful discrimination,
and lived a Christian life a year ago, is no
guarantee that you are living that life now.
If you and I get careless about these things
now and in the future, all that we have
known in the past is of no avail. The
particular temptation for those engaged in
Christian work is that we can get
presumptuous and take it for granted that
because God has used us in the past and in
certain ways, therefore He will use us again,
so we get slack about the conditions. Paul
was not concerned with externals, nor was
he content with experiences of the past. You
may have been used by God, but you will
not be content w it h t ha t f a ct; ins te ad,
y o u w il l l iv e reaching forth to the joy of
the discovery of what He yet purposes to
do How many Christians' experience has
gone absolutely stale, it is so old! When you
walk in newness of life, you will have joy.
Then there is joy in relation to the
problems I have: personal anxieties. Is it
not extraordinary how little problems
and small anxieties just rob us of the joy,
rather like a thorn in your finger, a tiny
thing which you cannot forget, and which
irritates you until you take it out.
Financial anxieties, not enough money to
make ends meet: that is a problem for some
of us. It does not matter what the anxieties
are, commit them in prayer to God. If you
and I take our anxieties to our f e l l o w - m e n ,
t h e y a r e m a g n i f i e d a n d exaggerated; if
you take them to God, a solution is found.
It is a great blessing to learn
to trust God, and it is only those who trust
Him that praise Him,
The fruit of the Spirit is joy, In the place
where I am, rejoicing; among the people I am
with, rejoicing; the kind of person I am, rejoicing; in the problems I have, rejoicing.
Are you a rejoicing Christian? Not a "slap-
on-the-back," "keep rejoicing, brother"
Christian, but living a quality of life that
folks who come in touch with you will sense
the quiet, steady glow, the warmth, the
radiance of spirit in the intimacy of
friendship. The fruit of the Spirit is
character, and one most noticeable mark of
the character of the mature Christian is joy.
Jesus, priceless treasure,
Source of purest pleasure,
Truest friend to me;
Long my heart hath panted
Till it well-nigh fainted,
Thirsting after Thee.
Thine I am, 0 spotless Lamb,
I will suffer nought to hide Thee,
Ask for nought beside Thee.
In Thine arm I rest me;
Foes who would molest me
Cannot reach me here,
Though the earth be shaking,
Every heart be quaking,
God dispels our fear;
Sin and hell in conflict fell
With their heaviest storms assail us,
Jesus will not fail us.
Hence, all thoughts of sadness!
For the Lord of Gladness,
Jesus enters in;
Those who love the Father
Though the storms may gather
Still have peace within,
Yea, whate'er we here must bear,
Still in Thee lies purest pleasure
Jesus, priceless treasure!
-- J. FRANCK.
14
The Word of God and the Life of Holiness
(i)—THE HOLY WORD OF GOD
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH
It is an undeserved privilege to be allowed to
speak at England's Keswick; the greatest
privilege, in my opinion, that can ever come to an
American Evangelical from a Westem world
Conference or Convention, is an invitation to
Keswick—which I say with some knowledge of
Convention platforms. Years ago I was permitted
to hear some of your great men, Dr. F. B. Meyer,
Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, Dr. J. Stuart Holden
and others, when I was a boy and they were
grown men.
About five years ago this Fall I had a breath of
Keswick when a man otherwise unknown to me
came to Pasadena, only a month after I had
moved from Chicago to California. I heard him
speak in the first service I attended in any church
in that lovely city. His name was Fred Mitchell.
My soul was at once drawn to him, and, in the
providence of God, we have been precious friends
ever since.
I wish to thank the Council of Keswick for the
great privilege of ministering here this week.
To-day, and throughout the week, I would like
to take, the Lord willing, a rather new line—not
new as something contrary to anything Keswick
has taught, but which, always assumed, has not
been given specific consideration through its
notable history of these seventy-five years: the
Place of the Word of God in the Life of Holiness.
This afternoon the subject will be the Holy Word
of God; to-morrow, the Power of the Word of God
to Convict of Sin; on Tuesday, the Sanctifying
Power of the Word; on Wednesday, the
Conquering Power of the Word, by which we
defeat the enemy so constantly besetting us.
In introducing this subject I must make a
confession: the subject of holiness for years was
not one in which I was seriously interested.
Perhaps some of you are not interested in it today. I do not mean that I did not love the Word of
God—it has been the love of my life; I do not
mean that I was separated from the Gospel and
that I did not preach Christ crucified, nor believe
the Word in its full inspiration. But holiness was a
subject I avoided. The New Testament teaching of
holiness is clear, but until a few years ago this
area of Bible research was one which I
15
shirked.
And so, before entering upon some aspects
of this sacred theme, let me first re-utter the
word of the Apostle Paul, "Not that I have
already attained, either were already perfect:
but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that
for which also I am apprehended of Christ
Jesus" (Phil. 3:12). Along with this may I
read some words from a Keswick platform of
1895, from one of the great saints of the nineteenth century, Andrew Murray? It had been
thirty-five years since Andrew Murray wrote
his "Abide in Christ," and the only time he
was here he said on this platform: "I would
like you to understand that a minister or
Christian author may often be led to say more
than he has experienced. I had not then
(when he wrote 'Abide in Christ') experienced all that I wrote of. I cannot say that I
experience it all perfectly now."
If we are to have a text, may I take one
which has only forcefully come to me in the
last few weeks—Psalm 60:6, "God hath
spoken in His holiness." With this we might
combine Romans 1:2, "Promised by His prophets through the Holy Scriptures," and St.
Paul's words to Timothy, "From a child thou
hast known the Holy Scriptures" (2 Tim.
3:15; cf. Jer. 23:9).
With the word of the Psalmist as our foundation—"God hath spoken in His holiness"—
let us consider three things in this opening
message: first, the nature of holiness—God's
character; second, God's calling—to holiness;
and third, God's communication in holiness, or
for holiness.
It is not necessary here to do more than
remind you of the great sentences setting forth
the holiness of God—"Be ye holy, for I am
holy, saith the Lord." "Holy, holy, holy, is the
Lord of hosts." "The Holy One of Israel."
But we must for a moment try to get at the
meaning of this word "holiness." This has
often been done at Keswick, but some of you
may be new, and even for all of us it will not
be out of place.
First of all, the root word means to separate
from, to cut off from; to separate something
from that which is common, from the ordinary. Thus a holy city is separated from the
other cities; holy ground is something sancti-
fled and set apart from the rest of the ground;
a holy man is one separated from the rest of
mankind; and a holy day is something that is
separated from the rest of the week; a holy
nation is a people whom God separates from
the rest of mankind. Holiness thus fundamentally means separation from that which is
profane, common, ordinary, ungodly, unholy.
It is a very interesting and often overlooked
fact, that the character of holiness belongs
only to God, is uniquely His, and belongs
innately to no other being in the world. Brunner, in a recent book (and I am well aware
there is much in Brunner you and I cannot
approve), reminds us that "holiness is not a
quality which God possesses in common with
other beings." God has wisdom—so have we;
God has power—so do men in some degree;
God has love—so have men; God is holy—men
are not. "Holiness is not something which
God possesses in common with other beings; on
the contrary, it is that which distinguishes God
clearly and absolutely from everything else. To
be holy is the distinguishing mark peculiar to
God alone." It is that which sets the being of
God apart from all other forms of being.
When "God bath spoken unto us in His
holiness," we begin with God separate from
the common, the ordinary, the defiled, the
material, the unholy, the ungodly. God is a
holy God: holiness belongeth unto Him.
Now this great truth involves a terrible
aspect of God—that He will not, He cannot, He
must not allow the unholy and the profane to
come nigh to Him. He will never be polluted in
His holiness; He will never allow that to enter
into His presence which would contaminate or
compromise His holiness. The mount on
which He appeared to Moses must not be
touched by hand. Yet the amazing thing is,
that with all that, we hear, nevertheless, a
strange call—"As He who called you is holy, be
ye yourselves holy in all manner of living" (Lev.
11: 44, 45; 1 Pet. 1: 16).
God is all-wise, though He never tells us to
be; God is omnipotent, but He does not tell us
to be omnipotent; God is eternal, but He could
not tell us to be eternal; yet God is holy, and
He tells us to be holy—"Be ye holy even as I
am holy, saith the Lord."
Here may I call attention to something
which the New Testament adds to the Old
Testament command, "Be ye yourselves holy" —
and that is, we are now called to be holy. One
of the greatest chapters in the Bible is surely
the first of Ephesians. I can be disturbed,
defeated, and discouraged, and when I think of
my many failures and shortcomings, and the
struggles of my own life, I often turn to this
great passage to be again in touch with the great
realities of what God has done for me. In this
chapter we find these words:
16
"According as He hath chosen us in Him
before the foundation of the world, that we
should be holy . . ." He did not choose us to
be brilliant or to get a reputation. He did
not even choose us to stand on a Keswick
platform. He did not choose us to be successful in business. He did not choose us to make
a name in the world. He chose us to be holy.
That includes every child of God in the world;
and I would to God that thirty years ago I
had embraced that. "I chose thee from the
foundation of the world, to be holy."
In Romans 1:7 we have this same truth—
"called to be saints." The word "saint" and
the wo rd "ho ly" in the Greek are bo th
exactly the same. May I introduce here
some interesting statistics? From Matthew
through to the Book of the Acts, the Greek
word for "holy" and "saint" occurs ninety-six
times; and of those, sixty-seven refer to the
Holy Spirit. But from Romans through to
Jude the same word occurs one hundred and
six times, of which twenty-six occurrences
relate to the Holy Spirit, and sixty-six to holy
living. Never forget that the word which
God used to characterize the Third Person of
the Godhead, Holy, is the word that He uses
for the call to be holy.
Once again, in Colossians 1: 22 we read, "Ye
now hath He reconciled in the body of His
flesh through death, to present you holy. So
we are chosen to be holy, we are called to be
holy, we are reconciled to God to be holy.
Nothing could be plainer than that. Beloved,
if we do not want to live a holy life, we certainly cannot be pleasing to God. As Dr.
Scroggie said last night, "We will never be
what we are intended to be unless we are
walking in the holiness of God."
That leads me to the real subject of the
afternoon, from our text: "He hath spoken to
us in His holiness." The Holy Word of God.
Have you ever thought of the title on the
back and on the front page of your Bible,
"The Holy Bible"? That was not placed there
by the Apostles, because there was no such
book as the Bible in the Apostolic Age.
Though the Bible was finished by the end of
the first century, it had not been put together
in the form we now have it. When you see
en your Bible the title, "The Holy Bible,"
remember you are holding the only book in
the world that can rightly be called holy.
Years ago in a town where I was a pastor,
I went into a drug store for a drink of malted
milk. The clerk had a book in his hand, and
naturally I said to him, "What is the book?'
He replied, "What do you want to drink? You
do not want to read this book." So I repeated
my question, "What is the book?" He replied.
"It cast me fifty dollars, this thin volume; and
I had to make a statement to the United States
Government before I could get it into this
country, that I was doing research in the
subject of Hinduism." He had had to pay
the fifty dollars because it was a book of
photographs of Hindu temple carvings, with
accompanying legends; and the pictures were
so vile and the legends so obscene that the
United. States Government would not allow
the book to be brought into America unless
one pledged their word that they were doing
research on this subject. It was a religious, but
an obscene, volume. The book of our faith
is "The Holy Bible"; for it, one needs never
to apologize.
Years ago I heard Dr. Zwemer, the greatest
missionary to the Mohammedans for the last
twenty-five years following your own Canon
Gairdner, say that the word for real
holiness in Arabic never appears in the
Koran. When I came to London I met one
of the famous Arabic scholars in Great
Britain, a true Christian believer, and I asked
him if I had heard correctly, He replied, "I
never thought of that before, but I will look
it up." Within forty-eight hours I had a
letter from him, saying that the two main
words for holiness in Arabic never occurred
in the book that Mahomet wrote. They have
a book they call the "Holy" Koran, but
Mahomet never dared to use the Arabic word
for holiness when he wrote this book. "God
hath spoken unto us in His holiness.'"
Now let us ask ourselves a question—What
makes this a holy book, and thus a standard
for a holy life? May I suggest five reasons?
First, it is initiated by a holy God. Our Lord
said. "Out of the fullness of the heart the
mouth speaketh." That is as true of God
as it is of you and me. Out of God's
holiness only holy words could ever
proceed, If God is a holy God. His word
can only be a holy word.
Secondly, this Word is given to us through
the Holy Spirit. Over and over again we read
this: "The Spirit spoke through David"; "the
words that the Holy Spirit teaches"; "Holy
m e n w e r e m o ve d b y t h e H o l y S p i r i t . "
"Inspiration" has in the middle of it the word
"spirit."
Thirdly, this Book was written by holy
men of old, as they were moved by the Holy
Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21), How can anyone
expect a revelation from God in books
written by wicked men? I have a great love
for Wordsworth (I wish I could read him
more), and the same for Ruskin, Shakespeare
and Carlyle. There is much that is beautiful
and entertaining and moral in their works;
but when it comes to matters of the soul and
heaven and death and God, we have to have
a book that derives from holy sources, that
talks about a holy Christ, a holy calling, a
holy love, a holy Gospel, a heavenly home, the
Holy Spirit. This Book is saturated with the
things that are set apart—a separate day, a
separate family, a
separate nation, a separate Christ, a separated
you and me.
Last of all, this Book is holy because it
makes for holy men and women. There are
no holy people on earth to-day, except those
who know something of this Holy Book and its
Holy Christ; anything else is a mockery.
May I pass on to you a true story to illustrate this (I do not believe in manufactured
fiction). Some years ago a doctor came up to
New York from Cuba to start a practice. He
was short of money, under-nourished, and the
heavy New York winter fell upon him inadequately prepared, and clad in a tropical suit
to face a very hard winter. He developed
pneumonia, and fell unconscious under the
4th Avenue elevator in New York. Later he
was picked up by a policeman and taken to
Bellevue Hospital. When he recovered he
told this story. "Into the ward came a strange
woman. She spoke Spanish, and gave me a
Gospel John. Never saw Gospel John before,
She knelt down by my bed and say a prayer,
and then went out. I read and come to a
story of how a man Jesus healed a man born
blind. I said, `No can be.' No one ever heard
of anyone born blind being healed. I am a
doctor, and I threw down the book. Later, I
had nothing to do, I read on, and found Jesus
died for me, and He opened my eyes and I saw
my Saviour."
He was saved and soon started a mission
for Cubans and Spaniards in the Spanish
area of New York. When he began to
prosper he sent for his mother, a bigoted
member of the Roman Church. When she
heard the story, she pronounced on him every
curse she could think of. One night she
came down to the mission and when she
entered the son said to himself, "Now I fear
there will be trouble." In the middle of the
meeting she stood up and asked, "Could I
say something?" The son, saying to
himself, "I know we are going to have
trouble," gave her permission. This is what
she said: "My boy Pedro very wicked boy.
One day in hospital a little woman put a
book in the hands of my wicked boy, Pedro.
Now my wicked boy very good man—very
good book to make my wicked boy a very good
man."
After years and years in the Christian
ministry, and meeting many people throughout the Western world, I believe the greatest
need in the Christian Church to-day is a baptism of downright holiness unto God. One of
your own well-known theologians has recently
said that the world is indifferent to our doctrine and not interested in our theology, nor
in the Bible as such; but the world watches
men who are brave enough to say they are
saints unto God. While the world care':
nothing about theological discourses, it will
be
17
compelled to give attention to men who are
living holy lives unto God.
In these days when we know more than we
ever knew, when we travel as never before,
see the world displayed before us on television, and are faced by a knowledge of atomic
bombs and material things, United Nations,
world assemblies, etc, and from early morning until late at night the radio blares at us,
that which will penetrate this heavy armour
18
of pre-occupation with material things, with
vast problems, with armaments and nuclear
physics, and a humanistic philosophy, encasing the hearts and minds of modern man, will
be the uniqueness of lives of true holiness.
And if you and I are to live holy unto Him, we
will need as never before to listen to His Holy
Word; for here, and in no other place or
volume, "God has spoken unto us in His
holiness."
Crippled, Challenged, Cured
THIS great Convention at Keswick has
often been likened to a spiritual clinic, and
that description justly fits the case: for here
those who have spiritual life are gathered seek
spiritual health—and the search for spiritual
and physical health have at least one thing in
common, for the search begins in each use
with a personal interview with the
physician, Is there any greater need to-day
in the life of the Church than that we who
profess and call ourselves Christians should
get to grips with our living God; that we
should learn the truth of God; accept the will
of God; fulfil the purposes of God; use the
resources of God; know the power of God;
radiate the grace and love of God.
If only we could do that, the world would
be shaken by the impact of our lives, and the
forces of evil hurled back wherever they are
to be found, whether in our own lives or the
lives of others. If we are to do that, surely
the first step is to endeavour personally and
individually to seek God in utter sincerity and
with a complete willingness. A few moments
ago, we had read to us the story of a man who
had such an experience (Mark 2: 1-12). In the
record of what happened to him we shall see
mirrored what might very well happen to some
of us to-night. I want you to notice three
things(i) He was crippled. He was a man who
possessed life but lacked health. Taking the
miracle to be but a parable in action, may I
ask you who as a Christian possess spiritual
life, have you health with it? Are you a
"well Christian, or are you a spiritual
cripple?
Two things will help us to discover if we are
in the spiritual category in which this man
was physically, the day he met Christ.
Firstly, he suffered from a disability that
was seen by others. Everyone knew that he
was a paralytic; they could see that he was a
sick man.
I wonder what do others see when they look
at our lives? Do they see things in us that
certainly are not the marks of a full Christian
experience? What do the other members of
the family see; your workmates; your em ployers or employees—what do they see?
Your fellow missionaries? Oh yes, I know
what we believe, and that we are sound
orthodox Christians; but what do others see?
Temper, pride, an unforgiving spirit, harshness, evil speaking, a smartness in business
that is near to dishonesty? Yes, there was a
disability in his life that was seen by others.
Secondly, there was a dependence upon
others that was known to himself. When we
meet this man we find that if he was to go
anywhere he had to be carried. He was borne
of four. How many spiritual cripples there
are whose lives are marked in the same way—
they depend upon the prayers of others, for
their own prayer life is tragically weak. They
may be members of active churches, but in
their own hearts they know that it is the keenness and devotion of other Christians rather
than their own, that is the reason for such
success as may mark the work of the church
or mission station. Am I speaking to someone
here in this tent or in some remote place far
away, and you know perfectly well that
spiritually you are dependent upon others;
were you left alone for a week, a month, a
year, it would become tragically evident how
little vital spiritual effectiveness you have in
yourself?
Yes, he was crippled; but then I want you
to note with me that—
(ii) He was challenged. If the Keswick
Convention is anything at all in our experience, it is a place of challenge. Do not let
anyone think that this tent and its vast congregation is like some great religious picnic:
if it is a place where we really seek to get
to grips with the living God, it is a place of
tremendous and costly challenge. There were
at least two elements in the circumstances
that challenged that man, and that challenge
us still and will challenge some of us again.
First, there was the difficulty of the way to
Christ. We read that "they could not come
nigh unto Him for the press." Yes, people
got in his way and made it difficult for him
to get through to Christ, I think that people
still make it difficult for many of us to do the
same. Even now as you listen to me, is there
someone standing between you and Christ? It
may be somebody you have wronged, and you
don't want to make your apology or restitution; it may be somebody whose opinion means
so much to you—a friend, or it may be a
husband who is not sympathetic to Christian
19
things; it may be someone who is particularly
difficult to get on with; it may just be your
own self. Somebody getting in the way—some
person you must get past if you are to come
to grips with Christ. And that difficulty is
in itself a challenge: but the other thing that
challenged this man was the directness of the
words of Christ.
Look with me and listen. There he is,
lying at the feet of Christ. Christ's eyes are
looking into his very soul; and then Christ
speaks: and speaks so unexpectedly, "Son, thy
sins...." I wonder what Christ saw in that
man's life? More than that, I wonder what
the man called the things that Christ saw?
I know what Christ called them: He called
them his "sins." What names you and I give
to the things that lie behind our spiritual illhealth; what excuses do we make; what
extenuating circumstances do we plead while
condoning our failure? Fellow Christian, I
want you to learn with me to be honest with
God to-night.
Christ labels it "sin"; and to make it
absolutely clear, He identifies it with the
individual concerned—"thy sin." The man
might well have failed to meet the challenge
of the directness of the words of Christanger, resentment, dislike, and even hatred
might have made him tell his friends to carry
him away. Yes, men and women have gone
away from Keswick before the end of the
week, angry and resentful; but can we, dare
we, meet the challenge of this, and with utter
honesty of heart and mind take the label from
the hand of Christ, and put it on the things
the existence of which, and the extent of
which, God will reveal to us—and mark them
with His own word: "Thy sin . . ." "My sins."
He was crippled, and he was challenged—
and just one more thought—
(iii) H e w a s cured. Yes, the man that
came crippled went away cured—and we read
that all the people were amazed and glorified
God. We hear at times of the need within the
Church of new methods being adopted to
arouse interest among men, to break down the
apathy that holds our land in its deadly grip,
20
to counteract the antagonism of false
ideologies. May I suggest that the one thing
we really need to-day, to do any or all of these,
is the testimony and witness of transformed
lives, of lives which are not crippled but cured.
Here at Keswick the testimony of thousands
down the years has been, that this has been
the place of spiritual healing, not because of
the place it is, but because of the Person
Christ is!
Note with me in closing the method of cure.
There was the word of pardon—"Thy sins
be forgiven thee." The first step to spiritual
health for you may be just the same simple
one of receiving God's forgiveness for sin, at
long last confessed and put away.
We put a label on it a little while ago—
"my sin." Would you like to put another label
over the top of that, this time with only one
word on it—a word in the same handwriting,
penned by the hand of Christ—and the one
word is "Forgiven." Yes, first the word of
pardon, and then the word of power: "Rise
walk," or in other words, "Be well again" in
the strength I give, and show it by your actions
and life: and by faith in the power of the One
who spoke, the man rose immediately. He
was cured.
And to us the word still comes, for the
Bible is full of the word of God to the heart
of man—the word of power, to do and be what
God desires in the power of the Christ whose
life we possess.
Our task and purpose during this week, our
goal and object to-night, at the close of this
service, is not the revelation of some magic
formula of doctrine which will resolve all our
problems—not that, but rather the bringing of
our lives in all their unworthiness into the
light of God's presence, and there into a full
understanding of all that the grace and love
of God offer us in the life and person of the
living Christ; and then into a complete surrender of our all to the will of that living Christ
resident in our lives by the Holy Spirit, so
that the fullness of His life may be lived out
in our lives. Christ in you the hope of glory
. . . crippled .. challenged . . . cured.
Filled with All the Fullness of God
BY THE REV. ALAN REDPATH
IN an address which I am sure we shall all
remember, Dr. Scroggie set the tone of
Keswick, 1952. He must have cleared the
muddled thinking of many of us concerning
some of the great words of the Christian
faith. If he set the tone of the Convention, I
want to-night as God shall help me, to try
to open up the possibilities of the
Convention for your life and mine.
I do not think I could find a phrase in the
whole Bible which would so completely sum
up the possibilities of Keswick, 1952, as do the
words of the Apostle Paul in his prayer for the
Ephesians, and especially one phrase in
which the great Apostle beseeches God
that the people to whom he writes might be
filled with all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:
19).
I cannot imagine anything greater that God
could have this side of heaven for any of us,
than that each of us might have an
experience of His fullness; the fullness of the
living God filling every part of our
personality. At first sight it almost seems
preposterous to suggest that such a thing
could ever be possible; but before we
dismiss the possibility too lightly, let us
try to understand what Paul really meant
when he used that phrase, "That you might
be filled with all the fullness of God."
Here I am sure is(i) The purpose of God for every one of His
children. I wish I could so be enabled by His
Spirit to kindle your faith and hope and expectancy that Keswick, 1952, might really see
this mighty thing happen here in your hearts
and lives.
Here is the purpose of God; and to understand it I would ask you to think for a
moment as to what Paul really meant when he
used the word "fullness." It is a word that
often comes in the B ible, in both the
O ld an d New Testaments. I am sure you
will recall it in many texts. Let me remind
you of one or two: for instance, in Psalm 16:
11 the Psalmist says, "In Thy presence is
fullness of joy"—and here the word is used
to denote an absolute and complete
satisfaction. Again he says, "The earth is
the Lord's, and the fullness thereof" (Ps.
24:1). Here the word is used to denote
completion; everything in all the glory of
God's created earth is His by right, the
fullness of it all.
I f y ou t u rn yo ur th o u gh ts to the N ew
Testament you will remember that frequently
this word is used concerning the Lord Jesus
Christ. "It pleased the Father that in Him
should all fullness dwell." In Him," says Paul,
writing to the Church at Colosse,
"dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily." I am interested to note also that
in the New Testament there is often a time
factor involved in the use of this word
"fullness." For instance, Paul says, in
Galatians 4:4, "When the fullness of time was
come, God sent forth His Son." In writing to
the Romans, explaining what had happened
temporarily to the Jewish nation, Paul says,
"Blindness in part is happened to Israel,
until the fullness of the Gentiles be come
in" (11:25).
If I put all these together in my mind, somehow I get the thrill of the possibility of
Keswick 1952, for I begin to see what Paul
was meaning when he prayed that we
might be filled with the fullness of God.
That very simply means that you and I
might be filled with Jesus; so filled with Him
and so satisfied with Him, so saturated with
Christ that there is no room for anything
else; the emptiness of the void of our spirit
filled up with the living Lord.
Someone might ask: when, and how? I
would remind you of the use of the time
factor to which I have referred, for when
"the fullness of time was come" Jesus
came. When every human experiment and
every ingenuity of man to bring about human
redemption had come to naught, when all the
world was dark and human experience was
black indeed, from the darkness of it all came
Jesus, the light of the world. Keswick 1952
in all its thrilling possibilities—and believe
me, speaking for myself and I am sure for
all my colleagues, we long with all our hearts
that Keswick 1952 might mean this, that we
might
know
personally,
individually,
together in this tent, what it is to be filled
up with Jesus Christ. When all human
ingenuity has come to an end, when every
human effort and endeavour to bring about
deliverance and salvation have broken
down, when we have come to the very end of
our tether, then Jesus comes.
May I sound for a moment a personal note,
yet I am sure it will bring an echo from
many a heart, especially from my brethren
in the ministry. Some of us have got to the
end of
21
our ingenuity; we are bankrupt of any further
ideas and methods as to how to bring people
to Jesus Christ. We are up against such a
desperately grim situation that all the methods
that human ingenuity can think of have
proved to be failures; for if the first fifty
years of this century are marked by
anything, they are marked by the upsurge
of
organised
evangelism
in
every
denomination of the Church, the upsurge of
a streamlined effort to bring men into the
fellowship of the Kingdom of God. And
when all is said and done we have to hang
our heads and acknowledge we can do no
more, and face the fact that there are
millions more lives won by Satan in spite of
all our streamlined, organized, high pressure
efficiency to try and bring men to Christ. And
some have come to Keswick deeply conscious
that we are at the end of our tether in so
far as ideas, plans and organizing are
concerned. We can do no more, and unless
the living God in the Person of the living
Christ fills up the emptiness of our lives, it is
hopeless. But it is when we get there in the
depths of our soul, and cry out of the depths
of a conscious and desperate need, that He
comes to fill the void.
What a possibility in the life of the man or
woman who is at the end of his own tether!
But the question somebody asks is: Can
a sane human being really expect such a
prayer ever to be answered? How can the
finite contain the infinite? How can the human
body ever contain God? It is overwhelming,
but it is possible.
Of course I am well aware of that fact that
there are aspects of the character of God
which are essential to His deity and which
could not possibly have anything to do with
us. For instance, His omnipotence, His omnipresence, His omniscience: these are aspects
of the character of God which cannot have
anything to do with a human being, but they
are not the biggest things about God—if I may
say so reverently.
When I ask myself what it means to be
filled with all the fullness of God, and search
my Bible to find a definition of God's fullness,
I have it in these phrases : "God is love,"
"God is light," "in Him dwells no darkness
at all"; and if I am to be filled with all the
fullness of God, it means that into the darkness and impurity of my life there is going to
break the holiness of a living Christ in the
Person of the Holy Ghost. It means that into
the lovelessness and coldness of my heart,
which so often has lost its zeal for God and its
love for souls, will burst like a living flame the
love of Jesus. To be filled up with God is to
be filled up with His love and His life.
But that makes somebody sceptical. I
cannot go any further in my message until
somehow by the grace of God I have kindled
your expectation. Dear Christian people, the
trouble with us is that we are limiting the
expectation of what God can do to the experience of what God has done. Many of us
are tied down to a kind of Evangelical existence in which we are so bold and presumptuous as to imagine that we are the finished
product, and God can do no more for us. It is
long since we ever truly expected God to do a
new thing, or prayed for it. We have prayed
that God would come with reviving power into
His Church, and our Church, but we have
never said, "Lord, in me." We have said, "Lord,
begin with our minister, he needs it
desperately, he is as dead as a doornail." But
have you ever thought that his deadness was
due to your coldness of heart? You have never
imagined that coldness in the pulpit has its
roots in the pew, and you have never faced the
possibility that in 1952 Keswick could do a
new thing in your life. You have limited your
expectation of what God can do by the
experience of what God has already done.
Paul is not wasting his breath in this prayer;
he is echoing the desire and the whole purpose
of God. I want to say with all my heart,
that I believe one of the great troubles in the
Christian Church is that we believe too much
in the power of sin and too little in the power
of the Holy Ghost. Separate yourselves from
the crowd and retrace your thoughts to the
day when Jesus first came, when the darkness
vanished, and into your heart and life came
a new meaning and purpose, and you went
with a new look in your eye, with a new
assurance in your walk, and somehow there
was something about you that was all so different. It was not so very far from Keswick
that that happened to me, over there in
Northumberland. You heard the preacher say,
"Jesus gives you victory over all your sins,"
and you came with such hope to Christ, and
you look back, it may be twenty years; but
I would not be a bit surprised if over fifty per
cent. of the Christian folk here are dis illusioned Christians. You were told one thing,
but your experience has been far short; you
were led to assume that Jesus could give you
power, but it never happened. Since that day
you began to build up a system, you accepted
Evangelical creeds and standards, believed
your Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and
came to Keswick. As it were you have
Keswick "taped," you have the whole thing
lined up, and somehow or other the freshness
and glow and love of Jesus was lost in a
system of creed and belief about Him; and if
you retrace your spiritual life over the years
you will discover that somewhere in all that
there is something over which you desperately
need power.
You began by praying for power, but you
have stopped now; you asked God in the
early days of your Christian life to save
you from that which has haunted you
since you were a child; you have prayed
for purity of life and cleansing and
deliverance, but it has again got you down,
and now for years you have never prayed
about it, and you have come to Keswick
never thinking that God could deal with
that thing. My dear friends, dare you look
up into the face of the Lord to-night and
say, "I believe God can give me power to
get over that, I believe His fullness can meet
me there; I believe something can happen in
this tent that can smash that."
I am sure that the comparative
powerlessness in the life of the Church today is due to the fact that we have lost the
real belief in the possibility of an
experience of the fullness of the Holy
Ghost now, I believe we have settled
down, and somehow or other—God forgive
us—we have imagined that we have got
there, and that God has no more to do for
us, when in reality the heart of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit is longing to break into
your outlook and your system of theology
and give you His fullness. That is His
purpose.
Nov, how is it accomplished? Let us
think of—
(ii) The Power of God. I often give an illustration of this—some of you have probably
heard it. Just before the war I was
travelling in
the
Peak district
of
Derbyshire and came to a tremendous hill.
It was in the days when there was no
rationing, and I saw an enormous
hoarding with an advertisement of one of
the brands of petrol. It was a picture of
a racing car going up this hill at about ninety
miles an hour, simply flashing up; and at
the top of the poster was written in large
'letters, "Ethyl for Power"—Ethyl being a
brand of motor spirit. When I read the notice
I thought, "Wonderful! I have got Ethyl in
the tank; we are going to shoot up this
hill!" But did we? My car was a little
ancient even then. We started up that hill
in the pouring rain, and half-way up a
little drop of water got into the
carburettor, and five of the "horses" died on
the spot! I crawled up, and eventually got to
the top of the hill with all the "horses"
almost flogged to death; and when we got
there, I thought of that poster and said
"Ethyl!” But there was nothing the matter
with Ethyl; something had got into the system
which choked the power.
You have smiled at the story. You have
heard, "Christ for power" and you trusted
Him, but into the system there has got some-
thing somewhere and the whole nerve of power has
been cut, and to-night we are defeated,
disappointed, disillusioned folk. But it is into
such people that Jesus can come with His
power. Dare I believe as a preacher of the
Gospel that God can meet you and me just
there? How? I do not have to go outside the
context of the prayer to find out how. Listen to
Paul: "I pray that you ... may be able to
comprehend . . . what is the breadth, and
length, and depth, and height; and to know the love
of Christ, which passeth knowledge."
If the purpose of God is to be filled with all His
fullness, with all His love, and with all His
purity, here is the road that will lead to the
experience. Notice the words "comprehend" and
"know." You can know something without
experiencing it; you can have the whole system
of Evangelical theology at your finger tips, but
that is as near as it ever gets. It is something
outside of yourself, it is something you believe
about a Person, a system of belief; your views
are all quite clear, but they have riot passed
into terms of real, vital experience in living. That
kind of knowledge makes a man a spiritual
prig, makes him proud of what he believes
about his Bible; but there is another kind of
knowledge—"that I may know the love of
Christ," We were singing the hymn recently:
But what to those who find? Ah this!
Nor tongue nor pen can show;
The love of Jesus what it is,
None but His loved ones know.
If you would know the love of Jesus you have
to experience the love of Jesus, and the path of
experience
is
through
knowledge
and
understanding. May I interject here: beware of
any spiritual experience which is not based on
that, beware of any experience which is merely
an emotional upheaval. There is no short cut to
the fullness of God in your life; there is no short
cut to the New Testament holiness, no sudden
way in which you can be made full of God's
fullness. It is through the understanding, it is
through the Book; it is the man who feeds upon
the Word of God and who drinks it into his life,
who in his study of it and in his reading of it
begins to realize as he reads something of the
length and the height and depth and breadth of
the love of Jesus. I was always taught at school
that there were only three dimensions, breadth and
length and height—height and depth are only the
same thing starting at the other end: but Paul
cannot be confined to Science when he describes
the love of God. He says, I want you to know the
breadth of the love of Jesus, the length and the
depth and the height of it. This is the way into
an experience of God's fullness.
May the Holy Spirit thrill your hearts in this
moment when you think about the love of
Christ. Have you ever sat down quietly
23
and thought about it? How broad is His love?
How far does it stretch outward? It is as
broad as the whole world. He loves everybody; the love of Jesus goes right to the uttermost parts of the world. He never gives part
of His love to one person and part to another.
The love of Christ never loses any of its power
and wonder and glow by being shared with
all the peoples of the world. You love a few
people intensely, then you love a few people
less, and some others less intensely still. It
is not so with Christ: He loves everybody just
the same, and the eternal love of God is
centred in each individual in the world; He
loves everybody, therefore each of us can say,
He loves me. That is the breadth of the love
of Christ. It takes in the whole world, "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son..."
What is the length of His love? One thing
comforts me tremendously—to know that the
love of Christ is longer than the length of my
sin. It reaches out into eternity. If His
word teaches us we have to forgive seventy
times seven, then He Himself does the same.
It is only the eternal patience of God that
causes Him to go on loving. My dear friends,
to-night the white line of the love of Christ
goes infinitely beyond the black line of my
guilt and sin. That is the length of the love
of Jesus, far beyond all the sin of the whole
world.
What is the depth of it? If I would measure
the depth I must start at the top and go to
the bottom. Have you ever measured the
depth from the throne to the manger? or ever
measured the depth from the throne of God
to the Cross? or ever measured the depth from
the throne to the tomb in the Garden of
Joseph of Arimathea? It is deeper than all
the degradation of human guilt, getting underneath the most degraded and most powerless
human lives and lifting them up with the
mighty lever of the everlasting love of God.
That is how deep is the love of Jesus; and
none can sink so deep that God's love cannot
lift him up again to the height of the love of
God, from the depth of hell to the throne of
heaven, lifting the most degraded and the most
sinful from the pit of evil and setting their
feet upon a rock, lifting them into the very
presence of God. That is the height of the
love of God.
Do you know any love like that? "It
passeth knowledge, that dear love of Thine."
The preacher is absolutely helpless to tell you
what his heart would say about the love of
t h e L o r d J e s u s, b u t t h e w a y i n t o t h e
experience of God's fullness is that the love
of God might be shed abroad in my heart by
the Holy Ghost; the love that takes in everybody, that goes on and on loving in spite of
my sin and carelessness and indifference; the
love that can never change and -never alter,
in spite of the fact that I have treated Him
as I would not my most casual acquaintaince.
He loves with a flame that never dies, a love
that can lift me up from the depths of my sin
and failure, and take me into the very
presence of the Lord. That is the love of
Jesus. Paul says if you want to be filled with
the fullness of God you will know that love
in your own heart.
Then finally,
(iii) The Passion of God. If I know the love
of Christ, if it is shed abroad in my heart,
then I start loving other people in exactly the
same way as He loves me. The man who
knows something of the fullness of the love of
Christ in his heart loves the folk in the Far
East, whom he has not seen; in his heart there
is a love for the folk in South America who
do not know God; and although he works in
some office or some job in this land, nevertheless his heart is so filled with the love of
Christ that on his heart is the fate of the world,
and he enters into the sufferings of Christ as
he pleads with God for the salvation of the
world. The man who knows something of the
fullness of Jesus in his heart goes on loving
other people in spite of their resentment, in
spite of their slights. The man who knows the
fullness of the love of Christ is willing to be a
doormat upon which other people wipe their
feet; and there is something about that man
whose heart is full of love that speaks to other
men of Jesus. No matter how much he is hurt
or injured and shamefully treated—often by
those who should know better, even his
brethren in the faith—yet he goes on loving.
His love is deep enough to go down to the
most degraded; and because he knows the fullness of the love of Christ, he is not repelled
by human sin. He does not withdraw himself
and stand at a distance, but he is alongside
men in need and temptation, and has in him
the belief that God can lift them up to the
throne. He is a man who knows the fullness
of the love of Christ, and he is a man who
therefore loves like Christ.
The greatest thing that could happen in
Keswick 1952 is that your heart should be
filled with this love. I used to think the most
important thing for a Christian minister was
to be orthodox. I still rejoice in orthodox
Christian faith and believe my Bible, but I
want to say that more important than
orthodoxy is the love of the Holy Ghost, the
love of the Lord Jesus glowing in your heart
for others. Can that happen in 1952? Yes.
Shall I tell you how? You never receive
Christ on the instalment plan; when you
receive Him you receive a full Christ. The
tragic thing is that He receives us on the in-
I have only one question to ask you: do
you want God's fullness? Do you want to
be filled with the fullness of God, filled
with the love of Jesus? That is the answer
to your problem for the mission field, for
relationship with one another, your church
problem, the answer to the hunger for
revival—lives filled with the love of Christ.
stalment plan, even though you receive all of
Him.
Does He really possess you? God can only
fill what I am prepared to empty; and in this
tent during this week a great issue is
going to be fought out in one life after
another. How much do I long for God's
fullness? Do I really want His love? How
much do I really care for a dying world,
and how much do I long for the salvation of
souls? I often pray, and I am often heard
expressing the desire that God would save
sinners, and praying for missioners, but how
much do 4,000 people really care? Just the
amount to which they are prepared to
empty their lives of all that stands in God's
way of blessing, and makes them a block
instead of a channel.
I challenge you: are you prepared to
be emptied of your pride, of your sin, of
your selfishness? Are you? If you are not,
do not ever again say you really bother
about a dying world, for God is waiting to
fill you up with His fullness. The question
is, how much room are you going to make
for Him?
He came by love impelled, to die for us;
That we by love compelled might live for Him.
He walked with men, that men might walk with God,
And dwelt on earth, that we might dwell in heaven.
He tasted death, that we might drink of life,
And took our nature, that He might impart
To us, His own; and make us one with God.
-FLORENCE WILES,
25
TH E E P I ST L E TO TH E RO M A N S
A Digest of the Argument
MONDAY, JULY 14th
Read Romans 1-5.
Introduction, 1: 1-17.
Theme : THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD (1: 16, 17).
I.-DOCTRINAL: PHILOSOPHY OF SALVATION
1 18-8: 39.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD
IN RELATION TO SINS AND SIN
1 .- TH E CH RI S TIAN M ESSAG E ..
1: 18-5: 21.
(i) Condemnation
1: 18-3: 20.
( a ) The Ge ntile s
1: 18 - 32
( b) T h e J e w s
2: 1-3: 8.
(c) T h e W o r ld
3: 9 - 20,
(ii) Justification
3: 21-5: 11.
(a) The Ground of It
3: 21 -26.
( b ) The Means of It
3. 27-4: 25.
( c ) T h e Ef fe c t o f I t ..
5: 1 - 11.
Summary, 5: 12 - 21.
Condemnation and Justification Traced to their
Historical Sources in Adam and in Christ.
Read Romans 6-8
6-8.
6: 1-8: 17.
6: 1-11.
6: 12-7: 6.
7: 7-25.
TUESDAY, JULY 15th
2 .- TH E CH RI S TIAN LIF E ..
(iii) Sanctification
( a ) The P rincip le o f I t
( b) T h e P ra c t i c e o f I t
( c ) The Preventive of It
Read Romans 8.
8: 1-17.
(d) The Power of It
8: 12-30.
(iv) Glorification
8: 12-17.
(a) The Promise of It
8: 18-27.
(b) The Expectation of It
8: 28-30.
(c) The Certainty of It ..
Summary, 8: 31-39.
From Condemnation to Glorification
Celebrated in a Triumphant Song.
•

•

•

•
(Not in theBible Readings)
H.--DISPENSATIONAL: PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY
9 -11
The Righteousness of God in Relation to the Calling of Israel
THURSDAY, JULY 17th
Read Romans 12:1-15:13.
III.-- PHILOSOPHY OF BEHAVIOUR
12: 1-15: 13.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD IN
REL ATIO N TO EVER YDA Y L IFE
1. Paths of Duty
..
(i) The Various Spheres
(ii) The Impelling Power
(iii) The Great Incentive
2. Principles of Action
(i) Mutual Toleration ..
(ii) Brotherly Obligation ..
(iii) Christlike Consideration
Conclusion, 15: 14-16: 27.
26
12-13.
12: 1-13: 7.
13: 8-10.
13: 11-14.
14: 1-15: 13.
14: 1-12.
14: 13-23.
15: 1-13.
MONDAY, JULY 14th
I0
a.m.—BIBLE READING
(i)
THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE
11.45 a.m.—FORENOON MEETING
DISASTROUS CONSEQUENCES OF SIN IN THE BELIEVER
REV. WILLIAM STILL
A N A LM OS T F O RG O TTE N TR UTH
PREBENDARY COLIN C. KERR, M.A.
(ii)
THE WORD AS THE REVEALER OF SIN DR .
W I L B UR M. SMI T H
7.45 p.m.—EVENING MEETING
THE PRICE OF BECOMING CHRISTLIKE
THE BISHOP OF BARKING, THE RT. REV. HUGH R, GOUGH, O.B.E., M.A.
CONDITIONS OF BLESSING
MR. FRED MITCHELL
Hindrances to Blessing
HE first day of the full Convention proT
gramme began with the hymn, at the
general prayer meeting in the small tent,
"Praise to the Holiest in the Height." Some
five hundred or more had gathered, and rain,
which had stopped awhile, began again and
beat upon the canvas. The Bishop of Barking
read from Acts 12 the story of Peter's release
from prison, and Mr. Henman asked that
prayer should be offered especially for the
release of those in bondage to sin, or self, or
Satan, or doubt: there was much liberty in
prayer, one following another swiftly in praise
for blessings already received, and in intercession for the opening of "prison doors."
For the first of the missionary prayer meetings the Methodist Church was full in every
part. Under the guidance of the Rev. A. T.
Houghton, missionaries and nationals from
several different lands joined with missionaryhearted people interested in various societies
and fields, in prayer for Europe, the Jews, and
North and South America.
Great interest had been aroused in Dr.
Graham Scroggie's Bible Readings, by the outline given on an inset in the official programmes. This indicated in advance the wide
sweep of his survey of the Epistle to the
Romans. It was, therefore, in anticipation of
Bible study in the true Keswick tradition,
that a very large congregation gathered at 10
a.m. Nor were we disappointed. The
revered speaker, who has delivered the Bible
Readings at Keswick more often than any
other living person, showed all his unexcelled
mastery of exposition. From the rich
storehouse of the epistle, Dr. Scroggie
brought forth "things new and old," to the
delight of all his hearers.
It was with full hearts that the vast congregation dispersed for a brief while before the
morning Convention meeting. At this, the
Rev. William Still, of Aberdeen, gave his first
address from the Keswick platform. He
sounded in no uncertain manner the characteristic note of this first day of the progressive
Keswick teaching—the exceeding sinfulness
of sin, especially sin in the believer, which
must be dealt with before there can be any
victory in personal life or fruitfulness in
spiritual service.
Following this challenging message, the
Rev. A. T. Houghton, who presided,
announced, most fittingly, the hymn, "Eternal
light!" Then Preb. Colin C. Kerr gave the
second address, on the fullness of joy in fellowship with the Father, and with His Son
our Saviour.
The skies had cleared and the sun was
shining by the time of the afternoon meeting,
and many doubtless went to enjoy the glorious
scenery of the Lake District; but the tent was
almost full—and his 3,000 listeners heard from
Dr. Wilbur Smith a deeply searching address
on the Word of God as the revealer of sin.
The message was brought home to every heart,
in the words of Psalm 139:23, 24, and the
meeting closed with the hymn based upon
these verses, "Search me, 0 God!”
The same theme dominated the evening
meeting, for which the tent was once more
full to capacity. In the first address, the
B isho p o f B arking gave a penetrating
diagnosis of the spiritual state of most
Evangelicals; and he asked all to say aloud
with him the prayer of the Psalmist quoted by
Dr. Smith in the afternoon—"Search me, 0
God, and know my heart; try me, and know
my ways . . . and lead me in the way everlasting." Then he described the failings and
sins of all-too-many Christians, and proceeded
to ask, "Do you want to be delivered?" We
can be, the Bishop said, if we are willing to
pay the price. The root of the trouble is self:
and it must be crucified.
Again we sang "Search me, 0 God," and
then Mr. Mitchell followed up the Bishop's
heart-searching message with another which
was equally challenging and practical, and
addressed to each listener personally.
The day closed with the open-air meeting,
at which members of the Forces, from highranking officers to privates, gave testimony.
Oh, that I were free of that idol, which they
call Myself; that Christ were for Myself, and
Myself a decourted cypher, and a denied and
forsworn thing! 0 Myself, if thou couldst
give Christ the way, and take thine own room,
which is to sit as low as nothing.
-SAMUEL RUTHERFORD.
Salvation and Behaviour.
(1) THE CHRISTIAN MESSAGE —Romans
1-5
H
tolic works." Farrar said "it is unquestion-
AVING regard for the distinctiveness of
this audience, and the design of
this convention, I have been led to call your
attention this week to the subject of Salvation
and Behaviour as these are revealed and
related in the Epistle to the Romans.
They who would derive most profit from
these studies should read each day chapters 18 and 12-15; remembering as you do so, that
the first part treats of Salvation, and the
second, of Behaviour. Between these two
divisions of the Epistle is another—chapters
9-11—integral to the whole, but as it is not
essential for our present purpose, we omit it.
This Epistle was written by Paul to the
church at Rome in A.D. 58. The occasion
was the virtual close of his missionary ministry, and the object was to present in one
comprehensive survey all that he had learned
and taught, since his conversion, of the
redeeming purpose and plan of God for mankind, as revealed in Jesus Christ.
The canonical and the chronological
orders of Paul's Church Epistles are
worthy of notice. "Romans" was the sixth
letter to be written, but it is put first,
because it is the foundation of all that
follows; and the two letters to Thessalonica,
which were the first lo be written, are
placed at the end, because their subject is
the Lord's Return, which is the last event.
Perhaps someone asks, "What about
Hebrews?" Nobody knows. Some are sure
that Paul wrote it. Others are sure that he
didn't. And I am sure that —nobody
knows
"Romans" is the most systematic of all
Paul's Epistles, and its importance cannot possibly be exaggerated. Coleridge called it "the
most profound extant." Godet spoke of it as
"the greatest masterpiece which the human
mind has ever conceived and realized; the
first logical exposition of the work of God in
Christ for the salvation of the world." Luther
described it as "the chief part of the New
Testament, and the perfect gospel." Calvin
said that "every Christian man should feed
upon it as the daily bread of his soul."
Tholuck called it "a Christian philosophy of
human
history."
Meyer,
of Hanover,
described it as "the greatest and richest of all
the Apos-
ably the clearest and fullest statement of the
doctrines of sin and deliverance from it, as
held by the greatest o f the Apo stles. "
Chrysostom used to have it read to him twice
e ve ry wee k. A nd o ne m o re t est im o ny:
William Tyndale wrote, "Forasmuch as this
Epistle is . . . a light and way unto the whole
Scripture, I think it meet that every Christian
man not only know it, by rote and without the
book, but also exercise himself therein evermore continually, as with the daily bread of
the soul. No man verily can read it too often,
or study it too well; for the more it is studied,
the easier it is; the more it is chewed, the
pleasanter it is; and the more groundly it is
searched, the preciouser things are found in
it, so great treasure of spiritual things lieth
hid therein."
If this is what such men thought of the
Epistle to the Romans, for any Christian not
to have an intimate acquaintance with it, is
something to be ashamed of, and to be
remedied without delay. In this Epistle is a
"whole body of divinity," and he who has a
heart and mind possession of it is both Christian and cultured.
The significance of the Epistle is
determined by its scope, and its scope is
indicated by its structure. We must,
therefore, discern its structure if we would
appreciate and appropriate its profound
truths. Between a Foreword (1: 1-17) and
a Final Word (15: 14- 16: 27), there are
three distinct divisions: chapters 1-8, 9-11,
and 12-15: 13. The first is doctrinal; the
second is dispensational; and the third is
dutiful.
The Epistle is the profoundest Christian
philosophy; and the first division treats of the
Philosophy of Salvation; the second, of the
Philosophy of History; and the third, of the
Philosophy of Behaviour.
That which gives unity to these three divisions is the subject of God's righteousness,
which is the keynote to the whole Epistle. It
is introduced in 1:16, 17:—
I am not ashamed of the Gospel: it is the
power of God for salvation to everyone who
has faith, to the Jew first, and also to the
29
Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is
revealed through faith for faith; as it is written,
"He who through faith is righteous shall live."
(Revised Standard Version.)
philosophy, or psychology, or ethics all his life,
and yet accomplish nothing of permanent
value, because these things are on the circumference of truth and not at its centre.
What, then, is the content of the Christian
message in the view of Paul, the greatest of all
theologians? He says that it has two dominating notes: condemnation and justification, and
the message must be proclaimed in that order.
I. CONDEMNATION (1: 18-3:20).
Like a wise master-builder, Paul begins
with the foundation, and the foundation not
of, but for, the Christian message is the
solemn, age-long and universal fact that all
men are sinners, and so are under condemnation. Before considering what Paul has to
say about justification, it is necessary to contemplate what he says about man's state by
nature, which makes justification necessary.
If man is not a sinner there is no need for
justification. The grace of God has for its
background the guilt of man. In dealing with
this sombre subject, the Apostle does not summarily state this fact, but so elaborates it
that no possible doubt of it can remain. He
does this in a thorough-going fashion; showing
first, that all Gentiles are under condemnation; then, that this is true of all Jews also;
and so, finally, that the whole world is in a
state of sin, and is guilty before God.
This solemn indictment, surely the most
dreadful ever made, emerges from the revelation of the Gospel in 1:16, 17, already quoted.
Here eight great facts are affirmed of the
Gospel. (i) As to its nature, it is "good
news"; (ii) as to its source, it is "of God";
(iii) as to its greatness, it is a revelation of
God; (iv) as to its design, its intention is salvation; (v) as to its scope, it is for "everyone";
(vi) as to its efficiency, it is God's power; (vii)
as to its claim, it must be "believed"; and
(viii) as to its outcome, it issues in life. Of
this Gospel, Paul says he is "not ashamed."
And why should he be? It tells of One, says
Chrysostom, who "passed for the son of a
carpenter, was brought up in Judaea, in the
home of a poor woman, and who died like a
criminal in the company of robbers." Such
a message was, and is, to Jews, a stumblingblock, and to Gentiles, foolishness; but Paul
was "not ashamed" of it, for he judged it, not
by its features, but by its fruits. There was a
glory in the shame of Calvary, and a triumph
in the seeming defeat.
On intellectual, social and moral grounds,
sinners object to the view that the Cross is a
Gospel, but the intellectual, aristocratic and
ethical Paul proclaimed it to be such, and did
so without fear, or shame, as we shall see in
this letter.
Mankind is viewed in the light of this revelation; and first of all:
1. The Gentiles are Indicted (1:18-32).
In chs. 1-8, the righteousness of God is
seen in relation to sins and sin; in chs. 9-11,
it is seen in relation to the calling of Israel;
and in 12: 1-15: 13, it is seen in relation to
everyday life. This outline should be rooted
in the memory, and so be given a chance to
bear fruit in the heart.
As has been said, we shall omit the second
of these divisions, and so bring together the
subjects of salvation and behaviour. To
begin with, it is important to observe that in
the New Testament literature of the Church,
creed and conduct are always 'related.
Doctrine and practice, theology and morality,
knowledge and action are inseparably connected, being related to one another as foundation to superstructure, as centre to circumference, as root to fruit, as cause to effect.
Some preachers expound without applying,
and some endeavour to apply what has not
been expounded, but the Apostles always do
bath. When revealed truth is divorced from
Christian living it becomes an impotent
abstraction. But Paul will have none of it.
For him salvation must express itself in
behaviour, and behaviour must embody salvation; and it is this which we are now to
consider.
In the doctrinal division, 1:18-8: 39, the
Apostle deals in detail with two things: the
Christian message (1:18-5: 21), and the Christian life (6-8); and it is made quite clear that
there can be no such life where there is no
such message. When the Christian message
is not known or understood, the exhortation
or effort to live the Christian life is fatuous;
it is as foolish as commencing to build a house
from the roof. The Christian message is an
origin, and the Christian life is an issue. The
Christian message tells of Christ for us; and
the Christian life relates to Christ in us; the
one unfolds the need of redemption, and the
other, the way of it; and these ideas cannot be
transposed. If you would live a Christian life
you must know what the Christian message is,
When Dr. Dale first went to Birmingham, on
his way home after a service one Sunday
morning he met a brother minister, who asked
him what he had been preaching about. Dr.
Dale told him that he had commenced a series
on Christian doctrine; whereupon the other
minister said: "They won't stand doctrine in
that church"; to which Dr. Dale replied:
"They'll have to"; and they did.
The only message to man which has substance and permanence is that which is expository, which is an unfolding of God's redeeming purpose and method. One may preach
30
He drove abroad in furious guise
Along the Appian way;
He made a feast, drank fierce and fast,
And crowned his hair with flowers—
No easier nor no quicker passed
The impracticable hours.
The Apostle makes clear three things:
their responsibility, their guilt, and their
punishment.
(a)
The responsibility of the Gentiles.
Human responsibility is the cause of
guilt, and punishment is the effect of it.
Where there is no responsibility there can
be no guilt, and where there is no guilt
there can be no punishment; but the
Gentiles are responsible to God, because He
has revealed Himself to all such in the
creation without, and to their conscience
within.
Mark these two things carefully,
creation and conscience. Many people ask
about the heathen who have never heard
the Gospel. Well, Paul tells us. Because
man is a rational and a moral being he has
responsibility; that is, he has ability to
respond to the manifestation of God in
creation, and to the voice of God in his
own conscience. This is true of all men,
whether or not the Gospel ever reaches
them. Man's reason reflecting on creation
should lead him to recognize the power
and perfections of God; and man's
conscience, which is the faculty whereby
he can distinguish between what is right
and what is wrong, should lead him to
approve the right and reject the wrong; and
because heathenism has done neither of
these things men have no excuse to offer
God for their attitude toward Him.
Responsibility neglected leads to—
(b) T h e g u i l t o f t h e G e n t i l e s .
Because they have been negligent of
the revelation which they have, they are
guilty before God; guilty of perverseness
(v. 18), of irreligion (v. 21a), of pride (vv.
21b, 22), of idolatry (vv. 23, 25), of
sensuality (vv. 24, 26, 27), of wrongness (vv.
28-31), and of incorrigibility (v. 32).
The moral condition of the pagan world
of the first century, which is vouched for
by heathen writers, such as Juvenal,
Tacitus, and Petronius, is summarized
by
Paul
in
twenty-one
words
of
devastating description. The Gentiles were
characterized by—iniquity, mischief, selfish
greed,
malice,
envy,
murder,
quarrelsomeness,
treachery,
and
malignity;
they
were
whisperers,
defamers, hateful to God, insolent,
haughty, braggarts, inventors of evil,
disobedient
to
parents,
senseless,
faithless, loveless, and pitiless.
On that hard Pagan world disgust
And secret loathing fell:
Deep weariness and sated lust
Made human life a hell.
In his cool hall with haggard eyes
The Roman noble lay;
Truly "the heart is deceitful above all
things, and desperately wicked”! Multitudes
of Gentiles are not chargeable with many of
these particular offences, but we all have that
state of heart which produces them, though
many people are refined by circumstances and
culture. It is true of us all that we are guilty,
because we are responsible. From these
two facts a third emerges, which is inevitable
and inexorable—
(c) The punishment of the Gentiles.
From these two facts emerges a third,
which is inevitable and inexorable, and this
is punishment. Guilt is the middle term
between responsibility and punishment, and
these stand in a morally organic relation to
one another. Responsibility makes guilt possible, and these two make punishment certain.
Two things which these verses throw into
prominence are the attitude and the action of
God in relation to human guilt. His attitude
is expressed in verse 18 as "wrath"; that is,
His inherent antagonism to everything that
is evil; and His action, expressive of His
attitude, is stated in the thrice-repeated "God
gave them up" (vv. 24, 26, 28); that is, He
actively placed Himself against all sin by letting it work its inevitable ruin in the unrepentant sinner. The divine verdict on incorrigible
sinners is that they "deserve to die" (v. 32),
and that death is at once their wages (6: 23)
and their sentence. There is no escape from
the guilt, the pollution, the power, and the
final consequences of sin and sins, except
under cover of Christ's "precious blood."
There is no doubt, then, about the guilt of
the Gentiles, and with this verdict the Jews
are in entire agreement. But the Apostle now
turns his attention to them, and in what
f o llo ws 2. The Jews are Indicted (2:1-3:8).
You have no excuse, 0 man, 'whoever you
are, to hen you judge another; for in passing
judgment upon him you condemn yourself,
because you, the judge, are doing the very
same things. Do you suppose, 0 man, that
when you judge those who do such things
and yet do them yourself, that you will
escape the judgment of God? (2:1, 3).
In this long section, which throughout has
the Jews chiefly in view, four principles of
divine judgment are affirmed.
Firstly, God's judgment is true (2:2). "The
judgment of God is according to truth." The
judgment of the Jew was false, because he
thought that God would spare the descendants
of Abraham as such, on account of their
national and religious privileges. But these
31
more evident, and his accountability more
certain (vv. 2-5).
Secondly, God's judgment is just (v. 6). He
"will render to every man according to his
deeds." The standard of God's decision is
moral action and its opposite. The character
of each of us as God sees us, Jew or Gentile,
is the criterion whereby God regards us
(640).
Th i r dl y, G o d 's ju d g m e n t is i m p a rt ia l
(v. 11). "For there is no respect of persons
with Him." Jews have the Mosaic Law and
their conscience; Gentiles have their conscience, but not the Mosaic Law; and each
will be judged by what he has, not by what
he has not. The primacy and priority of the
Jew does not make his sin less sinful, but
rather deepens his guilt because his light is
greater; and the fact that the Gentile did not
receive the Mosaic Law does not make his sin
more sinful, but he will be judged by his
moral condition, for the divine judgment is
without partiality (vv. 11-15).
Fourthly, God's judgment is according to the
Redeeming Chris t (v. 16). He "will judge
the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according
to my gospel." Every man, Jew and Gentile,
is, and will at last be confronted with Jesus
Christ, who is the manifestation of God's
redeeming purpose; and it is a man's attitude
toward Him that is determinative.
But the Jews raise objections to all this,
and want to know of what value Judaism is,
if Jews are placed spiritually on a level with
Gentiles. The Apostle answers these objections (3: 1-3), and summarizes all that he has
already said, in the statement:
We have bef ore proved both Jews and
Gentiles, that they are all under sin (3:9).
And so3. The Whole World is Indicted (3:9-20).
In a number of quotations from the Scriptures of the Jews, Paul proves that all men
are under sin; a fact which is made evident
in man's character (vv. 10-12) and conduct
(vv. 13-17); and the cause of this is practical
irreligion: "there is no fear of God before
their eyes" (v. 18). No one, therefore, can
claim to be righteous, for "all the world has
come under judgment in respect of God"
(3: 19).
God's description of man's fallen state is a
terrible one. Here are fourteen affirmations
—twice the number of completeness—
There is none righteous, no, not one;
There is none that understandeth,
There is none that seeketh after God;
With their tongues they have used deceit;
The poison of asps is under their lips;
Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitter-
ness;
Their feet are swift to shed blood;
Destruction and misery are in their ways;
And the way of peace have they not known;
There is no fear of God before their eyes.
This is not a message which people want to
hear, and it is not one which preachers wish
to deliver; but wrong diagnosis at the beginning must lead to wrong treatment of man's
need, which, alas, too often is the case. The
fact of total depravity lies in the foundation
of the Christian message, for the news which
is good implies the state which is bad. The
uncondemned do not need a reprieve; the
healthy do not need a physician; and the
righteous do not need a Saviour. Supply presupposes want, and salvation implies sinfulness. The pride of man rebels against the
truth about himself, but in so doing he is
despising the grace of God, and is incurring
the divine wrath.
As John the Baptist with his message of
"wrath to come" preceded Jesus with His message of "come unto Me," so, in Romans, the
affirmation of condemnation precedes the
exposition of justification.
In this Epistle the "love" of God is referred
to six times, and the "wrath" of God ten
times; but His "wrath" is an aspect of His
"love." Why is a mother angry with her child
for playing with the fire? Because she loves
her. The "wrath" of God is not a passion, but
a principle, and for this reason prominence
is given to it in this Compendium of Christian
truth.
But the proof of human depravity in 1: 183: 20 is not the Gospel; it but makes evident
the need for it. If one preached nothing but
condemnation for fifty years, he would not
once have preached the Gospel. To declare
that a man is sick is not to cure him. Let the
young evangelist and preacher remember this;
and may the "liberal" preacher, so-called,
learn that salvation is not from within outward, but from without inward, for we can
"work out" only what God "works in" (Phil.
2: 12, 13).
So now we come to the second part of the
Christian message, which, in the light of what
has been said, is in fact that message.
II. JUSTIFICATION (3:21-5:11).
This word, with its equivalents, is one of
the key-words of the Epistle, occurring about
fifty times; and these chapters, 3-5, are the
greatest on the subject in the New Testament.
The experience of which this word speaks is
not easy to expound. The meaning is, to
pronounce righteous, not to make righteous,
for what is imputed is not in fact imparted;
but to be justified means that, in the way here
They have all turned aside,
They are together become unprofitable;
There is none that doeth good, no, not so
much as one;
Their throat is an open sepulchre;
32
indicated, the believer is viewed in Christ as
righteous, and is treated as such by God.
Whatever may be its exact theological
meaning, we may confidently say that justification is the opposite of condemnation; the
one is man's state in Christ, as the other is his
state out of Christ, and no one can be in both
states at the same time. Condemnation is
universal, but justification is not, because
while all men are fallen, not all are forgiven.
Let us see, then, what the Apostle has to
say about this wonderful thing called justification. His thought is as clear and precise
here as we have seen it to be in the previous
section, and he introduces the subject by using
two words to indicate the change of theme.
He says "but now"; a term which may be
regarded as logical, contrasting the states of
condemnation and justification; and as temporal, contrasting the past with the present.
Paul seems to give a sigh of relief when he
reaches this point and says, "but now." It
occurs in a like connection in Ephesians
2: 12, 13, where the Apostle, after having said
of believing Gentiles that "in time past" they
h ad been witho ut Ch rist —aliens—and
strangers, "having no hope, and without God
in the world," he hastens to say, "but now,
in Christ Jesus, ye who once were far off, are
made nigh by the blood of Christ."
"But" refers to the past, and "now" to the
present. After ruin comes redemption, and
after penury comes provision.
What, then, are the dominating notes of the
new theme? There are three: the ground, the
means, and the effect of justification. The
ground of it is God's grace; the means of it is
our faith; and the effect of it is assurance.
Firstly, then1. The Ground o f J u s tif ic a t io n is God's
G r a c e (3:21-26). "Justified freely by His
grace, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus" (v. 24). This passage may be regarded
as the very heart of the whole Epistle, because
the heart of the Gospel is Calvary. In the
Old Testament everything leads up to the
Cross, and in the New Testament everything
flows from it, and so, in this classic of the
Christian life, the Apostle shows first of all
the need of fallen man for the intervention of
God; and finally, the outcome, in Christian
character and conduct, of that intervention;
and centrally, between these two, the nature
of the intervention is revealed in the death of
Christ as an atoning sacrifice.
This paragraph (vv. 21-26) is amazing for
its fullness of thought. The "righteousness"
referred to has its source in God, it is His
righteousness; it is "manifested," that is,
revealed, for man could not have discovered
it; it is independent, "apart from the law,"
for man could not merit it; it was predicted,
f or it is "acco rdin g to the law and the
33
prophets"; it is bestowed, for we are "justified
freely by His grace"; as a gift it is costly,
because it is "through the redemption" of
Christ on Calvary; it is atoning, because
Christ's shed blood was a "propitiation"; it is
ethical, for God's "forbearance" with the sins
of mankind for millenniums was not due to
indifference, but He "passed them over"
because He was on His way to Calvary; and
it is effective and final, for it is the "just"
God who "justifies" men; that is, God is just
in justifying.
All this is wonderful, most wonderful!
Come, ye rebellious and unbelieving; listen,
ye depressed and despairing; look, ye faltering
and failing; meet Christ at Calvary; God our
Maker is our Redeemer; He against whom we
have sinned is offering us salvation.
Grace! 'tis a charming sound,
Harmonious to the ear;
Heaven with its echo shall resound,
And all the earth shall hear.
Grace all the work shall crown
Through everlasting days:
It lays in heaven the topmost stone,
And. well deserves the praise.
It was in an hour of despair that William
Cowper read this passage, and he says: "On
reading it I immediately received power to
believe. The rays of the Sun of Righteousness fell on me in all their fullness; I saw the
complete sufficiency of the expiation which
Christ had Wrought for my pardon and entire
justification. In an instant I believed, and
received the peace of the Gospel. . . . My
eyes filled with tears; transports choked my
utterance. I could only look to heaven in
silent fear, overflowing with love and wonder."
The grace of God that bringeth salv ation
hath appeared unto all men (Tit. 2:11).
W e b e s e e c h you that ye r e c e iv e not the
grace of God in vain (2 Cor. 6:1).
This leads us to the second note in this
portion of the message, namely, that2. The Means of Justif ication is our Faith
(3:27-4:25). Faith is another of the keywords of "Romans," and references to it, or
the want of it, occur sixty-four times in the
Epistle. This quality is more easily described
than defined, but we can definitely exclude
credulity and presumption from the idea.
Faith, in an evangelical context, is confidence
in God and His Word. It is an assurance
that what He has promised to do He will do.
It is reliance upon God's known character. It
is the re-echo in man's consciousness of the
divine Voice.
It may be said that in saving faith there are
three elements. The first relates to the intellect, which accepts the evangelical facts, and
the interpretation of them as given in the
records. But this alone cannot save. The
second element relates to feeling. The convicted sinner recognizes that God's provision
in Christ for him is the answer to his need.
But even knowledge and emotion together
cannot bring one into salvation. One thing
more is needed, and this is found in an act of
the will. The sinner conscious of his need,
and beholding the provision, believes Christ
to be wholly trustworthy, and takes Him to be
his personal Saviour.
Faith in this sense is the universal condition
of salvation, and is intensely personal; and it
is the germinal grace of the Christian life.
There is no saving virtue in faith; and yet
without faith we cannot be saved. Righteousness is not attained by works, but it is obtained
by faith. As the virtue of a banknote is not
in itself, but in the bank, so the virtue of faith
is not in itself, but in its Object. Trust is
man's answer to God's truth. Though the
word "alone" does not occur in the text,
Luther's dictum, "justification by faith in
Christ
alone,"
is
correct,
because
justification is not by works at all.
In expounding this truth, Paul shows that
justification by faith, not by law-keeping, is
the teaching of the Old Testament, for
Abraham was justified by faith centuries
before the Mosaic Law was given (ch. 4).
If Abraham were justified by works, he bath
whereof to glory; but not before God (4:2).
God credited the Patriarch with faith, not
with works; and so it says:
Abraham believed God, and it was counted
unto him for righteousness (4:3, 9).
And long after the Law was given, David
describes
the blessedness of the man unto whom God
imputes righteousness apart from works
(4:6).
The fact is, therefore, that the blessing of
justification must be accepted by faith by Jew
and Gentile alike. Of this initial and supreme
blessing God's grace is the source; Christ's
blood is the power; man's faith is the instrument; Christ's resurrection is the assurance;
and "good works" are the evidence.
And now we come to the third note in the
truth about justification. We have seen that
it originates in the grace of God, and that it
is apprehended and appropriated by faith; but
the question may well be asked: "Is this not
too good to be true?"—to which the Apostle
replies: "No, not too good to be true, but true
because it is so good." And so, thirdly3. The Effect of Justif ication is Assurance
(5: 141). This assurance is rooted in the fact
that the blessing of justification is "through
our Lord Jesus Christ," a phrase with which
the passage begins and ends (vv. 1, 11); and
what is "through" Him is thorough.
The assurance which this passage embodies
covers the whole life of the justified man,
past, present, and future; so that the blessing
which has begun will continue, and will be
consummated at last. The passage begins
with "therefore," the first of three occurrences
in the Epistle which gather up the preceding
argument and carry the exposition forward.
The first is the "therefore" of justification
(5: 1), and relates to the section 3: 21-4: 25:
Therefore being justified by faith.
The second is the "therefore" of sanctification (8: 1), and relates to chapters 6-7:
There is therefore now no condemnation to
them that are in Christ Jesus—who walk
not after the flesh, but after the S p ir i t
(8:1, 4).
The third is the "therefore" of dedication
(12: 1), and relates to all that has gone before
(chs. 1-11):
I beseech you therefore, brethren, to present
your bodies a living sacrifice.
The first relates to the soul; the second, to
the spirit; and the third, to the body; and thus
our attention is drawn to salvation, sanctification and service. The first introduces us to
Christian assurance; the second, to Christian
attainment; and the third, to Christian
activity.
Let us now look at the first of these.
(i) Assurance as to the Past (5: 1).
The Apostle says, "Having-been-justified by
faith." The theology of this is in the tense.
It is the aorist, which means that our justification is already accomplished; and it is the
passive participle, which means that it is God
who has justified us, and not we ourselves;
and it is reaffirmed that by faith we were put
in touch with this blessing.
There is a truth which we should continuously contemplate: "we have been, and now
are, justified." One commentator says that
this, and such passages, "do not warrant the
doctrine of assurance, in the sense that an
individual believer may and ought to feel certain of his own final salvation on the ground
of having once been justified." That statement is a denial of one of the fundamental
truths of the Christian Faith, and strikes at
the very heart of the Gospel. We who have
been justified by God, are justified for ever.
(ii) Assurance as to the Present (5: 1, 2).
Two things are here affirmed: first, that "we
have peace with God," and secondly, that "we
have had (and now have) access into (divine)
grace." Here is amazing wealth of truth for
our present assurance.
"Peace with God" means that the war
between us and God is at an end. Peace has
been made by the blood of the Cross, and God
now looks, not at our sins, but at Christ's
34
blood. "He is our peace," not because of
what He is now doing in heaven, but
because of what long ago He did on
Calvary. One cannot have "the peace of
God" without having "peace with God," but
one may have the latter without the former.
I hear the words of love.
I gaze upon the blood,
I see the mighty Sacrifice,
And I have peace with God.
Then, it is said that "we have access into
this grace wherein we stand."
"Access into grace" here, means that we
have been "introduced” into the sphere of
justification of which Paul has been speaking,
and there we abide; and it is in this atmosphere that we "have peace with God." In
these immortal words we who are justified
are assured of peace and acceptance, and of
peace because of acceptance.
And now, in the third place, we are vouchsafed—
(iii) Assurance as to the Future (5: 2).
"We rejoice in hope of the glory of God."
"The glory of God" means the glory of His
Presence, His brightness and splendour,
which was symbolized by the Shekinah
over the Mercy Seat in the Tabernacle of
old. The Apostle says that participation in
this glory is the believer's "hope." Not only
at last shall we enter into that glory, but we
shall also partake of it; we shall be
"glorified with Him" (8: 17). Because of
this we are to "exult,'' vocally to "boast."
This is a consequence of our justification
which lies in the eternal future, and in
which we should now rejoice.
The Apostle goes on to say that afflictions
cannot destroy this hope (vv. 3-5); that it is
confirmed by God's great love manifested in
Christ (vv. 6-8); and so we may make our
boast in God, who, through Christ, has vouchsafed to us this reconciliation.
35
SUMMARY (vv. 12-21).
Having expounded the momentous themes of
condemnation and justification, Paul now traces
these to their historical sources in Adam and
Christ, in 5: 12-21, before passing on to the
subject of the Christian life in chs. 6-8.
Here is the great doctrine of the two men,
Adam and Christ. Condemnation is traced to
the one, and justification to the other. By
Adam's one sin death came to all mankind;
and by Christ's one act on the Cross life comes
to all who believe. Thro ugh Adam sin
abounds, but through Christ grace much more
abounds. Through the first Adam has come
ruin, and through the last Adam has come
redemption.
In this way the foundations are laid on
which the rest of the Epistle is built. The
need for the Christian message, in man's condemnation; and the nature of it, in divine
justification (chs. 1-5), prepare the way for the
Christian life which is now to be expounded in
its two aspects of sanctification and glorification
(chs. 6-8).
And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Saviour's blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain?
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love? how can it be
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?'
No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus. and all in Him, is mine!
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine.
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ, my
own.
"Thanks be unto God for His unspeakable
Gift.
Disastrous Consequences of Sin in the Believer
BY THE REV. WILLIAM STILL.
UR subject is, sin in the life of the believer,
and its disastrous consequences.
OWhat
is sin? Whatsoever is not of faith
is sin; whatsoever is not of a movement of
mind and heart and will toward God, is
sin. We may ask, Are there disastrous
consequences of sin in the life of a believer?
These are strong words; but we answer, Yes,
we have proved it in our own lives. Yes,
here on earth there are disastrous
consequences of our sin; but in heaven, in
glory, can there be disastrous consequences
of sin in the life of a believer, there?
There are eternal consequences. What does
the word "disastrous" mean? Has it not
something to do with loss? Therefore we
are to consider for a little time this morning
the eternal consequences of sin in the life of
the believer.
What do we know of the judgment seat of
Christ? "We," that is "believers," says Scripture, "must all appear before the judgment
seat of Christ, to receive the things done in the
body." This is a judgment of believers
only; it has nothing to do with the great
white throne, which is a judgment of
unbelievers only, where the unbelieving
and the wicked are condemned and
punished for ever in the lake of fire which is
the second death. At the judgment seat of
Christ there is no condemnation or
punishment. How could there be in glory?
for punishment with its misery could not
possibly co-exist with the bliss of heaven.
But Scripture makes it perfectly plain, plainer
perhaps than we may have seen, that there
may be both shame and loss.
Did you think heaven was a kind of ideal
communistic welfare state, where all distinctions were ironed out, and all had an equal
position, glory, and authority? No. We are
"becoming" down here; and the trial of
our faith is precious, because we shall be,
there, precisely what we have appropriated
of Christ b y fa i th , h e re . "Th a t I m a y
k n o w H i m " ! - -it will be seen there, how
much we know Him here.
Let us look at 1 John 2: 28, "And now, little
children"—notice the tenderness—"abide in
Him, that when He shall appear, we may have
boldness, and not be put to shame from
before H im a t H is co mi n g ." Le t u s
po nde r thi s meaning—that we may not
draw back or shrink in shame from
be fore Him at His coming. Think how
men shrank from Him
38
when He was upon earth. You remember.
Judas and the soldiers, how they came to
arrest Jesus, and when He said, "I am He" ("I
am" in the original), they went back and
fell to the ground. Think also of the
confusion of Peter on the Mount of
Transfiguration, when "he wist not what to
say, for they were sore afraid." Then think
of the passage in the Revelation where we
read of the great earthquake of the coming
judgment upon the earth, "and lo, there was
a great earthquake; and the sun became
black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon
became as blood; and the stars of heaven
fell into the earth, and the heaven departed
as a scroll when it is rolled together; and
every mountain and island were moved
out of the ir places. And the kings of the
earth, and the great men, and the rich men,
and the chief captains, and the mighty men,
and every bondman, and every freeman, hid
themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the
mountains; and said to the mountains and
rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of
Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the
wrath of the lamb; for the great day of His
wrath is come ; and who shall be able to
stand?"
Notice also that it is in close connection
with the judgment seat of Christ that Paul
speaks of "the te rror of the Lord." Think
how he exhorts the Philippians, in his
letter to them, to "work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling." In
the beginning of Corinthians, he says he
was with them "in weakness and fear and
much trembling." And think for a moment
of the growing awe of men throughout the
ages as the revelation of the glory and the
holiness of God and. Christ grows clearer.
You remember how Jacob at Bethel said,
"How dreadful is this place!” Moses, in the
presence of the holiness of God, removed his
shoes; Isaiah, in the presence of the glory,
was undone and literally demoralized, for
he knew he had no morality in the presence
of God; Daniel had no strength, and his
comeliness was turned to corruption; Paul
was struck blind by the glory of God; and
when we come to Revelation, John fell as one
dead. Consider the growing awareness of the
awful holiness and glory of God.
No wonder, then, that the Word of God in
Hebrews is so telling—"For the Word of
God is quick and powerful, sharper than a
two-
edged sword, piercing even to the dividing
asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints of
the marrow, and is a discerne r of the
thoughts," and deeper than this, "is a dis cerner of the intents of the heart. Neither is
there any creature that is not exposed to His
sight, but all things are naked and open unto
the eyes of Him with whom we have to
do." If searched by the Word of God, we
shall be so exposed, how shall we be
exposed in the presence of His glory? "He
that judgeth me is the Lord, who will bring to
light the hidden things of darkness and
make manifest the counsels or motives of
the heart."
But you may ask, is the shrinking from Him
at His coming a passing, momentary experience, after which we shall recover our composure and draw near to Him? Paul says that
Christ's purpose is to establish our hearts
unblameable in holiness at the coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ. One could translate, both
here in Thessalonians and in 1 John 2:28, not
"at His coming," but "in His presence"; not
His appearance, not His coming, not His
unveiling, but "in His presence." Is there not
the possibility, I ask—I cannot say—that we
may shrink back with shame as an eternal
consequence, so that our proximity to Him in
glory and authority may be eternally fixed?
What, in any case, is our insurance against
such shame in His presence? The same John,
who says the grimmest things, says "Little
childre n, abide in Him." Notice the word
"abide." Does it mean lounge in Him, relax
in Him? What an active word is "abide"!
Abide in Him; remain in Him; stay in Him;
hold on to Him. There are other words in the
other writers akin to this word in meaning,
which suggest more clearly the activeness of
"abide." Jesus says, "Follow me"; Paul says,
"Walk in the Spirit"; Peter says, "Endure";
James says. "Submit yourselves unto God, and
resist the Devil," "Strive to enter into rest,"
not merely labour, but struggle to enter into
rest. "Abide in Him," press into Him, lest
there be shame before Him at His coming.
Can two walk together except they go on?
Le t u s a sk ou rse lve s , a re we pos i ti ve ly ,
actively abiding in Him? For whatsoever is
not of active faith is sin, and shall suffer
shame at His coming.
Then what of our sinful service for Him?
Turn to 1 Corinthians 3:1-14.
"If any man's work shall be burned, he
shall suffer loss" or "damage," as Souter suggests; "yet he himself shall be saved, yet so
as by fire."
Now in Christian service, what is the difference between gold, silver, precious stones, and
wood, hay and stubble? It is surely the difference between serving God in the spirit and in
the flesh. Oh, the fleshly, soulish service that
will be burnt up in that day! And what is
serving God in the flesh? We are told in the
beginning of the chapter—carnality, which
shows itself in strife, envyings, and divisions;
indeed, serving God in the flesh is bound up
very much with personal ambition in Christian service, which always leads to strife and
jealousy. And when we cease to abide in
Christ we begin to slip with Satan; and when
we slip with Satan, perhaps almost unknown
to ourselves, the flesh takes over and we serve
God in the flesh. But the tragic thing is that
even when we cease to abide in Christ and the
flesh takes over, we still go on in Christian
service, sowing to the fle sh and reaping
corruption.
Can the flesh serve Christ? Christ Himself
says the only thing to do with the flesh is to
crucify it; and that is just what He did —"In
my flesh dwelleth no good thing." Do men
gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
Do fountains send forth sweet water and bitter? If the flesh cannot produce Christ, it
certainly cannot reproduce Him; and even
whe n the fle sh is e xpre ssed in see ming
humility, it is still the flesh. It must die,
nothing less,
Someone may say, I can cover it up, it will
not be discerned "down my way." Supposing
you could live and try to serve Christ in the
flesh, and die with your secret, that it was all
done in the energy of the flesh, you have still
to face the judgment seat of Christ. Read the
words of 1 Corinthians 3:13, "The work shall
be exposed, the day shall declare it, it shall be
re ve ale d by fire ." I n the holy fire of God
the work shall be burned. He shall suffer
damage—he himself shall be saved—"if the
righteous scarcely be saved"—yet so as by
fire.
You comfort yourself with the thought, We
shall be with Christ in glory, in bliss? Yes,
but with loss of rewards, loss of standing, loss
of authority, loss of glory. And judgment is
final; after it there is no change: it is for ever,
no repentence then, no retrieving ourselves.
Peter talks of an "unfading crown of glory";
Paul of "an incorruptible crown"; "Henceforth
there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness." Henceforth—that is from now, hencef o r wa rd a nd fo r e v e r - - wi t ho u t c ha ng e eternal.
Oh, aged saint, it may be largely fixed what
you shall be there; and if this fact comes to
your heart with great solemnity, then I plead
with you to tell the young people, so that they,
with us and with all who belong to God, may,
in the words of the old saint of the 1859
Revival, "live for eternity." Oh, men and
women, let us live for eternity 1
37
An Almost Forgotten Truth
.
BY PREBENDARY COLIN C. KERR, M.A.
These things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.-1 John 1:4.
ST. John gives us three reasons for writing
his Epistle: fullness of joy (1 John 1:4);
fullne ss of victory (2:1); and fullne ss of
assurance (5:13). The keynote of this first
chapter is fullness of joy. What is its secret?
"This then is the message ... that God is light,
and in Him is no darkness at all." The most
wonderful thing the soul can know is fellowship of the Fathe r and of the Son. "That
which we have seen and heard declare we unto
you, that ye also may have fellowship with
us : a nd tru ly ou r fe llo wsh ip is wi th the
Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ."
If salvation is the beginning of fellowship,
never forget that fellowship is the end or
object of salvation: the soul being brought
right back into personal, daily, intelligent and
joyous fellowship with the Father and with
His Blessed Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
This is the whole object of God's grace in the
story of salvation and in His de alings
with us through the Cross—to bring us right
into the fullness of this joyous and
victorious fellowship with Himself and His
beloved Son. Many of us know so little of this
fellowship that we are just limping along
life's pathway, rather like beggars hoping to
draw a little bit from the hand of grace here
and there, in the hope that somehow we
shall get to the end—God only knows how.
We are such a poor, poverty-stricken lot; and
yet we are meant to know the fullness of
joy, victory and assurance. Why is it?
I think it is because there is an almost
forgotten truth that needs to be recaptured
and reconsidered until it grips us, probably as
never before: God is light. "If we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship
one with another." God calls us to walk in
the light as He is in the light. If we are to
know that experience of fellowship we must
realize this almost forgotten truth, that God
is light.
What does that mean? It means that there
appertaineth to God an awareness which automatically and necessarily relates itself to
mo ral i ty . The re appe rta i ne th to God an
awareness of all that is going on, that automatically and immediately and necessarily
relates itself to His holiness. It is not merely
38
that we live and move and speak and think
and have our being in the presence of One to
whom all things are known; it is more than
that. It is that we are thinking and speaking
and moving and doing a nd acting in the
presence of One who is not merely completely
and entirely aware of it all, but whose nature
automatically and insistently relates itself in
terms of morality and holiness to that of which
one is aware. God is light. As the mother
inclines to the child to which she has given
life, so God inclines to all that is lovely and
beautiful and truthful and pure and kind and
loving and gentle and strong and humble. But
as that same mother recoils as from the serpent that would strike a deathly blow at the
child of her love, so God recoils from and
would seek to slay all that is filthy and foul
and faithless and untrue and impure, unloving
a nd u nk i nd : i nde e d , fro m a ny sp i ri tu a l
irregularities; He cannot abide them, Ha
recoils from them, just because God is light.
There are three basic statements about God
in this Epistle. First, God is —that is His
Existence; second, God is light—that is His
Essential Nature; third, God is love —that is
His Personal Expression: and that order is
vital (1:5; 4:8). St. Joh n says God is, He
exists; His essential nature is light; and the
expression of His life is love. Indeed, it could
easily be shown philosophically and psychologically that you cannot love until you are
holy. God loves as no man loves, because He
is holy as no man is holy. God is; God is light,
that is His essential nature; and God is love,
that is the expression of His nature. As we
rejoice in the love of God we perhaps forget
that earlier truth that God is indeed
Indeed, I venture to suggest that it is onl y
as we appreciate the fact that God is
that we realise that God is love. Then it is
we find ourselves saying—
That Thou shouldst love a worm like me
And be the God Thou art.
Is darkness to my intellect,
But sunshine to my heart.
You only get to an appreciation of the love of
God as you have been given a realization of
His morality, His holiness; that God is indeed
light.
One just longs that when the end of this
Convention comes and we go our various ways,
that we should go back with the message of
St. John ringing in our ears, summed up thus:
"These things write we unto you, that your
joy may be full.” That we may go away in
fullness of joy, discovering a new measure of
that fe llowship with the Fathe r and His
beloved Son. You are going north, south,
overseas, back to your home or business; well,
go back to rejoice; and again I say, to rejoice
in the fellowship of the Father and His Son
our Saviour. If that is to be so, it may well
be in the early days of this Convention that
God is going to take us apart, to reveal to us
something of what the Bible means when it
says, "God is light."
For a few minutes I want to take this great
statement, "This then is the message we have
heard of Him, and declare unto you, that God
is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. If
we say that we have fellowship with Him and
walk in darkness, we lie , and do not the
truth: but if we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship." The thing
that matters is not how we walk, so much as
where we walk. If we walk in the right place,
we shall become all right!
"God is light"—three thoughts about this
almost forgotten truth that God is light. First,
I t is a v e r y s o le m n tr u th . W h y i s i t t ha t
seldom to-day do we hear men crying out to
God, "What must I do to be saved?" I believe
it is due to a lack of any real appreciation of
sin, w hich i n turn is due to a lack of any
appreciation of the holiness of God. How
seldom do men literally, physically tremble
under the mighty hand of God as they realize
the realities of sin and judgment, and of
heaven and hell! Because man to-day is not
conscious of the holiness of God; that God is
light. Why is it that so many Christians are
allowing spiritual irregularities—perhaps I
ought to say unspiritual irregularities--in their
lives? They have never realized that God is
light, or perchance they have come to think
that sin in the believer does not matter quite
so much as it does in the unbeliever. If there
can be degrees of culpability —and I think
there can—sin is worse in the life of a believer
than in the unbelieve r. Yet so many of us
to-day are known as irritable people; we give
harsh answers; we are not truthful in our
statements; we equivocate; or we just give a
little turn to this and that; we are unreliable,
or unkind, even maybe dishonest. Possibly
Nye are allowing other irregularities in our
lives, of darker hue, unknown to men, but
known to God.
These things will be slain as a serpent would
be by a mother looking at the child she loves,
if we realize that God is light and in Him is
no darkness at all, and begin to walk in the
light as He is in the light. "If we say we have
fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we
do not the truth"—we are hypocrites. Say
again and again this almost forgotten truth:
"God is light, and in Him is no darkness at
all."
Think in another direction. Look at the
p l a ce g i ve n to -d a y to the A to ne me nt i n
Evangelical writing and preaching, and even
i n the fa i t h o f k e e n Ev a n g e l i c a l s , o f a l l
denominations. Take up some modern hymn
books and see how many references you can
find to the blood of Jesus Christ, You will
have the shock of your life. Why? Because
the Atonement has lost its place in our preaching, because the holiness of God has largely
gone out of the consciousness of the Church.
But for this, we should be falling at the Cross
of Christ and saying—
If Thou canst love a worm like me
And be the God Thou art,
'Tie darkness to my intellect,
But sunshine to my heart.
We do not have it preached to-day. The
Cross has lost its aforetime prominenc e,
because the holiness of God has so largely
disappeared out of the consciousness of mankind.
Why has the revival not come for which
some of us have prayed very nearly daily for
many years? God alone can answer that. He
may send revival to-night, and the light will
blaze and we shall see it. I do not know. If
we are allowed to have spiritual guesses and
attempts to explain the Almighty's actions, it
may be due to the fact that the Church
has to rediscover His holiness. If in the
light of that vision it will become prostrate
before His face, it may well be that God, in
consequence, will honour the Person of His
blessed Son in a revival of the Holy
Ghost. "God is light." It is a solemn
message.
It is also a ver y jo yous me ss age. I can
understand some saying that "joyous" is the
very last adjective I should have used. Yet
S t . J o h n t e l l s u s i t i s t he c e n t re o f t he
Gospel! John is an old man ninety years of
age. He writes to a number of people who
never saw Christ in the flesh and could know
little of the thrill which had been theirs who
had, especially when the Holy Spirit
illuminated their experience. "This then is the
message which we have heard and declare
unto you, that God is light and in Him is no
darkness at all:" "These things write we unto
you, that your joy may be full." It is a joyous
message for this reason. because it deals with
the only problem that can prevent the soul
finding entire satisfaction in Jesus Christ, and
39
that is the problem of sin. The believer's true
life is an unseen life, a life of fellowship with
the Father and His Son. It becomes visible
slowly or quickly, but it is a hidden life. The
source of all spiritual quality and strength is
in the soul; and the soul's strength and quality,
Jesus Christ.
You may say that if it is possible to live
in fellowship with the Father and His Son
Jesus Christ, then life is bound to be joyous;
and indeed it is. All the happiest moments
you have known have been moments when
His blessed presence has been most realized.
Of course that is true. They have been the
times when to sin would have been literally
impossible. They have been the times when
you have "loved righteousness and hated
iniquity," They have been times when the
blessed consciousness of His presence has been
so real that spiritual irregularities have
ceased to be problems. So it is indeed a
joyous message.
I close with a third consideration of this
almost forgotten truth that God is light; that
His is an awareness which is ever attuned to
morality; to His own personal holiness—that
this is a very practical truth. My Bible tells
me that if we walk in the light as He is in the
light, we have fellowship. You ask what is
the secret? What must I do to have this fellowship? I would reply with a question. I
would ask you where must you be to have it?
There are many people seeking this fellowship by a process of subtraction and addition.
They give up that and take away something
else, and they are hoping that by a process
of created holiness they may eventually enjoy
the presence and the fellowship of God. That
is not Scriptural. This Scripture does not tell
us how we are to walk; it tells us where we
40
are to walk. If we walk where He is, in the
light, then we have fellowship.
I cannot help wondering sometimes whether
there has not been a good deal of misplaced
trust in searching for holiness. Prayer will
not necessarily bring you into fellowship; coming out from the world does not necessarily
bring you into fellowship; nor even Bible
study. I do not think these things really get
to the root of it. The ro ot of Christian
experience is Christ. And it is walking where
He is, that is the solution of these various
problems. It is fellowship with Him who is
our life that is basic. The Bible becomes new
when yo u walk in the light with Him.
Christian service becomes, in a sense, easily
undertaken if you are walking in the light.
Sin becomes repulsive, holiness becomes
natural to the new state as you are walking
in the light.
The secret of the whole of this blessed
scheme of soul recovery, as I see it, is—CHRIST.
Christ, a conscious reality, The daily life a
conscious fellowship with Him. Beloved,
throw your whole personality open afresh as
He may help you, and go out of this tent not
to think less of, or more of, your Bible or of
prayer, or such activities; but go out rather as
those who are going to enjoy fellowship with
the Father and with His Son. For these things
"declare we unto you, that ye also may have
fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship
is with the Father, and with His Son, Jesus
Christ." "These things write we unto you,
that your joy may be full"—and God knows it
will be a wonderfully contagious thing in a
very unhappy world.
To sum up. It is where you walk, rather
than how you walk. Where is He walking?
In His own self-created holy light. Walk in
this light with Him.
(ii)—THE WORD AS THE REVEALER OF SIN
BY DR. WILBUR M. SMITH
I WANT to speak this afternoon on the
Word of God as the revealer of sin; and I
would begin with a statement from Dr.
Graham Scroggie's masterly survey of Romans
this morning: "News which is good
implies a state which is bad; supply
presupposes
want;
salvation
implies
sinfulness." With that statement I would
like to read something else which reveals a
tragic reality which we must acknowledge today—that
there
is
practically
no
consciousness of sin in our present world. In
a recent volume entitled "The Development of
English Theology in the Later Nineteenth
Century," Canon Elliott-Binns says this—I am
quoting only because it expresses exactly
what I believe—"We have thus the beginnings
of that spirit of indifference which has reached
such terrible proportions in our own day,
when sport and the cinema have almost completely displaced more serious matters in the
minds of the average man and woman. People
will not be bothered by such matters as their
sins and short-comings. . . . A grave consequence of the loss of authority of Christianity
and the Church was a progressive decline in
morals. There were those who found in the
uncertainty of our Christian truth a welcome
excuse for throwing off this moral restraint
which they had resented. . . ."
The situation is far more grave to-day
than it was then; and before I go into this
subject from the Word of God I would like
to ask, Why is there such a terrible absence
of sense of sin? This is true in the
world, and I believe it is also true in the
Church. I hear very few people talking about
sin to-day; and in most of the meetings that
I attend, even where an invitation is given, I
seldom see any weeping or sobbing or
brokenness for sin. Why is this? May I
name some causes without any elaboration
at all, and then we will look at the blessed
Word of God?
Is there a sense of relativity in ethics? The
great moral ethical standards are gone; everything now is relative—in fact, that which is
bad might be good, modern ethics says, in certain circumstances. There is no such thing
as real wrong; there may be a relative wrong,
but if a lie is told for the State, then it is
good; if deception is carried on in the name
of totalitarianism, it must not be condemned—
it is the object for which one is striving which
determines whether a thing is right or wrong.
The grave reality of what is wrong and what
is right, slips away in this strange compromise
There is an anaemic diluting relativity in
ethics, until to-day people almost think that
under certain circumstances immorality can
be excused, and may not be condemned by
God Almighty.
Secondly, we have in our world around us
an increase of lawlessness, as our Lord foretold in Matthew 24: 12. When we are in an
environment of rebellion against God, and of
lawlessness, we breathe its atmosphere, we
read its books; we absorb its concepts; we
are living in this world, and the spirit of this
world seeps into our own inner life, Christians as we are. Unconsciously it may be, we
lean towards the world in which we live, and
even we as believers are affected by this
diabolic, sin-denying spirit in which we are
living. Thirdly, this is an age in which man
is exalted. I do not know how we can do it,
after two world wars! The ideal in our
modern philosophical thinking reaches no
higher than the head of a man! We are not
bringing God into our thoughts, and man
becomes the measure of all man thinks.
In our American Declaration of Independence, if I may be allowed to mention it in this
country, we say that God created man free
and equal; but in the new Declaration of
Human Rights, by the United Nations, God
is never mentioned. If God is out of our
thinking, sin is denied.
Then the opportunities for sin are so much
greater to-day than they ever were before.
Our automobiles, our hotel life, our travel,
and sending our boys all round the world: all
these things create opportunities for sin, which
mean temptations to sin; and therefore the
sensitiveness to sin goes down on the thermometer of our hearts.
Next, there is the loss of the sense of heaven
and hell, and judgment to come. In the
Oxford History of England, Volume 1870-1914,
the writer says that the reason why the world
in the nineteenth century acknowledged that
the British merchant was the most honourable
41
sin atoned for there. It is an interesting
God's family, who vow henceforth to serve,
merchant in the world, was because he had
a sense of heaven and hell and judgment to
come. That is an astonishing statement; he
was honest because he knew there was a hell
and a heaven. That day, alas, has gone.
All these and many more reasons which
I could name make for a dullness and an
apathy to these questions.
Before we consider how the Word diagnoses
sin, may I outline six ways in which the Bible
deals with sin; six ways in which the Word
of God faces this sin-question? First of all,
in its names for sin—and that is a subject
I am going to leave alone this afternoon; but
there are probably twenty names for sin. I
do not mean kinds of sins, but the names of sin —
evil, unrighteousness, lawlessness, and so on.
Secondly, the Bible reveals man's state and
nature, as in Ephesians 2: 1, 5—"dead in trespasses and sins." Let me illustrate this. In
1914, when I was a student, the greatest
authority in the world on the life of Paul and
the archaeology of Luke and Acts came to
Chicago to lecture, and he used the phrase,
"the divine spark in every man." The President of the Moody Bible Institute was Dr.
James Gray, a polished Bostonian Christian
and gentleman. When the meeting concluded Dr. Gray rose and said, "I am sure our
learned guest would not wish that anyone
should leave this room to-night under any
misapprehension or error. There is no divine
spark in every man; we are all dead in trespasses and sins until the life of Christ comes
into our hearts." He did not get that out of
some other book; he was not matching Greek
mythology with American mythology: the only
way you could contradict such a phrase was
from the Word of God.
Thirdly, the naming of specific sins. I cannot name these, but I will take one moment
to give you the location of Paul's catalogues
of sins: Romans 1: 28-32; 1 Corinthians 5: 9-13;
Galatians 5: 19-21; Ephesians 4: 25 and 5: 14;
Colossians 3: 5-9; 2 Timothy 3:1-13. We need
often to hold these up as a mirror before our
eyes.
Fourthly, the Bible makes clear the
consequence of sin. It has been said that the
greatest sin of modern fiction is that it records
the lives of wicked men and women as though
there was some final pleasure, satisfaction and
success in a life of sin, whereas sin only leads
to tragedy, disillusionment and disappointment. There is an immediate consequence,
and our prisons and insane institutions reveal
them. There is, moreover, the ultimate consequence—"For these things cometh the wrath
of God . . ."
Fifthly, sin is seen in relation to Calvary,
in a double way—the sin that put our Lord
upon the Cross (yours and mine); and the
study to take one of Paul's catalogues of sins,
especially 2 Timothy 3 (the picture of mankind at the end of the age, which will, I think,
concentrate in antichrist himself—he will be
the incarnation of all these sins), and match
them against our Lord at Calvary; you will
find that more than half of them were
involved there. There were lies; a love of
money played a part; there was murder—there
are nine different words used in the Book of
Acts alone for murdering the Lord Jesus, nine
different terms for killing the Holy Son of
Go d. B at mo re than that: o n the tree
He died for sin. There never would have
been a Cross, there never would have been
the death of Jesus, had it not been for the
awfulness of sin. He did not die because He
thought there was sin, a mystic of Judaism;
He died because sin was so awful that man
could never be brought to God unless He died
for their sins. If we want to know what God
thinks of sin, we can look at our blessed Lord
hanging on a tree for our sins.
Finally, the Bible reveals sin in that it
shows us the kind of life that we ought to live;
and when we see that life, then our sins are
exposed to us.
I have sketched this in brief outline; now
I would like to make three major statements
regarding the diagnostic properties of the
Word of God. The Word of God approaches
the sin question in three different ways. First,
it is a Word of reproof. "All Scripture is
given by inspiration of God, and is profitable
for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for
instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim, 3: 16).
The first word is "doctrine" or "teaching," and
the first thing this book does is to teach us the
truth of God, of man, of the world, of the age
to come, and so on.
The next word is a word meaning conviction. This is the word that our Lord used in
John 8:46, "which of you convinceth me 'of
sin?" The word "reproof" here is a little
weak; it means more than reproof. You give
a little job to your boy to do after school, and
you say, "Now, son, I want you to clear out
the ashes." I do not know how your children
are over here, but sometimes in our country
boys would sooner play baseball than carry
out the ashes, so after school the boy has a
light remembrance of what father says, but a
very strong urge to go out and play. The
urge overcomes the remembrance, and he
goes out to play. The father comes home for
supper, and goes down in the basement to see
if everything is cleaned up—and there is the
whole mess just as it was in the morning. He
says to his son, "I told you to clear out the
basement." "When did you tell me that?"
"I told you that last night, and I reminded you
of it this morning." "Oh, yes. Well, dad, I,
42
forgot; I will do it to-morrow; I got to playing; I am ever so sorry I forgot." "All right,
do not forget to do it to-morrow." That is the
way it goes. Down in his wicked little heart
he is laughing, and he says, "I certainly got
away with that." He has been rebuked, but
he has not been convicted of any wrong at all.
One can scold and criticize and rebuke, but
that is not what the Word of God does; the
Word of God convicts of sin, so that the person
comes under a sense of having done wrong;
and no other book in the world can do this.
I want to take another word for rebu ke—I
John 1:9, "If we confess our sins . ." The
Greek word is homologeo. "legeo" is the
word from which we get "ology," meaning
knowledge; homo means "the same." In
ge ome try, "homologous side " means the
same, or equal. Thus the word translated
"confession" means "to say the same thing."
That does not mean going along the street
saying the same thing to yourself; it means
two people talking and saying the same thing.
Let us say that my friend, Mr. Fred Mitchell,
and his wife are driving along from London
to Southampton. On the way they want to
visit some friends out in the country. So they
turn off a side road and come to a fork, and
there is no sign. Mr. Mitchell says, "Dear, I
think we go to the right," and she says, "I
know we ought to go to the left." Now, there
is only one thing to do, of course; that is to go
to the left! They are not saying the same
thing, are they? They drive down the road,
and have gone eight miles when they see a
sign, and it is the sign they were looking for;
and Mr. Mitchell says, "Dear, you were right."
What has he done? He is now saying what
she said; they are agreed.
Now, this Bible is the book in which God
speaks, and when you and I begin to say the
same thing as the Bible regarding sin, then we
are confessing sin. We are taking God's side.
Heinrich Meyer says that the plural in this
verse means specific sins. When we are down
on our knees before God, we need to call the
sins of our life as God calls them. You can
say, "Lord, forgive my sin," and still not name
it; but when you say, "0 God, I told a lie this
morning, and I want that lie forgiven and
washed out; Lord, I had an evil thought this
morning"—and you can name it to God, and
you want it dealt with—now, you are going
to do one of two things as the days go and
come. If you are going to talk to God, and
He is going to talk to you, and you are going
to say the some thing with God, either you will
stop that sin, or you will stop praying: one or
the other. You will not keep on calling yourself
a liar before God; you will not talk about
adulterous thoughts very long before God; you
will not confess embezzlement long before
God: you will either stop that sin and have it
washed away, or your prayer-life will cease.
T he re i s a g re a t i l l u s t ra ti o n o f th i s i n 2
Samuel 12, where Nathan is dealing with
David. First he tells a parable and awakens
David's interest. Then David is angered, and
says, "That man shall be put to death." Then
Nathan says, "Thou art the man" (v. 7), an
accusation. Now notice what he says: "Thus
saith Jehovah, I anointed thee king over
Israel, and I delivered thee out of the hand of
Saul. I gave thee thy master's house, and thy
master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee
the house of Israel and of Judah: and if that
had been too little, I would have added unto
thee such and such things. Wherefore has
thou despised the word of the Lord?" What
is he doing? He is reviewing the goodness of
God to David. I do not know how it is with
you, but the thing that breaks my heart is this
matter of the goodness of God. I often find
myself these days aware anew of the goodness
of God, and, beloved, does not the goodness
of God lead thee to repentance?
Then Nathan begins to argue with David:
"Wherefore hast thou despised the word of the
Lord... " He talks to him of the judgment of
God: "the sword shall never depart from t h y
house ... I will raise up evil against
the e ." No w no tice ! "I will do this thi ng
before all Israel, and before the sun"—I will
bring you into disgrace: that would frighten
the life out of me! Then he says, "The child
w i l l d i e " - - t he i n no c e nt a re g o i n g to b e
punished. And David said, "I have sinned
against the Lord"; he confessed his sin: that
is what the Word of God does.
The second way in which the Word of God
deals with sin is that it is a mirror—James
1:21-25, "Wherefore putting away all filthiness
and the overflowing of wickedness, receive
with meekness the implanted word, which is
able to save your souls. Be ye doers of the
word, not hearers only, deluding your own
selves. If anyone is a hearer of the word and
not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his
natural face in a mirror: for he beholdeth
himself, and goeth away, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But he
that looketh into the perfect law, the law of
liberty, and so continueth, being not a hearer
that forgetteth, but a doer that worketh, this
man shall be blessed in his doing."
As I was thinking about the word "mirror,"
it occurred to me that I can wash my hands
ten times a day without looking into the
mirror. When I undress at night, I do not
look in the mirror to see if I have accumulated
dirt on my feet; I do not need a mirror to take
a bath. But the most important part of my
body is my face—all you see of me is my face,
my hands, and a suit of clothes! I look at
people, I speak, I listen, and this is my face;
43
and it is the only part of my body that I cannot
see! I have never seen my own face—I have
seen it in pictures; but this part of me which
everybody sees, I do not see; so I need a
mirror.
A lot of things can happen to your face
unconsciously to you. You can be working
with tools and rub your face with greasy
hands, and you get a big streak of dirt across it—
and you will never know unless you look in a
mirror. You could have a defect, and know
that it is repulsive. Any blemish of the face is
repulsive to someone else; and you would be
ashamed to go through the streets if you were
told that you had a streak of dirt down your
face.
Now, beloved, this Bible is the mirror of
God, and as we look into it we see what we
would never see otherwise. This is a mirror
which reveals our sins. Could I take two passages, one of evil, one of good? In Ephesians 4,
we have a catalogue of sins; let us begin with v.
20, "Wherefore putting away falsehood,
speak ye truth each one with your neighbour":
I do not know about you, dear people —if
nothing happens I am going away with a wonderful picture of British life: there are many
things here which warm my heart; you have a
courtesy and a thoughtfulness, and I must say
you have a reverence, which we do not have
at the present time in our country. But I am
finding that a lot of Christian people can tell
lies to-day without batting an eyelid; and a lot
of ministers, too, can tell lies about their own
work. I remember talking to a dear friend of
mine about his father, a noble Bible teacher, in
heaven now; he loved his father, but he said to
me, "My father had an optical defect; he always
multiplied his audiences by three ." If you say
you had 3,000 people a n d y o u h a d
1 , 0 0 0 , i t i s a l i e . I f y o u say you had
calls to two churche s, but could not
make up your mind which to t a k e , a n d
y o u d i d n o t h a v e a n y c a l l s , it is a lie. A
lot of things are being told that are not true ;
and whe n we indulge this kind of sin we
can pray all night and we shall not have the
blessing of the Spirit of God.
"Let no corrupt speech proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good for edifying."
"Corrupt" means rotten; to tear down, to disintegrate. "Edify" means to build up. My
dear people, you and I should never, as children
of God, allow anything to pass our lips that
will sow seeds of corruption in the lives of
othe r people —no evil story, no smart
remark, no garbage. I remember a great
scholar from these shores coming to our country
once; his books are in my library, and in yours,
too. He was at a lunch where I was, and he
told a story which was crude and
coarse, and I can never take down a book of
his without thinking of that story which was
corrupt. "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth."
Let me tell you something more. In 2 Corint h i a ns 6 :3 - 1 1 we re a d : ". . . g i v i n g no
occasion of stumbling in anything"—this is for
you and me—"but in everything commending
ourselves, as ministe rs of God, in much
patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in
tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,
in pureness, in knowledge, in longsuffering"—
that is a hard one for me—"in kindness, in the
Holy Ghost, in love unfeigned, in the word of
truth, in the power of God; by the armour
of righteousness on the right hand and on the
left, by glory and dishonour, by evil report
and good report; as deceivers, and yet true;
as unknown, and yet well known; as dying,
and, behold, we live; as chastened, and not
killed; as sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as
p o o r , y e t m a k i ng m a ny ri c h ; a s ha v i n g
nothing, yet possessing all things."
When I look at that piece of the mirror of
God, I see some shortcomings of my own. I
think I have read this passage fifty times in
the last two ye ars, and I am still se e ing
blemishes in my own life.
The third word is "sword," the sword of
surgery—Hebrews 4:12, 13. All I can do is
read these verses, for my time has gone.
"The word of God is living, and active, and
sharpe r than any two -e dge d sword , and
piercing, even to the dividing of soul and
spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick
to discern"—the word is criticos—"the
thoughts and intents of the heart. And there
is no creature that is not manifest in His sight;
but all things are naked and laid open before
the eyes of Him with whom we have to do."
The word translated "laid open" refers to a
wrestler taking his opponent by the throat and
pushing back his head until the whole neck
is exposed. It is a picture of the Word pushing
back the layers of encrustation until the Spirit
of God gets at that cancerous disease and cuts
it out.
Beloved, movies are not convicting, novels
are not convicting, newspapers are not convicting, education is not conviction, crime
reports do not convict. If we are to have a
revival, if we are to come to Calvary, to be
delivered from sin and the wrath of God, we
will need a baptism of a consciousness of sin
before God—which will come from the Word
of God, and the prayer, "Search me, 0 God,
and know my heart: try me, and know my
thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way
in me."
44
The Price of Becoming Christlike
BY THE RT. REV. THE BISHOP OF BARKING,
I
tory. Indeed, his death is hardly referred to
in the Acts; it is just mentioned almost by
chance in the story of Peter's deliverance from
prison (Acts 12:2). His brother John lived
for a ve ry long time , ye ars and ye ars of
weary, lonely exile, shut away from God's
people, alone in the Isle of Patmos. Yes,
James and John were taken at their word;
and they drank of the cup of sacrifice.
Do you really want to be Christlike? You
can be, if you want to. If you want t o be
Christlike, you must first of all undergo examination to see where and why you are not so
a t p re se nt. You ma y be qu i te s i nce re l y
unconscious of anything wrong in your life,
and as far as you know there is nothing in the
way of disobedience to God's will in your life;
yet there must be some reason for your not
being as good as you ought to be, some sin
must lie somewhere—of omission, if not of
commission. Will you ask God to show you
what it is? Honest search will soon have
results. The poet, Robbie Burns, expressed
the desire that we might see ourselves as
others see us. What a shock if we did What
a shock if we really knew what other people
are thinking about us just now; for remember
what you are thinking about others! How
often have you said, "He is such a nice person,
bu t . . ."! "She i s suc h a we ll -me a ni ng
woma n, bu t . . . I wi s h . . ." I f y ou sa y
that, even of the nicest people, what on earth
do they say about you? And what on earth
are they saying of the speaker!
A practical method of self-examination may
be found just here. Whenever you are conscious of failure or wrong in somebody else's
life, ask yourself: "Am I by any chance failing
in just that same way?" Because one of the
strange lessons which I have learned in life
is, that we are in reality often guilty of the
very faults of which we complain in others.
It is s trange , but true ; ye t we are quite
unconscious of it, and it is just here that
failure is so common—unconsciousness of sin
in ourselves. But in law, ignorance is not
regarded as an excuse for crime; and what
is true of the law of this land is true of the
law of God. It is very significant that in the
Book of Leviticus we read of the trespass
offering which had to be offered for sin corn-
WONDER why you have come to Keswick?
Is it in order to have a good time, to get
away for a while from the environment of the
world, to have a kind of holiday of inspiration
in the company of God's people; to receive
spiritual uplift? If that is the reason for your
coming to Keswick, your desire can be very
easily fulfilled. You can have your good time,
but in so doing may miss the experience that
God has planned for you; for what you need
is not a spiritual holiday, but a penetrating
examination and diagnosis of what is wrong
with you; not a rest cure, but an operation,
and a very painful operation, too. Let me
explain what I mean.
No one of us is as good as he or she ought
to be, or can be. You are not, and I most
certainly am not; but I heard a preacher say
some months ago, "You can be as good as you
want to be." Do you think he was right, or
was he going too far? I think that in very
large measure he was quite right; you can be
as good as you want to be.
So the question is, How much do you want?
How great a price are you willing to pay?
You say you want to be Christlike in character, pure and clean, humble and helpful,
thoughtful and kind. You can be, if you are
willing to pay the price! You remember the
story of how one day the mother of James and
John came to Jesus with that strange request,
though perhaps natural for a mother—"Grant
that these my two sons may sit, the one on
Thy right hand, and the other on the left, in
Th y k i n g d o m " ( Ma tt. 2 0 :2 0 -23 ) . Je sus
answered, "Ye know not what ye ask." Somebody here to-night is saying, "I want to be
Christlike. 0 God, make me Christlike." I
would reverently take the words of Jesus on my
lips and reply to you, "Ye know not what ye
ask." But Jesus went on to say, "Are ye able to
drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and be
baptized with the baptism that I am baptized
w i th? " A nd the y s ay u n to Hi m , "We are
able"; and Jesus took those two men at their
word.
It was not very many months later that the
executioner swung his sword and struck off
the head of James; and James, so far from
being at the right hand of the King, dis appears from the Bible story, and from his-
45
mitted in ignor an ce—" If a soul sin . . .
though he wist it not, yet is he guilty" (Lev.
5: 17).
This morning at the prayer meeting in the
small tent a request was sent forward that
we might pray for a servant of God who had
been used of God, but in whose life there
was a sin which was causing many to
stumble. I imagine that man is quite
unconscious of that sin. As that request
was read out to us, I found myself
wondering who he was; and then there
came to me a horrible thought, "It might be
me." If we really want to know what is
wrong with us, God will show us. "Search
me, 0 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." That was the daily prayer of
Bishop Taylor Smith, and we need not look
any further for the secret of his Christlike
character.
Are you willing to pray that prayer? It
may have terrible results for you; before I go
on to speak I would like to have a moment's
silence. Shall we bow our heads in silence,
asking ourselves whether we are willing to
pray this prayer to God to search us.
(After a short silence, the congregation
repeated the words of Psalm 139:23, 24.)
Well, we have prayed the prayer. May I
help you to start the examination? You never
realized before, did you, that you are selfcomplacent and self-satisfied? that you
have a personality that is most irritating to
other people?
that
you
give
the
impression of being sarcastic and cynical?
that you are often irritable? that you rub
people up the wrong way? that you resent
criticism, and even now resentment is
rising in your heart because I am talking
like this? Did you realize that your
motives for serving God are insincere? that
often in your prayers for God's blessing
upon your work you are really seeking the
praise of men for yourself? that you are a
moral coward? Do you realize how
selfish and thoughtless you are? You do
not mean to hurt other people, but it is
done through downright thoughtlessness—I
suppose more pain is caused to people's
feelings by thoughtlessness than anything
else. You are critical of other people, and
censorious; and you give the impression of
being superior. You are constantly missing
opportunities both of kindness and of
witness, because you have not time to
recognize them; you are out of touch with
God, you do not hear His "still small
voice." You are continually failing to hear
God's voice speaking to you because your
mind is so taken up with other things.
These are the things that spoil many a
Christian life—and there are scores and
scores of others. Do you really want to be
delivered from them? If so, you can be at a
price.
46
It is necessary to probe deeper still. We
must get to the root of the trouble. What is
that? It is self. It has been said that "man's
worst enemy is himself." Our Lord said, "If
any man will come after me, let him deny
himself, and take up his cross, and follow me"
(Math 16:24). "Let him deny himself." Let
him say "no" to self, renounce self, or as it is
better translated, let him cross himself out.
"Let him take up his cross," his own cross.
Each one of us must be crucified, even as St.
Paul, who said, "I am crucified with
Christ." We all know how the symbol of
the Cross is the letter "I" crossed out. It is
not enough for the "I" to be broken; it has
to be crucified. It is not enough for the
proud, stiff neck to be bent or broken. That
"I," which always tries to assert itself
must be crucified. You have got to die,
before the love of Christ can raise you to
life again.
"Let him deny himself, and take up his
cross, and follow me"—Follow Christ. Christ
treads the uphill road of sacrifice, steadfastly
setting His face toward Calvary. The
secret of Christ's perfect life was His perfect
obedience to His Father's will. He had no
will of His own; His will was to do the
Father's will. But do not for one moment
imagine that it was easy for Jesus to do His
Father's will. Think of Gethsemane; see Him
there prostrate on the ground; listen to those
words wrung from His heart, "0 my Father, if
it be possible let this cup pass from me;
nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt.
... Father, if this cup may not pass away
from me except I drink it, Thy will be done."
And His sweat was as it were great drops of
blood. Do you still think you are able and
willing to drink the cup? Do you still say
you want to be Christlike? Being Christlike
means going with Jesus to Gethsemane. I
imagine that Keswick is going to be a
Gethsemane for some of you here. Being
Christlike means following Jesus to
Calvary. I imagine that Keswick is going to
be a place of crucifixion for somebody
here; a place where the death-knell to
many a cherished plan will be sounded;
the place where you will die to self and to
selfish ambition.
My dear friend, this message is for you.
How many of you are thinking, "I am so
glad the speaker is talking like this; it is just
the message my friend needs!"? It may be
he or she does: but it is the message that
you need. And may I humbly say that I
would not dare to deliver it unless God
had first spoken it to me. This message I
am trying to convey is for you, whether this
is your first visit to Keswick or your
fiftieth! Indeed, I am not sure whether
those of us who have been to Keswick often
do not need it more than the newcorners. I shall not be misunderstood if I
go on to say that I am not
sure whether those of us who speak from this
platform do not need it most of all.
The plain matter of fact is this, that the
world is in its present fearful condition
because of the failure of the Church. For
that failure of the Church, Evangelicals must
take a heavy share of the blame. Do you
know the easiest way to get a response from
the Keswick congregation or any other
Evangelical audience? It is to start blaming
the Church for failure, and then to explain
that you are referring to the modernism and
ritualism of many churches. It is amazing
the "Amens" and "Hear, hears" that come up
from the crowd, and the wave of nodding
heads Yes, we agree that the Church has
failed, but we blame others. I want to say
most solemnly that Evangelical "Keswick"
people must take a heavy share of the blame
for the failure of the Church to-day. We
believe that in Evangelicalism we have the
purest interpretation of the Christian revelation; but we are not influencing the
Church or convincing the world, because we
are not demonstrating its truth in our lives.
We talk in this Convention about victory
over sin, but do we all really experience it
continually? Do you? We speak of Christ
living within us. but can He be seen?
That is the point, that is what really
matters; can Christ be seen in your life?
Can He? What do the people of Keswick
think about us Convention people? What does
your landlady think of your house-party?
These are not meant to be amusing
questions. I am desperately serious. The
Church is failing, and the world is in the
condition it is, because of you and me and our
fellow-Christians. In actual fact, Evangelicals
have
a
reputation,
not
for
Christlikeness
of
character,
but
for
Pharisaism.
Jesus spoke this parable to those who
thought they were righteous. "Two men went
up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee,
and the other a publican. The Pharisee stood
and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank
Thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this
publican. I fast twice in the week; I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the publican,
standing afar off, would not lift up so much
as his eyes to heaven, but smote upon his
breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner." And then Jesus said these absolutely
shattering words, "I tell you, this man (the
out-and-out rotter) went down to his house
justified rather than the other."
I wonder whether, as God looks down upon
the people of this land, He would not declare
many whom we regard as outsiders, justified
more than we? We can so easily be Pharisaical, and in modern language say, "I do not do
this and that, I have come out from the world,
I do not touch the unclean thing, I have
responded to the call of God and consecrated
m y l if e t o H im , I a m a S und a y - scho o l
teacher, a Bible class leader, or a minister, or
a missionary. Thank God I am not as other
men are, like these other foolish people living
for the things of the world." Is that how we
talk? God have mercy upon us if we do.
These things of which we boast—what we
do or do not do—are not the things that really
matter; the thing that really matters is
whether Christ or self is the centre of my life.
Listen to the words of the prophet Micah,
"What doth the Lord require of thee, but to do
justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly
with thy God" (Micah 6: 8). I wonder what
our Lord Jesus would say to us if He literally
came here and stood in our midst this evening? I recall how He gathered the disciples
together just before His death, and among the
many things He said to them around the Passover Table was this: "One of you shall betray
me." You can picture the tenseness of the
scene as the disciples looked at each other,
and one after another said to Jesus, "Lord,
is it I?" And Judas Iscariot said, 'Master, is it
I?" And Jesus said, "He it is to whom I shall
give a sop when I have dipped it." Just
imagine that scene as He stretched out His
hand, took that bit of unleavened bread and
dipped it in the dish, and then passed it to
Judas.
If Jesus were here to-night, I think He would
say. "One of you has betrayed me." To which
of us would Jesus give the sop to-night? To
you? He passes from one to another, His
hand is stretched out to give the sop. To
you? No! for as I prepared this address I
knew that it was to me that the sop must be
given.
But may I humbly suggest that, unless you,
too, know in the depths of your heart that the
hand of Jesus is stretched out with the sop
to you, this Convention will not mean to you
what God intends.
47
The Conditions of Blessing
BY FRED MITCHELL
HARLES Haddon Spurgeon, in his great
book on the Psalms, analyses Psalm 24
C
in this simple fashion: In verses 1-2, the Psalmist
I have a doctor friend who is something of a
theologian and a preacher, and he was telling
me not long ago that he believed there was no
place in the Bible, or in the true Christian life,
for any concern of the believer with himself. I
do not like to enter the realm of controversy,
but that I must controvert. That, it seems to
me, is a pious if unconscious form of higher
criticism which cuts out chapters 4-6 of
Ephesians, and Romans 12-16. But we are
gathered here to-night to be honest with God
as we face the days of convention.
It is generally conceded that this Psalm was
composed when the Ark was brought from the
House of Obed-edom into Zion. The visible
sign of God's presence coming to Zion called
for rejoicing, but it also called forth the question as to who is fitted to see it or to worship
where it rests. And that presently applied to
us means that we are to ask ourselves whether
we are fitted to see the glory of the Lord
appearing among us in this Convention, or are
ready for the Lord to break forth among us in
true revival, or whether we individually are
waiting for the Lord from heaven. It is so easy
to believe in the Lord's return and yet to be
walking in sin and unprepared for Him; or to
be confessing everywhere that the only
remedy for the Church is a revival of pure
Christianity, and yet to be cherishing in our
hearts something which is utterly inconsistent
with the very thought of revival. So in Psalm
24 the same question was raised when the Ark
came to Zion as appears to us to-night: "Who
shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who
shall stand in His holy place?"
glorifies the true God in His universal
dominion; in verses 3-6 he describes the true
Israel who are able to commune with Him;
verses 7-10 picture the ascent of the true
Redeemer, who has opened the gates of heaven
to all believers. The first section, therefore,
glorifies the true God; and the third section
pictures the ascent of the true Redeemer.
These are what theologians call objective
truths—truths that take our thoughts away
from ourselves, lifting them up to the true God
in His sovereignty, or to the true Redeemer
in His ascension. Objective truth is very
necessary and may be very pleasant; but
wedged between these two statements are the
solemn verses which describe the true Israel.
There is, in some quarters, an attempt to
escape from the claims of real holiness by
pressing for an almost exclusive preaching of
objective truth. I would be the last to say
that we should always be conducting postmortems on our spiritual life; but if this pressure for objective truth, truth about God outside ourselves, means that we are never to
examine ourselves reverently and thoroughly,
never sincerely to test our conduct and motive,
we can only reply to such brethren that their
position is unscriptural. If it were true, then
Romans would end at the close of chapter 11,
and under his present scheme Dr. Scroggie
would give three instead of four Bible Readings; or the Epistle to the Ephesians would end
at the close of chapter 3. But the Bible calls
believers to the most thorough-going searching
of themselves in God's presence.
It is very easy to forget the second part of
the Psalm in dwelling on the first and third.
My soul delights in the great doctrines of God —
"The earth is the Lord's, and the fullness
thereof"; your soul finds great delight in considering the ascended Christ: but between the
two there are solemn questions concerning the
true Israel. Not all Israel is true Israel, not
all professing Christians are true Christians;
"not every one that saith unto me Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in
heaven."
This is a question which always arises when
God draws near and visits His people. Life is
subjected to the most searching tests. It is a
costly thing to seek God's face. "God hath
spoken in His holiness," as we were reminded
yesterday afternoon; and when He speaks, He
still speaks in His holiness. That is why a
holiness convention can be a very painful
thing, just because God's presence is a holy
presence; indeed, we might consider a convention that is altogether pleasant an unsatisfactory convention. So some may easily regret
coming to Keswick, though I would like to add
that when the Lord wounds it is that He may
48
returned, it is not a matter for prayer, but of
returning the tool or book; and if a letter of
apology needs to be written, the only way to
cleanse the hands is to write the letter.
Charles Haddon Spurgeon says of this
Psalm: "What monarch would have servants
with filthy hands at his table?" and yet, alas,
the word of the Lord is coming home to us,
perhaps all of us, that our hands are stained
somehow with some sin. "Who shall ascend
into the hill of the Lord? . . . He that hath
clean hands."
Somehow or other, almost every time I
come to Keswick someone sends me a letter
which brings me to my knees. Here is one
that came on Saturday, written by a doctor
past middle life, a serious-minded man, a true
Christian who has travelled the world widely
and knows Evangelicals in almost every continent. This is how he writes: "Keswick and
similar conventions are part of the holiness
movement, but the results in the lives of those
who advocate them do not seem to me to be
ho liness at all, but a kind of spiritual
superiority complex; a deadness to all sense
of moral responsibility, amounting at times to
unscrupulousness. It is not as if one found
such traits rarely, but they are exceedingly
common, almost usual in fact."
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
or who shall stand in His holy place?" Are
they those who can repeat all the Articles and
Creeds of our Evangelical and Protestant faith,
who stand by the whole Bible from Genesis
to Revelation, who treasure the truth of the
inspiration of Scripture, the incarnation of the
Son of God, His atonement, bodily resurrection, and coming again? No, the answer of
the Bible is that, but plus this: he must have
clean hands. I wonder whether our hands
are clean to-night?
(ii) A Pure Heart. Holiness goes deeper
than outward conduct. The theologians used
to speak of true Christianity being heartwork; it touches
heal, and the deeper the wound the more perfect the healing.
One of our leading Evangelical preachers,
whom I must not name, but known to you all,
was telling me the other day that he is almost
coming to dread his annual holidays, for every
August the Lord draws near to him and deals
drastically with him; but the effectiveness of
his ministry is continually growing. This
principle is confirmed in the history of every
revival, that when the Lord is about to make
bare His holy arm in the sight of the nation,
He first reveals to His people the exceeding
sinfulness of sin in the believer's heart.
Choruses for revival should be sung softly, and
those who pray for revival should pray
gently; for who may abide the day of His coming, and who shall stand when He appears?
"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
or who shall stand in His holy place?"
But the question raised is answered: "He
that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who
bath not lifted his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing." In
short, the man or woman who is to receive a
blessing at this convention, or anywhere, is
the man or woman with clean hands, and a
pure heart, and utter sincerity. Not three
groups, but one kind of Christian to whom
three tests have been satisfactorily applied.
(i) Clean Hands. That is the Bible way of
speaking of righteous conduct, for our hands
represent what we do and what we hold. For
those with clean hands, the work is faithful,
the business is honest, the pay is honourable;
clean hands handle clean books, not unclean
novels; clean hands keep exact accounts; clean
hands return borrowed things. The hand is
the symbol of work, of earning, of paying, of
getting, of giving: and this challenges everybody. Isaiah spoke of his unclean lips, and
of dwelling in the midst of a people with unclean lips; and you and I may well pray to
be delivered from unclean hands, dwelling in
the midst of a people with unclean hands.
Never was there such theft and dishonesty as
to-day, and we need to pray to be delivered
from it.
So the word of the Lord came to the Apostle
James: "Draw nigh to God, and He will draw
nigh to you; cleanse your hands, ye sinners;
and purify your hearts, ye double-minded"
(Jas. 4:8). This is something we must do for
ourselves—cleanse our hands. It is not a
thing to pray about only; if there is a debt
to be paid, then we have to cleanse our
hands by paying it. If a cheque ought to be
sent to the income tax authorities, then it is
not a matter for prayer but for cleansing
our hands by sending the cheque. If a tool
or a book has been borrowed and ought
to have been
All the regions deep within,
Thought, and wish, and senses keeping
Now and every instant clean.
Clean hands—that concerns our outward
conduct. A pure heart—that concerns our
inward motive. How God sometimes searches
us regarding our motives: how God searches
His servants on the platform, and I doubt not
many in the seats, regarding our motives in
service for God! It is possible to seek a place
on the holiness platform for the sake of selfadvancement: but that is not holiness; indeed,
it is sin, even though it concerns a holiness
platform. How petty, how utterly sinful our
schemes for self-advancement, when five
49
minutes after we die nothing we have
achieved for self will be worth anything at
all!
A pure heart. It does not much matter
whether we are in pulpit, on Keswick platform, or in any other position and ministry:
what does matter is that we walk before God
with a pure heart and clean hands. It means
that we have no controversy with God; that
we give a hearty response to His word and
command; that we walk in the light, as He is
in the light; that we are set to obey Him, at
whatever cost. The pure heart is not consciously adulterated with selfish intentions, it
is not desirous of sinning. It is not that the
man with a pure heart never sins, but he never
wants to sin, he loathes sin, he condemns sin,
he shrinks from sin "He that bath clean
hands and a pure heart," he who is marked
by utter sincerity before God, who has not
lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn
deceitfully, and is utterly transparent before
God, he shall receive the blessing.
It is a costly business. Bishop Taylor Smith
said that it costs much to pray every day,
"Search me, 0 God," but it costs more not
to pray it. Matthew Henry said, "They are
such as deal honestly with God and man. In
their covenant with God, and their contracts
with men, they have not sworn deceitfully, nor
broken their promises, violated their engagements, nor taken any false oath. Those that
have no regard to the obligations of truth or
the honour of. God's Name are unfit for a place
in God's holy hill."
"Who hath not lifted up his soul to vanity,
nor sworn deceitfully." Is there a minister
here Who will call back to mind his ordination.
vows, and who now holds with mental reservations the things he then promised? Is there
anyone here in God's presence who owes a
debt which he promised to pay, yet has never
made an honest attempt to pay? He has sworn
deceitfully.
Since
coming
to
the
Convention I have met a friend who told me
that he was reminded by his secretary recently
that he had twenty-eight outstanding credits,
mostly with
Christian men who had borrowed from him;
only two of the twenty-eight were attempting
at all to repay the loan, and one of the two
was a non-Christian. I wonder whether this
doctor who wrote me is really right after all,
that so much of our pretended holiness is a
kind of spiritual superiority complex, and we
look down on others who do not believe as
we do, but fail to look on our own behaviour
because of a deadness to all sense of moral
responsibility amounting at times to unscrupulousness; and, he says, it is exceedingly
common, almost usual.
Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
or who shall stand in his holy place? Who
is fit to see a great revival, here in Keswick
this week? The answer of the Bible is, "He
that hath clean hands and a pure heart,"
and to such God makes this promise: he
shall receive the blessing—and nobody else.
These are the first steps in a Convention;
we cannot profitably proceed until we are
assured that our hands are clean and our
heart is pure. I want to say to you in
love, that if God has been speaking to you in
this solemn meeting to-night, or in the earlier
meetings of the day, and you are aware of
unclean hands and an impure heart, it is not
likely that God will have any further word
during this week until the hands have been
cleansed and the heart made pure. It may
be that the swearing deceitfully must be put
right, some attempt made to pay the debts,
the letter must be written. "Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall
stand in His holy place?" Only those who
have clean hands and a pure heart; who
have not lifted the soul unto vanity, nor
sworn deceitfully: such shall receive a
blessing—and nobody else.
It may be my dirty hands or your impure
motives, or our unpaid debts or undischarged
responsibility, which is the hindrance in the
blessing and is sealing up the windows of
heaven while God is waiting to pour showers
on this thirsty and desperate world.
50
TUESDAY, JULY 15th
10 a.m.—BIBLE READING
S AL V ATION AND B EHAVIOUR
(ii)
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE
TH E H E AR T' S UN S A TIS FI ED C R Y
REV. W. W. MARTIN, M.A.
TH E G O D O F D I F F I C U L T P E O P L E
MR. FRED MITCHELL
TH E WOR D O F GOD AN D THE L I F E O F HOL IN ES S
(iii) THE SANCTIFYING POWER OF THE WORD
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH
TH E PR IC E OF HOL IN ES S
REV. ALAN REDPATH
P E R F E C T L O V E C A S TS O U T F E A R
REV. GEORGE B. DUNCAN, M. A.
51
Barriers Broken Down
the opportunity to hear what God the
Lord had to say.
Mr. Fred Mitchell most appositely
followed this address with a message of
challenge and hope for middle-aged and
elderly Christians. No matter how stubborn
the barrier to blessing might be, he made
clear that it could be broken down.
Another stirring address was given by Dr.
Wilbur Smith, in the afternoon, on the
sanctifying power of the Word of God. In
a masterly examination of Scriptural
teaching on sanctification, he showed the
meaning, need, and means of it—and
again he led us back to the Book, and to
the Christ it reveals.
In the evening, not only was the tent completely full, but hundreds sat or stood
outside, and there was a further overflow
gathering in the small tent, where the
meeting was relayed, It was a sunny, quiet
eventide; and the aspiration of all was
appropriately expressed in the Scottish
paraphrase, "I to the hills." Then the Rev.
H. W. Cragg, a speaker at the Convention on
several recent occasions, who was visiting,
with a party from his church in Carlisle, led
in prayer. The Rev. Alan Redpath spoke
first, on Matthew 5: 29, 30, which show, he
said, the difference between our self and
our body; and also their vital connection.
Through our body, the world makes its
impression upon us; and we upon the
world. Through it, Satan attacks us; and
through it Christ is revealed. Within it is
the conflict between the two natures, old
and new. A holy life is impossible without
a holy body. The one way of becoming holy
is by denying the old nature and
mortifying the deeds of the body.
Three verses of the hymn—
A MORE promising dawn, on Tuesday,
developed into an ideal day for the
Convention—dry, with the sun breaking
through by mid-day. Both prayer meetings
had very large attendances; and Dr. Scroggie
faced at least 3,000 people when he arose to
give his second Bible Reading. Coming to the
second part of his subject, "Salvation and
B eh aviour" (Rom. 1 -8 an d 12 -16), he
described the Christian life as set forth in
chapters 6-8. He did so under the first of two
headings—sanctification; intimating that he
would
go
on
to
c o ns i d e r
g l o r i f i c a t i o n to-morrow.
As would be expected, Dr. Scroggie gave a
clear and practical presentation of the
Epistle's teaching on the great matter of sanctification, showing the principle, the practice,
and the preventive of holiness. He spoke
vigorously; and his exposition was spiced with
many humorous asides.
At 11.45 a.m. three meetings were held
simultaneously. In addition to the usual
morning gathering in the large tent, and
that for young people, in the small tent, a
ministers' meeting was held in the
Methodist Church—which was completely
filled with clergy and ministers of many
denominations, and including several from
overseas. The Bishop of Barking presided;
and Dr. Wilbur Smith gave a most
searching message. A descriptive report of
this
meeting
is
given
among the
appendices, at the end of the book.
Special mention must be made of the main
meeting at this hour, for at it the Rev. W. W.
Martin—who had entered his eighty-fourth
year two days previously, and whose
ministry at the Convention has been so
greatly blessed, over a period of fifty
years—gave his one address at this
Convention. He spoke especially to those
who had come to Keswick with an intense
longing. His was a "still, small voice" after the
thunders of the message of judgment upon
sin. From his long experience of Keswick,
Mr. Martin led on from the emphasis of
yesterday, upon hindrances to blessing, to
the breaking down of those barriers. Some
longed for blessing, not realizing that the
answer might be costly. Others yearned
for God to speak, but possibly His voice
had been drowned by earth's babel
voices. In the quiet places of Keswick lay
Lord, Thou knowest all the hunger
Of the heart that seeks Thee now
expressed the desire and response of the great
assembly; then, in the closing address,
the Rev. G. B. Duncan spoke on the tension
which some might experience, through
conviction of sin, and fear of what yielding
to the Lord might cost them. Fear is a
tyranny: the remedy for it is in the
realization of the love of God. "He that
spared not His own Son . . . shall He
not with Him also freely give us all things?"
52
Salvation and Behaviour
(2) THE CHRISTIAN LIFE—Romans 6 - 8
(iii) Sanctification
(a) The Principle of It
(b) The Practice of It
(c) The Preventive of It
6: 1-8: 17.
6: 1-11.
6: 12-7: 6.
..
..
..
7: 7-25.
N unfolding the Philosophy of Salvation
I
(chs. 1-8), the Apostle discusses four
great topics: condemnation; justification; sanctification; and glorification; topics which
embrace the whole of the Christian Gospel.
These four subjects are divided into
two and two; the first two, condemnation
and justification, constitute the Christian
message; and the second two, sanctification
and glorification, interpret the Christian
life.
The first two tell of Christ's work for
us—the need of it, and the nature of it;
and the second two tell of Christ's work in
us, in the present, and in the future.
We have considered the first two of these
subjects; and now we must contemplate the
second two, which are a wonderful
exposition of the Christian life as it should
now
be,
and
ultimately
will
be.
Sanctification tells of the present process;
and glorification, of the final issue.
III-SANCTIFICATION (6: 1-8: 17)
This statement in chs. 6-8 is the classic
on the subject of the Christian life, and
cannot be given too close attention. Parts
of it have frequently been treated at this
Convention, but I am not aware that at any
time the whole of it has been considered in
its relation to the entire Epistle; yet such a
view is of the utmost importance. The first
five chapters are the foundation on which
the superstructure of chapters six to
eight rests. Not only must the Christian
message be believed before the Christian life
can be lived, but the Christian life is the
proof that the Christian message has
been believed. There cannot be fruit
where there is no root, but the proof of
the root is the fruit.
Our justification is in the crucified
Saviour; and our sanctification is in the
risen Lord. By the separation of these two
subjects in the Church's thinking and
teaching, the loss in Christian experience
has been incalculable. Justification by
53
faith in Christ is only the beginning of God's
purpose for us, and the continuance of that
purpose is a life lived according to a revealed
pattern. What that pattern is, appears in
chapters 6-8 of this Epistle.
There are over 650 references to holiness in
the Bible, and while the word is not easy to
define, its meaning is not obscure. Sanctification
is not sanctimoniousness, but it is sanctity,
which is holiness of life; and what is meant by
holiness of life these three chapters reveal. Let
us, first of all, glance at them as a whole. The
three chapters may be divided into two
parts. Part 1 is Mystical (6: 1-7: 6), and Part
2 is Experimental (7: 78: 17). The Mystical part
treats of profound spiritual truths which can
be
apprehended
only
by
faith.
The
Experimental part is autobiographical, and
therein the Apostle tells us what his own
experience has been.
In what is a very comprehensive statement,
four things are impressed upon our attention.
In the first place, the principle of holiness is
stated, which consists in the individual's identification with Christ in His death and resurrection (6:1-11). This leads to a consideratio n
o f th e pra ct ice of h o lin e ss, wh ich is realized
in the believer's abandonment to his new
relations in Christ (6: 12-7:6). But such a
life will not go unchallenged; and so the
preventive of holiness is set forth, which is
seen to be the activity within of sin and of self
(7:7-7:25). And finally, the power of holiness
is shown to be the unhindered dominion over us
of the Holy Spirit (8: 1-17). Here nothing is
omitted which would help us better to
understand and more fully to realize what Christ
meant when He said: "I am come that ye might
have life (chs. 1-5), and that ye might have it
abundantly" (6: 1-8: 17).
1. The Princ iple of Ho lines s (6 :1 -11 ).
Th e k e y t o t h i s p r o f o u n d p o r t i o n o f
"Romans" is found in two words in v. 4, "newness of life." The word for life (zoe) does
not refer to its manner, but to its principle;
and the word "newness" "expresses not so
much youth as "novelty," and it will be seen
that the Apostle is speaking of life that is
quite new.
To know what this life is, will reveal to us
the innermost meaning of sanctification.
The Apostle is not now dealing with justification and the removal of guilt, which has
been discussed in chs. 1-5, and is assumed;
but he is dealing with that for which we were
justified, a life rooted in a principle which, if
apprehended and believed, is productive of
holiness.
What, then, is this principle? It is the
Christian's recognition of his identification
with Christ in His death and resurrection.
Paul, along with all believers of his day, had
been baptized, and he makes this symbolic
witness the basis of his argument. He says,
in effect:
Surely you must recognize that your baptism
symbolized your identif ication with Christ
in th r e e r e s p e c ts : wi th H is d e ath , H is
burial, and His resurrection. When you
went down into the water, you admitted
d e a th ; wh e n yo u we n t u n d er i t, yo u
admitted burial; and when you emerged
from it, you admitted resurrection.
"Baptism," says Bishop Headlam, "ex presses symbolically a series of acts
corresponding to the redeeming acts of
Christ.
Immersion
symbolizes
death;
submersion
symbolizes
burial;
and
emergence symbolizes resurrection."
This symbolic practice is not a matter of
denominational controversy, but of historical
fact, and Paul would bring home to us all the
significance of the fact.
Do you not know that all of us who have
been baptized into Christ Jesus were bapt i z e d in to H is d e a th ? W e we r e b u r ie d
therefore with Him by baptism into death, so
that as Christ was raised from the dead by
the glory of the Father, we too might walk
in newness of life (vv. 3, 4).
This identification with Christ is the profoundest truth in the New Testament, and is
both an exposure of all false theories of holiness, and a challenge to the common experience of Christian people. We who in Adam
were "dead in sin," are now in Christ "dead
to sin."
What is here declared is a fact for faith,
and not an emotion for experience, and it is
squarely based on the immediately preceding
passage concerning the federal headships of
Adam and Christ (5: 12-21). Our state by
nature is one of sin under the headship of
Adam, and our state by grace is one of death
to sin under the headship of Christ. The
word "such as we" (hotines) at the beginning of verse two makes it plain that the
Apostle is referring to Christians only, and to
all Christians, and he says that "such as we
54
died to sin." This note dominates the passage
and must be clearly understood.
And now a bit of grammar. In the Greek
New Testament there is a tense which is
peculiar to the language, and which has a
most important significance wherever it
occurs. It is the aorist tense, which denotes a
single and completed past act, and thus it
differs from the imperfect and perfect tenses.
This tense occurs eleven times in these eleven
verses, with reference to our identification
with Christ in death, burial, and resurrection,
Mark what the passage says:
V. 2 "We died to sin."
V . 3 "We were baptized into His death'
(twice).
V . 4 "We were buried with Him into
death."
V. 4. "We were raised up from the dead.'
V. 6
"Our old self was crucified with
Him "
V. 7
"He who died," i.e., Christ.
V. 8
"We died with Christ."
V. 9
"Christ raised from the dead."
V. 10 "He died" (twice), i.e., Christ.
These references mean that as definitely
as Christ by an act died, and by an act was
raised from the dead, so in His death and
resurrection every believer died to sin and
rose to "newness of life." Our "old self was
crucified" when Christ was crucified. All we
were and are from Adam, God has rejected,
and judicially, not experimentally, it was put
an end to, The crucifixion of self is not something that we can accomplish, for it was
accomplished on Calvary. In chs. 1-5 we are
shown that Christ died for us, and in ch. 6
we are told that we died with Him.
Christ died both for sin, and unto it. We
could not die for it, but in Christ's death we
did die unto it. Then and there He made His
own relation to sin the believer's relation to it,
so that we are to "reckon ourselves dead to
sin, and living to God." In consequence, Paul
asks how we can continue to live in that to
which we died (v. 2). The reference is not to
the committal of separate acts of sin, but to
the habit of sinning, "Whosoever is born of
God does not practise—continue in a course of—
sin; he is not able to practise sin, because he is
born of God" (1 John 3: 6, 9).
Well did Tersteegen write:
Dead and crucified with Thee,
passed beyond my doom;
Sin and law for ever silenced in the tomb.
Passed beyond the mighty curse, dead,
from sin set free;
Not for Thee earth's joy and music,
not for me.
Dead, the sinner past and gone,
not the sin alone,
Liv ing, where Thou art in glory on the
Throne.
We have given detailed attention to this
principle of holiness because of its tremen-
dous importance for an understanding of the
innermost significance of being a Christian.
But just because this truth is not merely a
theological and mystical theory, but something living, and energetic, Paul passes on to
the consideration of2. The Practice of Holiness (6: 12-7: 6).
On the part of the Christian this consists in
the recognition of, and abandonment to, the
new relations consequent upon our identification with Christ in His death and resurrection; and three aspects of these relations are
given:
King and subject (6: 12-14); master and servant (6: 15-23); and husband and wife (7: 1-6).
First, then, is the illustration of king and
subject (6: 12-14). In order better to understand this paragraph, I will read to you the
paraphrase of Sanday and Headlum.
I exhort you therefore not to let sin exercise
its tyranny over this frail body of yours by
giving way to its evil passions. Do not, as
you are wont, place hand, eye, and tongue, as
weapons stained with unrighteousness, at the
service of sin; but dedicate yourselves once
for all, like men who have left the ranks
of the dead, and breathe a new spiritual
life, to God; let hand, eye, and tongue be
weapons of righteous temper for Him to wield.
You may rest assured that in so doing sin
will have no claim or power over you, for
you have lef t the regime of law for that of
grace.
Clearly the metaphor here used is that of a
king and a subject. The paragraph begins
with the word "reign," and ends with the
word "dominion." Sin "is conceived of as a
ruler employing the members of man as
weapons of warfare, wherewith to contend
against the government of God, and to establish unrighteousness" (H. A. W. Meyer).
In the New Testament there is a doctrine
of the body, and in this letter to Rome Paul
has not a little to say about it. In 1:24 he
speaks of men dishonouring their bodies by
giving them over to sin. In 6: 6 he speaks of
"the body of sin," by which he means that
sin has its seat and stronghold in the body.
In 6: 12 he refers to the mortality of the body,
and warns against sin being allowed to reign
in it; which implies, of course, that sin is still
in it in the Christian. In 7:24 he calls it
"this body of death," because it is "that part
of the regenerate man which yet has to die;
and the Apostle longs to be free from it as
such" (Moule). In 8:10, he again refers to
this, and says that as the body is doomed to
death it is "as good as dead." In 8: 11 he
declares that the body will be immortalized.
55
In 8:13 we are called upon continuously to
"put to death the doings of the body." In
8:23 we are told that the body one day will
be redeemed. "The redemption-price is paid
already; the redemption-liberation is to come"
(Moule). But we are, meanwhile, invited to
dedicate our bodies as a living sacrifice to
God (12: 1).
Our bodies are our means of expression,
and our media of communication with that
which is outside of ourselves. If I had not
my body I could not be talking to you now,
and without yours, you could not be listening
to me. The body is the nexus between within
and without, and can be the agent of either
good or evil.
Have we realized how tremendous a part
our bodies must play in our living, or failing
to live, a true Christian life? By our members we serve either sin or righteousness. If
we present the members of our body as
weapons of righteousness to God, our lips will
speak His message, our hands will do His
work, our feet will run His errands, and all
our activities will show forth His glory. We
are not "to keep on yielding our members to
sin," but are, by an act (aorist) to "yield ourselves to God"; and our great encouragement
is in the fact that not the law, but divine grace
is the power under which we are placed (14).
Secondly, there is the illustration of master
and servant (6:15-23). Because in 5:20 Paul
had said, "where sin abounded grace did
much more abound," the question arose (6:1):
"What then? Shall we continue in sin that
grace may abound?" That quest ion is
answered in 6:1-1.1. But arising out of that
answer is another question; "What then?
Shill we sin because we are not under law, but
under grace?" (vv. 14, 15); and the Apostle
pro seeds now to answer this question in his
second illustration of the believer's relation to
the Risen Lord—the illustration of master
and servant.
This is an intensely interesting paragraph,
and here is the fullest exposition of the subject of which it treats. In the Greek of the
New Testament there are six words which
are translated servant, and the one used in
this passage, doiclos„ is the lowest in the scale
of servitude, and should be translated slave,
or bondslave. The word is of interest here,
for two reasons among others: firstly, because
Paul is writing to a city which was full of
slaves, and in which the very word stirred a
sense of horror; and we may gather from the
last chapter of this Epistle that some of the
members of the church at Rome were slaves;
and secondly, because in the New Testament
this word is used upwards of thirty times of
God's people, and Paul frequently speaks of
himself as a "bondslave of Jesus Christ" (1:1,
et,al.). It is this application of it to Chris-
tians that it would take the bitterness out of
the word for the Christian slaves at Rome.
Now observe how Paul uses this illustration
to indicate the relation of believers to the
risen Lord. He begins by announcing a principle, namely, that each of us is a slave to
something or someone; that each of us chooses
his own master; and that, having made our
choice, we are under obligation to be loyal to
the contract. Going to the root of the matter,
the Apostle says that there are only two possible masters, and each of us must choose
one or the other. These masters are sin and
obedience personified, and each has something
to offer us; death being the offer of sin, and
righteousness the offer of obedience. This is
what he says:
Are you not aware that to render service
and obedience to any one is to be the slave of
that person or power to which obedience is
offered? And so it is here. You are either
gen perfectly expressed this truth when he
wrote:
Oh, lightest burden, sweetest yoke;
It lifts, it bears my happy soul,
It giveth wings to this 'poor heart;
My freedom is Thy grand control.
We, therefore, are bidden to yield ourselves
to God. Sanday and Headlam have paraphrased v. 19 in this way:
Yours must be an undivided service. Devote
the members of your body as unreservedly
to the service of righteousness for
progressive consecration to God, as you
once devoted them to pagan uncleanness
ant daily increasing licence.
In concluding his illustration, Paul point
out that sin pays wages, and that God pay;
no wages, but bestows a "gift."
The wages (rations) of sin is death, but the
free-gif t of God is eternal lif e in Christ
Jesus our Lord (v. 23).
The Christian life begins with a choice,
continues on a course, and has a glorious
consequence.
But the Apostle has one more illustration of
the Christian's relation to the risen Lord.
The first was the relation to one another of
king and subject; the second, of master and
servant; and now, the third is that of husband
and wife (7:1-6).
This paragraph falls into two parts. In
vv. 1-3 is the illustration, and in vv. 4-6 is the
application; and in each part there are three
details, and these respectively answer to one
another. The details relate to (a) the marriage
bond; (b) the bond dissolved; and (c) the
second marriage.
The illustration states that a woman is
bound by law to her husband as long as he
lives; that when he dies "she is discharged
from the law concerning him"; and then she is
free to contract another marriage. The
application follows these three details. Yet
the passage is the subject of considerable
controversy.
It is commonly said that the Apostle's application does not follow his illustration; that in
the illustration it is the husband that dies,
whereas in the application it is the wife. A
devout and learned expositor has declared that
Paul uses his metaphor inconsistently, but, he
adds, "the change, whatever its cause, leaves it
unchanged as an illustration." A wonderful
process of thinking!
But surely the Apostle knew what he was
talking about, and had too much intelligence
and spiritual insight to bungle his metaphor. If,
as many think, he did do so, considerable
confusion must result, because the wrong
application would contradict the teaching of
chapter six.
When Paul says that a woman is bound by
slaves of sin, and the end before you death;
or you are true to your rightful Master, and
the end before you 'righteousness (v. 16).
This is as true to-day as it was when Paul
wrote nineteen hundred years ago. Each of
us has a master, bad or good; we have chosen
him; and our allegiance is due to him. If you
have chosen sin to be your master, then serve
it; but if you have chosen Christ to be your
Master, then serve Him; but the one thing
you are not allowed to do is to say that you
belong to one master and yet serve another.
Jesus said, "no man can serve two masters";
and in this passage Paul says, "while you
were slaves to sin, you were freemen in regard
to righteousness" (v. 20); the opposite is also
true, and so the Apostle continues, "but now,
as Christians, you are emanicipated from sin
and enslaved to God" (v. 22). Let us think
as clearly about this as Paul did. A spy is a
criminal who incurs death, because while
appearing to serve one nation he is in the pay
of another. But what shall be said of the
person who professes to belong to Christ, and
who yet serves sin? But is this not what
most of us are doing, and we are here at this
time to face the tragic fact, and to do something about it.
A young woman, who had been very much
in the world, got converted, and when one of
her old associates invited her to a ball, she
declined, and when asked why, she replied,
pointing to herself, "This establishment is
under entirely new management." That is as
it should be. We should be loyal to the
Master we choose, and not wear the badge of
one, and do the bidding of another.
How striking a phrase is that in v. 18,
"having been set free from sin, you have
become slaves of righteousness"! The only
real freedom is in slavery to Christ. Terstee-
56
law to her husband as long as he lives, he
does not mean that the law is her husband,
and he does not mean that the law dies; but
if this were conceivable, who or what would
the second husband be? So objectionable is
this view in every respect that we must look
for an interpretation which is congruous with
the illustration, is consistent with the teaching of the previous chapte r, and is in consonance with the spiritual facts of which the
Apostle is speaking.
Two things are perfectly clear: first, that
those represented by the woman were never
married to the Law; and, in the second place,
that the Law never dies.
Who, then, are the parties in this application?
—The wife represents our personality, our
ego, which is permanent.
—The husband represents what Paul calls
our "old man" (or self), all we are by nature
morally and spiritually, our state before conversion.
—The death of the husband is the crucifixion of our "old man" (or self) with Christ.
—By this crucifixion, our ego, that is, "we
ourselves" become dead to our unregenerate
state.
—The new marriage tells of the union upon
which the converted man enters with the
risen Lord. (I think I can hear Paul saying,
"You're quite right!")
This is simply another way of stating what
is so emphatically taught in chapter six, and
elsewhere in Paul's writings. It is not the
Law that dies, and it is not sin that dies, but
the believer in Christ's death and resurrection dies to both. Paul says:
We know that our old self was crucified with
Christ, so that . . . we might no longer be
enslaved to sin (6:6).
You have died to the law through the body
o f Ch rist, so that you may belo ng to
Another, to Him who has been raised from
the dead (7:4).
I have been crucified with Christ; it is no
longer I who live, but Christ who lives in
me (Gal. 2:20).
This is what our profession of Christ means
and involves. It is what God reckons to be
so, and we also must reckon it to be so.
The death Christ died He died to sin, once
for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.
So you also must consider yourselves dead to
sin and alive to God in Chris t Jesus (6:10,
11).
We are related to the King for warfare; to
the Master for service; and to the new Husband for fruitfulness. "Fruit" in the teaching
of Paul is not the product of Christian service,
but the ingredients of Christian character.
57
The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
gentleness, self-control (Gal. 5:22).
The "fruit for God" that we must bear is
the dedication whic h produce s practical
holiness.
Thus far we have considered the Principle
of Holiness (6: 1-11) and the Practice of Holiness (6: 12-7: 6); and now our attention is
called to:
3. The Preven tive of Holiness (7:7 -25),
This consists in the activity within of sin
and self.
Chapter 7 is the problem chapter of this
Epistle Students of it are not agreed upon
Paul's application of the illustration in vv. 4-6,
of the husband and wife; but vv. 14-25 are still
more a subject of controversy. Opinion is
sharply divided as to whether the experience
here described is that of a regenerate or of
an unregenerate person, The arguments on
both sides are full of interest and instruction,
but the present occasion does not lend itself
to a co ns i de ra tio n o f the se . Pe rso na l l y ,
a ga i ns t the ma jo ri ty o f co mme nta to rs , I
believe that in these verses Paul, as a regenerate man, is telling of an experience through
which he had passed, and through which very
many Christians have passed, or are passing.
As in this Epistle it is the intention of the
Apostle to give as comprehensive a view as is
possible of the factors which, in thought and
action, constitute Christianity, we may reasonably expect to find here, in constructive form,
truths which appear in other of his Epistles,
and these other references throw much light
on what he says here.
In 1 Corinthians there are two verses which
we ma y re g a rd as the key to vv . 7 -25 o f
Romans 7. These are 1 Cor. 2: 14 and 3: 1,
which read:
The natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness
to him; neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned.
And I, brethren, could not speak unto you
as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even
as unto babes in Christ.
That is an analysis of men which is exhaustive; and so there is no fourth class. The
three classes are: the natural man (psychikos); the carnal man (sarkikos); the spiritual
man (pneumatikos). Each of us here, and
everyone everywhere, is in one or other of
these categories, and no one is in any two of
them. We are either "natural," that is, in a
state of nature, unregenerate; or we are "carnal," that is, regenerate, but not yielded to
God—the word "carnal" i s ne ve r used to
describe an unregenerate person, but always
refers to a Christian not delivered from the
power of the flesh; or we are "spiritual," that
is, a Christian justified by God, and yielded
to Him.
Now it seems to me that in this part of the
Roman Epistle Paul brings to our notice these
three classes. In 7:7-13, quite clearly he is
speaking of himself in his unregenerate or
"natural" state; in vv. 14-25 of this same chapter he is, I believe, speaking of himself in a
regenerate, but "carnal" state; and in 8:1-17
he is explaining what is meant by the yielded
or "spiritual" state. These states answer to
the history of Israel, first in Egypt, then in the
wilderness, and finally in the land. This gives
a comprehensiveness and completeness to the
teaching on this subject which is illuminating
and challenging.
To-day let us look at the first two of these
states, the "natural" and the "carnal," and,
God willing, to-morrow we shall consider the
"spiritual" state, and also the believer's prospect of and in another world.
The subject is the preventive of holiness,
and we have said that this consists in the
activity within of sin and of self. The activity
of sin is dealt with in vv. 7-13; and of self
i n vv . 14 -25 . Look fi rs t o f a l l a t ( i ) T h e A c t i v i t y o f S i n ( 7 :7 - 1 3 ) . P a u l
had said, "You are not under law, but under
grace" (6:14), and as this might lead some to
misinterpret the nature and function of the
law from which the be liever has been
delivered, the Apostle here, in a passage
intensely personal, vindicates the law, and
condemns himself. Earlier in the Epistle he
had said that "through the law comes knowledge of sin" (3:20), and now he will prove
that; and he does so by showing the relation
of law to sin.
Two things here should be carefully noted:
first, that the passage is as definitely autobiographical as are Augustine's Confessions,
and Bunyan's Grace Abounding; clearly Paul
is speaking about himself; and secondly, that
the tenses throughout the passage relate to
the past. The Apostle sa ys: "I knew not";
"sin having taken occasion by the commandment worked-out in me every lust"; "I was
alive"; "I died"; "sin deceived me"; sixteen
such tenses occur in vv. 7-13, and they signify
that Paul is speaking of a past and not of a
present experience. He says that, so far
from the law being sin (v. 7), it was to him
the re veale r and occasion of si n. In his
unregenerate childhood days he did not know
s i n to b e s i n ; bu t l a te r, w h e n he ma de
acquaintance with the law, he realized that
what had seemed innocent was in reality evil.
As soon as he came up against the law, sin,
which, had been dormant in him, "sprang into
life," arid he says, "I died"; consciously I
became a sinner, and realized that I had no
true life in me. With the sense of guilt, the
sense of its penalty appeared.
This was true of Paul, and it is true of us.
It is when the law says to us "thou shalt not,"
that something in us rebels, and says, "I will."
You tell a child not to read a certain book, or
not to look in a certain cupboard, and immediately he will want to do both. By nature we
want our own way, not God's; and we are
made to realize this when we are confronted
with the law of God's will. The law is "holy,
and just, and good," and it shows us that we
are unholy, and unrighteous, and evil. It is
this that makes all the resolutions of the
unconverted man so hopeless; he is trying to
do and to be something which he has no power
to do or to be. I wonder if this is the case of
anyone to whom I am speaking?
It is made clear, then, that holiness is impossible in the unregenerate. But it is now to
be seen that it is also impossible where there
is—
(ii) The Activity of Self (7:14-25). Practically all students of this portion of the Epistle
are agreed that it is autobiographical, that
Paul is relating an experience which had been
or was his own; but as to the time and nature
of that experience students are in disagreement. There are two distinct views. One is
that Paul is here telling of an experience he
had before his conversion, the experience of
an unregenerate man struggling with the law.
The other view is that Paul is relating an
experience he had after his conversion and
before he entered upon the experience related
in chapter eight; or, as some think, it is the
experience of which the Apostle was then
conscious, a conflict of self with self, of which
any Christian may be sensible.
Now, two things here should be carefully
noted: first, that the tenses are all presents,
and no longer pasts; and secondly, that Paul
is here engaged in a struggle with himself.
The pronouns "I," "my," and "me" occur forty
times, but there is no reference to the Holy
Spirit. In vv. 7-13 we see Paul in Egypt; but
in vv. 14-25 we see him in the wilderness, yet
longing for the land, which in ch. 8 he reaches,
In these verses he is no longer "natural," as
he was in vv. 7-13, but he plainly says that he
is "carnal," and, as we have already said, that
word is never used of an unregenerate person.
What we get in this paragraph is not Christian
experience, but the experience of a Christian.
First of all, Paul shows his inability to keep
himself from doing that of which he dis approve s (vv. 14 -17); then he shows his
inability to do that of which he does approve
(vv. 18-20); and finally, he states the conclusion to which his experience drove him (vv.
21-25). Whatever may be one's interpreta tion of these verses so far as Paul is con cerned, it is painfully evident that they reflect
58
the experience of a multitude of truly regenerated people, many of whom deeply deplore
their failure to overcome evil, and to accomplish good.
The reason for this unhappy experience
may be said to be threefold. First, the failure
to grasp and reckon upon the truth of ch. 6,
that in Christ's death we died, and in His
resurrection we rose to "newness of life." To
many Christians that teaching is just double-dutch—that is, it is unintelligible; and yet all
such would readily assent to the fact that
"unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth
and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it
bears much fruit" (John 12: 24). A fundamental fact, alike in the realms of nature and
of grace, is that there must be death if there
is to be life. Where that truth is believed,
and continuously reckoned upon, the experience of Horn. 7: 14-25 is impossible.
In the second place, this conflict is due to
the fact that the self which is not reckoned to
be dead is ever active. Our ego, our per sonality, is under the dominion of the old
unregenerate and unregenerable self, which
Paul calls "the old man"; or it is under the
dominion of the Spirit. In our passage there
is no reference to the Spirit, and so self largely
holds the field, though it meets with the resistance of what Paul calls his "inward man,"
that is, his regenerate self, but the battle goes
sorely against him, and against all who are in
such a state.
In the third place, the breakdown of a Christian is due to the fact that the Holy Spirit Is
not in control of the whole life, within and
without. There cannot be civil conflict when
the Spirit is regnant; but where this is not so,
all our faculties are at war; mind, and conscience, and emotion, and will are at loggerheads with one another.
Is this not the experience of many of you
who have no doubt about your having been
born-again? Let it not for a moment be supposed that the experience reflected in these
verses is what God intends for His people.
The cry here is not for pardon because of guilt,
but for deliverance from bondage, and it is a
cry which will not go unheard. The law
59
which is "holy, and just, and good" is also
exacting and condemning; but by the death
and resurrection of Christ on our behalf, we
are delivered from it as an accuser and
condemner.
Free from the law, oh, happy condition!
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission!
Cursed by the law, and bruised by the Fall,
Grace hath redeemed us once for all.
Children of God! oh, glorious calling!
Surely His grace will keep us from falling;
Passing from death to life at His call,
Blessed salvation once for all.
And now to summarize. The subject of
chs. 6-8 is the Christian life in its present and
future. In this world it should be characterized by holiness, and this is the theme of
6: 1-8: 17, where four aspects of the subject
are expounded. First, the principle of holiness, which is in the believer's mystical identification with Christ in His death and resurrection. Secondly, the practice of holiness,
which involves, on the part of the believer, a
recognition of and abandonment to the new
relations emerging from his identification with
Christ, the relations of a subject to a king; of a
bondslave to a master; and of a wife to a
husband. Thirdly, the preventive of holiness,
which is found in the activity within of sin,
and of self.
That is the point we have now reached, and
two things remain for our consideration:
namely, the power of holiness, which is
revealed as in the unhindered dominion in the
believer of the Holy Spirit; and then, the
theme of the believer's glorification, which
will be the crown and consummation of our
redemption. These two matters are the subject of ch. 8, and are yet to be considered.
The truths unfolded in these three chapters
(6-8) are the profoundest and sublimest in
the New Testament, and a believing apprehension of them will bring any of us, and all of
us, into an experience of God in Christ which,
short of the final redemption, is the consummation of our salvation.
Not under law, I'm now under grace,
Sin is dethroned, and Christ takes its place.
Glory be to God.
The Heart's Unsatisfied Cry
BY THE REV. W. W. MARTIN, M.A.
Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed.— 1 Chron. 4: 10.
UCH was the yearning of Jabez; and I
S
doubt not, such is the craving of many in
this tent to-day.
( i i ) "O h tha t God wou ld spe ak " ( Job
11: 5), This is the burden on every speaker
who this week will be giving the message from
the platform. Yes, and with this great yearning you may have come to this hallowed spot,
It may be that God's voice has been drowned
by earth's Babel noise, It may be that neglect
of listening has made your hearing dull. It
may be that the rush and turmoil of life to-day
has crowded out the time which should have
been given to quiet waiting upon God. You
may not hear Him in the sound of many
voices joining in some great hymn. It may
be you will not hear it in the fiery eloquence
of some moving address. I may be you will
not hear it through some spiritual upheaval.
God has usually spoken in a "still small voice"
when you and He are alone together, when all
else has been shut out, when you have cried,
"Speak, Lord, in the stillness, while I wait on
Thee." This has been God's usual method;
and peak and lake-side, Castle Head, and ever,
Skiddaw, have witnessed this hallowed
meeting between individual souls and God all
down the years. Be sure you "shut the door"
when alone with Him. He may have to say
things which hurt and reveal, but infinite
love is behind it all.
"Oh that." It is hardly a prayer, and certainly it is not formal; but seems almost
involuntarily to escape the lips. It is an
expression of a great unsatisfied heart-longing.
It is almost an inarticulate cry for help, or of
despair; a cry of spiritual pain.
As you utter this cry, do you realize that if
satisfaction is to be experienced, it may cost
much? We read of Jacob, "He (God) blessed
him there," but at what a cost!—a whole
night of wrestling, first of th e angel with
Jacob, and of Jacob with the angel.
The blessing you may experience here may
be one of two kinds—a passing one which is
inspired by the "spiritual atmosphere" generated by hundreds of God's children gathered
together in this place, and will gradually be
dissipated when you go back to the normal
routine of daily life; or, as in the case of
Jabez, a definite, concrete dealing with God
for problems in your life which have hindered
you from the satisfaction which is the heritage
of all God's children.
Keswick has been the place where for many
years Christians have come with that great
"Oh that," and have found that "God satisfieth the longing soul,"
Beware of being content with some general
uplift.
The re are quite a numbe r of the se "Oh
that" aspirations recorded in God's Word,
recording differing causes for the heart's
unsatisfied cry. Shall we look at some of
these?
( 1 ) "O h th a t I k n e w wh e r e I m ig h t f in d
Him" (Job 23:3). This may be the inarticu late cry of someone here. You have come to
this place longing for pardon and peace. You
may have sought for it in mission service, in
enquiry room, or along the intellectual path,
or even the road of religious ceremonial, and
you are almost despairing in your endeavour.
May I suggest that there is no need for toil
and travail? Here and now, if you will but
abandon all effort and make surrender to the
Lord Jesus Christ, opening the heart's door to
His gracious incoming as Saviour and Lord,
you and He will meet in a wondrous union.
( i i i) "Oh that I were as in months past"
(Job 29: 2). Do you remember those early
days of your Christian life—the thrill of knowing sins forgiven, union with Christ? Oh, how
you loved your Sundays and worship with the
Lord's people; how the wonder of God's love
in Christ made your heart glow! Now, so
much has changed; your love is cold, your
enthusiasm is waning, your witness is negligible. You are lukewarm, neit her hot nor
cold, and you are longing for those early days
to be recalled. It may be that during these
days God will reveal the cause of your sad
declension; perhaps some habit, some neglect
of prayer, some sin will be revealed. Be brave
enough to face up to any cause which God
will reveal these days.
( i v) "Oh that I might have my request and
God would grant me the thing that I long for"
(Job 6: 8). Is that your burden—unanswered
prayer? And how intense has been your cry?
Your boy joining up in the Forces; your girl
60
maybe once such a bright Christian, but
now the world seems to be casting its spell
upon her. Maybe you have prayed for
years on some matter, and God does not
seem to hear!
Unanswered yet? the prayer your lips have
pleaded
In agony of heart these many years?
Does faith begin to fail; is hope departing,
And think you all in vain those falling tears?
Say not, the Father hath not heard your
prayer;
You shall have your desire, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? tho' when you first
presented
This one petition at the Father's throne,
It seemed you could not wait the time of
asking,
So urgent was your heart to make it known.
Tho' years have passed since then, do not
despair;
The Lord will answer you, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Nay, do not say ungranted;
Perhaps your part is not yet wholly done.
The work began when first your prayer was
uttered,
And God will finish what He has begun.
If you will keep the incense burning there,
His glory you shall see, sometime, somewhere.
Unanswered yet? Faith cannot be unanswered,
Her feet were firmly planted on the Rock;
Amid the wildest storms she stands un-
daunted,
Nor quails before the loudest thunder shock,
She knows Omnipotence has hears her
prayer,
And cries, "It shall be done," sometime,
somewhere.
Yes, it is true, prayer cannot be unanswered,
but do you remember that text, "If I regard
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iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not
hear me" (Psalm 66: 18)?
Perhaps God has brought you here to
reveal to yourself something which has
delayed the answer. It may be He will want
you to adjust your life before the answer
is given. Will you pray Him to search and
reveal whether aught in you should be
adjusted, before you have the desire of
your heart?
( v ) " O h th a t Th o u wo u l d e s t r e n d th e
heavens, that Thou wouldest come down"
(Isa. 64:1). You remember the picture.
The onward path is blocked by an
unclimbable mountain. There is no way to
evade it or to scale it; the man of God
cannot advance, and in that hour he cries
to God to come down and by His
presence
melt
the
opposing
obstruction. God heard his prayer: "the
mountains flowed down at His presence,"
but it was by a method he had little
expected. God dealt with him first;
showed him his own iniquity, wrung from
him his sevenfold confession, and brought
him down till he cried to Gad as his Father,
and recognized that he was as clay in the
potter's hand.
Have you come here with some great
mountain stretching across your onward
path, and which must be faced directly you
leave this place? It may be some great
problem in your life—perhaps of a financial
nature, or concerning the home, or of an
intellectual character; and you have come
here to try and find some solution.
God's method may be to turn your
eyes away from this mountain to yourself.
He may show you that He can deal with
the difficulty if you are brought to the right
attitude to Him; He the Father, you the clay
in His hand; then He will deal with your
problems, and level the path.
There are no "Oh that’s in the New Testament. It centres on Christ, in all His attributes; and around Him the yearnings of
men's hearts find satisfaction and rest.
"He satisfieth the longing soul."
The God of Difficult People
BY FRED MITCHELL
The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge —Psalm 46: 7, 11.
O
NE is sometimes a little cautious about
taking short texts, for they very easily
become pretexts; but this short text will serve
as a promise and as a reminder of what I
believe God would have me say to you. It
occurs in Psalm 46, and as the verse occurs
twice it may serve to show its importance:
"The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob
is our refuge."
Often during the past two years I have comforted my own heart, and on occasions sought
to share the comfort with others, by thinking
and speaking on the first half of the verse,
With the development of political and missionary situations in the Far East, I have been
seeking the reinforcement of my own faith
with that first part of the verse, "The Lord of
hosts is with us." If the first half of the verse
brings reinforcement of the conflict without,
the second half of the verse is the promise of
victory in the conflict within.
If I may be allowed to paraphrase this
sentence, it would be thus: "The God of
difficult people is our refuge; the Lord of misfits and problem characters is our resort."
And this we rejoice to proclaim at Keswick,
so that none need to despair.
Firstly, then, God is sufficient for the difficult
temperament. His name is the God of Jacob,
More than a quarter of the book of Genesis, a
book which covers 2,300 years of human history, is taken up with God's dealings with
Jacob. Now, I am careful to use that phrase,
"God's dealings with Jacob," because it is just
there that our hope lies. It is a great phrase;
it came to me, as perhaps to you, through
reading the autobiographical pages of George
Muller, of Bristol, "God's Dealings with
George Muller." There is something holy and
humbling, and exalting to God, about such a
title—"God's Dealings with George Muller."
G e o r ge M u l le r was n o t h im s el f gr ea t,
but the God who had dealings with
him was great; so I suggest to you that a
quarter of the Book of Genesis is taken up
with God's dealings with a difficult temperament. God does not despair of us when, alas.
we sometimes despair of ourselves. One of
the greatest tragedies in the Christian life is
to settle down, believing that God can do no
more with us.
62
From his birth in chapter 25 to the experience at Peniel recorded in chapter 32, where
ever he is found, Jacob is a problem, a difficult
man—indeed, almost a despicable character
For two-thirds of his life he was hampered by a
difficult temperament; and possibly, too, he
blamed Isaac and Rebekah for passing it on to
him. He might have said that he got the
worst characters of both his parents. This
by the way, is a word to us parents! A friend
of mine, an evangelist now in heaven, used to
say to himself and his wife whenever their
little boy was giving trouble, "There is nothing
in him that we have not put there"—which
may help parents sometimes to treat our
children gently and understandingly.
It may be that some of us have come to
Keswick with this very problem. We have
difficult temperament, for "most of us carry
our worst enemy in our own breast." Our
foes are not merely in the world and the
church, our greatest difficulty is not in the
family and in the business, but in ourselves,
Sin has wrought so deeply in human nature
that only a complete Saviour and so great a
salvation are sufficient.
The entire youth of Jacob, the whole of
those formative years, is in the Bible covered
in a short sentence in Genesis 25: 27, "And
the boys grew: and Esau was a cunning
hunter, a man of the field; and Jacob was a
plain man (a quiet man), dwelling in tents.' I
have wondered whether they got the adjective
misplaced, either in the original or in the
translation, when it said that Esau was a
cunning hunter, for Jacob certainly was a
cunning schemer. There is a world of suggestion, and cause for suspicion, in that short
description—Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling
in tents. I wonder what he was doing in the
tent all that time? Sitting quietly in the tent
doing nothing? No; judged by his after-life,
he was there planning and scheming for the
advancement and enrichment and security
of himself. Jacob was a shrewd man, a man
who could bide his time; he waited for the
psychological moment to seize the birthright;
he waited fourteen years to obtain the woman
he wanted. "Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling
in tents." "Still waters run deep" is, I think,
a suitable proverb.
"The God of Jacob"—that is grace indeed.
"The God of Abraham" one can understand;
but "the God of Jacob" —the ve ry title is
golden, and full of promise to us all, especially
to those who are filled with shame and a sense
of need.
Secondly, God did not despair of Jacob, even
when he failed in middle life. It is an interesting thing to know that when Jacob made
that mess of pottage, and possibly put the best
seasoning into it under Rebekah's guidance,
he was seventy-seven years of age; and since
he lived to the age of 147, we may think of him
still scheming in middle life, and beginning to
work out the plots he had been hatching when
he sat there quietly in the tent. These are
days of special importance to youth; we are
reminded that youth has special temptations,
which may be so; but there ought to be special
missions to middle-aged people, for there are
certainly special dangers in middle life. The
difficult temperament then tends to become a
set character; life becomes settled down, business is doing well, family getting on. It is the
age of the car, the radio, of travel, and a little
later slippers and a good table; an indulgent
age. Though statistics show that there are
not many converted then, yet we need not
despair; we do not need to give up praying,
even although statistics say that most conversions occur before the age of sixteen. If you
have a burden for a middle-aged man, keep
on praying. It is not easy for a man to be
consecrated in middle life; it is not an age
whe n it is easy for a man to give up the
government of his own life; he has been running it for a while and doing it, as he thinks,
successfully. Most of us are tempted to give
up a man of middle life as being hopeless of
change; and, while that may be so naturally, is
there no hope for a man in middle years?
Have our senses complete mastery? Has God
no promise for a man who is still wrestling
with his difficult temperament in middle life?
Has grace no answer? Yes, the God of Jacob
—that one title is sufficient answer.
Thirdly. God is not def eated with old age.
At seventy-seven Jacob stole the birthright;
at eighty-three he stole the blessing, and then
for fourteen years he was skilfully tricking his
uncle Laban, transferring the cattle to himself
by what to him were scientific means; and he
is still scheming as he travels back to meet
Esau at the ripe old age of 103. Yet God did
not give him up. Old age has its problems.
and I think, having arrived in middle life, that
my sympathy goes out more to the old people
than to the young. They are living in a competitive age, where sympathy seems to be
diminishing and helpfulness not too common
a quality. Money does not solve their problems. In fact—though this is quite a word
aside—I have been wondering if God, as a
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living God always meeting the needs of the
changing days, has not been speaking to some
man about old people as he spoke to George
Muller about orphans, but he has not y et
answered "yes." In ten more years one -fifth
of the population of Great Britain will be old
people, and I am expecting that God will do
something for them.
They themselves will often tell you that
they have problems with themselves, so I
bring to any older person here this morning
the promise for you in this title: "The God of
Jacob is our refuge." Many an old person
has spoken to me in his later years, telling of
the trials and temptations that come with
declining years. Many a man has said to me,
"I pray that God will save me from becoming
a wicked old man." Was it not John Berridge,
that great saint, who prayed something like
that, and added, "I am asking God that,
instead of failing at the last, and becoming
evil and cantankerous, I may run the last lap
at a sprint." The God of Jacob is the refuge
of old people, when physical strength is decaying, when life is not easy, and the temptation
to become awkward, demanding and exacting,
is very real.
Here is Jacob at 103 still the same man,
character unchanged, still the man of the
difficult temperament; and he is facing his last
years. Most folk would have said, "He will
never change; his temperament is set, his
character is formed." But, oh, the grace of
God never lets us go! God's dealings with
Jacob were in mercy. In Genesis 32:24 we
are told that a man wrestled with him all
night. The interpretation of that in Hosea
12:4 is that an angel wrestled with him; but
Jacob himself said a little later, in Genesis
32:30, "I have seen God." NO ordinary man
could help him; no angel could help him at 103
with a difficult temperament still; nobody but
God could meet him—and God did. For God,
as an angel in human form, met this old sinner
on his way back to meet his brother, and
wrestled with him.
I thi nk the re i s a who le wo rl d o f true
psychology in that word "wrestled" as it
applies to this older man. That is what God
has to do with us, and the older we get the
more He has to wrestle with us—with our
temperaments and characters set, our habits
formed. But God held on to him, and brought
him through until He changed his very nature.
Now, olde r frie nd, brother or siste r in
middle life, if you are tempted to despair,
saying to yourse lf, "The re was a chance
might have been sanctified and blessed and
changed in my youth, but the chance has gone;
hopes have receded, and there is little chance
now," I bring this word of hope to you—the
God of Jacob is your refuge. I want to appeal
to any older friend, Do not despair; God can
do something yet, before your end and
your feet touch the river; you may yet pass
through the pearly gates in sheer triumph,
sweeping through the gates of the new
Jerusalem. Nil desperandum, even for old
people.
So we are not going to excuse our sins
because we are in middle life, and we are not
going to excuse our difficult character
because we are old. The God of Jacob is my
refuge in middle life, your refuge in
advancing years, and, of course, anybody's
refuge at any age. When you are thinking
about Jacob, do not forget the word in
Hosea 12: 4, "Yet he had power over the
angel, and prevailed: he wept, and made
supplication unto him." Grace has worked in
Jacob. I am glad that word is in Hosea,
which is not in Genesis, "Jacob wept." This
hard-boiled schemer wept, this old sinner
wept, this Old Testament Shylock wept. God
had broken the hardness, the impenitence, the
unbelief of his heart.
There is not much weeping these days, and
that is because we do not see the excessive
sinfulness of sin, and how it hurts God. But
there is hope; for the God of Jacob, the
Go of difficult temperaments, the God of
awkward characters, the God of social
misfits, is here is Keswick to meet our need;
and this God is our hope. "Thy name
shall be called no more Jacob, but
Israel: for as a prince thou has power
with God and with men, and has prevailed." No more a schemer, but a
trustful intercessor. So similarly with
Jacob's
New
Testament
opposite
number, Simon Peter impetuous and
assertive until middle lift when the
Spirit of God met and changed him and
made him the gracious, tender, understanding Apostle that he became. There
is hope for every saint with any
disposition, for the God of Jacob is with
us.
Now, we do not tell you everything in
one meeting at Keswick, so you will come
to the other meetings to learn how God
does it! But let us assure our own hearts
that the God of Jacob is with us; and if you
are not coming to another meeting, ask
Him to tell you all about it!
With loving hands,
At work among the suffering
And broken hearts, He ministers,
Who is their King.
With wounded hands,
Outstretched upon a Jewish tree,
He lies and then is lifted up
In agony.
With pleading hands,
Toward the world He longs to bless,
He waits, with heaven's life to fill
Man's emptiness.
--RANDLE MANWARING.
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(iii)—THE SANCTIFYING POWER OF THE WORD
W
And quick as a flash he said, "Do; I am sure
that they need it!"
In the Old Testament the Hebrew word
translated "to sanctify" means "to cut off,"
"to separate," and thus to dedicate for a
solemn purpose. Turn to Leviticus 27, just
to get an understanding of this word; because
we can be so vague on this matter of sanctification, which some think means we are to
give up tobacco and drink, and to eliminate
the movies; or to have some hysterics; or to be
pious, or something of that sort. Let us begin
with v. 14,
"And when a man shall sanctify his house
to be holy unto the Lord, then the priest shall
estimate it, whether it be good or bad . .
v. 16, "And if a man shall sanctify unto the
Lord some part of a field of his possession..
v. 18, "But if he sanctify his field after the
jubilee . .
v. 26, "Only the firstling of the beasts, which
should be the Lord's firstling, no man shall
sanctify it; whether it be ox or sheep; it is the
Lord's.
v. 28, "Notwithstanding no devoted thing
(`devoted' means to give up) that a man shall
devote unto Jehovah of all that he has,
whether it be man or beast, or the field of his
possession, shall be sold or redeemed; everydevoted thing is most holy unto Jehovah."
This means to dedicate or separate a house,
a field, a beast, and last, to separate men unto
the Lord: that is the first meaning—it belongs
to Him. Then that which was common—a
field was common, a house was just an ordinary house, the beast was just an ordinary
beast—that which was common and is then
devoted and yielded to God, as a man or a
woman, partakes of a new life, that to which
the man or woman is dedicated; that is, he is
not only separate, but lie is living a new kind
of life.
1 Peter 2: 9 gives a definition—
"Ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a
holy nation, a people for God's own possession
(separate); that ye may show forth (which
we never did before) the excellencies of Him
who called you out of darkness into His
marvellous light; who in time past were not a
people, but are now the people of God."
This is not the lesson to-day, but the passage
goes on—
"I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims
(separated to God), to abstain from fleshly
lusts, which war against the soul."
We are separated first, then we partake of
E are thinking together of the place of
the Word of God in the life of holiness.
This afternoon I want to consider a word from
the lips of our Lord, on the sanctifying power of
the Word of God, from His high priestly prayer
in John 17.
This is the only place in which Christ ever
spoke of sanctification. He did say that the
Temple sanctifies the gift, and so on, but in
relation to men and women this is the only
time that He ever actually used the word; and
He used it in a prayer, His last great prayer to
His Father for us—"Sanctify them in the truth;
Thy work is truth" (John 17: 17). In the
passage, "Be ye holy for I am holy, saith the
Lord," the Greek word for "holy" is the adjective
of which this word "sanctify" is the verb. So we
can really say that our Lord prayed: "Make
them holy in Thy truth; Thy word is truth."
Now I must confess that I have never seen
anything on this text that satisfies me.
Through Mr. Mitchell's kindness, I was able to
go through all the Keswick volumes from 1875,
looking for anything pertaining to my subject of
this week. While there were in the early days
perhaps two messages on this text, the
speakers did what some preachers do—took
the text and then went into all the world
preaching the Gospel! I do not want to do that,
but to give this text very careful examination. I
would not do so if this were a line from Plato or
Aristotle or Virgil, but this is a sentence from
the One who has redeemed us, from the One
whose name we bear, by whose blood we are
cleansed, in whose image we are being
continually made, and who will bring us home
to God in glory, This is the One of whom it is
said, in John 10: 36, that He had been
sanctified by the Father. This is the prayer of
our Lord to the Father, that we should be
sanctified in the truth: "Thy word is truth."
I would like to speak on three things. First,
what do we mean by being sanctified, or holy?
This morning Dr. Scroggie said it was a very
difficult thing to define, so he left it without
definition. But if anyone has the boldness to
say, "I am sure the Apostle Paul would agree
with me," I do not know why he did not go
ahead and define this word "holiness”! In fact, I
leaned over to him at the luncheon table and
said, "I heard a distinguished Bible teacher this
morning give a certain interpretation, and he
was sure the Apostle Paul would say he was
right. I think I shall speak before I leave
Keswick on the subject of humility."
65
a new life; we belong to God, then we are to
live for God.
I would like to give a definition, if I may,
from the great Dutch theologian, Bavinck,
which is as good as anything I have seen—
"Sanctification is setting apart, and something
more. It means that by washing, by sacri fice, by sprinkling with blood, a thing loses its
common character (a thing or a man loses its
common character—which it possessed in common with other things or men), and has been
given a new character, so that it now lives
in this new condition."
Not only are we separate—that is, positional —
but there is also something experimental
here, as Dr. Scroggie said this morning. We
have the basis for this word in the prayer of
our Lord Jesus—"Sanctify them through Thy
truth; Thy word is truth."
Now I would like to look at the second point
of this brief sentence, and that is the need for
separation or sanctification, and we will find
this in John 17: 11, "I am no more in the world,
and these are in the world, and I come to
Thee. Holy Father, keep them in Thy name
which Thou halt given me, that they may be
one, even as we are. While I was with them,
I kept them in Thy name. . and I guarded
them. . . ." Whether we recognize it or not,
we need divine protection; and these two
words, "keep" and "guard," mean a divine
Father's watchful care. What do you guard?
You guard your jewels, if you have any left
after the income tax is paid. You guard your
barns, your homes, your precious little childre n. You do not se t a guard ove r the dirt
in the backyard—you can get some more; that
is common. You do not set a guard over a
few bricks or a couple of flowers on the front
lawn; you will not sit up all night to watch
them. You guard what is precious, and what
is in danger of being stolen or taken away.
I am not talking about salvation; God keeps
guard of His own, and not one shall perish.
Our Lord went on to pray—"I have given
them Thy word; and the world hated them,
because they are not of the world—you and
me—even as I am not of the world. I pray
not that Thou shouldest take them from the
world. . . ." (v. 14), We are still here in the
world. Sometimes, we wish we were not; but
said said, "I pray not that Thou shouldest take
them out of the world, but that Thou shouldest
keep them from the evil one. . . As Thou
didst send me into the world, even so sent
I them into the world" (vv. 15-18).
Now, beloved, we have two enemies of our
souls—the world and the devil; and both of
them would attack us, both of them would
drag us into their environment, into their
principles, into their way of living, into their
sinfulness. We are in the world, and whether
66
we are aware of it or not, the Lord said you and I
need protection from the world and iron: the devil.
He talks about it to the Father more than He
talks about any other thing He talks about His
own in the world—"They hated me, and will hate
them; I pray that Thou wilt keep them"; then He
says, "Sanctify them in the truth; Thy word is
truth."
Now, what does that mean? I should have
thought He would have said, "Sanctify them in
holy living," not "in the truth." Turn to another
passage to get the meaning of this—in John 8:
42—"If God were your Father, ye would love me:
for I came forth and am come from God; neither
came I of myself, but He se nt me . Why do ye
no t unde rs ta nd m y speech? Even because ye
cannot hear my word." The n this, an awful
se ntence : "Ye are of your father, the devil ..."—
the evil one; put a "d" in the front of "evil" and
you have "devil"—"and the lusts of your father
it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the
beginning, and he standeth not in the truth,
because there is no truth in him. When he
speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; he is a liar,
and the father thereof."
I cannot read these awful words without
being reminded of something I heard over thirty
years ago. I heard Dr. Griffith Thomas spe aking
in Philadelphia on the work of Satan. I
remember his prayer before those 2,000 people,
that the devil himself might not paralyze his tongue
as he came to expose the works of the evil one.
"And because I say the truth, ye believe me
not. If I say the truth, why do ye not be lie ve
me ?" That is one of the gre ate st questions of
all time . "He that is of God heareth the words
of God: for this cause ye hear them not, because
ye are not of God."
"I pray that Thou shouldest keep them from the
evil one." "He standeth not in the truth, . . .
He is a liar, and the fathe r of lie s." How are
we to be kept from the liar who is the fathe r of
lie s? We can only be kept from him by the
truth. And faced with delusion and diabolical
strategy, how are we to he delivered from the
errors of the wicked one, except by the truth of
God? Now, we are marked off, we belong to the
Lord Jesus; and Christ, aware of the allurement
and fascination and pressure and power of the
world and of Satan, said to the Father, "Sanctify
them in the truth: Thy word is truth."
I want to lay stress on this need. In Revelation
12: 9 there is a phrase which has come upon me
with new and awful significance in the last few
weeks. Satan is given five titles, and then he is
called "the deceiver of the whole world." This
means even of Oxford and Cambridge, and
Harvard and Yale, and the Sorbonne; this
means wicked men and wise men: "He deceiveth
the whole world."
I do not know about your vocabulary here,
but I am sure it is the same as with us. In
the last two years only have you had this
ghastly phrase, "The big lie." The New York
T im e s had a frightening editorial recently,
called "The lie in action." It was referring
to a demonstration in Paris, when General
Ridgeway was visiting that city. I am not
defending the General, or my country, or anything else; but the demonstrators had a big
p l a c a rd b e a r i n g th e w o rd s , " Ri d g e wa y ,
Microbe Kille r." The y knew tha t this was
a lie. The New Y o r k T i m e s observed what
a terrible age this is, when men will go out
in the streets and fight; not for something they
believe in, even though they know it to be
wrong, but for what they know to be a lie.
This is exactly what the Apostle Paul meant
in 2 Thessalonians, when he said the Lord
would send a spirit of delusion upon those who
love not the truth, and they would believe
a lie. I do not know if it troubles you, but
it troubles me. We talk about "resting in the
Word." I hope I can rest in the Word, too.
But I would like to know to -day why one
billion people in thirty years come under the
power of an atheistic communism, and only
a few trickle into the Kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and to the Gospel of truth. I
wonder why? I do not want anyone to say
to me it is the devil, because I have a Lord
who is greater than the devil; He is Sovereign
and Lord, and it is a mystery to me why
millions and millions believe a lie, and only
so few are coming into the truth in Christ.
Now with millions coming under this delusion,
if ever in the Christian Church we needed this
message we need it to-day—"Sanctify My
people—separate them from this spirit of the
world."
Now let me come to the means; we have
seen the meaning of it, and the need of it: now
the means. "Sanctify them in the truth: Thy
word is truth." In v. 8 our Lord says, "The
word which Thou gayest me, I have given
unto them." I wonder when He received these
words? "And they received them, and knew
of a truth that I came forth from Thee, and
they believed that 'Thou didst send me. . .
. I have given unto them Thy word" (v.
14). So the word of God is communicated to
us through the Lord Jesus. "Sanctify them
in the truth: Thy word is truth."
Now you have about six times in the Scriptures this phrase, "the word of truth"—in
James 1:18; 2 Timothy 2: 15; Colossians 1:5;
Ephesians 1:13; Psalm 119:43. "Thy word
is truth," "the word of truth." I ask you, the
truth about what? Here one could spend
hours. I think the first cardinal fact is the
truth concerning the Lord Jesus, and concerning His Father, and the Holy Spirit.
About two years ago my w ife and I were
in a lovely town in Northern California, called
Carmel-by-the-sea—a place for artists and
musicians, beside the ocean, and with very
nice country in which we could be quiet; it is
rather pagan, but not wicked. During the
week I saw some posters with the title of a
lecture, "Christian Science, the fulfilment of
prophecy and promise." Now, I said to my self, That is my field, prophecy; and I have
just forgotten what prophecy there is con cerning Christian Science—I could name a
couple, but they were not in their minds! So
I went to hear this lecture. There were about
500 people present, and they were the nicestlooking people you ever saw, and as intelligent as any audience you will ever face in
America. The man lectured for an hour, and
he said that the promise of Jesus that He
would send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit,
was fulfilled in the coming of Mary Baker
Eddy; and that Christian Science is the Third
Person of the Godhead. He said that when
the Lord told the parable of the woman sweeping the house and finding the lost coin, He
was speaking of Mary Baker Eddy sweeping
the Church of dogma and finding the truth
which was Christian Science. He took up
about eight New Testament passages; he was
quoting the Bible, and he made it tell what
it did not tell. He said that this man Jesus
had to put us all on the same level. What I
am getting at is, that when you get into that
are a and be lieve that, you are no longe r
separated unto God the Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ. "Sanctify them by Thy truth;
Thy word is truth." And in this day, when
there are so many compromises and a weakening of our Christian faith and a loss of confidence in the Word of God, beloved, there
never was a time when it was more necessary
to draw the line of demarcation and speak out
the truth that separated us unto God.
Let me give another illustration from one
of our own Professors. I have quoted this
before, and he wrote me a letter recently and
said, "It is so hard to express oneself; I find
difficulty"—he has three doctorate degrees,
a nd b y tha t ti me he ought to be ab le to
express himself! He is Professor of World
Religion—whatever that might be—at one of
our Universities that has 14,000 students. He
said. "A large part of the educational path
to-day within the Christian fold is to guide
people in such a way that they no longer feel
it necessary to read the Christian Scriptures.
You teach that to 14,000 young people and you
are going to have trouble on your hands!
In a day like this, we need to saturate ourselves more with the Word of God than we
ever have in our lives. This is the time when
our ears must be open to the Word of God.
"Sanctify them in Thy truth; Thy word is
truth."
The reason we need this word is because
67
our experiences can pass away, and the teaching of men can lose its significance, and times
can change; but, beloved, this is the norm:
"Thy word is set in heaven." H. G. Wells,
Bob Ingersoll, and Thomas Paine cried for
a new Bible; they never had one, and there
will not be one. There is only one revealed
Word of God, and this is it; and when our
Lord was on His knees, about to go to Calvary,
He cried to the Father to "Sanctify them
through Thy truth; Thy word is truth." If we
belong to God, we need God's truth; if we are
to be separated unto God, we need God's
Word; and there is no policy, no music and
no art, or any ritual in the world that can
ever be a substitute for the Word of God.
"Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy word
is truth."
We are losing our contact with this Book,
and we must get back to it. I was told this
morning that in the old days the Methodists
took two books to church, the Bible and the
hymnbook. Now the Methodists take one
book, the hymnbook. I think a lot of people
are doing what I heard Robert Lee talk about
one time. He was our great Southern orator,
and President of the World Baptist Association. He said that when he was a young
minister he was itinerating in the mountains
of Tennessee, and one night he had to stop
at a log cabin where there were twelve children. After supper he said, "Before we go to
bed we should have family prayer and read
the Bible; will you get a Bible?" The mother
said, "Sonny, go out in the living-room and
get the Bible." The boy returned and said,
'Mother, it is not there." "Sylvia, go upstairs
to the bedroom and bring down the Bible."
And again the reply came, "It is not there.'
"That is funny; where is the Bible?" After
several of the children had sought in different
directions, one chipped in with a word of
knowledge and said, "It is in the toolbox in the
wood shed." And the Bible was found there,
along with liniments and things used for
beasts and lambs. The Book that could save
their souls, and that came from God, was in
the wood shed in a toolbox; and that is what
modern man is doing with the Word of God
—and some Christians, too. We are keeping
this Book closed or locked in a wood shed or
some other place; and without it we shall not
have the sanctified life that we need for this
desperate age.
Dr. Robert Spears some years ago was going
to China as the Head of our Foreign Missions
Board, He was discussing something with
the young ministers, and said to one, "Would
you mind bringing up your Bible from the
state room?" And the young man said, "I am
sorry but we are not supposed to have much
luggage in the state room, so I left my Bible
in the baggage in the hold." Robert Spears
said, "Young man, I am the General Secretary of the Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions. If the Bible means no more to you
than that, the first ship to go home from
China is the ship you are going to take." If
that man needed that Bible in China, beloved,
we need it in London, Liverpool, and New
York: "Sanctify them through Thy truth; Thy
word is truth."
This probably has not yet come to you, but
it has come to our country, and I am shocked
and disturbed. In a lot of churches, some
famous and with great traditions, I am discovering with great alarm that the Sunday
morning programme, when it is handed to me,
includes an invo catio n, two anthems,
Te Deums, and an offering, but no place for
the reading of the Word of God. I always say,
"We will have a place for the Word of God,
and if the sermon is no good, the Word of God
will be." "Sanctify them through Thy truth;
Thy word is truth."
Look again at v. 19, "And for their sakes"—
that is, for you and me—"I sanctify myself,
that they also may be sanctified in the truth.'
"For their sakes . ."; "that they may be
. . "—you can put any word in there you
want. Just what are you going to be? The
Lord said, "That they be sanctified, I scantify
myself," and you and I are going to have
a tremendous influence over the sanctified or
unsanctified lives of other people, when we go
down from this heaven on earth at Keswick.
People will draw from us the inspiration of
this hour; and they are never going to be
lifted any higher than you and I are lifted.
"For their sakes—in order that they may be
sanctified—I sanctify myself." What did one
of the speakers say about Bishop Taylor
Smith, "of blessed memory"—and then he
supported some arguments by giving details
of his wonderful life. Bishop Taylor Smith
has been dead some years, and the influence
of his holy life is still here. That is a wonderful way to live. Of course, you know the
story of his early days when he got saved.
It took all night, but he dedicated every single
part of his whole body to God for ever. He
told this to a friend of mine: "I even asked the
Lord for a holy voice, and He gave it to me."
I will tell you what I heard in America. He
was at dinner in the home of Dr. Houghton,
the President of the Moody Bible Institute;
about twelve of us were there, and when the
Bishop left, a friend said to me, "I feel as
though I had been in the presence of the Lord
Jesus." What a way to live! "Sanctify them
through Thy truth; Thy word is truth." "And
for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they
also may be sanctified in the truth."
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The Price of Holiness
If thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable
for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should
be cast into hell.—Matthew 5: 29, 30.
A WEEK or two ago I was speaking to an
elderly lady who attends my church in
Richmond when she can, and I asked her how
she was. "Well," she said, "my arthritis is
very bad, my bronchitis is somewhat troublesome—" and I think she had another "itis"
which I cannot remember; but she finished up
by saying, "but I am quite well in myself,
thank you very much." What a striking
example that is of the essential difference which
exists between us and the house we live in;
between our self and our body! It is possible
to have a very weak frame, but for that weak
frame to be inhabited by a strong spirit. It
is equally possible to have a gigantic frame,
but for that frame to be inhabited by a weak,
helpless and feeble spirit. Yes, there is an
essential difference between the two; yet,
nevertheless, the two are vitally connected,
and I think that both difference and connection are illustrated in this verse: "If thine eye
offend thee, pluck it out." In other words, I
am not my eye; and I am responsible for doing
something with my eye if it offends me. There
is a difference between me and my eye, nevertheless, there is a vital connection, for the
Lord Jesus said, "It is better for thee that one
of thy members should perish, than that thy
whole body should be cast into hell."
Though I am not my eye, and though I am
not my hand, I am responsible before God for
the operation of my eye and for the conduct of
my hand. There is a vital connection between
myself and my body, for according to the
deeds of my body, whether they be good or
bad, so one day must I give an account of
myself to God.
Let me therefore, with these verses before
us, speak to you about what I call—
I. THE CONDITIONS OF OUR LIFE. Let us
each examine ourselves as we are: this strange
make-up of a human personality. All life
expresses itself through our bodies: it is
through the eye and the ear that the world
makes an impression upon us; it is through
the foot and the hand that we make an
impression upon the world; and, of course, the
trouble with the Christian is that he lives in a
69
body which has not yet been redeemed. We
groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, even for the redemption of our body,
says the Apostle Paul. We live in a body
which has yet to be redeemed, and it is
through that body that Satan attacks; but also,
on the contrary, it is through that body that
Christ is revealed and made known.
Furthermore, within that body there are
two natures: one that I received when I was
born, which can do nothing but sin; the other
which I received when I was born again,
which cannot sin at all. The one, what I am
apart from the grace of God, altogether sinful;
the other, the life of a risen Lord ascended
into heaven, receiving the gift of the Holy
Ghost and imparting Himself to me, a life that
is altogether holy.
The Christian experience is that of a constant conflict between the two: the life that he
was given when he came into the world, the
flesh; and the life that he received as the gift
of God when he was born again, the spirit.
From the eye and through the ear are received
impressions into the mind and into the heart,
to which, alas, one of those natures is all too
ready to respond and to yield; and the outcome
of that inner conflict between flesh and spirit
is revealed in the actions of the hand and the
f oo t. The im pressio ns that we take in
through the eye and through the ear knock at
the citadel of a man's soul, and there they are
either accepted or rejected; and the choice
between good and bad is faced in the inner
citadel of a human being. The outcome of
that choice is expressed with hand and foot in
action. The Lord Jesus says, "Therefore"—
and no wonder He says it—"if thine eye offend
thee . . ." That is the story of the breakdown of human life all through history. It
began long ago in a garden, when Eve saw
and desired and took; it occurred again at
Jericho, when Achan saw and desired and
took; it occurred again in the life of David,
who looked and lusted and took—and even
though he was forgiven he was never the same
man again. It was repeated in the experience
of the Apostle Peter, who jumped out of a ship
in the midst of a storm to walk to Jesus, but
he saw the wind was boisterous and he went
down.
The Saviour also says, "If thy right hand
offend thee . . ." If the place of power
and the place of action is crippled, broken
and feeble, it is the inevitable outcome of
an eye that offends; for where the body
receives impressions and takes them into the
mind and into the heart, where they are
received and welcomed, then inevitably the
hand and the foot also offend.
There, I suggest to you, in those words
of the Master, is the whole issue of the
great question of deliverance from sin. We
have received impressions, we have looked,
we have listened; they have been welcomed,
they have been taken into the citadel of our
lives, and there they have lodged, and the
will and the conscience have yielded; and
the outcome of that has been a life
expressed in the actions of the body which
has been miserably defeated. My dear
Christian friends, a holy life is impossible
apart from a holy body.
Such, then, in a few sentences, is the
issue with which I want to confront you in
the name of the Lord Jesus 'Christ; the
conditions that exist in every life to whom I
am speaking at this moment, the conflict
between flesh and spirit. The line of
temptation and of attack which Satan time
and time again has taken through your eye
and through your ear, and to which the
fifth columnist within you, that old nature
of yours, has gladly yielded, with the
outcome of an output in daily conduct, of a
life that is a miserable failure.
If that is the issue, let me go on to say a
word to you to-night about—
II. THE COST OF 'VICTORY.
"If thy right
hand offend thee, cut it off." Here is
something which I do not sit back and wait
for God to do for me; but something
which He demands, as an essential
qualification of a holy life, that I shall do
for myself. "If thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out, . . . and if thy right hand
offend thee, cut it off."
For, you see, the only basis of spiritual
victory is the crucifixion of all that is
natural; the only basis of spiritual power is
the renunciation of that which is merely of
ourselves. You say to me, why is that? If I
understand the opening chapters of my
Bible aright, I am quite sure that that was
not God's original mind, for surely His
original mind and intent for mankind was
that the natural things should be
transformed
into
the
spiritual
by
obedience; but man refused to obey, and
ever since then the natural man has been at
enmity with God, and the flesh and the
spirit cannot be brought together in
friendship and in alliance. That is why the
Christian who goes around glibly saying,
"What is the harm in it anyway?" is
70
doomed to failure. I am suggesting to you
that many of us who come to Keswick and
seek after holiness are not, in real point of fact,
prepared to pay the price of victory. There can
be no agreement between flesh and spirit, they
are contrary the one to the other; yet you try to
bring the old life into alliance with the new life,
and make your old nature and the new nature
came to terms. My friends, God has
sentenced the old to death.
The man who says, "What is the harm in the
cinema, anyway? Why shouldn't I go? What
is the harm in the novel that I read for a little
relaxation? It is a little questionable I admit;
but what is the harm in it, anyway? Why
should I not watch the play on my television
set? Why should I not see the drama there?
I do not believe in going to the cinema or
theatre, but I can introduce them to my home;
what is the harm in it?" My friend, "If thine
eye offend thee . . ." I am not here, of
course, to suggest that a vital principle of
Christian living centres around the cinema;
but I can only speak out of my heart when I
say this, that when I see the kind of thing it
advertises to win my custom, I know that it
is no place for me. I know perfectly well that
if I look even at that advertisement my eye
has to be plucked out. There are some things
in the Christian life in which the issue is not
"there is no harm in it," but the issue is "For
Jesus's sake, for my soul's sake, and for my
witness' sake, I dare not do it." That is the
cost of victory: there is no advance in the
realm of the spirit which is not accompanied
by the dropping of something that is natural.
There is no taking hold of victory, there is no
stretching out the empty hand of faith to take
hold of the power of God, unless before I do
that, the hand has first of all been emptied
from things with which it was once filled, with
which I dare not go into God's presence.
You ask, Why should that be? For this
reason: God will not give victory to anybody
here to-night—victory over sin—until He sees
that you are His ally against sin in every part
of your life; until He sees clearly that in your
soul you have renounced the whole business,
that in your soul you have agreed to what
Jesus says happens to men at the Cross, and
you have assented to die to everything apart
from the will of God.
The cost of victory, the price of holiness, is
nothing less than that; and I am suggesting to
you that this is sheer, definite, day-to-day
discipline of your life. There is no short cut
or quick move into the experience of deliverance from sin. If you would take the first
step into deliverance, it will be only as you
look up to the Lord with a hand that has been
emptied because it has renounced self, pride,
lust, jealousy, and a thousand and one other
things that make it impossible for God to do
with you what He wants to do. The Lord
never anoints the flesh with power; He has one
thing for the flesh, for the self, and that is the
Cross. But, blessed be His name, He gives us
Jesus, and in Him there is all power.
That leads me to say a word as I close,
not only the cost of victory, but on—
III. CONQUEST OF HIS SPIRIT. I tremble
to quote a verse from Romans! What a
feast we are enjoying morning by
morning! Dr. Scroggie will be dealing
with this far more ably and fully than I
could ever attempt to do; but I would say to
you to-night, that if you have understood so
far what is the true nature of the conflict,
and if you see that the stepping stone that
leads into the life of holiness is the
renouncing of self and sin, here is the
secret of victory: How am I to cut off the
hand that offends? How am I to pluck
out
the
eye
which receives the
impressions? I cannot; but if "through the
Spirit ye do mortify the deeds of the body,
ye shall live."
My answer—and I say it out of the
experience of my heart and life as a
Christian who has known something of the
misery and the defeat and the bondage of
sin—my answer is this: that one day, out of
the glory of heaven, Jesus came to rescue
men like you and me; He lived a life that
was blameless, and He offered His
precious blood on the Cross as a complete
satisfaction for the guilt of all my life and
yours; the third day He rose from the
tomb, and ascended into heaven, and for
the first time in history there entered
within the gates of glory a Man who got
71
there by virtue of the merit of His own
goodness and purity and holiness. He
entered unafraid, and received of the Father
the promise of the Holy Spirit. Ever since
then, into poor, beaten, bankrupt, broken
lives the Holy Ghost has come in answer to
faith and confidence in a crucified, risen Lord;
and remember, He has come, not merely as
evidence that the guilt of my sin has been put
away, not merely as an expression of the love
of Jesus Christ within me, but He has come
to express the love of Christ in my heart; to
take away the guilt, to break the power, and,
by His indwelling, to take away the love of
sin. For, you see, He has come to make that
which in me so wants to be allied to Satan,
by His transforming power, an ally of
holiness.
The Psalmist once said, "My eyes are ever
toward the Lord," and in that simple phrase
there is the whole secret of spiritual power
and deliverance from all the powers of darkness. My eyes, that which is at the very gate
of my life, at the very place where Satan
would make his impressions, my eyes now are
upon Him.
I would beg that you to-night might echo
the prayer of a hymn which sometimes we
sing, which says—
The dearest idol I have known,
What e'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from Thy throne,
And worship only Thee.
Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
There is no f ear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath
torment.-1 John 4:18.
I WONDER how you have been getting on
d u r i n g t h i s C o n v e n t i o n ? O n e o f t e n finds
that there comes a stage in the Convention
when there is a very real tension in the heart
and mind. It may be a growing realization of
what God's will is, and a reluctance to face it.
It may be a time of building up a resistance
to God's will, for fear of what that might hold.
It may be an eagerness, a desire and longing
to do the will of God, coupled with a
tremendous dread that one could never do it.
I believe there must be many in that tension, and possibly this word may be God's
answer to your need. These three phrases
each suggest something to me. First of all
there is suggested here—
I. A TYRANNY: "fear hath torment," The
meaning behind that word is, as translated
here, "torment," or as translated somewhere
else, "punishment," with a sense of
"restraint"; and taking these three together
and blending them, you have the characteristics of tyranny, torment, punishment, restraint
—the tyranny of fear. I should not be a bit
surprised if -fear is the dominating motive in
many of our hearts and minds at this stage in
the Convention.
We all know something about fear, do we
not? I tried to think it through; what is there
that constitutes the essence of fear? What is
the basis of it; what underlies it? I may be
afraid because of an insufficiency of which my
soul is aware.
You may be getting afraid about the whole
issue of this Convention because, as you see
it, the pull of God's will is going to be difficult;
you feel you have not the courage for it, or the
strength for it. The obedience that God asks
is going to be a hard thing. You think of the
loneliness that it may lead to, the high standard that God requires; and then you look
into your own heart and experience and soul.
and see there the utter insufficiency, the
inability even to think of entering into God's
will; and you feel not a little bit miserable,
even in these meetings, because you are
afraid. If you knew you could not swim you
would be more than a little bit frightened if
you were in a boat which was sinking, because
of your insufficiency or your inability.
72
But there is another element in fear and
its tyranny: the insufficiency of which my soul
is aware, and an imagination in which my
thought is active.
A tremendous part of fear is built up by the
imagination, and therefore the unreal. Situations are pictured and conjured up which
never eventuate. Experiences are endured
which are never encountered. Have you ever
had to have an injection? Did you not have
it more than once?—you may even have had
it six times before the needle touched you
So often in life our imagination is active and
our thought busy, and we can build up a whole
experience of fear which is based upon unreal
imaginings. We must all have faced a situation we were afraid of, an interview or an
operation: our imagination was very active,
but when it was all over did we not say, "It
was not half as bad as I imagined it would
be"?
The insufficiency of which my soul is aware;
the imagination in which my thought is
active, these both create fear; but there is
another element—the intention of which my
heart is afraid.
It sometimes happens that we find ourselves
in the hands of others of whose intentions we
are not sure. You will possibly remember
when you were small and at school, that when
you received an invitation from the headmaster, of whose intentions you were not quite
certain (it might be that he was going to offer
you a cheque, but more likely apply a cane),
the very fact that you were uncertain of his
intentions made that day rather miserable
until the interview was over; and then your
mind was at rest, if your body was not !
Yet again, friendship can come into a girl's
life, and with it possibly love—love on her
side, she knows that; but she is not quite certain of the intention on the other side: is it
just friendship, or is it going to be the fulfilment of her dreams? The very uncertainty
makes her afraid.
So there is a great and complex element
entering into the tyranny of fear: "fear bath
torment." How many of us are under that
tyranny just now? We are not quite certain
what the intention of God is, and we are more
than a bit afraid of a whole realm of the
intention of the will of God, of which we feel
we know nothing. We are really afraid of
going any further with God.
Though this verse speaks of a tyranny, it
also speaks of—
I I . A REM ED Y We re ad in th i s ve rse
not only that fear hath torment, but that
"there is no fear in love." The same number
of letters in the word, and if I were talking to
children I would have the word "fear" spelt
out on separate cards, F-E-A-R, that is the
tyranny, and then I would take four other
cards, L-O-V-E, and I would put Is over F,
0 over E. V over A, and E over R—there is
no fear in love.
Let us think how those elements which constitute our fear are hidden and changed by
love. Take this first element of fear, the
insufficiency of which my soul is aware. There
i s n o fe a r i n l o ve ; w h y ? Be c au se o f the
lavishness of love 's giving. You and I are
afraid because of our insufficiency, our
inability. Listen; do you think that God is
going to leave that insufficiency, that inability,
undealt with? Do you think He is going to
leave that need unsupplied? Can you imagine
a girl of poor circumstances marrying a man
of abundant wealth and being left by the one
who is now her husband to live with him on
the slender resources of her own penury, to
dress herself according to the limits of her
own poverty? Can you imagine a man doing
that? I suppose a man might if he did not
love the girl; but you cannot imagine God
doing that, can you? We read, "God so
loved . . . that He gave" . . . and He still
loves and still gives. The one hall-mark of
true love is love's desire to give. That is the
difference between love and lust: lust takes,
love gives.
The lavishness of the giving of the love of
God—how adequately this should deal with
the fear that is based upon the insufficiency
of which my soul is aware! The lavishness
of love's giving!
What about the imagination in which my
thought is active? I think not only of the
lavishness of love's giving, but also of the
limit of love's thinking. Oh, yes, love has its
dreams, love has its hopes. Love paints its
pictures on the imagination of the mind, and
thus its joys are multiplied; but in certain
directions there is a limit beyond which love
will not go, and that limit is determined both
by the character of the one loved, and by the
quality and character of the love wherewith
we love. Have you ever said concerning someone you know and love, "Why, I would never
dream of thinking such a thing!” Both the
character of that person and the character of
your love have together set a limit beyond
which your thoughts will not go. Don't you
think that the character of God sets a limit
73
beyond which our thinking about God should
not go? Oh, these imaginings that are the
very fabric of our fears! Let us not treat
God's love as we would never treat another's.
Recognise that love sets a limit to its thinking!
The lavishness of love's giving, the limit of
love's thinking, and to me possibly the most
treasured thought of all —what I call the
loveliness of love's planning.
These intentions of which our hearts are
afraid; why is it that so many of us identify
the will of God with unpleasant things? In
fact, some people honestly reach a state where
they cannot believe that a certain thing is
God's will because they want to do it; because
it means joy and happiness. They think that
God's will is always hard, always unpleasant,
always designed to make us unhappy. The
loveliness of love's planning: see, here is a
mother—no, she is not yet a mother, but that
gift to which she and her husband are looking
forward is on the way, and those hands are
busy day and night, planning the daintiest
wear, the loveliest garments. Everything that
love can plan is planned in detail and with
infinite care. The loveliness of love's planning. Here is a girl looking forward to her
wedding day; she is looking forward to her
first home of her very own, and she is busy
planning everything that she can think of that
will make her a joy to her husband, that will
make their home everything that he and she
would want it to be. She does not go round
to all his friends asking what her fiancé does
not like, and making a register in her mind
so that on the first day in the home after the
honeymoon he will have those things to eat 1
She would not do a thing like that; yet some
of us think that God is hard at work along
those very lines!
Here is a home waiting the return of the
father who has been away ill, and what excitement and what plans and what expectations I;
all the planning of love is for the happiness of
the one loved. Oh, these intentions of which
we are afraid! I read, "We are His work manship, created in Christ Jesus unto good
works, which God bath before ordained that
we should walk in them." Oh, if I could only
get a glimpse into the mind and heart of God,
I should find the love of God planning with
infinite care and exactness of detail and
thoughtfulness and consideration, everything
that is designed for my happiness and God's
glory.
There is no fear in love. The tyranny, the
remedy, and just very shortly as I close—
III. THE CERTAINTY. Perfect love casteth
out fear. The suggestion is here, that there
is growth in love; that word "perfect" is a
word of completeness—and we read also here
in the same verse of an incompleteness in love.
There is a certainty that characterizes perfect
love, developed, mature love will cast out fear;
that is the certainty. Let us just note very
simply these three things. First of all, the
reality upon which love rests—"We love Him
because He first loved us."
The reality upon which our love for Christ
and for God rests, is the certainty of His love
for us. Where do we have the guarantee, the
assurance, the reality upon which our love can
rest? Listen, "He that spared not His own
Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how
shall He not with Him also freely give us all
things?" The measure of the reality of the
love of God is in the Cross of His Son: that is
the reality upon which my love rests.
You all know the story of the little girl who
used to shrink when her mother touched her,
for the mother's hand was scarred. How
hurt the mother was to see that little child of
hers shrink away almost with abhorrence!
One day when she could not bear it any
longer, she took the little tot into her arms
and told her about those ugly, scarred hands —
and how when she was a little baby her cot
had caught fire, and the mother's hands had
gone into that flaming cot and had lifted the
little one out, and as a result the hands were
scarred. That little girl was never afraid of
those hands again! I like to think that the
Master's hand is a scarred hand, and if ever
you are tempted to doubt His love, look at the
scar.
The reality upon which love rests, and then
note also the intimacy in which love grows,
for love is a growing thing. As in human
love there is completeness and incompleteness,
there are different depths, different degrees, so
is there in the mutual relationship betwixt us
and God. What is it that governs the depth
of our love to God? There is another verse in
the Epistle on which I had thought I ought to
speak to-night until God switched my mind on
to this subject, and this verse may help us
here. Do you remember the words. "If we
walk in the light, as He is in the light, we
have fellowship one with another"? What is
the essential for a growing love through a
deepening fellowship? It is that we should
be where God is: in the light! With human
love , you some times find love dying out
between husband and wife, and so often it is
because the one is not where the other is--
74
there is a great gap between; the distance
between them has grown spiritually, or it may
be physically; and it is not easy to maintain
love when there is distance, because where
there is distance there is absence, and where
there is absence, fellowship is lost! The
intimacy in which love grows is that of fellowship.
The last thought is the authority by which
love rules. Perfect love casteth out fear, and
there is no questioning of that authority. Is
there any authority we obey so readily as the
authority of love? Love exercises a dictatorship which is absolute; and how wonderful a
dictatorship it is! Sometimes when I am
playing with my smaller boy, aged four, I
pretend that I am fighting him. I clench my
fists at him and frown at him, I prance round
him, and push out my fists at him. Do you
know what he does? He runs straight into
my arms! His love trusts my love, and I
could not hit a little chap who did that; could
you? Perfect love casteth out fear. Some times your picture of God and mine is the
picture of a frowning face, and a clenched fist,
and a dominating presence; but that is not the
God. we have come to know in Christ. The
loveliest definition of the life of holiness which
I think I have ever come across is one which
has no element of tension in it, but one which I
believe has the secret. I came across it
while reading the life of Adolph Saphir. He
said, "If you want to live the Christian life as
you are meant to live it, get into the presence
of God and then do whatever you like."
Child of God—you should be living in the
love of the Father. Get there, will you; and
you will find that this verse will become true
in your experience. The tyranny will go; the
remedy will be applied; and the certainty will
come. There is no fear in love; and if during
these days you have been all tensed up until
you think something is going to snap, let all
that go, in the knowledge of the love of God,
which is eternal and unchanging!
We will make our response in the words of
a lovely hymn—
Oh, my Father, take me, make me
Pure and holy, all Thine own;
May each changing moment f ind me
At Thy footstool, near Thy throne.
(iii)
HOLINESS AND GLORY REV. W.
GRAHAM SCROGGIE,
D.D.
11.45 p.m.—FORENOON MEETING
OP EN SEC RETS OF V ICTORY
Rev. M. A. P. WOOD, D.S.C., M.A.
SALEM OR SODOM?
MR. ROBERT A. LAID - LAW
(iv)
THE POWER OF THE WORD TO GIVE VICTORY OVER SIN
DR. WILBUR SMITH
THE PROOF OF LOVE
MR. STEPHEN F. OLFORD
S A C R I F I C E A N D SO N G
MR. FRED MITCHELL
75
Free Unbounded Grace
H
EAVY rain did not deter even larger
numbers than on preceding days from
attending the prayer meetings; and at 10 a.m.
the large tent was practically full for the
third of Dr. Graham Scroggie's Bible Readings. Continuing his examination of Paul's
teaching concerning sanctification, he emphasized the power of holiness (Ram. 8:1-17).
This included a definition of the terms "flesh"
and "spirit," and led on to a study of the
Epistle's teaching concerning the Holy Spirit,
and His ministry to the believer.
This complete, Dr. Scroggie came to the
fourth of his main subjects—Glorification
(8:12-30). He showed how it is conditioned
by our suffering together with Christ. In
closing, he touched upon the triumphant
peroration of this section of Romans, in
8:31-39, which sums up all that the apostle
has been teaching, in terms of personal appropriation and exultation. Dr. Scroggie was
obliged, for lack of time, to abbreviate very
considerably what he had prepared; but it
appears in full in the following pages,
At the noon meeting the Rev. M. A. P. Wood
gave his one address in the large tent; and it
was a clear presentation of the very heart of
the Convention message, in simple, practical
terms. He gave as his subject, "Open Secrets
of Victory," which he summed up under three
headings—Reckon, Resist, Rest; to which he
prefixed an introduction, on repentance. A
change in the published programme took place
in the latter part of the meeting, for the Rev.
Alan Redpath, who was to have spoken next,
had suggested that Mr. Robert A, Laidlaw, of
New Zealand, should have an opportunity of
speaking once again from the Keswick platform, in his stead. The Convention Council
had agreed, and so Mr. Laidlaw gave a characteristically challenging message on Abraham
and Lot, as types of the spiritual and the
carnal Christian.
Rain continued all day; and the tent was
even more than usually full in the afternoon,
when Dr. Wilbur Smith came to the fourth
aspect of his consideration of the Word of God.
and the life of holiness—the power of the
Word in giving victory. As in his earlier
addresses, he took a sweeping survey of the
whole range of Scriptural teaching on this
theme; and then from Psalm 119: 11 and
Ephesians 6:17 he showed and illustrated its
meaning in personal experience.
Following this meeting, a reception to missionaries and visitors from overseas was held
in the small tent, which, as usual, was one of
the most happy gatherings of the week for
those privileged to attend. A report of it
appears at the end of the volume.
There was again a large overflow gathering
in the small tent for the evening meeting.
Rain beating noisily upon the canvas somewhat disturbed the quiet of an hour in which
spiritual issues were faced and determined;
but the presence and power of the Spirit were
very manifest, and many a spiritual victory
was won.
The meeting began with the hymn, "Hail,
Thou once despised Jesus"; then, after the
Rev. M. A. P. Wood had led in prayer, Mr.
Stephen Olford gave his one address in the
large tent. From the story of Abraham's offering of Isaac, he spoke powerfully upon the
proof of our love to God—the obedience, offering and outflow of it. The Old Testament
story became the present challenge to every
hearer—and doubtless the experience, for the
first time, of many.
It was with the consciousness that God had
spoken, and was speaking still, that we sang
"When I survey the wondrous Cross"; then
Mr. Fred Mitchell gave the closing message of
the day, on 2 Chronicles 29: 27—"When the
burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord
began also."
The burnt-offering typifies, he said, not only
the Lord Jesus Himself, but all who are identified with Him in His death. It is possible to
present our gifts and withhold ourselves. But
when all is on the altar, the song begins. As
the claim of the Lord upon His people—for
themselves, utterly and entirely—was lovingly
presented, it was clear that in many parts of
the tent the great transaction was taking place.
Then, as we bowed in prayer, Mr. Mitchell
invited those who had—or would—make their
response to the Lord, to rise; and throughout
the great congregation, many scores did so.
The tent once more was holy ground. In the
solemn hush, we quietly went our ways—the
rain necessitating the cancellation of the openair meeting.
76
GLORY—Romans 8
(3)—HOLINESS AND
( d ) Th e P o we r o f It
(iv) Glorification
..•
a •
( a ) T h e P ro m i s e o f I t
..
( b ) The Expectation of It ..
( c ) The Ce rtainty of It
..
8: 1-17.
8: 12-30.
8: 12-17.
8: 18-27.
8: 28-30.
Summary, 8: 31-39.
From Condemnation to Glorification
Celebrated in a Triumphant Song.
THE subject of Romans 6:1-8: 17 is Sanctification, the third great theme of the first
division of this Epistle; and the Apostle Paul
deals with the subject in four sections, which
expound the principle, the practice, the preventive, and the power of holiness. The first
three of these we have considered, and now
we are to contemplate the teaching on the
power of holiness in 8: 1-17.
Before doing so let us briefly survey the
chapter as a whole. The subject of sanctification, or holiness, is the topic of vv. 1-17; and
from this the Apostle proceeds to the consideration of his fourth and last great theme
in this doctri nal division of the Epistle ,
namely, glorification, which is surveyed in
vv. 12-30; after which, having expounded the
philosophy of salvation unde r the topics
condemnation, justification, sanctification and
glorification, Paul summarizes the whole of
these eight chapters in a triumphant song
(vv. 31-39).
Three things, then, invite our attention
now: first, the revelation of the power of
holiness; secondly, the glorious future of the
children of God beyond this life; and thirdly,
the eternal security of the believer in the love
of God.
So we come to the next of our main
headings4. The Power of Holiness (8: 1-17).
This is re ve aled to be the unhinde re d
dominion of the Spirit of God in the believer.
In 7:7-13 we are shown a "natural
man"; in 7 :14 -25, a "carnal man"; and
he re , in 8:1-17, a "spiritual man." In the
first section the individual is in Egypt; in
the second, he is in the wilderness; and in
the third, he is in the land. The first is
illustrated by Lazarus dead in the grave; the
second, by Lazarus alive, but bound hand
and foot with grave-clothes; and the third,
by Lazarus alive and free.
Moses told the Israelites that God brought
them out of Egypt that He might bring them
i n t o t h e l a n d ; b u t m a n y o f t h e m ne v e r
entered the land; they died in the wilderness.
In like manner, between Rom. 7:7 -13 and
8:1-17, one may remain in 7:14 -25. It is
perilously possible for a Christian to stick
b e twe e n C a l v a r y a nd P e n te c o s t. Ja c o b ,
between Bethel and Peniel, between his conversion and his full dedication to God, wasted
twenty years in Padan-aram. It is tragically
a c tua l tha t m any who have come ou t o f
Egyptian bondage have never entered into
Canaan blessing. Is it not true that very many
C hri s ti ans ha ve ne ve r she d the i r g ra ve clothes? There is the smell of the tomb about
them all the time. But we are here now, to
get into our royal robes.
The importance of this section of Romans 8
cannot possibly be exaggerated, because here
is the very heart-secret of Christian experience, and of the true experience of Christians.
The section should be studied with Galatians
5:13-25, which treats of the same subject, and
which was written a little earlier in the same
year as was the letter to Rome. The attentive
reader of these two portions of Holy Scripture
will recognize that the subject of both is the
flesh and the Spirit in the believer, and it is
of the utmost importance that we understand
the meaning and use of these terms.
(i) The Spirit. In Rom. 8:1 -17 the word
"spirit" occurs seventeen times, and the
reader of the passage in the Authorized and
Revised Versions will be puzzled to know
what is meant by the word, because in the
Authorized it is spelt fourteen times with a
77
capital "S," and three times with a small "s"
(vv. 10, 15, 16); but in the Revised, in seven
instances the "S" is a capital, and in ten instances it is small. It can be assumed that
when the "s" is small it is the human spirit
that is referred to, and when it is a capital,
the reference is to the Holy Spirit. Which,
then, of these Versions is correct? Of that,
each reader must judge for himself, because
men of equal scholarship and spiritual insight
differ on the subject; but the difference is not
so great as at first sight it may appear,
because as the Apostle is addressing Christians
only the human spirit is viewed as being
under the control of the Holy Spirit. Bishop
Handley Moule takes the majority of the
references to be to the Holy Spirit, and this
is the view we adopt.
More is said in this portion about the Holy
Spirit than anywhere else in the New Testament, except in our Lord's Upper Room discourse (John 14-16). In ch. 7, where the
preventive of holiness is discussed, there is no
reference whatever to the Holy Spirit; but
when the Apostle reaches the point where he
can say, "I thank God through Christ Jesus
our Lord," he is ready to tell his readers where
the true and only power of 'holiness lies. It is
in the indwelling Spirit, made regnant in the
believer by faith. From the darkness and
dampness of chapter 7 the Apostle emerges
into the clear and comforting truths of chapter 8. He passes from the prostration of
defeat to the promise and provision of victory;
from depression to delight, and from a sigh
to a song.
But in this portion, as in Galatians 5, there
is another word, the meaning of which we
must know if we are to understand these
Scriptures and ourselves. It is—
(ii) The Fle sh. This wo rd, as used in
Scripture, has many meanings, one of which
is Paul's use of it metaphorically, as in the
passage before us. Here, and elsewhere in
the Pauline Epistles, it signifies either the
state of man unregenerate, or "in the regenerate, the state of that element of the being
which still resists grace" (Moule). It is in this
latter sense that the Apostle uses it in these
seventeen verses, where it occurs thirteen
times. It is employed, therefore, not in a
literal, but in a moral sense. The "flesh" is
our unregenerate and unregenerable fallen
nature. For the believer it was put to death
on the Cross, but the death was judicial and
not actual, and so Paul says, "reckon ye yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive
unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord"
(6: 11).
The Flesh and the Spirit. These, then, are
the two powers that are ever claiming us for
themselves. When we became Christians this
old nature was not eliminated. It was very
active in the Galatians, and Paul asks them,
"Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the
Spirit, are ye now perfecting yourselves in the
flesh?" and later in the same Epistle he says,
the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the
Spirit against the flesh, for these are contrary the one to the other, so that ye may
not do the things that ye would (5:17).
In every unregenerate person there is but
one nature, his fallen nature; but in every
Christian there are two, his fallen self which
was judicially put to death when Christ died,
and his new regenerate nature which was
secured for him by Christ's resurrection, and
im parted to him at the m oment o f his
regeneration.
If the "flesh" had ceased to exist in us, it
could never have been said that it "lusts
against the Spirit"; nor, "if we walk in the
Spirit we shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh"
(Gal. 5). This old self is ever with us, and
is ready to leap into activity again should the
restraint of faith in the will and power of
Christ to overcome it by the Holy Spirit be
removed. Does not the experience of each
of us bear witness to this fact?
If the old self-nature which we inherited
from the Fall, actually died in us at the time
of our conversion, the first seventeen verses
of Romans 8 can have no meaning. What the
Apostle is here insisting upon is that a power
is given to us, the Holy Spirit, by whom, if
faith be present and continuous, the power of
self is negatived; it is annulled—that is, it is
put out of business. Sin is not dead, but we
are to reckon ourselves to be dead to it. When
Peter walked on the water the power of
gravitation did not cease to exist, but the
operation of a greater law rendered it, for the
time being, inoperative; but as soon as Peter
put himself from under that new law, the old
law again asserted itself, and he began to sink.
Now "the law of the Spirit of life in Christ
Jesus made us (at the time of our conversion)
free from the law of sin and death," so that
no longer are we to "walk after the flesh, but
after the Spirit." If the Holy Spirit, trusted
by us, cannot enable us to live a life of continuous victory over indwelling sin, then
Christianity is a failure and a farce. But it
is not a failure and a farce, for Paul
triumphed; and if he did, we can; and the
Spirit who can give us victory for a single
hour, can give us victory every hour. The
chapter which begins with "no condemnation"
shows us that there need be no defeat.
But victory is not inevitable. We must
carry some responsibility for our sanctification. The very existence of this Convention
78
is evidence of this fact. God's provision
must be trusted if we are to triumph. What
is ours by covenant must become ours by
appropriation. What we are by and in
Christ, we are to become by the indwelling
Holy Spirit. The flesh and the Spirit cannot
be on the throne of our life at the same
time, but one or other of them must be,
and our responsibility is to say which of
them shall be.
Justification is by faith, and not by
struggle, and, in like manner, sanctification
is not by struggle but by faith. Faith is one
of the keywords of this Epistle, occurring
over sixty times. It is the hand that takes
what God offers; it is the faculty that
believes what God says; it is the step that
follows where God leads. "Without faith it is
impossible to please God."
If we "walk after the flesh," it is
because we have not faith. We may recite
every day of our life, "I believe in the Holy
Ghost," but if we do not "walk after the
Spirit" we do not believe in Him. "If we live
in the Spirit, let us also walk in the
Spirit," and if we "walk in the Spirit, we
shall not fulfil the desire of the flesh."
We are not to try to convert the "flesh," but
rather, to recognize that it has been
crucified; and because this is a truth of
revelation, it ought to become one of
experience.
called the "Spirit of adoption," whereby the
believer has the privilege and right to call
God "Abba, Father" (v. 15). And, not to go
further at present than these seventeen
verses, it is said that the divine Spirit bears
witness with our human spirit that we are
God's children, and heirs of God and of
Christ (vv. 16, 17).
It is He, not It, who within us
antagonizes the "flesh," and, if we will
but let Him, He will render it impotent as
a principle and power of life.
Life immortal, heaven descending,
Lo! my heart the Spirit's shrine;
God and man in oneness blending,
Oh, what fellowship is mine!
Full salvation!
Raised in Christ to life divine.
But this wonderful revelation of the personality and power of the Spirit also
warns us against thinking of Him apart
from Christ, so making a doctrine of the
Spirit which is the characteristic of a
spurious Pentecostalism. Christ came to
reveal and glorify the Father, and the Spirit
has come to reveal and glorify Christ. His
being in us, is Christ in us. "Our
experimental proof of the Spirit's fullness
is that Christ to us is all." Paul but
teaches what Christ Himself declared
when He said of the Spirit:
The Holy Spirit.
This eighth chapter of Romans is the Locus
He will not speak on His own authority,
but whatever He hears He will speak . . . He
will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine,
classicus of Paul's teaching on the subject
of the Holy Spirit, there being about
twenty references to Him here, and some
understanding of these is necessary if our
sanctification is to be genuine and
progressive.
It is made abundantly clear that the
power of holiness is not a mere
influence. but a divine Person. He is
related to God, and to Christ, as being
One of a Trinity (v. 9). He is the "Spirit of
life" (v. 2), in that He is both the Giver
and the Sustainer of life, to and in the
believer. By Him our principle of conduct is
regulated, which is spoken of here as "walking after" Him (v. 4). His "mind" is
referred to, which, if the believer choose it,
he will find to be "life and peace" (v. 6). It is
stated that the believer is the sphere of
the Spirit's indwelling, and that the
Spirit is the sphere of the believer's life (v.
9). It is affirmed that if one "has not the
Spirit of Christ," he is not a Christian at
all (v. 9). It is said that at last, at the
resurrection, the Spirit will "quicken
our mortal bodies" (v. 11). We are told that
only by the Spirit can we progressively "put
to death the doings of the body," and, in
consequence, "live" (v. 13). It is
revealed that the Spirit guides all who are
truly subject in thought, word and deed
to the rule of God's will (v. 14). He is
and declare it to you (John 16: 13, 14).
There is no advance from Christ to the
Spirit, but there is a perilous decline
where the attempt is made to give the
Spirit prominence over Christ. When
Jesus said: "I will not leave you desolate; I
come to you," He was referring to the
advent of the Holy Spirit; so that the
Spirit's coming to the Church was Christ's
coming, and the Spirit's presence in the
Church, and in the Christian, is Christ's
presence.
And now we come to the last of Paul's four
themes:
IV. GLORIFICATION (8:12-30).
In the consideration of the Christian
life, the Apostle views it first of all in the
present, and then, in the future. In the
present its characteristic is holiness, and in
the future its consummation will be glory.
In 8:12-17 the one subject is concluded and
the other is commenced; and this shows how
intimately connected these subjects are.
In these verses (12-30) relating to coming
glory, three things claim our attention: (i) the
promise of it (vv. 12-17); (ii) the
expectation
79
2 The Expectation of Coming Glory (vv. 1827).
This expectation is stimulated and intensified by the suffering referred to. The
Apostle was very competent to speak on this
subject, because he had been, was, and was
yet to be, a great sufferer for Christ.
Comparing himself with others, he says that
his were—
of it (vv. 18-27); and (iii) the certainty of
it (vv. 28-30).
1. The Promise of Coming Glory (vv. 12-
17).
Paul says that "the Spirit bears witness
with our spirit that we are children of God;
and if children—children by birth, as well
as by adoption—then heirs, heirs of God, and
fellow-heirs with Christ, provided we suffertogether, in order that we may also be
glorified-together" (vv. 16, 17). It is the
word "heirs" that is important here, and
which indicates that the Apostle has now
the future in view. An h eir i s o ne who
w i l l c o m e in t o an inheritance, one who
does not as yet possess his estate. As
children born into God's family, we shall one
day enter into the full possession of His
Kingdom. Paul speaks of it as "the
inheritance among all them that are sanctified"; and says that our being "sealed
with the Holy Spirit of promise" is "an
earnest of our inheritance"; and Peter
speaks
of
it
as
"an
inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that
fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for
(us)." What this will be we cannot tell, for
the extent and wonder of it are beyond
our present comprehension, but it is
promised to all who are God's children by
regeneration, and only to such, for there is
no heirship where there is no sonship.
In this world an heir does not enter
upon his inheritance until the present
possessor of it deceases, but in the case of
the believer, God is not a dying testator,
but the ever-living bestower of His goods
on His children.
It is at this point that Paul introduces a
subject which is to dominate the rest of this
chapter, namely that suffering is the path to
glory. We are heirs of God and of Christ.
far greater labours, far more imprisonments,
with countless beatings, and often near
death. Five times I received at the hands
of the Jews forty lashes less one. Three
times I have been beaten with rods;
once I was stoned. Three times I have been
shipwrecked; a night and a day I have
been adrift at sea; on f requent
journeys, in danger from rivers, danger
from robbers, danger f rom my own people,
danger from Gentiles, danger in the city,
danger in the wilderness, danger at sea,
danger from false brethren; in toil and
hardship, through many a sleepless
night, in hunger and thirst, often
without food, in cold and exposure. And,
apart from other things, there is the daily
pressure upon me of my anxiety for all the
churches (2 Cor. 11: 23-28).
If any of us had endured a third of these
sufferings, we would have written a portly
volume about it, and have expected an
enriching royalty from our publisher; but
about it all the Apostle says,
I consider that the sufferings of this present
time are not worth comparing with the glory
that is to be revealed to us (v. 18).
And in another great passage he says,
Though our outward man is being brought
to decay, yet the inward is being renewed
day by day. For the momentary lightness
of our tribulation an eternal weight of glory,
excessively surpassing, works out (2 Cor. 4:
if-indeed we-suffer-together,
that also we-may-be-glorified-together (v. 17)
16, 17).
There are only five words in this
statement, as Paul dictated it, and two of
them are verbs, "to-suffer-with," and "toglorify-with"; the first of which occurs
only twice in the New Testament, and the
second, only here. But what is important
to notice is that the reference to
"suffering-with" is in the present tense, and
the reference to "being-glorified with" is in
the aorist tense, which means that, whereas
the suffering is continuous in this life, the
being-glorified is instantaneous and complete in the next life. The suffering
referred to is not that which is the lot of all
men, but that which is due to our union
with Christ, to our being Christians. With
this in mind let us follow Paul as he now
speaks of-
How wonderful it would be if this truth
could be impressed upon every suffering
Christian in China, and Russia, in Korea, and
Malaya, in Europe and elsewhere, for it is a
truth that
Sometime, when all, life's lessons have beer.
learned,
And sun and stars for evermore have set,
The things which our weak judgments here
have spurned,
The th in gs o 'e r wh ic h we gr ie v e d with
lashes wet,
Will flash before us, out of life's dark night,
As stars shine most in deeper tints of blue;
And we shall see how all God's plans are
right,
And how what seemed reproof was love
most true.
80
But not to-day. Then be content, poor heart.
God's plans like lilies pure and white unfold;
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart,
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold.
And if, through patient toil, we reach the land
Where tired feet, with sandals loosed, may rest.
Where we shall clearly see and understand,
I think that we will say, "God knew the best."
Well, having made this statement about
coming glory, the Apostle shows the need
for it, and declares the certainty of it, in
respect first of creation, and then, of the
Christian.
First, then, is—
(a) The Expectation of the Creation (vv.
18-22).
This is a marvellous passage, and would
require angelic eloquence to do it justice. The
Apo stle says th at all cre atio n , which
mysteriously came under the curse of man's
Fall, is, at the end, to share in man's redemption; it is to be completely changed, and to
enter on "an endless aeon of indissoluble life
and splendour." Many and great are the
beauties and uses of nature, but in it also are
dreadful and devastating forces, forces
which act with impersonal ferocity. There
are flood and flame, typhoon and tornado,
blizzard and blight, volcanic eruption and
cyclonic destruction, terrifying lightning
and thundering avalanche, cruel oceans,
fearsome
deserts,
and
threatening
mountains.
Also there are savage beasts, poisonous reptiles, loathsome insects, horrible fishes and
dangerous birds. There is a depravity of
nature which is unwitting, and, as the Apostle
says, "unwilling"; but all this will be
changed.
Very graphic is the Apostle's declaration
that all creation as though listening for the
footfall of God, is "waiting-with-outstretchedhead" for the day when redemption shall be
accomplished, when it too "shall be delivered
from the bondage of corruption into the
glorious liberty of the children of God."
It is when this takes place that "the
hills shall break forth into singing, and all
the trees of the field shall clap their
hands"; that "the wilderness and the
solitary place shall be glad, and the desert
shall rejoice and blossom as the rose";
that "the wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
and the leopard shall lie down with the kid,
and the calf, and the young lion, and the
fatling, together; and the suckling child
shall play on the hole of the asp, and the
weaned child shall put his hand on the
adder's den; and they shall not hurt nor
destroy" (Isa. 11:6-9). Then will the whole
creation "groan and
travail in pain" no more. That day is coming,
and it may be nearer than we think.
From this aspect of his subject the Apostle
passes on to the consideration of—
(b) The Expectation of the Christian (vv.
23-27).
The Creation groans, and the Christian
groans; the Creation eagerly waits, and the
Christian eagerly waits; the Creation awaits
the believer's full redemption, and the Christian awaits his own full redemption, the
redemption of the body; deliverance is
promised to the Creation, and deliverance is
the sure prospect of the Christian. There is
this difference however, that whereas the
longing of the Creation is without sensibility
or emotion, the longing of the Christian is in
the full consciousness of a rational and moral
being who has been regenerated by the Spirit
of God, and who is living in confident
assurance that "He who has begun a good
work in us, will perfect it unto, and in, the
day of Jesus Christ."
It would be more correct to say that "we are
saved in hope," than by it; and this jus t
means, that "when we believed we accepted
a salvation whose realization was future, and
could therefore be enjoyed only in the hope
we felt in view of it." This hope, we learn
from other references, is that of Christ's
Return, when our regenerated selves will be
given transfigured bodies, and the work of
redemption be thus completed.
The Christian's hope is not that the world
will be converted, but that the Lord will come
again, and complete, first in His Church, and
then in the earth, what He died on the Cross
to accomplish. Here and now the work is imperfect, and must remain so until the Advent
It is not active sinfulness that must remain,
but what Paul calls "weakness," or `infirmity,"
"all that encumbers and obstructs our `patient
expectation'"; and in this he includes our
prayers.
He says, what surely we are all aware of in
our own devotional life, that "we do not know
how to pray as we ought." The spirit of our
prayers may be right, but, too often, what I
may call the text of them, is mistaken. When
that demon-possessed man who was healed by
Jesus, "begged Him that he might be with
Him," the motive was good, but the request
was refused; instead, Jesus sent him home to
tell his friends of the mercy that had been
shown to him. Paul, who had what he called
"a thorn in the flesh," prayed that it might
be removed, but his request was not granted;
instead, God gave him grace to endure it.
Monica prayed that her profligate son
Augustine might not go to Rome, where he
would find a cesspool of iniquity to encourage
him in sin, but thither her wayward boy went,
81
and the move proved a step on the way to
Milan where he was converted. Our requests
may be mistaken, but if our heart is right
we cannot say that our prayers have been
unanswered.
"We ask for strength that we might achieve;
we are made weak that we might obey. We
ask for health that we might do greater things:
we are give n i nfirmity that we might do
be tte r things. We ask for powe r that we
might have praise of men; we are given weakness that we might feel our need of God. We
ask for all things that we might enjoy life; we
are given life that we might enjoy all things."
It may be that we receive little of what we
ask for, but we yet may receive all that we
hope for.
And how does this come about? Our portion
tells us: "The Spirit Himself intercedes for
us with sighs too deep for words," and this
intercession for the saints is "according to the
will of God" (vv. 26, 27). The real secret of
a true prayer life is found in the fact that both
the Spirit and the risen Lord are praying with
us, and for us, and as their prayers must be
answered, the believer knows that his groaning will cease, and that he will enter into
glory.
Having called attention, relative to our
glorification, to the promise, and the expectation of it, the Apostle now crowns the subject
by presenting in immortal words-
yet, how many there are who have doubts
about this declaration, notwithstanding their
profession of saving faith. It would seem,
then, that "them that love God" has a particular, and not merely a general significance.
It would seem to refer to those Christians who
are living in daily trustful fellowship wit h
God, through Christ, by the Spirit; those to
whom God's will is the law of their life; and
who see all circumstances and happenings in
which they have a share, in the light of His
loving purpose for them. The divine "purp o s e " e m b ra c e s a l l C h r i s ti a ns , b u t a l l
Christians are not yielded to the divine "purpose"; but to those who are, and who in this
way show their love for God, "all things worktogether for good." For all such, "out of the
eater comes forth meat, and out of the strong
comes forth sweetness."
Nourishment and satisfaction come out of
what devours and desolates; the trustful find
a blessing in the blast; for them swords are
turned into ploughshares, and spears into
pruning-hooks; peace emerges from conflict;
vigour grows out of weakness; hope shines
forth from despair as stars in the night; and
rapture becomes the fair flower of anguish.
"All things work-together for good to them
that love God." The true lover of God finds
tha t the re i s a co mpe nsa ti o n fo r e ve ry
handicap, and a reward for every disability.
He
3. The Certainty of Coming Glory (vv. 28-30).
In v. 26, relative to prayer, he says, "we
know not," but here, relative to a vaster subject, he says, "we know." When he says, "we
know not," he refers to our understanding,
but here he refers to our faith, for in no other
way could "we know that all th ings work
together for good to them that love God, to
them who are called according to His purpose."
This knowledge is by faith in God's Word,
but in actual experience we have often found
it difficult to believe what here is declared.
Of course "we know" that things work, that
all things work, that all things work-together.
So far we can go with steady tread; but at
the next point, "all things work-together for
good," there is a likelihood that we may falter.
Indeed, we may, and should, entirely stop, for
it is not true that "all things work-together for
good"; at least, this is not what the passage
says. On the contrary, earlier in the Epistle,
Paul says that "the law works wrath" (4: 15),
and that "sin works death" (7:13), Only
within a certain limitation is it true that "all
things work-together for good," and this
limitation is, "to them that love God." There
is a sense in which every believer loves God,
for we could not be Christians unless we did;
Climbs the rainbow through the rain,
and discovers that seeming disaster becomes
the s hi ni ng wa y to so vere i g nty . P ri s o n
became this to Joseph, and Paul, and Bunyan;
a nd i n c rue l c ap ti v i ty i n P a tmo s , Jo hn
received visions which have enriched the
Church of God for over nineteen hundred
years. In our social life we have to know in
order to love, but in our spiritual life we have
to love in order to know.
That the "purpose" of God for His people
determines His providence relative to them,
is made clear in what immediately follows in
this portion.
Those whom He foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His
Son ... and those whom He predestined He
also called; and those whom. He called He
also justified; and those whom He justified
He also glorified.
What a golden chain of blessings—predestined, conformed, called, justified, and glorified; and I would have you observe that all
the tenses are in the past; "the whole process
is viewed as in its eternal completeness. We
look back, as it were, from the view-point of
glory" (Houle); and herein is the assurance
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of which I am speaking. Everything from
predestination before history began, to glorification at its end is, in God's view, already
accomplished, and in the Church's experience
will be accomplished when her course on earth
is finished.
Profound mysteries lie embedded in this
great utterance, and theologians will continue to debate them, but our obligation and
privilege here and now is to believe them, and
to bo w w i th de vo u t th a nk s g i v i ng i n H i s
presence who is our Alpha and Omega,
With this v. 30, the doctrinal division of the
Epistle ends, and, as is the manner of the
Apostle, the whole of the preceding unfolding
is summarized in the remaining verses of the
chapter (31-39); so let us conclude by looking
at this final rapturous passage.
SUMMARY (8:31-39).
We have said and seen that the first of the
three main divisions of this Epistle ends with
chapter 8, and that in Unfolding the philosophy
of salvation the Apostle discusses four subjects: condemnation, justification, sanctification and glorification. At the end of the first
two subjects he summarizes his argument,
tracing condemnation to Adam, and justification to Christ. He then proceeds to discuss
sanctification, and glorification, and, this done,
he summarizes the whole argument from condemnation to glorification, celebrating it in a
triumphant song.
Surely this must be one of the most eloquent
passages in all literature! Listen to it, in
Tyndale's incomparable translation:
What shall we then say to these things?
if God be for us, who can be against us?
He that spared not His own Son,
But delivered Him up for us all,
How shall He not with Him
Also freely give us all things?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect?
God that justifteth?
Who is He that condemneth?
Christ that died? yea rather that is risen
again?
Who is even at the right hand of God?
Who also maketh intercession for us?
Who shall separate us f rom the love of
Christ?
Tribulation? or distress? or pers ecution?
Or famine? or nakedness? or peril? or
sword?
As it is written:
"For Thy sake we are killed all the day
long;
We are accounted as sheep f or the
slaughter."
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Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors
Through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that
Neither death, nor life,
No r ang e ls , n or pr in c ipal it ie s , no r
powers,
Nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth,
Nor any other creature,
Shall be able to separate us from the love of
God,
Which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We may divide this magnificent passage into
two portions, and in the treatment of each, the
Apostle well-nigh exhausts thought and language. Both relate to the believer's security, as
assuring glory, but the first (vv. 31-34) tells of
the reality of it; and the second (vv. 35-39) tells
of the eternity of it.
(i) The Reality of the Believer's Security
(vv. 31-34),
"What shall we then say to these things?"
Wha t thi ng s? Eve ry thing tha t has gone
before in this Epistle. The challenge is thrown
out, "Who can be against us?" Oh, there are
innumerable adversaries ever ready and
eager to oppress the people of God. When
Paul says "Who can?" he does not mean that
there are none that can, but that there are
none that can do so with any hope of success,
because they have Almighty God to reckon
with; and He; having given "His own Son" to
die for us, will not let the enemy damage the
security of His people.
Having asked a question about opposition.
and answered it, Paul now asks a question
about accusation, and answers it. Here I
follow the punctuation which makes all the
phrases in this paragraph questions, six in all.
This reading gives dramatic force to the
paragraph, and each question implies the
answer of an emphatic "No."
"Who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect?" "Who is he that condemneth?"
No one can be condemned who is not charged,
but the Apostle separates the two ideas, and
answers the challenge about the "charge" by
asking, with incredulity, another question:
"Will the God who has justified His people
bring a fatal 'charge' against them?' Were
that possible, justification would be of no
avail. Sin may charge us, Satan may charge
us, the law may charge us, our own conscience
and heart may charge us, but if God has justified
us—and He has, if we have believed—all
accusers are silenced, for the charges are no
longer valid.
But this notwithstanding, the Apostle asks
the further question, "Who is he that condemneth?" and for answer asks four other
questions in rapid succession, questions which
summarize the whole Christian Gospel. Will
Christ condemn us who died for us? No. Will
Christ condemn us who rose again for us?
No. Will Christ condemn us who is now at
God's right hand for us? No. Will Christ condemn us who is forever interceding for us?
A thousand times "No." Christ's crucifixion,
resurrection, ascension, and intercession make
the condemnation of His people an utter impossibility. Both "charge" and "condemnation"
are impossible, for both were accepted and
discharged on Calvary by the sinless Lamb of
God. So
defencelessness, exposure to harm, and
horrible death—in all these things
we more than overcome— we are ove rvictorious, we gain a victory that is
more than a victory—
through Him who loved us (v. 37)
How can we "more than overcome"? Can
one more than win? Oh yes. One can obtain
a victory on points; not that however, but an
overwhelming defeat of the foe is in Paul's
mind. This is what he means when he says
elsewhere:
On every side pressed hard,
But not hemmed in:
Without a way,
But not without a by-way:
Pursued,
but not abandoned:
Thrown down,
But not destroyed (2 Cor. 4:8, 9.
Rotherham).
Now are we free, there's no condemnation;
Jesus provided a perfect salvation.
The matter of the believer's security is as
certain as God can make it.
And now the Apostle has something to say
about—
(ii) The Eternity of the Believer's Security
(vv. 35-39).
Here another question arises, relating to the
believer's safety. The answers to the previous
one about the reality of our security, all point
to the past and the present; to what God by
Christ has done, and is now doing for us. But
what about the future? May it not be that
some hostile power will succeed in violently
breaking the bond which unites us to the
Lord, and on which both our justification and
sanctification rest? With this in mind the
Apostle asks: "Who shall separate us from
the love of Christ?"
Present security can be of little comfort to
us, if there is the possibility of future separation. But this challenge also Paul takes up,
and with glowing eloquence puts the matter
beyond dispute. He names seven angry personalities that bear a grudge at the bond
uniting believers to Christ, and he asks, "Can
any one of these break the bond, and sever
us from Christ?"
Here are the menacing powers—Tribulation? Anguish? Pe rsecution? Famine?
Nakedness? Dange r? Sword? Can any of
these separate us from Christ? Of all people
Paul had the greatest right to ask such a question, because each of these troubles had
attacked him (2 Cor. 6: 4-10; 11: 23-28; 12: 10),
but no one of them, nor all of them together,
had separated him from his Lord. The last
one , the sword, had ye t to come . but
triumphantly Paul faced that also.
And now, before his final burst of God i n spi re d e motio n , the Apos tle g ive s his
emphatic answer to the questions just asked.
He says:
But in all these things—cruel oppression,
acute pain , malignant pursuit, starvation.
We are not to come out of the fray saying,
"My! that was a narrow shave," but with a
dance, swinging Goliath's head in our hand.
And now follows a statement of Paul's own
faith, wherein he spreads his wings and soars
like an eagle right into the sun. He says:
"I am persuaded"—assured confident, convinced—no humming-and-hawing there, but
a ringing confidence.
Paul is not expressing an opinion, but
affirming a conviction; and one well-founded
c o nv i c t i o n i s w o r t h f a r m o re t h a n te n
thousand dubious opinions. You will never be
a power until you know something on which
you are prepared to stake your life.
Well, what is the substance of Paul's persuasion? Just this, that there are no powers
throughout the whole universe that are able
to snap the bond between the Saviour and the
believer. And here he summons the soul's
adversaries, in pairs, only to dismiss them.
The first pair represent extremes of state—
death, and life. Can death separate us from
Christ? No. Can life? which is often more
difficult that death? No. Both these states
can separate us from much, but not from
Christ's love; therefore they are put aside to
head a group of incompetents and impotents.
The second pair represent superhuman
intelligences—angels, and principalities, and
Paul adds powers, the whole dominion of
fallen spiritual hosts, against whom he says
we wrestle. These are terrifying forces, but
they are entirely unable to separate the
Christian from Christ, for no one can come
between us and Him but ourselves.
The third pair represent all time which is
ours—things present, and things to come, "the
84
boundless field of circumstance and contingency." The hardships of the present, and the
uncertainties of the future are powerless to
detach us from Him in whom "we live, and
move, and have our being."
Stronger His love than death or hell;
Its riches are unsearchable;
The first-born sons of light
Desire in vain its depths to see,
They cannot reach the mystery,
The length, the breadth, the height.
This first division of the Epistle which
began in the midnight darkness of man's
sin, ends in the blazing light of God's love. It
began by showing us what we are by nature,
and it ends by showing us what we may
become by grace. It began with "There is
none that doeth good, no, not one," and it
ends with "We are more than conquerors
through Him that loved us." From the nadir of
despair we are lifted to the zenith of
triumph. If Christ is left to us nothing
else matters. Hurtful though our enemies
can be to us, we can snap our fingers at
them, and say,
I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that
neither tribulation, nor distress, nor persecution, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor
sword, nor death, nor life, nor principalities,
nor powers, nor things present, nor
things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any
other created thing—no one of these, nor
all of them together, is able to separate
me from the love of God, of which
Christ is the embodiment. Glory be to
the Father, and to the Son, and to the
Holy Ghost,
Amen, and Amen.
The fourth pair represent dimensions of
space—height and depth. These, with all that
they hold of mystery and immensity, cannot
break the bond between us and our
Redeemer.
And lest in this mighty sweep of things,
abstract and concrete, personal and impersonal, dimensional and temporal, visible and
invisible, animate and inaminate, intellectual
and insensible, incorporeal and physical,
lest, all these notwithstanding, Paul should
have omitted anything, he adds, "nor any
other created thing throughout all creation"
shall have the power to sunder us from
"the love of God which is in Christ Jesus
our Lord."
The Apostle strikes the deepest and sweetest
note when he speaks of the love of God,
which in v. 35 is spoken of as "the love of
Christ," and in 15:30, as "the love of the
Spirit." This is the love of the Triune God,
and is a lo ve, n o t o f sen tim ent o r
em o tio n , but
of principle; a love
unprovoked by us, and beyond our power
to destroy. It is from this love that nothing
and no one can separate us.
85
Open Secrets of Victory
BY THE REV. MAURICE A. P. WOOD, D.S.C., M.A.
Y subject this morning is, "Open Secrets
of Victory." I am glad it is just the right
M
sort of day, wet and cold and rather miserable,
and thoroughly in those incomparable Bible
Readings morning by morning! Yet it is such
an important word that it is good for us to
study it perhaps more slowly than we can
at the speed at which we must take the great
truths in our Bible Readings.
The Greek word used here is translated
"reckon" only six times, out of the forty
times it is found in the New Testament: it is
translated "account" three times; "account of"
once; "conclude" once; "count" five; "impute"
eight; "reason" once; "suppose" twice; "think"
eight times: but it is never translated "pretend." I feel this is most important, because
some of us Christians read this verse in our
own Revised Version like this: "Pretend yourselves to be dead to sin," and then under your
breath you say, "I jolly well know I am not."
I am sure this is the way to approach it:
reckon, count, reason, or think, that you are
indeed dead unto sin.
You will notice the word "Likewise" starts
the verse. That is the key which links our
position with Christ's full salvation. "Likewise also."
The argument seems to me to run like this.
The Lord Jesus Christ has died upon the Cross.
There He was dead, Now, death has these
thoughts in it: first, separated; that is the idea
of death, separation from the fact of sin; justified from the guilt and penalty of sin; and
later, free from the power of sin. So we
reckon ourselves dead to sin, which does not
mean that we are to persuade ourselves into
thinking that we are numb to the power of
temptation, because we know we are not; but
we count ourselves dead to sin because we are
now in the Lord Jesus Christ, if we have truly
committed ourselves to Him and are born of
the Spirit. So as the Lord Jesus was separated
from sin and was guiltless from the penalty
of sin, because He paid the full amount of it,
and was always free from the power of sin,
we are to enter into this experience of death;
and thank God that once and for all Christ
has separated us from sin which could send
us to hell. In so doing He has made us guiltless of that sin in our members and ourselves;
and now we should begin to live in the experience of the state in which we find ourselves, and count ourselves dead to its power
because we are indeed actually dead to the
in which to tackle this subject, because I am
sure you feel as I do in this wonderful week
of Convention, that we are so near to heaven
that it is awfully hard to remember what it
is going to be like to be back on earth in a
week's time. But we are drawn aside to meet
with our risen Lord that we may find from
Him the strength for the journey, the
ammunition for the battle, and the staying
power which we need in these coming days.
So I bring you Open Secrets of Victory.
I have heard of Keswick speakers in the
past who have been given a deep sense of the
certainty of their message; it is a real
encouragement from the Lord to have no distress of mind about my word to you this morning. The Lord gave it to me very clearly
before I left Islington, and as I have been looking at it and preparing it and praying over
it, the message remains the same with one
addition, an emphasis upon each of the points
which had been given me by God before came
here.
I have three very simple words: reckon,
resist, and rest, to which I will add one more
to support those three as an introduction, and
that is the word repentance. I am sure this
has been for you and for me one of the salient
words of these opening days, as God's Spirit
has shown us just how sinful we are in the
sight of God's amazing holiness and His love
in Jesus and as we are led to repent truly of
our former sins, seeing ourselves as we really
are in God's sight. I believe this mention of
repentance will come to us in graphic form if
we see our sins as the grave-clothes around
Lazarus, as he was raised, and as the Lord
Jesus said in John 11:44, "Loose him, and let
him go." So let us turn in all honesty from
anything of a sinful nature which holds us,
and seek together to study the open secrets
of victory found in the Word of God.
In Romans 6: 11 we read, "Likewise reckon
ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin,
but alive unto God through Jesus Christ." It
is indeed a brave man who tells a Keswick
audience what Paul means in Romans, and
there have been heart-searchings on this word
as we have had it dealt with so wonderfully
86
guilt which was ours. That is to say, we are
back again to the heading of Dr. Scroggie's
Bible Readings, "Salvation and Behaviour,"
linked closely together.
But the reckoning is not only one of death.
Look at the ve rse again. It is a reckoning
to life. "Likewise reckon ye also yourselves
to be dead indeed unto sin, but—and because
Paul tends to fill his verses in so tightly, one
has to open them out like the petals of a flower
to see them fully—likewise reckon ye yourselves to be alive unto God—alive unto Jesus
Christ our Lord."
So it is not only a negative reckoning of
"dead to sin," it is a positive reckoning, thinking, imputing, counting ourselves to be alive
to Jesus. As we are separated from the guilt
of sin, now we are to be separated to the
holiness of Christ experimentally day by day.
So our standing and our state are brought
together.
John Stott said to me some time ago, "I
believe that Christian doctrine is essential for
holiness of life, otherwise we get into a great
deal of distress and introspection." Take, then,
that one word "reckon," and I leave it with
a sigh of relief, not because it is not one of
the most wonderful words in the Bible, but
because we have had it from a prince of
preachers during these days, and I am glad to
leave it.
The second word is "resist." Will you turn
to 1 Peter 5:9. One of the great joys of this
Convention is that you have all got your Bibles.
I hope you will bring into the life of your own
church and chapel at home a proper sense
of being ill equipped if the Scriptures are not
there. Biblical theology is the right road back
to holiness of life and personal service. In
1 Peter 5:9 we read, "whom resist stedfast
in the faith," v. 8 having spoken of the devil.
Turn also to James 4:7, 8, where the same
truth is brought home: "Submit yourselves
therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will
flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will
draw nigh to you." "Resist the devil" is the
clear command from James in his practical
and spiritual Epistle; and St. Peter says,
"Resist in the faith." The emphasis I would
lay on these three words is—reckon, but in the
faith of Christ, for faith is the great principle,
not merely of salvation, but of victory, service,
growth, in fact of every part of our Christian
lives. It is not so much the strength of our
faith, but the direction of our faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. So we are to resist through
faith in Jesus Christ.
I believe the greatest harm that one school of
psychologists has done for our generation is
to excuse our behaviour, and having done that,
to talk of repressions which ordinary laymen
in the street do not understand. So
a mistaken idea has got abroad that if you
want to do something very much indeed, it
may upset your psyche if you do not do it,
and that is a repression. That is a lot of
nonsense, because the word "repression" refers
entirely to the sub-conscious, technically, and
never to the conscious. It is of course exactly
the same as the doctrine of the films. They
have a doctrine as much as we have, and it is
that if you want a thing badly enough it is
right for you to have it. We must face the fact
that because of some of these ideas many
Christians of this generation do not live as
the great men of principle of the Victorian age,
and especially of the Puritan age, and we
sometimes find that the teaching of resisting
temptation and resisting the devil is not
stressed enough. Yet we are bidden clearly in
Scripture to resist the devil, and to resist in
the faith. Therefore to resist is a part of victory.
You will notice that it is how we resist
which makes all the difference between success
and failure. I saw an advertisement the other
day—I hope you will not mind my bringing it to
your attention, but it illustrates the point—
which said, "Slim without effort." But I am not
inclined to believe that advertisement. And I
believe the Christian life is never meant to be
lived without effort. If it was why is it that
right through the Old and New Testaments the
Scripture shows the picture of the warrior or the
soldier consistently. What matters is this: not
whether we resist or not, but how, and whether
that resistance is effective.
Turn to Romans 6:12, "Let not sin therefore
reign in your mortal body, that ye should Obey it
in the lusts (or desires) thereof." This verse might
also be translated "resist." Let not sin reign, but
resist it, not in the strength of your will power,
but in the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ, in
whom your life is hid with Christ in God, and
in whom you are now living in the heavenlies
even though you are doing battle for Him on
earth. How wonderful that our life is hidden
with Christ in God! We a r e t o l d a l s o t o
m o r t i f y t h e f l e s h , a n d face each day as a
day of victory, and to kneel simply by our
bedside and say, "Lord Jesus, I mortify my
members this day; I give myself, my body, my
mind, my hands, my feet, my eyes, my ears, my
lips over to death; mortify them all, and
hand them over that they may be free in Thy
service." What a wonderful day! On the
victorious side, and in the power of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we mortify our members over to
death, so that we ourselves may be alive unto
God through the Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe many of us Christians spend most of
our time searching for victory when we
87
should spend most of our time serving the
Lord because we are victorious. Victory is a
by-product of the joy of Christian service; it
is not the end and be-all of Christian living.
It is that the Lord Jesus Christ grants us joy
in victory that we may have a deeper joy in
His service. Do not be selfish about your
approach to the question of victory: in fact,
see it in terms of responsibility. If you are
not victorious yourself—and how this comes
bitterly home to those of us who are ministers
and continually standing before people—we
are not only useless, but a snare and a delusion
and a hindrance to those who come for personal guidance or public ministry.
We reckon ourselves to be dead unto sin,
and in the faith of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ we resist the attacks of the world, the
flesh, and the devil; and we do it looking to
Jesus.
Look at Hebrews 12, and see how this same
theme comes in there in those loved verses:
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed
about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us
lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so
easily beset us, and let us run with patience the
race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus. .
There is the victory of our faith, the direction
of our faith, however weak it may be. We
look to Jesus—
the author and finisher of our faith; who for the
joy that was set before Him endured the Cross,
despising the shame, and is set down at the
right hand of the throne of God.
For consider Him that endured such contradiction of sinners against Himself, lest ye be
wearied and faint in your minds.
Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving
against sin.
And that verse takes us to that most solemn
moment in the Garden, when He cried, "Thy
will be done"; yet His sweat was as great drops
of blood, such was the resistance to the attack
of the evil one. We are to follow Jesus without any promise that we shall escape the
attacks of the evil one. We only have the
promise that "God will not suffer you (personally) to be tempted above that ye are able;
but will with the temptation also make a way
of escape, that ye may be able to bear it"
(1 Cor. 10:13).
Coward, wayward, and weak,
I change with the changing sky;
One day eager and brave,
The next, not caring to try:
But Christ never gives in—
So we two must win,
My Lord and I.
You know what it is to be "up against it."
Christ will never let you be tempted above that
you are able.
My last word is "rest." Psalm 37:7, "Rest
in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him." Yet
in Jeremiah 50:6 we find the tragic words, “My
people have been lost sheep ... they have
forgotten their resting place." Where is that?
Matthew 11:28, "Come unto me, all ye that
labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest."
Now rest is not only passive quietness in
the presence of Jesus, but it is active abiding
i n the fa i th o f C hri s t. "Ab i de i n me a nd I
in you," otherwise there will be no fruit. Ifs;
we do abide, then there is the fruit reaching
out to others. I remember Dr. Earnhouse saying
to us at Cambridge during a mission, "For each
day commit yourselves to Jesus, and then rest
back upon the broad river of His will for your life
to-day." Reckon yourselves to be dead unto sin
by the faith of Christ; resist the temptations of the
world, the flesh, and the devil, by the faith of
Christ; and rest from the fret of battle and of
testing and anxiety, and all your personal
problems, in the faith of our Lord and Saviour
Jesus Christ, and you will find that victory
comes almost as a by-product of walking with
Jesus, which is the first thing that matters.
Thou ar t the Lord wh o s le pt upon th e
pillow,
Thou art the Lord who soothed the furious
sea;
What matter beating winds and tossing
billow,
If only we are in the boat with Thee?
Hold us quiet through the age-long minute
While Thou art silent and the wind is shrill,'
Can the boat sink while Thou, dear Lord,
art in it?
Can the heart faint that waiteth on Thy
will?
88
Salem or Sodom?
By ROBERT A. LAIDLAW
T
HE topic I wish to discuss with you this
morning is, Salem or Sodom? (Gen.
14:17-15: 1). You say, Those are extremes;
but God is a God of extremes. God is a
God of light and darkness, of heaven and
hell, of life and death. Man has a mind that
deals in gradations of shade between white
and black —and the devil does, too. He
does not come and offer us the choice
between white and black. Nineteen
times out of twenty we would choose
white. He offers us the choice between
white and the first shade of grey; when
they are compared you can hardly tell the
one from the other. Then he takes us to
the third shade of grey, and the fourth,
and the fifth, and sixth, until at last even
Christian people can speak about "white
lies." He has got us right through all the
grades of grey until we call black white.
All lies are black to God, and all truth is
white. So we turn to Salem or Sodom, to selfsacrifice or self-indulgence, to Abram or Lot.
God is faithful; when He delineates the
character He glosses over nothing. He
is going to reveal to us this morning the
motives that underlay the actions that led
to such blessed and tragic results in the
lives of these two men. And He is just as
incisive in His dealings with you and me.
He never condones sin in the saint or the
sinner. These two men are not a
comparison of a sinner and a Christian;
they are a comparison between two saints.
The New Testament tells us that L o t w as
a r ig h te o u s m an . H e wa s no t
righteous in conduct, but righteous by
imputation on exactly the same basis as
his uncle Abram. "Abram believed God,
and it was accounted unto him for
righteousness"—the basis on which you
and I are righteous. It is a comparison
between a carnal and a spiritual Christian.
These men had a difference over
grazing, over money matters. How money
has divided families! You see a son going
to Court with his mother over his
father's will. It has divided sisters and
brothers, relatives, lifelong friends; but it
never divides a spiritual man from a
spiritual man, or a spiritual man from a
carnal man. Immediately this problem
arises, though, as the older man, Abram
had absolute pre-eminence over the
younger, being his uncle, yet being
spiritual he said, 'Take your choice; if you
go to the right hand,
I will go to the left; have whatever you would
like, my dear nephew; it is all right, your old
uncle does not mind a bit." And the young
man made his choice on his uncle's offer. His
eyes looked down on the well-watered
plains of the Jordan, and they reminded him
of the fertile valley of the Nile. He thought,
"When I go down there I will grow rich
rapidly; I will move into that fine city,
Sodom, and my wealth will give me
prominence. I have a great future before
me."
H e d i d. He m o v e d d o w n. E v e r y th i n g
worked to plan. It was not long before he
was rich; he moved into Sodom, and was
given a place on the city council and sat in
the gate of Sodom—that is where the city
council always sat in an Eastern city, to
receive important visitors, to consummate
contracts and seal documents. That is
what
Christ
meant when He said
concerning the Church, "The gates of hell
shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16: 18). He
meant the city council, the supreme councils
of hell, shall not prevail against the
Church.
So everything is working splendidly for Lot,
from the human standpoint. But Lot is
not a happy man; and God is not happy. So
God sets out to recover this righteous
man. He permits Chedorlaomer and other
three kings to go down and take Sodom,
and God gives them the victory, and they
carry away all the women and goods of Sodom,
and take Lot as -a hostage, to prove that they
have really captured the city.
Lot was a very human man, and I think
he did just what you and I do; when he got
into this jam, and had lost all his goods and
was a captive and might be put to death,
he promised God. all kinds of things if God
would only get him out of this trouble.
Have you ever done that? Israel did it.
They cried unto the Lord in their distress.
When Abram heard about it, he put God
first and himself second. As Christ said later
when He came to earth, "Seek ye first the
kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all
these things shall be added unto you." Abram
had prospered, for he had 318 servants,
enough to make an army. He evidently
had a very successful farm in the hill
country. He took his 318 men and went out
to recover his nephew, Lot. And Melchizedek
said to him when he came back, "God gave
you the vie--
89
tory, Abram." And I can just imagine the
conversation that took place between them,
uncle and nephew, as they journeyed back.
Abram loved his nephew and said, "Lot, my
dear young man, don't you see how God has
spoken to you? Don't, I pray you, go back to
Sodom; come with me to Mamre. There we
have our altar and tent, our worship to God,
and our witness that we are pilgrims and
strangers, that we look for a city whose
builder and maker is God, Listen to the voice
of God; come back, and I will make you welcome." I wonder if Lot was almost per suaded? Then he thought of all his goods.
He thought, "My uncle has recovered all the
goods, so they will all come back to me; therefore I will go back to Sodom and become
wealthy again, and re-establish myself." So
he said, "No, uncle; I am going back to
Sodom." And so both these men come to
Salem—we call it Jerusalem to-day. The
prefix means "going forth," and Salem means
"peace." Do not be fooled by Joseph Stalin;
Moscow is not a peace centre. Jerusalem is
God's peace centre, and the day is coming
when the Prince of Peace will administer
peace and righteousness from there. Ezekiel
tells us in the 38th and 39th chapters of his
prophecy that war is coming from Russia;
Moscow is the centre of war. Jerusalem is
God's peace centre.
When they came back together, Abram and
Lot were met by two kings. The first was the
king of Salem, Melchizedek, the priest of the
Most High God. Notice what he did: he
brought Abram two emblems of sacrifice,
bread and wine. The bread and wine did not
point backward as memorials of sacrifice; they
were prophetic, they pointed forward to
coming sacrifice. And then he said, "Give me
a tithe of all you have got," and he introduced
Abram to God under a new title, El Elyon,
the possessor of heaven and earth; one who
has complete control over all spiritual and all
material blessings. But then came the king
of Sodom, the representative of the world, and
said, "Take everything. Abram; keep all the
goods." That shook poor Lot; he thought his
uncle was going to get all his goods; but he
did not have the face to interject, "I think
will go with you, uncle." But Abram said to
the king of Sodom, "I have just been introduced by the king of Salem to God under a
new title; you cannot give me even a shoe
string, because you have not got it to give.
God possesses everything in heaven and earth,
and only what God gives to me is really
mine."
Then we read in the first verse of the next
chapter that God came to Abram and said,
"Abram, you have made a choice; you have
put Me first, and material things second. I
give Myself to thee; I am thy exceeding great
reward." Abram had just discovered that
God had every spiritual blessing in heaven,
and every earthly blessing on earth. And
now God says to Abram, "All I have in heaven
and earth is thine."
I wonder if those two men had any concept
of the consequences of the choices made that
day? I am quite certain Lot did not foresee
the consequences of his choice. Had he foreseen that the next time God spoke to him it
would be by fire, and that the city he was
going back to would be destroyed, and he
would lose his wife and most of his family
and all his goods, he would not have gone
back.
Oh, my friends, if we could only foresee the
results of our decision to-day, we certainly
would not choose to go with Lot.
Did Abram foresee the consequences of his
choice? I doubt it very much. About forty
years go by, and then God comes down again
to Abram and says, "You remember that when
you were at Salem you made a choice of sacrifice. Do you still feel like that? Have you
changed?" And Abram said, "No, I have not
changed." And God said, "Prove it. Take
thine only son, whom thou lovest, and get thee
into the land of Moriah; and offer him there
for a sacrifice upon one of the mountains
which I will tell thee of."
Is it not an interesting fact that the first
great picture of Calvary in the Scriptures
emphasizes the father's Gethsemane, not the
son's. It was the father who carried the fire
—divine testing; the father who carried the
knife—divine judgment; it was the father who
cried out, "Oh, if this cup could only pass from
me! ” And God came down to His friend
Abram, and stayed the downward stroke and
said, "Abram, were you about to give your son
to Me?" And Abram says, "No, God, no, a
thousand times no; I was not giving my
son, I was giving myself. I would sooner
have laid myself on that altar and handed
the knife to my son." And God said, "Do you
remember on this spot forty years ago
when you made the choice for Me, I came to
you and said, give Myself to thee,
Abram'?" He said, "Yes, God, I remember."
And God said, "I am going to give you
Myself in the person of My Son," and when
His Son came to earth He said, "Abram saw
my day, and rejoiced to see it."
My dear friends, that is how God has given
Himself to you and me, in the Person of His
Son.
What of Lot? He returned to Sodom, He
was soon sitting in the gate again; he was
soon a prosperous business man again. But
Peter tells us that his righteous soul was
vexed, he was not a happy man; and none of
us is happy if we try to enjoy the world. God
had spoiled Lot for fellowship with Sodomites,
and he had
90
Salem? To self-indulgence, self-interest, selfpity, pride, laziness, fame; or to Salem—selfsacrifice, self-discipline, God's honour, the
blessing of your fellow-men? God brings us
squarely to a choice between these two. Do
let us see the consequences as God outlines
them in His Word. He is a faithful God; He
has told us exactly what the results of our
choice are going to be. If we adhere to Lot
and self, the day is coming when at the judgment seat of Christ we shall take our stand
with Lot, surrounded by wood, hay, and
stubble, that will go, up in smoke in the great
fire-test. Then shall we realize the tragedy of
a saved soul and a lost life. We ourselves
shall be saved, "though as by fire."
Or we shall stand with Abram, surrounded
by gold, silver, and precious stones that laugh
at temperatures of 2,000 ° Fahr, for fire does
not consume them, but purifies them. And if
we stand with him we shall look back to Keswick, 1952, if we make a right decision here,
and bless God as we hear Him say, "Well
done, thou good and faithful servant; enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord."
the incestuous father, by his two daughters,
of Moab and Ammon; and 400 years later the
descendants of these two men seduced the
spoiled himself for fellowship with God. So
he was a lonely man. He had nothing in common with Sodom, and nothing in common with
God, and his righteous soul was vexed.
What of Abram? He returned to the Plains
Of Mamre, his heart filled with the peace of
God, blessing God for the wonders of His
divine grace.
What of the end of these two men? From
the human side, Abram became the progenitor
of Christ; and from the spiritual side, he
became the father of the faithful—your father
and mine. Are we worthy sons and daughters
of such a sire?
What of Lot? Poor Lot! After he had lost
his wife and his family and his money and
everything, and escaped with his two
daughters, he became faithful seed of Abram
just as they were about to enter the Promised
Land.
My dear friends, to which do you adhere
this morning—to Abram or Lot; to Sodom or
91
The Word of God and The Life of Holiness
(iv.)—THE POWER OF THE WORD TO GIVE VICTORY OVER SIN
D R . W ILBUR M. S MITH
Word of God is a Book of RedempT HIS
tion. It finds man in his sin, bound
with it, stained with it, a slave to it, leading
to judgment and the wrath of God; and it
comes to him with a message of mercy and
cleansing and deliverance and redemption
from sin: and that is what we have been looking at this week. On Monday I mentioned
six ways in which the Word of God exposes
or reveals sin. This afternoon may I mention
six ways in which the Word of God deals with
sin as a whole? There is something more
than exposing sin; thank God, there is something to be done about it.
First of all, as we saw on Sunday and
Monday, the Book reveals or exposes and
diagnoses man's sinful condition. Secondly,
it convicts of sin. I remember a banker in a
small town in Virginia, a very heavy man, who
over-ate. The doctor said to him, "Some day
you are going to die with a stroke, right on the
floor of the bank." "Well," he said, "if I do,
I will do it with a full stomach." The banker
was rightly diagnosed; that is exactly the way
he did die. He did not get any conviction on
the matter: he got proper treatment from the
doctor, but he was not going to do anything
about it. First, this Book diagnoses, and
secondly, it convicts. Thirdly, this Book presents the sinless man, the Lord Jesus; and
fourthly, it reveals a redemption from sin
through Christ Jesus. Fifthly, the Book gives
us the assurance that we in Christ may live
victorious over sin when we are redeemed—
and it is this I want to speak about this afternoon; and sixthly, the Book tells us of a time
that is coming when sin will for ever be put
away.
This is the way the Bible deals with sin.
Incidentally, it is the only Book of any great
religion in the world that has a doctrine of
sin. Even Judaism does not have a theology
of sin; there is no doctrine of the fall of man
in Judaism to-day. Mohammedanism deals
with it very carelessly; many modern cults
omit it: this is the one Book which, though
it presents a Saviour and demands holiness,
really deals with the sin problem. I would
like to discuss the power of the Word of God
giving us victory over sin. I wo uld like to
look at two passages, one in the Old Testa-
ment and one in the New Testament. First,
Psalm 119: 11, "Thy Word have I hid in my
heart, that I might not sin against Thee"; and
because I want to put most of the emphasis
on the New Testament verse, I will only outline this verse. Note that it contains onesyllable words from beginning to end, except
the little word "against." It is a very simple
verse, but it has some remarkable truths in it.
First of all, the Psalmist has a desire not
to sin. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart,
that I might not sin against Thee"—and if we
do not have a desire for victory over sin, we
will never have it. I was told years ago in
regard to a famine in China, that there is one
thing more terrible and more fatal than hunger, and that is when the body has been too
long without food, and the hunger ceases, and
the victims no longer want to eat, but lie down
in the road and die. When the desire for food
has gone, then a man is surely going to die;
and when the desire for victory over sin is
lacking—I am not talking about salvation now —
there will be no victory. I wonder whether we
should not be frightened about this? Years ago
one of the greatest Bible teachers in
America, a man of God, was under the bondage of sin; he was under it for years, teaching
the Bible with power, yet under this awful,
treble bondage. At one time Dr. Torrey, who
loved him, wrote to him, "Do you want the
Lord to deliver you from this bondage?" and
he replied, "I am not so sure that now I do.
For many years I fought this, and I lost, but I
do not know now whether I want deliverance or
not." He got it later; but when you are in
that hour, you are of all men most miserable.
The Psalmist wanted to live triumphantly
over sin.
Second, the Psalmist recognizes that if something is not done, he will continue in sin. He
says, "Thy Word have I hid in my heart," I
have done something, "that I might not sin
. . . ." It was as though he said that, if he
did not do it, then he would continue in his
sin. He is talking about his heart. This is
what our Lord meant, when He said, "The
things which proceed out of the mouth come
forth out of the heart; and they defile the man.
For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts,
murders, adulteries, thefts, . . ." (Matt.
92
15: 18-20). He was not talking about the
gangsters, but about normal man. And so the
Psalmist says, "This I have done that I might
not sin"; and unless this is done, I will be just
like the man that our Blessed Lord is talking
about.
Thirdly, there is a recognition here (and
I should have placed this first) that sin springs
from the inner life, and it is with the heart
that one must deal. In other words, something external will not change this situation;
no culture, no education, may I say no marriage, nor home, nor art, nor a change of
environment, nor a higher salary, nor washings, nor ablutions, nor new clothes, nor any
of these things will change us. Something has
to get into the inner life of men. "Thy Word
have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin
against Thee." He wants deliverance from
sin; he knows if he does not have something
outside himself, he will continue in sin; he
knows that this life of sin must be dealt with
in the heart—and this brings us to the fourth
point.
Fourthly, the Psalmist opens his inner life
to the Word of God. You will notice that he
does not say "a word, a poem, a passage of
Ruskin, a page of Shakespeare, a paragroph
of Carlyle have I hid in my he art." He is
talking to the Lord, "Thy Word." God's Word
comes with power and purity, exposing the
heart, giving new life, new light, and new
energy. "Thy Word"—something that is more
powerful than I am; something which can deal
with things that I cannot deal with, this sin
which is too strong for me; but God is able,
and "Thy Word have I hid in my heart, that
I might not sin against Thee." And, beloved,
may I say this as a man who has lived in
books from the cradle: there is nothing, however beautiful or lovely, however inspiring,
more satisfying than the Bible. Oh, you say,
many books are inspired; but our Bible does
not say that it is inspired, it says it is inspired
of God, which is a little different. I some times think that Milton and Shakespeare were
inspired. Try to write as they wrote, and see
if they are not above you and me; they have
a genius which you and I do not have —they
are inspired, something remarkable and above
the ordinary. But no drama, no prose, no
elegance of style ever changed a human heart:
i t i s " T h y Wo rd . . . i n m y h e a r t , tha t I
might not sin against Thee." If there were
other things, if it is a matter of writing, or of
learning, or of wisdom, or of skill, then we can
look at other books; but when it comes to a
matter of sin and deliverance of sin, there is
only one volume that can adequately deal with
that problem: and it is the Word of God.
Fifthly, what do you mean when you say,
"Th y Word have I hid in my he art, tha t I
might not sin against Thee"? What does it
m e a n ? I t d o e s no t m e a n a u to m a t i c a l l y
memorizing verses. In the town where I was a
pastor years ago, we had a printer who
printed all the material for the churches in the
town. He was a wicked man, an immoral
man of the worst kind. He had a lovely wife
and three dear children, but he was notoriously immoral; he was kind at home, if you
want to say an immoral man can be kind;
he was gracious, never got drunk, always paid
his bills, belonged to three or four lodges, but
he was dominated by lust. He was the son
of a Presbyterian minister. They told me that
in the lodges he would quote ten or twelve
verses from the Word of God in a joking way.
He knew scores and hundreds of verses in the
Bible. The Word was memorized, but it was
not operating in his heart.
To illustrate, may I talk very simply here?
Let us say that down in our heart we have a
council table, and around it sit all the forces
that make for the decisions that we finally
render: and there are lots of them. I think
the devil sits at the council table, too; then
our sinful desires are there, and they are sometimes 'terrific, and they pound that table and
demand this and that. Then at the table also
are our habits. Then I think sometimes deceit
sits there, saying, "The first time won't make
any difference; just this once more, and then
you can quit." Then I think also the customs of
other people sit at our table, and, maybe, the
kind of home in which we were brought up;
and the examples of others, and sometimes a
desperate need for money. For instance, a man
in a bank has got tangled up in something,
and he needs money desperately; he can
change the figures in his books for a while, and
he is pressed, and this need in his heart cries
out, "You will not get caught; you are clever,
just take a couple of weeks and take another
thousand, put it on the horses, and you will
clear this all up and have something for
yourself as well." We had five banks in t h e
State
of
Pennsylvania
which
had
embezzlements of over a quarter of a million
dollars each, within seven months, which had
gone on over a series of years. There were
voices in those cashiers' hearts, and they
spoke so loudly that those men falsified books:
and now they sit in the penitentiary. We have
lots of voices in our hearts which do not come
from the Lord; they talk, they demand, they
command.
I was never very good at getting a lot of
power out of resolutions; I need something
more than that, more even than a change of
environment. Coming to Keswick would not
in itself transform anyone. We need some thing vital, outside ourselves, coming in.
Now, the Psalmist says, "Thy Word," God's
Word, have I put at that council table, "that
I m i g ht no t s i n a g a i ns t T he e "; a nd i f we
93
recognize this as the Word of God, and the
Word of God speaks, then no matter how loud
and how insistent those other voices are, if we
are giving heed to the Word of God, the
decision will be for good; and if He is presiding in our hearts through His Word, and we
are obedient to that Word, then we will come
through. "Thy Word have I hid in my heart,"
where the decisions are made, "that I might
not sin against Thee."
I will give you an illustration out of the life
of Joseph. Notice how he overcame the tremendous temptations to which many are falling to-day. When Potiphar's wife attempted
to seduce him, there were some very strong
voices speaking in Joseph's heart. He must
have been flattered, for he was a Hebrew
slave and she was the wife of a very wealthy
Egyptian; and anyone would have been flattered, especially a slave. Obviously she was
not a good woman—that is why her husband
did not kill Joseph; he knew what kind of a
wife he had, otherwise he would have killed
him But there is no doubt she had a pull
in high places, even in the royal palace, and
Joseph could possibly have had many preferments through the wife of this man Potiphar.
He might have said, "I am away from home,
nobody knows me; everybody else lives this
kind of life, why shouldn't I; what difference
does it make?" Then it says, in Genesis
39: 8, 9, "He refused and said unto his master's
wife, Behold, my master knoweth not what
is with me in the house, and he bath put all
that he hath in my hand; there is none greater
in this house than I; neither hath he kept back
any thing from me, but thee, because thou art
his wife: how, then, can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" It was the voice
of God in his heart that kept young Joseph.
What a wonderful reward he got for it! He
got more than she could ever have given, for
he became the Premier of Egypt.
Now look into the New Testament. In
Ephesians 6: 17, Paul says: "Take the helmet
of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit,
which is the word of God." Now look back at
v. 10, "Be strong in the Lord, and in the
strength of His might." I am not going to
dwell on this, but these words, "strong,"
"strength" and "might," are different words
for "power" in the Greek language. When
Paul wrote this Epistle and spoke of the
whole armour of God, he exhausted the
vocabulary of the Greek language to tell us
how strong we ought to be. Look at the verse:
it would be wonderful to live it! "Finally, be
strong in the Lord, and in the strength of
His might." That is a whole lot better than
slapping someone on the back and saying,
"Be a man"; the Lord is in this. "Put on the
whole armour of God, that ye may be able to
stand again the wiles of the devil."
I would like to look at one or two of these
words, as a background for the phrase, "the
sword of the Spirit." This word "wiles" is in
G r e e k m e th o d i as , f r o m w h i c h w e . g e t
"method," meaning strategy. John Eadie, on
this phrase, "the wiles of the devil," says:
"The great enemy of mankind, fierce and
malignant, has a method of warfare peculiar
to himself. His battles are the rush of a
sudden ambuscade, of sudden assault, and by
cunning onslaught." After I had read that,
I stumbled on something else that I want to
bring to your attention. Dr. Alexander Whyte,
in "Not Against Flesh and Blood," a booklet
which he wrote during the first world war,
stresses the point that in that war we were
not fighting Germany or the Kaiser, or Turkey
or the Sultan; he said, "We are fighting the
demons which live in these men, we are fighting the powers that are behind these men."
It is more true to-day, with the terrible demon
of communism, than it was then. Whyte goes
on, "All the time we must not be so occupied
and absorbed with our war with Germany as
to lose sight of a far more holy war that goes
on unceasingly within our own souls. If we
have been recruited to Christ, and have been
harnessed by His Holy Spirit for His holy war
within our own souls, let us, then, remember
this, that that inward war must always come
first. For this present German war, like all
outward wars, will soon be over; but our
inward war, once entered on, will never come
to an end in this world. At the same time
there is one thing in which our inward
spiritual war is not unlike the outward German war"—and this is it—"We read from
time to time in the dispatches from the front,
that for some days there has been little doing,
and suddenly the whole scene is changed: in
a moment hell is let loose, till the amount of
carnage cannot be counted. And your inward
war, my brethren, and my inward war, is
often like that other war: we also have comparatively quiet days and comparatively quiet
nights, and then, like at the front, sometimes
without a moment's warning, the devil himself is let loose in all his fury in our souls.
There is no good mincing this. Hell itself will
sometimes in a moment burst up within our
innermost souls. The Apostle Paul, the chaplain of the Ephesian host, knew all that to his
lifelong cost."
This is what Paul says: "Put on the whole
armour of God, that ye may be able to stand
against the strategies of the devil. For our
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but
against the principalities, against the powers,
against the world rulers of this darkness;
against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in
the heavenly places."
Do you know the one word which coven
all of this? Every one of these words is as
offshoot of one word, the word "power"; these
94
are powe rs, principalities, rule rs. A
powe r is powerful, and a world-ruler is
powerful,
and
s p i r i tu a l
hosts
a re
p o w e r f u l . T h e s e a re superhuman forces,
they are demon forces.
When you and I were born, some of you
people of my age, we did not have this word,
"world ruler"; you cannot find it in the dictionaries of the early twentieth century,
but we have got it now, and we are going to
have
more .
Again,
"spiritual
wickedness"—what do you mean by that?
"Spirit" has to do with our spirits; and when
you get spiritual wickedness you have
spirits whose like and worth and purpose
and commission and desire and passion and
ambition are to do evil; and those spirits can
get into our spirits; and it is a spiritual
wickedness that can really affect us most
powerfully.
Nations, and seek world government, so we
have a world religion. In Revelation 13 we
ha ve the wo rl d ru le r; the y ha ve a lo t o f
religion in it, they worship the beast, the
dragon, and the devil. We shall have a
religion in the world in the next few years,
but it will not come from the Lord Jesus
unless we have a revival. You and I in
Christian work have to wrestle against
something else, in order that we never get
diverted from the supremacy and the
uniqueness and the triumph of the Gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ; and no programme
for world peace, and no propaganda for prohibition, and no programme for this or that,
should ever divert us from preaching the
Gospe l whi ch alo ne ca n sa ve sou ls . God
knows we need world peace, and we need
prohibition; but, as my father said to me
years ago, when I said that it would be
wonderful i f we could have ou r cou ntry
d rie d fro m whisky, "If every whisky saloon
was closed, every man would still go to hell
unless he was saved by Jesus Christ."
We wrestle against world rulers, powerful
beings which would take us away from this
great reality. Now, said Paul, take the
sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of
God. This is the only offensive weapon in
this armoury; and it is something that you
and I have to handle ourselves. Someone
can clothe us; but no one can wield a
sword for us. God can give us the shield,
and the helmet, and the shoes; but when we
take this Book into our hands—which is a
metaphor for taking it into our hearts—
then we will be soldiers fully equipped,
and will go out to battle. A sword is used
in hand-to-hand combat; this is for dealing
with Satan and his terrible host.
May I illustrate this? When our blessed
Lord came face to face with Satan in the
wilderness, Satan tempted Him in His
hour of weakness and desperate need, and
said, "Turn these stones into bread." The
devil began to quote Scripture, as he can, to
tempt Him again and again; and each time
Jesus had one weapon: "It is written."
Beloved, no greater tribute to the power of
the Word of God to deliver us from the
strategies of the devil could ever be given,
than was given by our Lord in the
wilderness. He did not say. "I am the Son
of God; what are you talking to me like
that for?" He could have said, "I can turn
a mountain into bread, but I don't need it."
He could stand on His own feet; He could
have cried to God, and the devil would have
le ft Him; but He said, 'It is written." He
leaned on the Word; and when the devil
began to quote Scripture, He said, "It is writte n." As Dr. Campbell Morgan once said,
"Every dirty heresy has hung its filthy
clothes on some peg of Scripture." "It is
written," said Jesus, and the devil left Him
for a season. It is God's Word that destroys
the very power
Now Paul says these are the things with
which we wrestle. I wonder what they do?
Wh a t do you th i nk these th ings do ?
We ll , I think they can cause inertia, for
one thing, in Christian life. The other
day, in reading the life of a great
missionary, the question came to me which
I am putting to you. I want to ask you, and
to ask myself, Why do we not pray more
powerfully, prevailingly, and perseveringly?
Now, my dear people, with the exception
of a few of you, our prayer life is a pretty
sad thing. We go down on our knees, and we
check over what we prayed for, and then
we get up. We seldom get great results, for
we are on our knees for such short times.
This has shocked me; and I would not be a bit
surprised if Satan has evil powers to keep
us from prayer. Beloved, there is victory
over this; God is bigger than anything in this
world, and when we feel cold and depressed
and that we are not getting anywhere, we are
wrestling with evil powers; and we should
stay there even if it costs blood, until we
get results.
" W e w re s t l e , " a n d m a y b e s o m e o f o u r
anaemic life is due to these evil powers.
There are many other things—a sense of
defeat, of shame, of chagrin; are we never
going to win? That is of the devil. I will tell
you something else, beloved, and may I say
this kindly: this business of a world-religion
is strongly of the devil, a religion that is
going to put Buddha and Mohammed and
Jesus and some of the demons from Tibet
in one great mess of porridge, strip our
Lord of His uniqueness, His Deity, His
atonement, His resurrection; this is of the
devil. Professor Laski, of Oxford, said,
"We need religion, and we need it desperately,
and the world needs it; but let us not go
back to the old supernatural religion of
Christianity." The more the world knows it
needs religion, the greater will be the danger
that it makes a world religion, and not the
faith of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is dangerous; for as we have the United
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with which Satan presented these temptations
to Him.
Martin Luther did the same. The devil
used to go into his room and say, "You are
a sinner." "Yes, I know," said Martin Luther.
Then he would begin to name the sin, and
Luther said, "Write them on the wall, put
them all down on the wall," and the devil
would cover the wall with Martin's sins.
"When he got tired of that," Luther said, "I
said to him one thing: 'The blood of Jesus
Christ, His Son, cleanseth me from all sin,'
and with that, the devil left." Some people
say, "I do not have that experience." Do you
know why? We are not doing the work
Luther did, that is why. I would to God some
of us did; but the devil does not bother that
much with some of us!
Now I go back to our text. "The sword of
the Spirit, which is the Word of God." I am
not objecting to commentaries or to concordances and all the rest; but I will tell you that
when the devil comes tempting us we cannot
say, "Give me an hour; and I will get home
and look up my Lexicon!" This is a face-to-face, hand-to-hand action, and we will need
that Word in our hearts, in those hours in
which the devil comes to torment us.
I am going to read something to you that
has been a great comfort to me. On the day
this came to me I was discouraged and
defeated, and I had a very important engagement to speak to College students—and if
there is any crowd of men who can look a hole
through you, it is College students! I was
sitting in the hotel reading Galatians. I was
not looking for anything, and all of a sudden
a verse came to me, and it has been a great
help to me. Galatians 1:4, "Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out
of this present evil world, according to the
will of our God and Father." I said to myself,
"God is my Father, He is my God, it is His
will that I be delivered according to the will
of God." Then I noticed something else: that
my blessed Lord, God's only Son, not only died
for my sins, but He died to deliver me from
this present evil world; and at once I had the
death of Christ to deliver me, and the will of
my Father to deliver me—and that seemed to
be the sword of the Spirit that chased a
thousand devils out of that room. What a
comforting Word!
I am now reading the life-story of James
Fraser, of the China Inland Mission. He was
twenty-seven years old at the time of which
I speak, and was in South-West China, all by
himself, and he was not getting results. He
was praying, he was living for God, he was
learning the language, he was under discipline,
he was walking with God, and he was not
getting results. Then his prayers began to
mock him, and he asked, "Does God answer
prayer?" And he goes on to say, "This got
larger and larger until it tormented me. Does
God know where I am? Does God care?
Then the devil came along, and he said, 'What
is your expectation; what is the outlook?' and
an awful darkness came. The devil said,
`Maybe you have been mistaken; are you sure
you are in the will of God?'" All the forces
of hell seemed to overwhelm him. A magazine
that he had never seen before came to his
desk, called The Overcomer, and in it he came
upon two verses: "Having put off from Himself
the principalities and powers, He made a show
of them openly, triumphing over them in it,"
and "They overcame him [Satan] because of
the blood of the Lamb, and because of the
word of their testimony." Now, Fraser
thought, I am an engineer, I want to see things
work. People will tell you after a helpful
meeting that such and such a truth is the
secret of victory; no, we need different truths
at different times. Some will say, "Leave it
to the Lord"; others will say, "Resist the
devil," but Fraser was finding this Word saying that the Lord Himself resisted the devil,
and he said, "I am going to do the same thing;
the Lord overcame the devil, and I am going
to do the same thing." Then awful thoughts
came to him, wicked thoughts. Here is no
lounging missionary, no spindle-chair Christian; he is out there, in paganism, alone, and
look what he does. He says, "Evil thoughts
came to me while I was preaching. I went
down to a gully on the hillside, one of my
prayer haunts, and there I took my determined
resistance to Satan; I claimed deliverance on
the ground of my Redeemer's victory. I went
back to Colossians and I said, 'triumphing
over them'; I went back to the Book of Revelation and I said, 'We will conquer in His
precious blood.' I shouted responses to the
devil and all of his thoughts."
Here is a man wrestling; here is a man in the
clutches of the powers of darkness, and he is
fighting his way out with the sword of the
Spirit. "The obsession," he says, "collapsed
like a pack of cards. James 4: 7 is in the
Bible: 'Resist the devil, and he will flee from
you.' Our Lord spoke with a loud voice when
he called Lazarus to come out of the grave;
He cried with a loud voice when he was on the
Cross. In times of conflict I have been going
out, and, being alone, have talked to the devil
in a loud voice. The sword of the Spirit brings
me victory."
"We wrestle not with flesh and blood, but
with principalities and powers. . . . Wherefore take unto yourself the whole armour of
God . . . and the sword of the Spirit." One
word of comfort, and I shall finish. 1 John
2:14, "I have written unto you, young men,
because ye are strong, and you have overcome
the evil one; the Word of God abideth in you."
96
to Christ, he cannot be an ambassador. What
an awful thing! Years ago my friend Peter
Joshua, son of Caleb Joshua, of the Welsh
Revival, met one of the greatest revivalists
of the early twentieth century, on the streets
of London. He had not seen him for fifteen
years, and he said, "I am so glad to see you."
Peter Joshua said, "Would you not like to
come up to my hotel room, and have a time
with the Word, and prayer?" And this man,
once so powerfully used of God, said to him,
"No; I am on my way to the theatre. These
things have no interest for me to-day." He
was a soldier—incapacitated, a castaway.
May God deliver us from Satan's imprisoning
in such a way as this, when we are so
desperately needed.
McLaren says it is in the past tense—"ye have
overcome the evil one," because, he said, if the
Word of God abides in us, it is an absolute
certainty that we are going to overcome
the evil one.
What if we don't say, "Thy Word have I
hid in my heart, that I may not sin against
Thee"? I will tell you. Every soldier of my
country in an imprisonment camp to-day,
who cannot help it; every captive soldier of
your land also, is of no use any more in the
war in which we are engaged: and a
Christian who is in the power of sin is of
no use to the Lord Jesus. He cannot join as
an ally, he cannot wield his sword, he
cannot witness with power, he cannot
pray prevailingly, he cannot win souls
97
The Proof of Love
BY STEPHEN F. OLFORD
And it came to pass after these things, that God did prove Abraham, and said
unto him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am –Genesis 22:1
W
ITHOUT doubt, the proof of our love to
God is the supreme lesson of Genesis
22: 1-19. It is true, of course, that Abraham's
faith was sorely tried; but when God said,
"Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom
thou lovest" (v. 2), He was proving the patriarch's love at its deepest level.
It is important here to observe that the call
of Abraham, to prove his love to God, came
after a significant event. You will recall that
the chapter opens with these words, "After
these things, God did prove Abraham" (v. 1).
And it is fairly obvious that "these things" has
a primary reference to his great confession of
Jehovah as "the everlasting God"—recorded
for us at the close of the previous chapter
(21: 33).
The point we must notice is that Abraham
had now reached a lofty theological position.
It was to be expected, therefore, that his love
to God would be commensurate with his confession. But this had to be proved. You see,
it is one thing to give expression to lofty
theological conceptions, but quite another
matter to prove correspondingly our love to
the God we profess to name. I am persuaded
that love to God, in proportion to our knowledge of doctrine, is the missing factor in the
so-called Evangelical circles of to-day. How
true Paul was when he warned, "Knowledge
puffeth up, but love edifieth" (1 Cor. 8:1).
With Abraham, however, it was quite different. His love to God corresponded with
his knowledge of God. Grace and truth were
beautifully blended. And so we find that,
when God proved Abraham, there was—
I. THE OBEDIENCE OF LOVE. God could say
of Abraham, "Thou hast obeyed my voice"
(v. 18). This was a great commendation at
any time; but it was even greater when considered against the background of this story.
Remember that God had commanded Abraham, saying, "Take now thy son, thine only
son Isaac, whom thou lovest, ... and offer
him ... for a burnt-offering" (v. 2). Tell
me, what would you have done in the face of
such a command? Only true love to God could
respond to such a test. This is why Jesus
closed His ministry with a statement which
will always stand as the proof of love, "If ye
98
love me, keep my commandments" (John
14:15).
For Abraham, the proof of love was an
obedience, not forced or careless, but marked
by(i) Readiness of Action—"And Abraham
rose up early in the morning" (v. 3). Like
the Psalmist, he could say, "I made haste and
delayed not to keep Thy commandments"
(119: 60). No doubt, God had spoken to him
in the visions of the night; and he could have
arisen in the morning and held a conference
with the members of his household, and lingered long before obeying such a command.
But no: not Abraham, He acted immediately.
Long before his herdsmen and servants were
beginning to stir, he was on his way. True
love never stops to look at circumstances, nor
ponder results; it looks to God and obeys.
I wonder if I am talking to someone here
who is still holding back from the ready obedience of love? "Abraham rose up early in the
morning"; there was a readiness of action to
prove the obedience of love. Have you
obeyed, or are you withholding? Can you
honestly look into the face of God and say, "I
love Thee," and yet deny Him the
obedience of your love?
But notice, further, that Abraham's obedience of love was marked by—
(ii) Thoughtfulness of Action. "And Abraham . . . saddled his ass . . . and clove the
wood for the burnt-offering" (v. 3). Every
preparation for the sacrifice was most thoughtfully made, as if to show the calmness with
which Abraham girded up his mind to obey
God. He even took the wood already cut up
—not because there was no wood on Mount
1Vloriah, but in order that all possible distractions on arrival might be avoided. The lesson
here is that loving obedience is intelligent and
thoughtful. It is a question of bringing "every
thought into captivity to the obedience of
Christ" (2 Cor. 10: 5).
I wonder if you have thought your way
through to the obedience of love? How have
you treated the teaching of God's Word, which
has been brought to bear upon your mind at
this Convention? Have you obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which has been
delivered unto you?
If you look again at the story, you will
see that the obedience of Abraham's love was
also marked by—
(iii) Loftiness of Action. When he
arrived at the place of God's appointment,
he said to his servants, "Abide ye here with
the ass, and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship" (v. 5). What a significant
expression in such a context—"worship"!
How it reflects the mental mood of this
man of God! To him the service of
obedience was worship; and the more costly
the act of obedience, the higher the order
of worship.
What a difference would come into your
service for God if all your acts of
obedience were performed in the spirit of
worship! It certainly would put an end to
the differences which you impose on the
tasks you are called upon to do day by
day. The office would become a witnessbox for Christ; the kitchen, a Bethel; and
the bed, an altar of sacrifice. Service would
cease to become mechanical: it would
become mighty, You would forget the
confusion of man-made distinctions between
service and worship, since both would be
blended in the realm of the spirit.
Do you love God? If so, is the
obedience of your love marked by a
readiness, thoughtfulness, and loftiness of
action? What is your reaction to this first
test of love?
The proof of love, however, goes even
further than this, for I observe from the
narrative that it was manifested by—
II. THE OFFERING of LOVE. "Now I
know that thou fearest God, seeing thou
past not withheld thy son, thine only son
from me" (v. 12). God declared, "Now I
know." Abraham's love had never been
proved in this fashion before. The love was
there, no doubt; and if there, God knew it;
but the valuable point here is that God
expected a practical evidence of it. No
wonder James exclaims, "Was not
Abraham our father justified by works,
when he had offered up Isaac his son upon
the altar?" (2:21).
Yes, God expected a practical evidence
of the offering of his love. And it is not
difficult to see that, for Abraham, the
offering of love in vo lved (i) Unspeakable Costliness. " A nd . . .
Abraham bound Isaac his son, and laid
him on the altar" (v. 9). This is where we
hush our voices and tread softly: for only
with a sense of reverence, together with the
spirit of revelation, can we expect to
understand the meaning of the drama which
was enacted upon Mount Moriah on that
awful occasion;
Fortunately for us, inspiration has drawn
a veil over that last tender scene. We are
not permitted to watch the colour fade
from the cheeks of father and son; we
cannot hear the
broken sobs and words of love; the kisses wet
with tears are hidden from our view. All
that we are allowed to see is the
unmistakable act by which Abraham
virtually offered everything to God; for the
moment he lifted that gleaming blade to
slay his son, he said in effect, "0 God, in
love I give Thee all; I keep back nothing for
myself."
And so the test of man's love to God
comes down the ages to us. Tell me, my
friend, do you love God like that? Is your
offering of love to God the evidence of
unspeakable costliness? Can you honestly
say, "I am prepared and willing to offer to
God all I am and have"?
Remember that it was the Saviour
Himself who said, "He that loveth father or
mother, son or daughter, more than me, is
not worthy of me" (Matt. 10:37) Young
man, are you prepared to lay your
sweetheart upon the altar, as an
evidence of your love to God? Young
woman, what about your husband?
Parents, what about your children? Most
of all, what about your own self-surrender?
Can you stand with Abraham and say,
"Lord, everything is on the altar—what I
am and what I have. Take this offering of
unspeakable costliness as a proof of my
love to Thee"?
In relation to the offering of love, it is
important to recognize that for Abraham the
act of giving not only involved unspeakable
costliness, but it implied—
(ii) Unshakable Confidence. There was
no unintelligent resignation or blind
surrender. On the contrary, the offering of
love was the expression of unshakable
confidence—or what Paul calls "the faith
which worketh by love" Gal. 5; 6). The
writer of the epistle to the Hebrews tells
us that "By faith Abraham, when he was
tried, offered up Isaac, . . . accounting
that God was able to raise him up" (Heb. 11:
17-19). This is why Abraham could turn to
his servants and say, "Abide ye here with
the ass; and I and the lad will go yonder
and worship, and come again to you" (v.
5). Here was a high order of confidence in
God. "He accounted that God was able to
raise him up. even from the dead." Isaac
without God was nothing; but God
without Isaac was everything. Abraham
knew that to surrender his costliest offering
to God was not to lose it, but to receive it
back in resurrection power and richness.
Such unshakable confidence in God must
surely condemn our shameful reluctance to
offer our all to God. How often we have
thought of surrender as something unpleasant and unrewarding, instead of the
act by which we prove the perfect will of God
and enter into the fullness of joy! God
forgive us for our unresponsiveness!
One more proof of love must yet detain
us: it is an evidence of love which is
consequent upon the obedience and
offering of love. We shall call it-
99
III. THE OVERFLOW OF LOVE. And God
said, "Because thou hast done this thing,
and hast not withheld thy son, thine only
son, ... in blessing I will bless thee . . ." (vv.
16, 17). A study of Abraham's life makes it
quite clear that there was no event in the
patriarch's entire history in which God
was so much glorified, as when he offered
up his only son, Isaac. God, moreover, has
so ordered things, that, when He is thus
glorified in our response of love, He sees to it
that our love to Him overflows in blessing to
others. See how true this was of Abraham's
experience
(i)
Is your life one of aggressive and triumphant
love?
(iii) The Blessing of Redemptive Love.
"And in thy seed shall all nations of the
earth be blessed" (v. 18). Men were
tempted to doubt that promise, until the
Redeemer
appeared in history and
declared, "Salvation is of the Jews" (John
4:22). Then a break came in God's
programme for the Jews, while the Church
took over the responsibility of mediating
redemptive love to the nations of the earth.
And the only answer to a world of desperate
need, to-day, is the Gospel of a Redeemer's
love.
And what long queues stand to welcome
the Gospel of love! Perhaps you did not
know, but as I speak to you now there are
some 800,000,000 people who have never heard
the Gospel! If they formed a queue, it would
stretch twelve times around the world. Is not
this fact a proof of our lack of love, instead
of a proof of our love to God?
Is your life an expression of redemptive
love? Are you constantly winning men and
women to Christ by the overflow of your
love to God? If not, where is the proof of
your love? Where is the obedience, offering
and overflow of your love to God?
If these questions are not personal and pertinent enough, then let me borrow Paul's
words and ask, "Wherefore show ye . . . the
proof of your love" (2 Cor. 8:24). And "if
love shows not itself by deed of love," adds
Dr. Farrar, "then let us not deceive ourselves
—God is not mocked—our Christianity is
heathenism, and our religion a delusion
and a sham."
So may God bring you to Mount Moriah,
where "it shall be seen" whether or not you
do love God with all your heart, with all your
soul, with all your mind, and with all your
strength. And you will find that the
proof of your love will be rewarded with a
new vision of God's substitute Ram, giving
His life in sacrifice. And as you gaze upon
that bleeding Sacrifice of Calvary, you will be
reminded afresh that the only reason why
you can say, "I love God"—is because He
first loved you.
The Blessing of Productive Love.
"I will bless thee . . . in multiplying thy
seed" (v. 17). This has been physically and
literally fulfilled in Abraham. The stars of
heaven and the sand upon the sea-shore
accurately symbolize the productiveness
of his seed throughout the centuries.
But there is a spiritual fulfilment that God
desires in you and me. His purpose for our
lives is that the "fruit of the Spirit" in us
may be multiplied in the lives of others—
as our love overflows in blessing. This was
certainly Paul's longing. Writing to the
Romans, he said, "For I long to see you . .
. that I might have some fruit in you also,
even as among other Gentiles" (1:11-13).
(ii) The Blessing of Aggressive Love.
"Thy seed shall possess the gate of his
enemies" (v. 17). When judged against the
background of hatred, persecution, and
tribulation, no nation has been so
aggressive throughout history as the Jews.
And the day is yet to dawn when they shall
possess the gate of their enemies and be
established in their promised land. In the
meantime, God looks to His spiritual
Israel for lives of aggressive love, in a
world of hatred, persecution, and tribulation.
"But the overflow of love will never win,"
says someone. We reply, it must; it will;
for "God is love."
Was it not the great Napoleon who had to
admit, "Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne,
and I myself founded great empires . . .
upon force. Jesus alone founded His
empire upon love."
100
Sacrifice and Song
By
FRED MITCHELL
And Hezekiah commanded to offer the burnt offering upon the altar. And when
the burnt-offering began, the song of the Lord began also with the trumpets, and
with the instruments ordained by David, King of Israel.-2 Chronicles 29:27.
HERE is undoubtedly an unwarranted
T
use of Old Testament incident. There
may be a dangerous pressing of detail of
the lessons of the Old Testament types.
Yet no lover of Scripture can doubt that
God taught Israel first, and others
afterwards, the essential things about
Himself and about the way sinful man can
approach God, by types and shadows that
were more fully fulfilled in the coming
and death of Christ. There can be no
doubt about this—that sinful man cannot
choose the way he approaches God; so from
the beginning God has shown him how he
may approach.
The Epistle to the Hebrews especially
shows that the Old Testament types and
shadows were God-given, to teach men
before the coming of Christ the great
principles of God's holiness, of man's sin;
of
God's
standing
and
of
man's
forgiveness.
Among those great lessons of the Old
Testament, the five Levitical offerings stand
out as full of spiritual teaching. The first
of those offerings, and the one referred to
in this chapter, which tells of the revival of
pure religion under King Hezekiah, was the
burnt-offering.
But first note some of the events which
led up to this glad occasion. King
Hezekiah's predecessor, King Ahaz, had
left Judah in a terrible state, morally
and spiritually. He had wrought much
evil in Judah, which had been invaded;
but the greatest evil was that Ahaz "made
high places to burn incense to other
gods, and provoked to anger the Lord
God of his fathers." The greatest
tragedy which can befall any nation is not
the loss of face before other nations, nor
the loss of credit, but the loss of the fear of
God; and that Judah had lost during the
reign of Ahaz. Then Hezekiah came to
the throne at the age of twenty-five, and
during the first year began to bring the
people back to God. The Levites were
sanctified, the house of God was cleansed,
sin-offering was made to acknowledge and
transfer their guilt, for its due punishment.
But all that was preparatory to something
further, about which we are to speak tonight—which, of course, may mean just
this to us, that what God has been saying
to us during this week has been
preparatory to what He is saying to us tonight. He has been speaking to us about
our temple being defiled, about the cleansing
of our hands and the purifying of our
hearts; and now, like Judah, we are to
take a further step in the pathway of
blessing.
So Hezekiah commanded that the burntoffering be made upon the altar. This is no
place nor occasion for a detailed study of the
burnt-offering, of which we read in
chapters 1 and 8 of Leviticus, and Exodus
29; but if the key word of the Book of
Leviticus is "holiness," the key word of this
first offering, the burnt-offering, is "all on
the altar." This is the special mark of the
burnt-offering.
Now, many commentators speak as
though the burnt-offering referred only to
our Lord Jesus Christ; but while granting
that it refers primarily to Him, yet it is not
exclusively applicable to Him, but also to
all who are identified with Him in His
sacrifice. "For their sakes I sanctified
myself, that they also may be sanctified."
The great danger at this point in the Convention is that we should make this
possible and fatal mistake, that we think
of laying only our gifts on the altar. That,
of course, is to be done; but that is not
enough. That is a wonderful hymn which
Frances Ridley Haver-gal wrote, which we
all love so much, but I hope sing not too
frequently and certainly never carelessly:
Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
I was looking through it again to-day;
"Take my moments and my days—take my
hands, my feet, my voice, my lips, my silver
and my gold, my intellect, my will, my heart,
my life." There are five-and-a-half verses,
and we have still not arrived at the burntoffering. But in the last two lines, Frances
Ridley Havergal brings all who sing this
intelligently and purposefully, to make of
themselves a burnt-offering to the Lord; for
she closes—
Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.
It is terribly possible to give our gifts and
withhold ourselves; to give our talents, our
possessions, it may be even our children,
and yet hold back ourselves, and so not
make the burnt-offering to the Lord our
God.
101
Now I doubt not that we shall be brought
face to face with this an Friday morning in
the missionary meeting, because it is almost
certain that God will confront us with this
very need of bringing and giving ourselves to
Him as a burnt-offering, all on the altar.
May I venture to say this, even in
anticipation of such an event, that I am
seriously questioning these days whether or
not much of this has not disappeared from
our teaching and preaching. Do you know
that to-day in most missionary societies,
facing missionary work in a world like this,
which is so disturbed and unsettled, when in
most countries a missionary may at any
moment have to pack up his bags and make
his way to some other place, there are still
two women to every man in the mission field,
and the proportion is rapidly growing; very
soon it will be three women to one man in
the mission field—which makes me wonder
whether or not there are some young men
who are offering God a tithe of their income
from their profession or business, but have
never really made a burnt-offering of
themselves to the Lord. They are willing to
go into business and give a good share of what
God may give them, but they have never laid
themselves on the altar—all on the altar for
anything God may dictate or direct.
Hezekiah commanded that they should offer
the burnt-offering to the Lord on the altar; all
on the altar, with no reservations and no
restrictions.
Now if that should seem a hard saying, let
me add that I am encouraged to speak about
that because those who know a little about
the altar that sanctifieth the gifts, would all
agree that this is not a hard saying. It is a
complete and total demand which Christ
makes; but the One who makes it is love incarnate. No man yet, no woman yet, facing this
cost, and then ultimately paying the price,
ever regretted that they had put all on the
altar of Jesus.
So I turn to this text to-night with a measure
of joy as in the Lord's name I make a claim
on you as a whole burnt-offering unto the
Lord, and ask you to note that in Hezekiah's
day, when they made the burnt-offering the
song of the Lord began also. Hezekiah had
anticipated this; he had said that Levites
should appear in the house of the Lord, with
cymbals and psalteries and harps. It must
be that he had read of a similar instance in
the history of Israel, when Jehoiada had
appointed officers under the command of the
priests and Levites whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord to offer the
burnt-offerings to the Lord, as it is written in
the law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing,
as it was ordained by David. If the burntoffering is according to the law of Moses, then
the singing is according to the ordination of
David.
The burnt-offering is associated with a song;
and when the burnt-offering began, the song
of the Lord began also. Indeed, we are not
told how long the song continued. It reminds
one of the lovely story in Luke 15, where we
read that on the return of the prodigal son
"they began to be merry," but it does not say
that they ceased! The song of the Lord
began—and wherever in a life there has been
all put upon the altar, then in the heart of
such an one the song of the Lord has begun,
and while all remained upon the altar the song
of the Lord has continued and deepened as the
days have gone by.
I expect that Dr. Wilbur Smith will be suspicious that I have been reading Alexander
Whyte's imaginative sermon when I say, I
wonder what Psalm they sang? Was it the
33rd, "Rejoice in the Lord, 0 ye righteous; for
praise is comely for the upright. Praise the
Lord with harp: sing unto Him with the
psaltery and an instrument of ten strings.
Sing unto Him a new song; play skilfully with
a loud noise; For the word of the Lord is right;
and all His works are done in truth"? They
might have sung a Psalm like that, or it may
have been many another; we know assuredly
only that as the burnt-offering was laid upon
the altar, and as the fire of the Lord consumed
it, they brake forth into singing, accompanied
with cymbals and psalteries and harps.
Long after this, in our Lord's own day, there
was a tax-gatherer of the Romans who heard
the word of the Lord, and laying aside his
books, and so far as we know leaving his cash,
and only taking up his pen—as Alexander
Whyte dared to remind us, now not to scratch
figures in a ledger, but to write that incomparable Gospel of Matthew—he gathered his
friends and invited them to a feast. Here is
Matthew, a man who had been so grasping
and greedy, now offering himself as a burntoffering; and as he closes his books and shuts
up his till, he celebrates the sacrifice with
a feast.
Should there be some young man to whom
the Lord has been speaking, asking for himself
—not his future merely, nor his money, either
in whole or in tithes, nor even his sweetheart
or his wife—but asking for himself, as a whole
burnt-offering on the altar; let me encourage
you by saying that once it is made, however
severe the struggle which may precede it, the
song of the Lord will begin; for the burntoffering is not a matter for sadness, but for
singing. It is the beginning of a new liberty,
for the heart that has been bound and divided
with many allegiances is moving into the
grand freedom of the will and love of God,
away from the bondage of self-control.
I am encouraged to remind you of the last
102
verses of this chapter. This is how it closes:
"And Hezekiah rejoiced, and all the people,
that God had prepared the people; for the
thing was done suddenly." There was no
need for waiting. God had prepared the
people, so now they did it without further
waiting.
I would be the last to press anyone into a
hurried decision, but I am reminded of the
conversion of C. I. Scofield, who has given us the
Scofield Bible. He was visited in his
lawyer's and drinking days by a keen Christian, McPheeters, who turned to him and said,
"Scofield, when are you going to be a Christian?" To this, Scofield replied, "Well, I will
think about it," and McPheeters said, "You
have thought about it long enough; it is time
you decided it," upon which C. I. Scofield fell
down on his knees and was promptly converted, rising up to praise God and give us the
fruit of his Bible study. And there are some
here who have thought long enough, whom
God has prepared. He has been speaking to
us these four days of the Convention, and if
the Lord has prepared us, then the thing may
be done now, and suddenly.
In the older days of the Convention, when
the speakers were bolder than they are to-day,
very often one of them would turn and ask
a brother on the platform, "Mr. So-and-so.
will you please get up and give your testimony
on this matter?" I am not proposing to do
that to-night, but I hope in these closing
moments, in order to help some to put all on
the altar—that altar that sanctifieth the gift,
that wonderful altar of Calvary—to put himself or herself into those hands that were
pierced, the loving hands of the Saviour, to
give you briefly the testimonies of some who
have gone before.
Here is the instance of George Whitefield,
an instance from the Church of England.
Whitefield entered Oxford in 1732, joined the
Methodists—who were then not a denomination—entered into self-discipline, and ultimately into peace as he saw Christ as his
Saviour. In 1738 he was ordained by Dr.
Benson, Bishop of Gloucester, and it was at
the moment of his ordination that Gad met
him, and he said. "When the Bishop laid his
hands upon my head, my heart was melted
down, and I offered my whole spirit, soul, and
body to the service of God's sanctuary. Then
I read the Gospel at the Bishop's command,
with power." His first sermon after ordination, preached on the following Sunday, was
with great unction and power, complaint being
made to the Bishop that fifteen people were
driven mad by this sermon! I could go on
about George Whitefield, Wesley's friend. But
here is another account.
Christmas Evans was born in 1766 on
Christmas Day. Converted at 17, he soon felt
a call to the Baptist ministry, and was
ordained at 24. His ministry began well, but
becoming involved in controversy, his soul
dried up and his power departed. But he
gave himself to prayer, and was convicted of
sin and coldness of heart; and one day, as he
was climbing the road to Cader Idris, heaven
seemed near and his heart grew tender. With
streaming eyes he wrestled with God for three
hours, and then he said, "I gave myself up
wholly to Christ, body and soul, talents and
labours, all my life, every day and every hour
that remained to me, and all my cares, I
trusted into the hands of Christ. In the first
service I held after this event, I felt as if I
had been removed from the cold and sterile
region of spiritual ice into the pleasant lands
of the promises of God." And every day
afterwards he preached with power, and
brought a breath of revival over Wales.
Here is the case of George Muller, from
among the Brethren. He says: "I became a
believer in the Lord Jesus in the beginning of
1825. For the first four years afterwards, it
was for a good part in great weakness, but in
July, 1829, it came with me to an entire and
full surrender of heart. I gave myself fully to
the Lord, honours, pleasures, money, my
physical powers, my mental powers, all were
laid down at the feet of Jesus. I found my all in
God. I found communion with God so sweet
that I continued in prayer until midnight, after
which I was a few times so full of joy that I
could scarcely sleep."
Unless the women should think they are
left out, here is Frances Ridley Havergal.
After a period of seeking and deep concern
for the fullness of Gospel blessing, the sunless
ravines passed for ever. I quote her sister's
words: "To the reality of this, I most willingly
testify. Some time afterwards, in answer to
my question, when we were talking quietly
together, Frances said, 'Yes, it was on Advent
Sunday, December 2, 1873, I first saw the
blessedness of true consecration. . . . I saw it
as a flash of electric light; and what you see
you can never unsee. There must be full surrender before there can be full blessedness.
God admits you by the one into the other. I
just utterly yielded myself to Him, and
utterly trusted Him to keep me.'" Her life
was now lifted to a higher plane, and the
remaining years were the richest in her life.
Wherever she went, her words were winged
with a new spiritual power. It was at this
time she wrote her great Consecration hymn—
Take my life, and let it be,
Ever, only, all for Thee.
You will be indulgent, I know, if I close with
Hudson Taylor, a missionary and a Methodist.
"Well do I remember the occasion," he wrote,
103
"how in the gladness of my heart I besought
Him to give me some work for Him, as an
outlet for my love and gratitude; some
self-denying service, no matter what it
might be. . . . Well do I remember as in
unreserved consecration I put myself, my
life, my friends, my all upon the altar; the
deep solemnity that came over my soul
followed the assurance that my offering was
accepted. The presence of God became
unutterably real and blessed, and I well
remember stretching myself out on the
ground and lying there in unspeakable awe
and unspeakable joy. For what service I was
accepted I knew not, but a deep consciousness
that I was not my own took possession of me,
which has never been effaced."
A Church of England clergyman put his all
on the altar in an English cathedral; a Welsh
Baptist on the road as he journeyed in Wales;
George Muller put his all on the altar in an
unspecified place; Frances Ridley Havergal
on Advent Sunday in 1873; Hudson Taylor put
his all on the altar in the quiet of his own
room. And history here will never, never
reveal—perhaps heaven will—what has come
of blessing to the world because these men and
women put their all on the altar that sanctifieth the gift.
I remember our good friend the Rev. W. W.
Martin telling more than once how he has
seen here in Keswick men and women burning
their lamps late at night, and of one man
who climbed a mountain and built an
altar of stones, and stretched himself upon it
and dedicated himself, and his all, to God
for ever. And all who give themselves thus—
the burnt-offering on the altar—are
accepted and dedicated; and the fire of
God comes to burn on the altar, and make
such an one a man or woman of God. We
may never be a George Whitefield or a
Christmas Evans, a Hudson Taylor, a
Frances Ridley Havergal, or a George
Muller, but if we give God all we are, then
we may safely leave with Him the
responsibility for doing with us what He
will; and He is well able to take full charge
of all that is offered to Him. We may leave
with Him ourselves, our bodies and souls, to
be a reasonable, lively, and holy sacrifice;
and if God hath prepared us, we may do it
to-night.
What, then, is the Source of all practical
holiness? It must have a source. Every river has
a spring. In vital union with all fruit there
must be a root. What, then, is the source of
our fruitfulness? Not our renewed nature. "That
which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (John 3: 6).
Through the operation of God the Holy Spirit, a
spiritual nature has been imparted. But "fruit"
is not the outcome of our new nature, any more
than in the vine fruit is the produce of the
branch. The branch bears it, but the root
produces it. It is the "fruit of the Spirit"—the
Holy Ghost. A bad tree cannot yield good fruit.
Regeneration is essential in order that the fruit
should be good. But the new nature is not the
source. It is Christ Himself. There is only one
source of all holy living; there is only one holy
life. "From Me is thy fruit found" (Hos. 14:8).
"I am the life," not simply because I am the
pattern of a perfect life, or because I am the
bestower of the gift of life, but because I am the
vital principle itself. He is the Spring itself.
'With Thee is the fountain of life" (Psalm
36:9).
—EVAN H. HOPKINS.
From "The Law of Liberty in the Spiritual
Life."
104
THURSDAY, JULY 17th
(iv) PHILOSOPHY OF BEHAVIOUR
THE CRUSE OF OIL
REV. WILLIAM STILL
BE OF GOOD CHEER
THE BISHOP OF BARKING, THE RT. REV. HUGH R. GOUGH,
O.B.E., M.A.
(V) THE WORD AND DEFEATED DISCIPLES
DR. WILBUR M. SMITH
THE REST OF FAITH
PREBENDARY COLIN C. KERR, M.A., H.C.E.
A PRINCE WITH GOD
105
The Spirit's Quickening Power
A
NOTABLE answer to prayer delighted
everybody in Keswick on Thursday morning.
Bright sunshine transfigured the little town,
and revealed the beauty and grandeur of its
Lakeland setting in its most resplendent
aspect. This was in striking contrast to the
leaden skies and continuous rain of
yesterday. At last evening's meeting, during
torrential rain, Mr. Fred Mitchell had said that
he felt led to pray for fine weather, not only
for the convenience of all attending the
meetings, but especially for the sake of those
under canvas in the various camps. It was a
prayer of faith, which the lovely morning
more than rewarded.
In his final Bible Reading, Dr. Graham
Scroggie dealt with the closing section of the
Epistle to the Romans, which he entitled
"Behaviour" (12: 1-15: 13). The series or
masterly expositions found their logical
climax in the words of the apostle's doxology
in Ephesians 3: 20, 21—"Now unto Him that
is able to do exceeding abundantly above all
that we ask or think . . . unto Him be glory
in the Church . . ."
The young people attended the last of the
special meetings for them, in the small tent,
at 11.45 a.m., while in the large tent the Rev.
William Still spoke on the wonder of the fact
that the Holy Spirit dwells within us; and the
Bishop of Barking summed up the Convention
message in the words of Paul—"Christ in
you."
The sunny afternoon doubtless attracted
many out-of-doors, but the tent was practically full for the last of the addresses by Dr.
Wilbur Smith. Mr. Mitchell, who presided,
expressed thanks to Dr. Smith for the ministry
he had exercised during the week. He had
been helped by the Lord to make the Word
living, challenging and effective. In response,
Dr. Smith said that the week had been one of
heavenly fellowship, both in the meetings and
at the hotel with his brethren on the platform,
with whose self-abnegation he had been
deeply impressed.
It is perhaps appropriate here to observe
that, from its earliest days, Keswick has owed
much to visiting speakers from America—
indeed, its very inception was due, humanly
speaking, to the ministry in this country of
Mr. and Mrs. R. Pearsall Smith, the Rev. W.
E. Boardman, and Dr. Asa Mahan, although
none of these ever went to Keswick. But
somewhat later Dr. A. T. Pierson became an
honoured visitor; and of recent years the
ministry of such distinguished guests as Dr.
Samuel Zwemer, Dr. Harry A. Ironside, and
Dr. Donald G. Barnhouse has contributed
much. In this goodly succession, Dr. Wilbur
Smith has won, on his first visit, an illustrious
place. His scholarly, yet passionate and
intensely practical messages had a truly prophetic note, which commended them alike to
heart and mind.
Clouds had filled the sky again in the late
afternoon, and by evening rain was once more
falling. The large tent was full to capacity
some while before the time of the meeting, and
the small tent had an "overflow" of at least a
thousand people. Another well-known visitor
from overseas, Dr. Northcote Deck, formerly
a missionary in the Solomon Islands, and now
of Canada, led in prayer. The hymn, "Simply
trusting," struck the keynote of the meeting;
Prebendary Colin Kerr quoted the phrase.
"Trusting Jesus, that is all," as the starting
point of his address, and repeated it several
times during his message, as the secret of the
life of blessing.
After his address there was, in the singing
of "I am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus," the deep
note of that faith which had been so clearly
explained, and which the week of meetings.
had evoked or deepened in very many hearts;
and then the Rev. G. B. Duncan delivered theclosing message,
Choosing a story from Scripture which has
very f requentl y f arm ed the subject o f
addresses at Keswick—Jacob at Peniel—Mr.
Duncan brought its challenge home to every
heart, with freshness and power. Had the
purpose of God in the Convention, for each
one individually, been fulfilled? The story
in Genesis 32:24-31 points out the solitude in
which God met with Jacob; the struggle in
which God strove with him; the surrender in
which God dealt with him; and finally, the
sovereignty in which God would work with
him. So God's purpose for the lives of all His
children was set forth, in the glorious possibilities of fellowship with Him and service for
Him.
In the solemn hush of the closing moments
of prayer, the hand of God was upon the vast
congregation, subduing all in His Presence;
then the response and gratitude of faith was
expressed in the hymn, "My Saviour, Thou
hast offered rest."
106
(4)—PHILOSOPHY OF BEHAVIOUR (Romans 12:1-15:13)
I3Y THE Roy. W. GRAHAM SCROGGIE, D.D.
IIL—PRACTICAL : PHILOSOPHY OF BEHAVIOUR
12: 1-15: 13.
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS' OF GOD IN
RELATION TO EVERYDAY LIFE
1. Paths of Duty
..
(i) The Various Spheres
(ii) The Impelling Power
(iii) The Great Incentive
2. Principles of Action
(i) Mutual Toleration
(ii) Brotherly Obligation
(iii) Christlike Consideration
Conclusion, 15: 14-16: 27.
12-13.
12: 1-13:7
13: 8-10.
13: 11-14.
14: 1-15:13
14: 1-12.
14: 13-23.
15: 1-13.
turn our attention to Christian behaviour,
which fits into the doctrine, and embodies it.
This subject is unfolded in chapters 12-15,
reaching from the necessity for it in sin, to the and we may divide it into two main parts,
The first of these points out Paths of Duty
consummation of it in glory. In the second (12-13); and the second sets forth Principles
division (9-11) the subject is the divine proof Action (14-15: 13); and each of these parts vidence and purpose in the calling of Israel. is rich with instruction for all who would live
And in the third division (12-16) the subject a victorious Christian life. First of all, then,
I—PATHS OF DUTY (12-13).
is practical Christianity.
Here we are told what our duty is, and how
The second division is a vital part of the
whole Epistle, but for our present purpose we we can perform it. To begin with, the fundaomit it, and pass from the doctrinal to the mental conditions of Christian living are
practical divisions; for, by so doing, we can indicated (12:1, 2), and then, the manifold
see more clearly the relation to one another expressions of it are detailed (12:3-13:14).
1. The Fundamental Conditions of Chrisof truth and life; of revelation and responsibility; of principles and practice; of religion tian living are indicated in two profound
and morality; of doctrine and duty; of redemp- verses which link together all that has alreadytion and behaviour. Salvation as a divine been said in the Epistle, and all that remains
revelation is of no value unless it eventuates to be said.
I exhort you t h e r e f o r e , brethren, by the
in character and conduct which are conformable to the purpose of the Redeemer.
compassions of God, to present your bodies
Christianity is not merely or primarily a
a living sacrifice, holy, well-pleasing to God,
philosophy, but a quality of life, called "eterwhich is your rational service. And fashion
nal life"; and by "eternal life" is not meant
not yourselves to this age, but be trans a life which we shall enter upon beyond time,
formed by the renewing of your mind, that
but a life to be lived here and now in all conyou may prove what is the will of God, the
ceivable conditions and circumstances.
good, and well-pleasing, and perfect (will).
But it should be understood that not only
The word "therefore" should be marked,
are salvation and behaviour vitally related, which occurs, as we have said, at three critical
but also that they are related in this order. points in the Epistle—in 5:1; 8:1; and 12:1.
Behaviour is not the root, but the fruit; not The first is the "therefore" of salvation:
the foundation, but the superstructure; not "Therefore being justified by faith, we have
the cause, but the effect. Belief precedes peace with God through our Lord Jesus
behaviour in every true unfolding of Chris- Christ." The second is the "therefore" of
tianity.
sanctification: "There is therefore now no conAnd now, having considered the mighty demnation to them that walk not after the
sweep of salvation, from sin to glory, let us
HIS Epistle to the Romans is in three main
T
divisions. In the first (1-8) the subject
is salvation, in the widest possible sense,
107
flesh, but after the Spirit." And the third is
the "therefore" of service: "I exhort you
therefore to present your bodies a living sacrifice." There is no true service where there is
not sanctification; and there is no sanctification where there is not salvation. This, then,
is the spiritually organic order. Salvation is
by the surrender of the heart to God; sanctification is by the surrender of the will; and
service is by the surrender of the body. This
being so, it must be evident that true sanctification and effective service are not inevitable;
that there can be genuine salvation, in its first
meaning, without them. Each of these stages
is reached by faith, and each constitutes a
spiritual crisis in the experience of the individual, because each is entered into by an act,
which is followed by a spiritual development.
In these two verses we are told that the
fundamental conditions of Christian living
relate to what is outward, and to what is
inward in our life. The outward condition is
the dedication of the body; and the inward
condition is the renewal of the mind.
The dedication of the body, which is the
outward condition of Christian living, is to be
a definite and solemn act. In Paul's "present
your bodies," two things should be observed.
First, that it is to be an act; the verb is in the
tense which means to do something instantly
and completely; and secondly, that the presentation is a sacrificial act; not propitiatory, but
dedicatory; not a sin-offering, but a burnt-offering. The sacrifices of old were dead, but our
sacrifice must be "living"; those of old were
not always "well-pleasing to God," but the
sacrifice of our body—brain, eyes, ears, tongue,
hands, and feet—will be well-pleasing to Him.
Such a dedication of the body is in harmony
with the highest intelligence; Paul calls it
"rational"; and we shall realize that it is this
when we recognize the place and function of
the body in the Christian life.
The renewal of the mind, which is the
inward condition of Christian living, is profoundly impressive. In but twenty-seven
words a programme is presented; a process is
unfolded; and a purpose is revealed.
The Programme is: "Be not conformed—but
be transformed." These are the negative and
positive aspects of the same thing, and they
are mutually exclusive. Every "age" has its
own characteristics, but there are some things
which are common to every age.
In Jude, verse 11, we read of "the way of
Cain," that is, pride of intellect; of "the error
of Balaam," that is, the love of money; and of
"the gainsaying of Korah," that is, contempt
of authority. These three things—rationalism, mammonism, and anarchism—appear in
every age, and to them, as well as to special
features of our own age, we are not to be
conformed. Our "age" is not to be our fashion
plate, because it is both false and fleeting.
The Process is: "By the renewing of your
mind." The true safeguard against a sinful
conformation is a spiritual transformation,
and this will be a continuous experience. The
dedication of the body is by an act, but the
transformation of the mind is a process; and
the process is both God's work, and ours.
Because our faculty of discernment functions faultily, it must be continuously renewed.
The will that it should be so is ours, but the
work is the Holy Spirit's (Titus 3: 5).
And the Purpose of this programme and
process is, "That we may prove what is the
will of God, the good, and well-pleasing, and
perfect will."
This, then, is the only foundation of a true
Christian life, and all that follows rests upon
it and emerges from it. Following on the
Fundamental Conditions are2. The Manifold Expressions of Christian
living.
First of all, the Apostle details the various
spheres in which the Christian life must be
lived (12: 3-13: 7); he then discloses the impelling power of such a life (13: 8-10); and,
finally, makes evident the great incentive to it
(13: 11-14) .
Let us consider then, first of all,
( i ) Th e v ar io u s s ph e r e s in w hi ch the
Christian life must be lived (12: 3-13: 7).
Here three paths of duty are set before us,
which relate (a) to the Church (12: 3-13); (b)
to the world (12: 14-21); and (c) to the State
(13: 1-7); and these refer respectively to our
religious, our social, and our civil duty.
The Apostle introduces this great subject by
calling upon us to form, as far as may be
possible, a true estimate of ourselves (v. 3).
He says:
Do not be high-minded above what it behoves you to be minded, but be minded so
as to be sober-minded, as to each God has
divided a measure of faith.
This is a most important statement, and
requires of us more honest thinking than, perhaps, we have ever given to it. Self-estimate
must be on one or other of three levels: super,
above; sub, under; or sane, right. On the
super level are the superiority complex
people; and on the sub level are the inferiority
complex people, and they are both off the
right level. Generally speaking, we Christians
think either too much of ourselves, or too
little, and both estimates are bad for the
Church, as well as for ourselves.
Self-admiration is pride and conceit, which
is bad for oneself, unjust to others, and throws
the machinery of Christian life and work out
of gear.
On the other hand, self-depreciation neither
honours God, encourages ourselves, nor
blesses others. A sub-estimate of oneself
unfits one for the work of life, and must not
be mistaken for Christian humility. One of
these parties should sing, "Oh, to be nothing,
nothing"; and the other should sing, "Oh, to
be something, something." He who overestimates himself will try to do what he
cannot; and he who under-estimates himself
will not try to do what he can; and in both
cases the work is not done. In the Church, as
in every business, there are manifold operations, and so there must be diversity of ability;
there is therefore no room for super or sub
estimation of oneself.
The bearing of this on what follows must be
obvious, for by a right estimate of ourselves
we shall be better able to fulfil our duty to the
Church, to the world, and to the State.
Consider, then, what Paul says about—
(a) Our Duty to the Church (12:4-13).
Here he speaks, first of all, of our corporate
( vv . 4 -8 ), an d th en o f o u r in di vi du al
responsibility (vv. 9-13).
Our Corporate Responsibility (vv. 4-8).
This relates to the place and function of
each believer in the Christian Church. Perhaps it may be said that never so much as now
was it imperative to know what the New
Testament means by the Christian Church.
By likening the Church to a human body and
its members (v. 4), the Apostle is simply
affirming that the Church is a spiritual organism, and not a human organization. The
Christian Church is not the aggregate of all
denominational churches, but the sum total
of all believing individuals, men, women
and children. This is not the view of the
present-day movement for the reunion of
Christendom, which, in my view, because I
believe it to be the New Testament view,
would be an appalling disaster.
No, Paul says that all regenerated people
constitute the Body of Christ, and that in this
Body each has a place and a part to fulfil.
If, during these nineteen hundred years ;
believers had kept this steadily in mind, and
had acted upon it, many a sad chapter of
Church history would never have been written. What each of us must realize is, first,
that no one of us has all the gifts; secondly,
that each of us has some gift, or gifts; and
thirdly, that all the gifts are necessary if the
whole Body is to function properly.
One colour does not make light; one branch
does not make a tree; one worker does not
make a firm; one flower does not make a garden; one tree does not make a forest; one
wave does not make a tide; one star does not
make a constellation; one grain does not
make a harvest; one instrument does not
make an orchestra; one limb does not make
a body; and so one member does not make a
Church.
Relative to the Body of Christ, this is what
Paul is insisting on here. Unity, not uniformity, characterizes the Christian Church,
and in this unity is vast diversity. If each
of us did what Christ has placed us in His
Body to do, and recognized with appreciation
the functions of others, the Church would
be a power in the world, instead of being "by
schisms rent asunder, and by heresies
distressed." In the true Church no two
believers are endowed alike, but there is no
one who is not endowed.
To illustrate this, the Apostle selects seven
gifts, four of which are exercised more
publicly, and three more privately, but all are
used for the benefit of the whole Church.
These gifts cover a wide field of ministry, and
exhibit wide variety; yet they are but a small
selection of the wealth of ability which Christians have.
The gifts specified are: Prophesying, that is,
preaching; Serving, which relates to the business and administrative work of the Church;
Teaching, that is, interpreting revealed truth;
Exhorting, that is, appealing to the
conscience and will, rather than to the
intellect, and which is more the work of the
evangelist than of the teacher; Giving, which
refers to sharing with others what one has
of this world's goods; Ruling, which means
"taking the lead," which is the function of
organizers, superintendents, and directors of
Christian work; and Mercy-showing, which
includes the care of the sick, the poor, the
afflicted, and the sorrowing. This is the work
of the visitor. No one can do all these
things, but to each of us is given
something to do; and Paul says that the gifts
should be exercised with faith, with devotion,
with diligence, with generosity, and with
cheerfulness.
From the co rporate responsibility of
believers, Paul turns our attention to—
Our Individual Responsibility (vv. 9-13).
In addition to the exercise of specific "gifts,"
there are certain qualities which all Christians
should possess and exhibit for the benefit of
fellow-believers. The root quality of all is
named first,
Let your love be unfeigned
and then twelve ways are indicated in which
this love will express itself.
The love spoken of is that of principle,
not of sentiment; the "love of God which is
shed abroad in our hearts through the Holy
Spirit." The word has no epithet here, but
stands in the magnificence of its own strength
and simplicity. Only they who exhibit it have
it; and they who claim to have it, yet do not
exhibit it, are hypocrites.
To "feign" is to hide what one is, and to
pretend to be what one is not. Such a caricature smiles with one face, and frowns with
another. A French writer has caustically said
that "hypocrisy is the homage which vice
pays to virtue." Paul says, "let your love be
real;
not simulated, but sincere"; and when it is
this, it will express itself in the manner indicated in the following twelve qualities.
The first quality is Moral Abhorrence:
"abhor that which is evil" (v. 9). True love
is not present where there is not a moral recoil
from evil. In this day of spurious charity and
unprincipled toleration, we should cultivate a
healthy hatred of moral evil.
The second quality is Moral Adherence:
"cleave to that which is good" (v. 9). This
means that we should be glued to the good.
Ideally evil will be abhorred in exact proportion to one's adherence to good. Let us remember that these moral reactions are of the
essence of love. Abhorring what is evil, and
cleaving to what is good, are inseparable
qualities, and love in both aspects is dynamic
in society.
The third quality is Family Affection: "In
brotherly love be tenderly affectioned one to
another" (v. 10). There is a love which we
should have for all men, the love which God
has for all; but the "affection" here referred
to is limited to the members of the Christian
family. The word philadelphia occurs in the
New Testament seven times, and always of
love between Christians. The love of a bloodrelationship necessarily differs from every
other, and in the Church it is by Christ's blood.
The fourth quality is Unselfish Deference:
"In honour preferring one another" (v. 10).
Or it might be rendered, "outdo one another
in showing honour." I suspect that this is one
of the most difficult exhortations, for we all
like to be honoured, and, maybe, we do not
exult when others are honoured and we are
not. He who fulfils this exhortation is the
embodiment of true Christian humility.
The fifth quality is Unflagging Zeal: "In
diligence not slothful" (v. 11). Luther translates this, "Be not lazy as to what you ought
to do." The exhortation implies earnestness
and thoroughness in the performance of Christian duties. Never let your zeal flag; keep up
the temperature of your spiritual life.
The sixth quality is Vital Enthusiasm: "Be
fervent in spirit" (v. 11). The word "fervent"
means to boil, and this is the positive side of
the preceding negative; not flagging, but boiling. It is by fire that water boils, and only by
the flame of the Holy Spirit can our spirits
reach this temperature.
The seventh quality is Devout Service:
"Serving the Lord" (v. 11). There are half a
dozen words translated servant in the New
Testament. These signify a household servant, a healing servant, an attendant, ministry
in any form, an under-rower, and the word
used in our passage, a bondslave, which is the
lowest in the scale of servitude. Paul never
tired of calling himself Christ's bondslave, and
fervently would he have sung:
My highest place is lying low at my
Redeemer's feet;
No real joy in life I know, but in His service
sweet.
The eighth quality is Joyful Hope: "Rejoicing in hope" (v. 12); which means that our
hope of coming glory, beginning with the
Lord's Return, should keep us joyful, whatever our circumstances may be. We often
hear people say ". . . . under the circumstances." But Griffith Thomas used to say—
"What are you doing under them?"
The ninth quality is Patient Endurance:
"Patient in tribulation" (v. 12). Just because
we have the hope of glory, we can, and should,
endure patiently the trials which will inevitably assail us. But for our hope it would not
be possible to endure.
The tenth quality is Persevering Prayerfulness: "Continuing steadfastly in prayer" (v.
12). Prayer keeps all the other qualities in a
state of health. It paints the rainbow of hope
in the tears of tribulation. It puts the sunlight of heaven behind the darkest clouds, and
makes them glorious with their exquisite tinting and drapery of purple and gold. Prayer
shapes into beautiful and glorious forms the
lava which the volcano of earthly disaster has
sent forth in molten streams. Prayer is our
best support in adversity, and our best protection in prosperity. He does not live who
does not pray.
The eleventh quality is Practical Generosity:
"Distributing to the necessities of saints"
(v. 13). After private blessing comes public
benevolence. First, devotion to God, and then
helpfulness to men. The true order is to reach
man by God, not to reach God by man. The
heart is first drawn out, and then the purse.
Pious verbiage can never compensate for the
want of practical sympathy. Said a visitor to
a person in urgent temporal need: "Never
mind, you'll get a crown one day"; and the
needy soul replied, "But I wouldna mind halfa-crown now, to be going on with."
The twelfth quality is Watchful Hospitality:
"Pursuing hospitality" (v. 13). It is not easy
in these days to keep "open house," and
generally it is impossible; but, in these austere
times, the spirit of hospitality must not be
allowed to perish.
And through all the years of famine,
Is thy cruse of comfort failing?
Rise and share it with a friend;
And through all the years of famine,
/r shall serve thee to the end.
For the heart grows rich in giving;
All its wealth is living grain;
Seeds which mildew in the garner,
Scattered, fill with gold the plain.
These, then, are the qualities which each
of us is exhorted to exhibit toward our fellow-
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believers, and it is a programme of graces
which will keep us busy for some time to
come.
Having considered our duty to the Church
(vv. 4-13), the Apostle now calls attention to—
(b) Our Duty to the World (12:14-21).
He names eleven things which should
characterise the Christian's attitude toward
the world, and these, which cover much
ground, may well cause us reproachful reflection. Let us look rapidly at these exhortations.
Beneficence: "Bless those who pursue you;
bless and do not curse" (v. 14). In the previous verse we are told to "pursue" hospitality, and here we are told that the enemy
will 'pursue" us. Persecution may take an
infinite variety of forms, but in all, our
attitude toward the persecutor is to be one,
not of imprecation, but of intercession. Paul
derived this exhortation from his Master, who
said: "Bless those who curse you, and pray
for those who despitefully use you" (Luke
6:23). This will not be easy, but it will be
right.
Sympathy: "Rejoice with the rejoicing, and
weep with the weeping" (v. 15). There are
times when we can, and should, congratulate
people who are not Christians; and certainly
there are times when we should condole with
them. If we show pleasure at a birth, and
sorrow at a death, we have done something
toward securing their interest in spiritual
things.
Harmony: "Keep in harmony with one
another" (v. 16). There are many things of
a human kind which give us opportunity for
friendliness with non-Christians; matters
relating to recreation, reading, daily happenings, and much more about which we can talk
and in which we can engage; and to show
that we have much in common, may lead
others towards the things that matter most.
We must find points of contact with those
whom we would win. Jesus' point of contact
with the Samaritan woman was the water in
the well.
Humility: "Aspire not to pre-eminence, but
associate with the lowly" (v. 16). The "lofty"
must be interpreted in the light of the
"lowly." The exhortation is not against every
form of ambition, but against seeking preeminence for oneself. Let us remember that
humanity's high things are often divinity's
low things. A corrective to unholy ambition
is association with the lowly, and remember,
the lowly are not the low. The exhortation
may mean "associate with lowly folk"; or
"give yourself to lowly tasks"; in either case it
is humility on the part of the Christian which
is enjoined.
Self-complacency: "Be not wise according to
your own judgment" (v. 16). The Christian
must not behave in such a way as to draw the
just criticism of unbelievers; and certainly he
does this when he is conceited. Conceit is
vanity, and generally is exhibited by those
who have least reason so to pose. Corn, when
it is green, is upright, but when it is ripe it
bends low. A vain young man was a great
trial to Mr. Moody, and one day he said to the
evangelist, "You know, Mr. Moody, I am a
self-made man"; to which Mr. Moody replied,
"Young man, you have relieved the Almighty
of a great responsibility." (This reply is
attributed to Earl Lloyd George also.) People
like that succeed only in making themselves
ridiculous.
Retaliation: "Requite to no man wrong for
wrong" (v. 17). It is no business of a Christian to try to "get even" with someone who
has done him an injustice. Two blacks do
not make a white. Hitting back is not a
virtue, but a vice. It is human to retaliate,
but it is divine not to do so. When "Old
Adam" rises to strike, we've got to say, "Sit
down; you're dead." When Jesus was reviled,
He reviled not again; and when He suffered,
He threatened not, but committed Himself to
Him that judgeth righteously.
Goodness: "Be absorbed in what is good for
all men to see" (v. 17). The world is the
Christian's most acute and, perhaps, most
accurate critic. Christianity is held in high
regard by most people, and it is when Christians act inconsistently with it that we hear
the world's criticism. People recognize goodness when they see it, and it is goodness we
are to provide in the sight of everyone. Our
conduct should be above suspicion, and should
have in it the quality which is called goodness. To be correct in our conduct is not
enough; we should be attractive also. Our
tree should not only bear fruit, but also cultivate leaves.
Peaceableness: "If it be possible, so far as it
depends on you, be at peace with all men"
(v. 18). Paul does not say that peace will
always be possible, but he does say, "Let the
want of it not be due to you." We are answerable only for our part in our relations with
others. Peace is always to be devoutly
sought, but not at any price. Strife upsets
the nerves, disturbs the mind, and arrests
spiritual progress. "As far as it depends on
you" implies that a point may be reached at
which principle must take precedence of
peace. Dispeace with anyone should never be
due on our part to pique, but to principle.
There is, of course, the peace of a cemetery,
but that is not what is enjoined here.
Non-avengement: "Avenge not yourselves,
beloved, but give place unto wrath" (v. 19).
Three meanings have been given to this reference to "wrath"; one, that the Christian is to
restrain his own wrath; another, that he is to
yield to the anger of his opponent; and a third,
that the wrath is God's, and that just because
He will deal with His and His people's
enemies, the Christian should not. As God
alone knows all the facts, and as His actions
are free from vindictiveness, we should leave
the judging of evildoers to Him.
Magnanimity: "Give your enemy food and
drink" (v. 20). This is the Christian's form
of revenge, and is the antithesis of retaliation.
The reference embraces all sorts of kindness,
and implies that in this way hostility may be
broken down, and the enemy brought to
repentance.
The last reference in this section is to—
Conquest: "Be not conquered by evil; but
conquer evil with good" (v. 21). Our attitude
toward wrongs done to us will determine
whether we conquer evil, or whether we are
conquered by it. If we show the same spirit
as the enemy, he has conquered; but if we act
as Christians should, he is conquered. This
principle is of wide application, and is one of
the secrets of Christian conquest. If I had the
opportunity to live my life over again, some
things I have done, I would not do; some
things I have said, would remain unuttered;
and some letters I have written, would never
be penned. This Epistle says that we can be
"more than conquerors"; and as we can be, we
should be, so let us resolve that "through Him
who loved us," we will be.
But our obligations are not yet exhausted.
We have been thinking of them in relation to
the Church, and to the World, and now,
briefly, we must consider—
(c) Our Duty to the State (13:1-7).
This is the only passage in which Paul deals
with this subject in detail; (a similar passage
is in 1 Peter 2: 13-17). Though briefly treated,
the importance of the subject is great, and its
scope and limits are defined and illustrated
in many places in both Testaments.
In these seven verses at least seven things
are said: (i) that we should be subject to the
State because it is a divine institution; (ii)
that resistance to constituted authority is
resistance to God, and will be punished; (iii)
that rulers, viewed ideally, are God's ministers, appointed to encourage what is good, and
to punish what is evil; (iv) that only evildoers have anything to fear from properly
constituted authority; (v) that we should be
subject to the State not only from fear of the
consequences of disobedience, but because it
is right to obey; (vi) that the matter of taxation is an illustration of the ruler's power to
impose, and of our obligation to submit; and
(vii) that we should fulfil our manifold obligations to the State.
This Passage does not deal with the whole
problem of a Christian's relation to the State,
and if we look to it for guidance on aspects of
112
the subject to which it does not refer, we shall
be disappointed. But even relative to what is
said, much is left to legitimate inference.
State government is viewed ideally, and not
as too often it actually is; and no form of
government is prescribed, monarchical, republican, or any other. What is insisted on is
that State government is of God, and that all
who are under it should respect it. Because
Christians have a citizenship in heaven, they
are not absolved from their citizenship on
earth, nor from its obligations.
This passage has nothing to say about political parties, nor, except implicitly, to voting;
but relative to the latter, surely Christians
should use their influence to secure good
rulers, and to exclude bad ones. In an
organized community taxes are necessarily
imposed, and Christians must pay them,
though we cannot now get them out of the
mouths of fish. By the State we are protected
against the ravages of anarchy, and all privileges carry with them obligations.
It has been well said that "the fact that an
earthly government may be corrupt and
tyrannical does not disprove the divine origin
of government, any more than the fact that
parents may be unfaithful to their duties
proves that the family is not divinely
originated, or the fact that a particular church
may became corrupt proves that the Church
is not divine in its source" (Shedd).
But what is here said does not imply that
the Christian must never, in any circumstances, disobey constituted authority. Our
first allegiance is to God, and if the State
requires of us what would violate our loyalty
to God, then we must resist. When Nebuchadnezzar commanded the three Hebrews to worship his image, they refused; and when Darius
prohibited prayer to anyone but himself,
Daniel disobeyed; and when Christians were
ordered to worship Caesar, they would
not, and were thrown to the lions. Christ has
said the last word on this . subject: "Render
to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to
God the things that are God's."
Here, then, are detailed our duty to the
Church (12: 3-13); to the world (12:14-21);
and to the State (13: 1-7); our religious, and
social, and civil duties; and inevitably we ask,
"How can we fulfil these duties?"
The Apostle answers this question by
revealing—
(ii) The Impelling Power of the Christian
life (13: 8-10). "Owe no man anything, but
to love one another." Debts are dishonourable. They show, either that one has incurred
a liability which he cannot meet, or else, being
able to pay, he is unwilling to do so. Either
way the debt is disgraceful. There must be
many professing the name of Christ who are
guilty of debt. They pray, but they do not
present: "let us cast off the works of darkness"; "let us put on the armour of light"; and
"let us walk decently as in the day." And
why all this? Because final "salvation is
nearer to us than when we first believed"; or,
in other words, because Christ is coming. The
Christians of the Apostolic age believed that
He would come in their time; and about that,
let it be said, that whereas their perspective
was wrong, their hope was right. Alas, that
for long centuries since then, both the perspective and the hope of multitudes of Christians
have been wrong. Early the truth about the
Lord's Return faded from view, and the
Church set out to save the world. It has had
over a millennium and a half in which to do
so, and to-day the world is further from being
saved than ever it has been.
What, then, is the present duty? Paul says
it is threefold. First, wake up. All the
Virgins "slumbered and slept," and through
these centuries, notwithstanding endless
religions, social and intellectual activities, the
Church which has not known, or has denied,
that the Lord is coming again, has been asleep;
and the call rings out in this fateful hour of
history, "Wake up—wake up—wake up !"
And having wakened up, our second duty is
to dress properly. There are clothes to be
"cast off," and clothes to be "put on." Our
night vestments, called "the works of the
darkness," are to be cast aside, and in their
place we are to "put on the weapons of the
light." We cannot put on the weapons on top
of the works, any more than we can put our
clothes on in the morning on top of our
pyjamas. In the place of "works" must come
war, for "weapons" are for defence and holy
aggression; for when we realize that Christ is
coming, and maybe soon, we shall stop building castles, and get into the conflict.
The third thing Paul says we must do is to
act rightly; we are to "walk decently," as
becomes people whose daily strength is in the
conviction that their Lord is on the way, and
that at any time they may see "the flaming of
His advent feet."
pay; and failure to do the latter renders
worthless their diligence in the former. Debt
is a form of stealing, for it is keeping for oneself something which belongs to someone else.
Some honest people are brought into debt
because others will not pay to them what they
owe, and such are entitled to sympathy. We
must be careful not to regard as sinful a
reasonable delay in the payment of an
account, but our passage refers to debts that
can and should be avoided. I would rather be
a suffering creditor than a shameful debtor.
Perhaps some of you will have to pay to-day.
But there are debts other than monetary.
We can owe people coin of other mints. Do
we not owe to others forgiveness, and patience,
and sympathy, and appreciation, and gratitude, and generosity? Have you paid in the
coin of gratitude the debt you owe to the
person who led you to Christ? It may be that
you have not even troubled to write a letter
to him, or her, and expressed thanks for that
eternal service.
Are you getting spiritual help from your
minister? If so, have you ever said so to
him; or do you write to him only when you
have something to criticize? Then, is there
not another debt which we have not paid, or
only partly so, the debt of prayers for
others? Think of all who need your prayers,
and then say if you have paid this debt.
Last year, for a long time, I was very
and many of you prayed for me, and I
want to thank you now. You prayed for
me when I could not pray for myself, and
God heard you, and answered. I thank
you.
But there is a debt we can never fully discharge, and that is to "love one another."
This debt we must be for ever paying, yet
never clearing. The more of it that is paid,
the more is felt to be due. We owe it to all
men to tell them what we know about the
love of Christ. The love enjoined cannot be
an outward rule of life unless it is first an
inward principle. True love never asks, "How
much must I give?" but, "How much
can I g i v e ? " I f w e a l l l o v e d a s w e
should, we would never owe any
o t h e r d e b t ; and love alone would enable
us to fulfil our duty to the Church, to the
world, and to the State.
But the Apostle has one more thing to say
relative to what he has said in these two
chapters, and this relates to—
(iii) The Great Incentive of the Christian
life (13: 11-14). This incentive is the Second
Advent of Christ.
Now is our salvation nearer to us than
In the fading of the starlight
We can see the coming morn;
And the lights of men are paling
In the splendours of the dawn;
For the eastern skies are glowing
As with lights of hidden fire,
And the hearts of men are stirring
With the throb of deep desire.
For the Christian, the best is yet to be. We
are facing, not the night, but the morning.
Danger is departing, and deliverance is dawning. So let us rejoice.
Having pointed out our paths of duty, the
Apostle, in a final portion, calls our
attention to certainII—PRINCIPLES OF ACTION (14:1-15:13).
when we f irst believed. The night is f ar
spent, and the day is at hand.
In this weighty passage, past, future, and
present are brought together. Past: "the
night is far spent"; future: "the day is at
hand"; and
113
I much regret that want of time does not
allow of a careful detailed exposition of this
very important passage. All that can be
attempted now is to discern the main features
of the argument.
Paul has said: "Owe no man anything, but
to love one another," and now he applies that
principle to a particular case.
The parties referred to are "the weak," and
"the strong." "The weak" are those whose
conduct is regulated by certain scruples which
they hold; and "the strong" are those who act
on the principle of Christian liberty; and in
both cases the matters under consideration
are without moral significance, matters
relative to food, and the observance of days.
In discussing this matter the Apostle speaks
very frankly to both parties; and the substance
of what he says is: first, You should exhibit
mutual toleration (14:1-12); secondly, You
should recognize brotherly obligation (14:1323); and thirdly, You should act with Christlike consideration (15:1-13); and these
requirements are as applicable now as they
were then, and to more things than "food,"
and "days."
1. Mutual Toleration (14:1-12).
Paul will not let us get away from the
present by the contemplation of the future,
He has just been pointing us to a wonderful
day which certainly will dawn. Lest, however,
we fold our hands, and abandon ourselves to
the horizon, he continues: "But him that is
weak in the faith receive ye, yet not to discuss his doubts." Heaven is related to earth;
the future to the present; the divine to the
human; and our hope to our duty. Spirituality
does not consist in dreaming, but in doing.
We all, at times, are disposed to sing, "0 for
the wings, for the wings of a dove; then
would I fly away and be at rest." But how do
you know you would not light upon a thorn?
Rest is not found by flying away, but by filling
our days with duties well done.
It can be said of the "weak" of whom Paul
speaks, what Christ said of the poor, "they
are ever with us"; but the "strong" must be
careful what they think and say about them,
and how they act towards them. It is easy
to say, "Oh, these are cranks, leave them
alone"; but that gets no one anywhere. It is
best to face the fact that there are Christians
with scruples, and to respect them when we
cannot follow them.
The matter of diet, even now, is not a dead
issue; and relative to it the "strong" brother
is in danger of despising the "weak"; and the
"weak" brother is in danger of judging the
"strong." A. invites B. to dinner, and puts
before him a good joint of pork. He invites
B. to ask a blessing, and B. says: "0 Lord, if
Thou cant bless in this dispensation what
Thou didst curse in the last, bless this pig."
But B. will not have any of the pig. A. smiles
contemptuously, and B. hurls at him Leviticus
11: 7, "And the swine, he is unclean to you";
and judges A.'s loyalty to the Word of God.
A. tells B. to read 1 Timothy 4: 4, 5, "Every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be
refused, if it be received with thanksgiving;
for it is sanctified by the Word of God and
prayer"; and there follows an argument,
which is well spiced with recriminations.
Meanwhile the pork gets cold; the cook is
annoyed; the brethren are rattled; each sticks
to his point instead of to his joint; fellowship
is broken; and A. does not invite B. to dinner
again. How pathetic and tragic! and all over
a bit of pork for which A. thanks God, as well
he may, if he can get it.
Now, both these men are wrong in spirit;
the one for despising, and the other for judging, though both are right in what they do
conscientiously. Then why not be tolerant in
things indifferent? A. should eat his pork,
and B. his vegetables, and they should have
a happy time together "in the Lord."
And as for the observance of days—I
remember the time when, in the Highlands of
Scotland, the blinds were pulled down on Sundays, and the pianos were locked, and no
one was allowed to go for a walk. And there
are many people to-day who think it wrong to
go to church in any way other than on foot;
but where they go astray is in thinking that
those who do employ mechanical transport
are breaking a divine law, and are guilty.
Let us remember that "we shall all stand
before the judgment seat of Christ," and "each
one of us shall give account of himself to God"
(vv. 10, 12); and then Henry will not accuse
Thomas of eating only vegetables, nor James
accuse Robert of eating animal flesh, nor Mary
accuse Ellen of going about without a hat,
nor Ethel accuse Amy of not being an
Episcopalian, nor Keble accuse Kelly of not
having observed "The Christian Year." What
will matter then is whether we truly loved
the Lord; whether we were diligent in His
service; whether we sought to win souls;
whether we were tolerant and forgiving
among ourselves; whether we loved our
Bibles, and delighted in prayer; whether we
were filled with the Holy Spirit; and because
these things will matter then, they matter
now.
Then let the "weak" brother not be censorious; and let the "strong" brother not be contemptuous. We've got to learn to be tolerant
in matters indifferent.
2. Brotherly Obligation (14:13-23).
The Apostle who in vv. 1-12 has been
addressing both the "weak" and "strong"
brothers, now addresses more especially the
"strong," and his design is to show that there
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is something greater than Christian liberty,
and this is Christian love,
It is not always right for us to do all that it
would be right for us to do! The "weak"
cannot win the "strong" to the level of weakness; but the "strong" may be able to win the
"weak" to the level of strength; but this will
not be done by the "strong" insisting always
on his liberty. All things lawful for us are
not always expedient. If, by exercising our
liberty, we injure the spiritual life of a
believer whose light is limited, we do
violence to the law of love, which is the highest
known principle of action. Each of us is
exercising a definite influence on others every
day. Scientists tell us that every time we
raise our arm or lift our foot, or sit down
or rise up, we affect the balance of the
whole universe, yet we are not conscious of
so doing. Likewise, in the moral realm,
every word we speak, and our every deed, as
well as the things we say not, and do not,
are affecting people far and wide, and this
influence is, for the most part, unconscious.
Remember this in the shop, and hospital, and
factory, and barracks, and camp, and club,
and home.
It is quite possible to injure a fellowbeliever by actions lawful in themselves, and
by insisting on rights which God has given to
us. Because Christ died to save us all, we
should be willing to sacrifice some rights to
prevent a brother from going wrong.
What the strong brother does is not wrong
in itself (v. 16), but if he insists on it at the
cost of the weak brother's enlightenment and
advancement, he takes a heavy and solemn
responsibility (v. 15). The material and the
spiritual, the temporal and the eternal, are
never commensurate, and to insist on the
former at the expense of the latter is not
only to see things out of perspective, but is
also a deplorable evidence of selfishness.
In actual practice it may be difficult to
decide how far one should go in the way of
self-denial in concession to the scruples of
those who are weak in the faith (v. 1), but the
principle is here plainly set forth.
And now, finally3. Christlike Consideration (15:1-13).
The Apostle has one more thing to say on
the subject of brothers weak and strong, and
then his Epistle will end, except for some con-
cluding personal matters. And what he
has to say is that in this, as indeed in all
things, Christ's example is our standard.
We that are able ought to bear the weaknesses of the unable, and not to please ourselves. Let each of us please his
neighbour, as regards what is good, with
a view to edification. For even Christ did
not please Himself (vv. 1-3).
You will observe that the word "please"
occurs three times here, and it means, not a
servile and compromising deference to human
opinion, not the complaisance of the parasite
who fawns and flatters, but "the unselfish and
watchful aim to meet half-way, if possible,
the thought and feeling of a fellow-disciple"
(Moule). In this sense it means to
gratify, and so to satisfy. Pleasing differs
from obeying, in that the latter is a duty,
whereas the former is a privilege.
Pleasing is obedience with a plus. You tell
your child to do his homework before you
return in the evening, and when you arrive
you find that he has obeyed; but he has
done more than that, he has put your
slippers by the fire to warm, for the night is
cold, and he did it to please you. In like
manner, to please God is more than to obey
Him; and when we sacrifice some liberty
which is ours in order to be helpful to a
neighbour, we are pleasing both God and
him, and are following Christ's example,
"Who did not please Himself." And on that
note we conclude our studies.
How amazing a revelation has been set
before us! We have been shown the way
from condemnation to glory, by justification
and sanctification; and then we have been
told, while still short of glory, how we should
behave in the Church, in the world, and in
the State; and how we should use any
enlightenment we have for the benefit of
those not so well enlightened. In all this the
highest doctrines are related to the
humblest duties, and it is made plain what
it means to be a true Christian.
A n d n o w u n to H im th a t i s a b l e t o d o
exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask o r t h i n k , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e p o we r
t h a t worke th in us, unto Him be glory
in the C hurch, and in Chr is t J e s us ,
un to al l Generations, for ever and ever,
Amen.
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The Cruse of Oil
BY THE REV. WILLIAM STILL
FROM the story in 2 Kings 4:1-7, we are to
consider a matter of fact rather than a
matter of faith; but a matter of fact upon
which faith may alone safely build.
Throughout the Scriptures, oil is a symbol
of the Holy Spirit; and here the cruse
represents the believer's body indwelt by the
Holy Spirit. We wish to ask the question and
answer it, "Where did all the oil come from?"
To answer this we ask, "Who is the Holy
Spirit?" and if we answer, "The Spirit of
Jesus," we ask, "Who is Jesus?" and as we
answer, "The Son of the Father," we even
dare to ask, "Who is the Father?" and "How
great is God?"
It is right that we should begin our prayers,
"Our Father," as we are taught; but we should
often begin our prayers also, "Almighty and
Eternal God." How great is God? May I
read to you what the Westminster Confession
of Faith says?
There is but one living and true God, who
is infinite in being and infinite in
perfection, a most pure Spirit, invisible,
without body, parts or passions, immutable,
eternal, incomprehensible, almighty, most
wise, most holy, most free, most absolute,
working all things according to the counsel
of His own immutable and most righteous
will for His own glory.
Most loving, gracious, merciful, longsuffering, abundant in goodness and truth,
forgiving iniquity, transgression and sin, the
rewarder of them that diligently seek Him,
and withal most just and terrible in His
judgments, hating all sin, and who will by
no means clear the guilty.
God hath all love, glory, goodness, blessedness in and of Himself. He is alone in and
unto Himself all-sufficient, not standing in
need of any creatures of which He has made,
not deriving any glory from them but only
manifesting His own glory in, by, unto and
upon them. He is alone the fountain of all
being, of whom, through whom, to whom
are all things, and hath most sovereign
dominion over them to do by them, for them
whatsoever Himself pleaseth. All things are
open and manifest in His sight, His knowledge is infinite, infallible and independent
upon the creature, so that nothing is to Him
contingent or uncertain. He is most holy in
all His counsels, in all His works, and in all
His commands. To Him is due from angels
and men and every other creature whatsoever worship, service or obedience He is
pleased to require of them.
Or, if you like it more briefly, in the Shorter
Catechism:
God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power,
holiness, justice, goodness and truth.
How awe-full! What of His Son? Is the Son
as great as the Father? We will not look at
Confessions of Faith first, but in the Word. There
are many statements that make the Deity of our
Lord Jesus Christ quite clear. One of the
strongest is in Hebrews 1: 8, where God said unto
the Son, "Thy throne, 0 God, is for ever and ever."
Also in the Westminster Confession of Faith we
read—
In the Unity of the Godhead there be
three persons of one substance, power and
eternity; God the Father, God the Son, and
God the Holy Ghost. The Father is of none,
neither begotten nor proceeding; the Son is
eternally begotten of the Father.
The Nicene Creed says of the Son: He is "God
of God, Very God of Very God"; and Article 2 of
the Thirty-nine Articles, perhaps more familiar to
many of you, says He is "Very God and Very Man."
That is the rub! Very God and Very Man. It
would be perhaps easier to believe that the Son
was co-equal with the Father in power and
glory and eternity if He had not become a Man—
Lo, within a manger lies
He who built the starry skies
Do you find that easy to believe?
A stable-place sufficed
The Lord God Almighty,
Jesus Christ.
Oh, the theology in the Christmas hymns! Do
you believe that this Man Jesus was God
Incarnate? Most of us undoubtedly do; but I
am thinking of those who may have doubts here
this morning. You may say, "Well, quote another
Christmas hymn—
Mild, He lays His glory by
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and the Scriptures, "He emptied Himself."
Yes, and took upon Himself the form of a servant. He yielded His authority, and became
subject to His Father, and lived, as we may
say, by faith in His Father, learning obedience
by the things which He suffered. He poured
out His soul unto death; but He did not lay
by His essential nature, His Deity or His glory,
for, says John, "We beheld His glory." "Oh,
but," you say, "that is different, that was the
glory of His grace and truth." Exactly; for
when the glory of God is deposited in the
heart of a man upon the earth (the Transfiguration is an exception) it comes forth not
as a halo, blazing fire in startling supernatural
manifestation, but as grace and truth and
goodness.
May we not say, that it took all the glory
of the Person of God to make this one Man
Jesus good; so that another line from the same
Christmas hymn is nearer the mark than the
one which says—
it is
Mild, He lays His glory by,
Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see
He was all there, co-equal with the Father in
power and glory and eternity.
What of the Spirit? The Westminster Confession again says, "The Holy Ghost, eternally
proceeding from the Father and the Son," and,
oh, I do like Article 5 of the Thirty -nine
Articles, which says so plainly, if anyone is
inclined to doubt, that the Holy Ghost is "Very
and Eternal God." Jesus was conceived by
the Holy Ghost, therefore the Holy Spirit in
His conception must have been adequate to
communicate the wondrous life of God, and
therefore at least equal to Jesus in power, glory
and eternity; for the birth of Jesus not only
affected His life on earth but affects His life
in heaven, now; for the Man in the Glory could
not have returned to heaven as the God-Man
if He had not carried the fullness of His Deity
with Him throughout His earthly life.
Therefore, the Holy Spirit is the Holy Spirit
of Jesus, the Son of God, co-equal in power,
glory and eternity with the Son and with the
Father.
We try to reason this out because, while
there is a clear and full doctrine of the Father
and of the Son in the Scriptures, as we have
already been reminded, there is not in the
Scriptures a separate doctrine of the Holy
Spirit, for He did not speak of Himself. It
was necessary that there should be a full doctrine of the Son to assure us that God can
become Man and yet remain fully God; but
since the Holy Ghost shall not speak of Himself but glorify Jesus, we are therefore not to
seek a distinct doctrine of the Holy Spirit for
our heads; or a distinct consciousness of the
Holy Spirit in our hearts; for if we have these
apart from Christ, they are sure to be wrong.
The indwelling Spirit, then, is really the Lord
God Almighty through His Son in His Spirit.
It is difficult to believe this when you
realize how "quiet" He can be. How empty
one can feel when one is not in conscious
fellowship with Him or not engaged in
Christian service; yet when called to minister,
speak, labour, and suffer, how the Holy Spirit
comes to new and powerful life within us!
"Almighty God in my heart!" I know of no
truth given to Christians so able to build them
up in the faith, than to know that Almighty
God, who made the heavens and the earth,
is in my heart. You ask if we should put it
like that? It may be dangerous to think and
say it too much, but, of course, we recognise
that the Person of the Father is in heaven,
the Person of the Son is in heaven, yet the
Person of the Holy Spirit is in my heart if I
am a believer. Yes, He is a Person; and if you
turn to Romans 8:16 and 26, you will see one
of the great mistakes of the Authorized
Version. The first thing I do when I get a
new Bible is to score out the word "itself" in
those two verses; it is indeed "Himself." You
do it, too, as an act of faith.
The Holy Spirit is an indivisible Person.
Are you quite sure about that? Twice in
2 Corinthians Paul speaks of "the earnest of
the Spirit" as though we might receive the
first instalment or pledge of the Spirit; but in
Ephesians it is put another way, to keep us
right: "The Holy Ghost who is the earnest of
our inheritance." He is the earnest—not the
first instalment of the Spirit, but the Spirit
Himself, the first instalment of our inheritance.
If you invite someone to tea you do not say,
"B r in g yo u r a rm s an d l e gs, " the y w i l l
obviously come with the person. When we
have the Holy Spirit of God within us, we have
Him all, or not at all.
Have you thought in this connection that
the Scriptures speak of the fullness of the
Spirit? I wonder? Do the Scriptures not
believe in the fullness of the Spirit? Oh, yes,
indeed; but it is too obvious to mention. The
Scriptures know nothing else, and nothing less,
than the fullness of the Spirit. If I were to
say to you, "Are you all there?" would you
not be insulted? How, then, should the Person
of the Spirit be in your heart yet not all there?
Impossible! The Scriptures speak of the
fullness of the Spirit in man. "Be 'ye filled
with the Spirit, be ye filled of the fullness of
the Spirit." You cannot have less than all of
Him, He is indivisible; but He may have less
than all of you.
Where did all the oil come from? It came
from inside the little cruse. That was a
miracle? Yes, and so is this. The fullness
was all there; there was enough oil in that
117
cruse to float the house, to float the earth, to
float the universe, to float as many
universes as you could provide, as long as it
was let out: but in this case there was a
limited need. It was not merely that they
had not sufficient vessels, but that the sons
were satisfied with the number of vessels they
had brought. If they had believed that the oil
within the cruse was infinite, they would have
begged and borrowed from far afield so that
they might have it, Notice, it was poured
out, not in: "work out your own salvation."
Jesus, speaking of the living waters, tells
of a well out of which rivers may run. Can
rivers come from a well?
We sing "Come!" in many of our hymns of
the Holy Spirit, yet we should not call Him
to come in when we have Him, but to come
out! Let us put it simply: Believe Him to
be in; then let Him out!
A young man said to me after a service at
home, "I was greatly blessed to-day."
"Oh," I said, "How?" "Oh, it was nothing you
said, but the hymn, 'Jesus, I my cross have
taken.' There is a line there that has gone to my
heart, and I am going to take it round the world
with me." It was—
Think what Spirit dwells within thee.
Keswick is undoubtedly correct in making
the Spirit-filled life the central, dominating
theme of the Convention, and in making it the
climax of the sequence of teaching during the
week. A proper view of sin is indispensable
in the Christian life. Equally important is .a
right understanding of God's provision for sin,
especially that much-neglected aspect of it—
the believer's identification with Christ in His
death and resurrection. But unless the
believer knows what God has to say about the
place of the Holy Spirit in his life and in the
life of the Church, and unless the fullness of
the Spirit is an experimental reality in his life,
he will find it impossible to lead a Christian
life that is in conformity with the plan and
intention of God. The cross clears the ground
for the working of the Holy Spirit. Calvary
provides for the death of the "old man,"
making possible the "new man" in the Spirit.
But the "new man" cannot grow and develop
and mature unless the Holy Spirit is allowed
to have His way—as Teacher, as Guide, as
Comforter, as Administrator and Director, as
Power in service and sanctification. Serious
students of the doctrine of the Holy Spirit
frequently say that nothing is more needed
than a study of the place of the Holy Spirit
in man. That is true; but needed just as
much is practical teaching on how ordinary
Christians may become Spirit-filled Christians,
and thus lead lives that come up to the New
Testament standard. Keswick appears to
succeed very notably in doing this, and there
does not seem to be anything extreme or
erratic in this phase of its teaching.
-STEVEN BARABAS.
From "So Great Salvation: The History
and Message of the Keswick Convention."
118
Be of Good Cheer
B Y T HE R T . R EV . T HE B ISHOP OF B ARKING
we have the well-known story of how the
I
disciples were told by Jesus to take their boat
N the 14th chapter of St. Matthew's Gospel
and cross the Sea of Galilee. They left Him
behind on the shore, and obeyed His command. Very soon they were overtaken by a
sudden storm; darkness fell, and we read,
"the ship was now in the midst of the sea,
tossed with waves," and "in the fourth watch
of the night"—that cold, horrible hour before
the dawn—"Jesus went unto them, walking
on the sea." They had wanted Jesus to come
to them; they had been longing for His companionship all that night; and yet when they
saw Him coming they were troubled, saying,
"It is a spirit"; and they cried out for fear.
But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
I rather imagine that many of you have
been tossed about during this week. Even
now your emotions and minds are very
unsettled. You are worried and perplexed,
and, above everything else, you want Jesus;
but you are rather frightened. He comes to
you now and says, "Be of good cheer; it is I:
be not afraid."
We are nearing the end of this Convention.
It has been a time of heart-searching and deep
self-examination. But remember that when
you go to hospital it is for special treatment
to cure some disease, and your hospital experience is quite abnormal. When you leave the
hospital, discharged as cured, you do not continue with the hospital treatment. Here at
Keswick the Divine Physician has been dealing with us, and it may have been a very
painful and drastic treatment; but it has been
for a special purpose, and if we have yielded
to His touch and obeyed His word, we have
been healed; we are cured, and when we leave
Keswick we must not continue the hospital
treatment.
Monday night perhaps saw the operation;
during Tuesday and Wednesday the patient's
condition was critical; last night perhaps the
crisis was reached; to-day is a day of healing.
The storm is about to abate; Jesus is coming,
and there is going to be a great calm.
What a difference between Monday's message and to-day's! When I was called to
speak on Monday night, it was with a sense
of great burden; it was a hard message for
you to hear, and a hard message for me to
speak, But to-day I came to this tent with
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a song in my heart, in quite a different mood.
Do not misunderstand me when I say that
to-day's is an easy message; this is an easy
message to receive, and its purpose is now not
to wound, but to heal.
What did I mean when I said that when we
leave Keswick we must not continue the hospital treatment? During these past days we
have been thinking a great deal about ourselves, a most unpleasant and depressing subject. Now we must cease thinking and talking
about ourselves. Continual self-examination
leads to morbid introspection, and to a very
unhealthy, sickly state of life. I would gently
add, Beware also of the dangers of talking
about yourself. Testimony to what God has
done for you has its important place in
witness; but in our testimony the emphasis
must be upon God, and not upon ourselves,
stressing not your brokenness but Christ's
curative power, not your crucifixion with
Christ but Christ's life within yo u. If
Christ's life within you is obvious to others,
it will, of course, only be as a result of your
crucifixion with Him; but that self-crucifixion
need not be talked about. It is probably too
precious and sacred a thing, in any case, to be
talked about.
Other people do not want to hear about you;
they want to hear about Christ—"Sirs, we
would see Jesus." How tired we get—particularly us clergy!—hearing long tales of the
physical sufferings of our friends, and all the
details of their curative treatment. It is very
hard sometimes to be really sympathetic
when the story is long and depressing: it is so
self-centred. People do not want to hear
about you, but they do need to be told about
the doctor who has cured you, and to be introduced to him, so that they may have a personal interview with him themselves, and not
have a second-hand experience of yours. You
may have had a great spiritual experience,
but that does not mean that anybody else
should have exactly the same. We are to
introduce these people to Christ.
Now the law of the Christian life is well
summed up in the opening words of Hebrews
12, "Run the race ... looking unto Jesus"; or
of Philippians 3: 13, 14, "Forgetting those
things which are behind... I press toward the
mark." So I want to turn your thoughts away
from yourself altogether. Forget about yourself,
even about those wrestlings that you
have had or are having. Your Saviour comes
to you now and says, "Be of good cheer; it is I;
be not afraid."
On Monday night, the closing part of my
message was centred upon that terrible question that the disciples asked their Lord, "Is
it I?" Our Lord had said, "One of you shall
betray me." They all cried, "Master, is it I?"
And all of us had to be humbled and willing
to admit that the eye of Jesus Christ was
turned upon us each one; and His hand, giving
the sop to the betrayer, the traitor, was
stretched out to you and to me.
But now I take these three little words in a
different order, spoken not by men, but by
Jesus, the Son of God. How different are
words when it is Jesus who uses them! He
takes these three little words and says, "It is
I." Christianity i s Ch ri st. Christianity is
not, as so many people still seem to think, a
long, dreary struggle of trying to be good. It
is not an endless climbing of a ladder and constantly slipping down a few rungs and mounting wearily up again. It is not trying to walk
up an escalator that is going down—as you
may have seen boys trying to do in London,
and failing! Neither is Christianity merely
an ethical way of life, a moral code of conduct; nor is it merely a matter of saying
prayers and offering acts of worship to God.
Of course, it includes good conduct and worship—they are essential; but it is something
far more than that. It is an experience of
God to be enjoyed.
Mr. Still, in his address, has been quoting
various catechisms and creeds, and how wonderful these are! In the Scottish Catechism
there is a grand and marvellous expression-I wish we had it in the Church of England
Catechism!—it says that the purpose of life
is for man "to worship God, and to enjoy Him
for ever."
Christianity, then, is a vital experience of
Jesus Christ in daily life, the sharing of our
life with Him, and the sharing of His life with
us—that is the point I want to stress. When
we give ourselves to God, He immediately
responds by giving Himself to us. Now this
is a fact! If you gave yourself to God this
week, or years ago, immediately you did that,
God did something: He gave Himself to you.
I want to pause here, because it was the
point that puzzled and perplexed me so much
in my early days. I gave myself to God again
and again, as best I knew how. And then I
waited for some sensation, a feeling of the
incoming of the Spirit of God; I waited for
the power to fall, and nothing happened. °So
I felt there must still be something wrong.
But now as I look back, I doubt if there was.
I had sincerely given myself to God as fully
as I knew how. But I had not joyfully
accepted the fact that God in response had
given Himself to me. Some of you may be
going through a similar depressing experience
now. If so, I want to say this to you most
emphatically: If you have sincerely given yourself to God, God has—I might almost use the
word "automatically"—given Himself to you.
Here is a simple illustration. The blinds
are down in your room, the sun is shining outside; you want the sun to shine inside. What
do you do? You pull up the blind, and "automatically" the sunlight comes in. If you have
given yourself to Christ, and there is nothing
between you and Him, the sun is shining; God
in His Spirit is in you.
Listen to St. John's words, "Whosoever shall
confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God
dwelleth in him" (1 John 4: 15). You have
confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, and
by your own free will you have said, "Christ
is my Saviour, my Lord." Then God dwelleth
in you, and nothing can alter that fact. When
we give ourselves to Him, God gives Himself
to us. Our bodies are now His dwelling place
—the dwelling place not only of our human
soul, but of the Spirit of God. And so you
can rejoice that God has become part of you,
and that you have become part of God. Your
life is hid with Christ in God; you are one with
God, you have been born anew by the life of
God within your soul, you have been made
a partaker of the divine nature of God
(2 Peter 1:4). It is almost incredible, but it
is true! God is in you.
Turn back to the familiar passage we have
studied so much this week, Galatians 2:20,
"I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me."
"Christ is alive in me" is a better translation.
In Hebrews 13:8 we read that Jesus Christ is
the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.
Yesterday: nineteen hundred years ago, Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, lived here on earth
a man's life, "tempted in all points like as we
are," but never giving way to a single temptation. Do not let us belittle the Manhood of
Christ, perfect God and perfect Man. For the
first time there lived on earth a Man who,
though tempted desperately, was always victorious. Jesus the great Victor over sin!
To-day He is still the Victor. Where is
Jesus Christ to-day? His risen, glorified body
is ascended into the heavens; but His Spirit
is here on earth, living in you and me. Do
you see what that means? It means that you
and I have within us the One who overcame
the power of sin, and who will do so again
and again, in us. if we will but let Him. The
secret of life, then, is not struggling in our
own strength to be good, in wrestling against
temptation in our own power, in trying to
make ourselves pure and good; but in simply
letting Jesus Christ live out His own life and
character within us. "The fruit of the Spirit
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)
is love, joy, peace." You cannot bring f orth
such fruit, for it is not your nature to be pure,
kind and gentle; but you can bear the fruit
that the nature of Jesus brings forth, just as
the branch bears, carries, the fruit which
the life of the tree brings forth. You plant
an apple tree in the ground, and the sun
shines, and the rain comes down—as it does
at Keswick!—and what happens? Does that
tree bring forth raspberries or thistles?
No. It must bring forth fruit of its own
nature inherent within it; and Jesus Christ
within you and me must and will bring out
what is in His own nature, His own
character, if we will let Him.
There is the secret, then, of this Christian
life: not struggling, but allowing Jesus to live
out His own life in us; allowing His life to be
free to develop and grow within us unchecked.
Look at it another way. We have high
ideals, we want to achieve them, and we find
ourselves utterly unable to do so. We can no
more continually live on that high level of
conduct to which we aspire, than we can
remain suspended in the air by jumping op
from the ground. We can jump up from the
ground, but we cannot stay in the air. The
law of gravity pulls us down. The law of sin
within our human nature pulls us down. But
the law of gravity can be overcome! At this
very moment hundreds of people are overcoming it; they are travelling through the air
thousands of feet above the ground. What
has happened? How do they do it? They
have not done it at all! They have been lifted
up by the power of mighty engines. Even so,
the law of sin within us can be overcome by
letting the mighty dynamic power of the victorious Christ lift us up.
Dare I remind you, as other speakers have
done, of Romans, chapters 7-8? "The good
that I would I do not; but the evil that I
would not, that I do.... 0 wretched man
that I am! who shall deliver me from the
body of this death?" And then comes the
glorious answer to that question. "I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.... The
Spirit of life in Christ Jesus bath made me
free from the law of sin and death." Yes! the
life of Christ in the soul of man lifts him up
and keeps him at that high level.
When I was at Cambridge and first attended
the Keswick Convention and similar gatherings, I used to be very perplexed by the various doctrines of holiness and means of obtaining victory over sin which I heard expounded.
Some of them sounded rather confusing, some
almost contradictory. But I have learned
since then that in reality what we sometimes
call "the Keswick message" is very simple.
It can be summed up in those lovely wards of
St. Paul to the Colossians—"Christ in you, the
hope of glory." How comforting it is to be
reminded of "the simplicity that is in Christ"!
The function of the Holy Spirit is to reveal
Christ, and to impart Him to us. A few weeks
ago there was a very striking phrase in a
religious article in The T i m e s . It said,
"Through the Holy Spirit, Jesus becomes our
contemporary." Yes! that is wonderfully
true, for through the Holy Spirit the Jesus
of history becomes the Christ of experience.
Jesus, who lived 1,900 years ago, and then
whose body left the earth, is seen now to be
alive—alive in you and me!
So do not be troubled or perplexed. Jesus
is here, saying, "Be of good cheer; it is I; be
not afraid." It is as simple as that. You give
yourself to Him; He gives Himself to you; you
commit yourself to Him, and He entrusts Himself to you.
How glorious and yet how overwhelming in
its responsibility is this truth: your body to be
the dwelling place of Jesus! Though the
responsibility is great, you can go away from
Keswick, not with sadness in your heart,
because this wonderful Convention is over;
not with doubts and fears, wondering whether
it is going to work out all right; but in a mood
of thrilled anticipation and expectation, for
Christ is in you I You are united to Him for
ever and ever, and there lies before you a life
of wonderful companionship which will grow
more and more real as the years go by—
Christ in you—until at last, when your work
on earth is done you will hear that voice of
His saying, "Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
"Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid."
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(v)—THE WORD AND DEFEATED DISCIPLES
IN the two months before coming to Keswick
I knew what the Apostle Paul meant when he
said, "I was with you in weakness and in
fear and in much trembling .. ." I came to
Keswick with all of that: so much so that I
did in my own country what I never do in
conferences; as I was about to leave I asked
friends to pray for the Keswick ministry. I
do not very often go before congregations and
ask them to pray for something I am going
to do, remembering what the Apostle said,
"Bear your own burdens"; but I was so burdened that I had to share it. I wish to express
this afternoon, first of all, thanks to God for
whatever may have been done; and I would
like to say a word or two about Keswick.
We do not have this in America. We have
conferences, but they are not Keswicks. Our
country is so vast; at the dinner table the
other night with Dr. Barnhouse in London,
he told me something I had not thought of—
that the distance from his church in Philadelphia to my home in Pasadena is greater
than the distance from Southampton to Philadelphia. So we do not have a central place;
and if we did, we do not have this spirit. We
have no conferences in North America with
a tradition like yours; we may have a
tradition, but it is not like yours. And I am
going to add something with great care now—
I do not like people splurging about with
superlatives unless they mean them. This has
been the most heavenly week of fellowship
in a Bible Conference I have ever known; that
is what it has been to me, I have seen no
hobby-horses ridden here; I have not heard
a freakish word; nothing peculiar from the
platform, nothing apart from the Word of
God—and what the New Testament teaches,
we greatly need. I want to express my warm
thanks for the fellowship at the hotel. There
is a graciousness about English people
that I am afraid is rare in my country. I
found no criticism of other people. If they had
any criticism to offer, they did not offer it,
and whatever was said was said in
kindness. It has been truly a blessing to
my own heart. I know my own wonderful
people in America, but fellowship with
conference speakers is a rare thing, and
sometimes the rarer it is the more you like it;
but here, it has been heaven on earth indeed.
One more thing. I have been living in this
Book and preaching and teaching for thirtyfive years, but I have never in my life heard
such a survey of the Epistle to the Romans
as we have heard these last four mornings.
This morning was a masterpiece. I had a
guest come up from New York to see me
to-day, and he heard this, and he said to me,
"I do not believe there is anyone in America
to-day who could give what we heard this
morning"—and he is a very gifted speaker
himself, and the head of a great Bible Conference.
Well, we had better get near our Bible
again, and ask God to give us something out
of His great Book. I told a group of people
in the hotel last night what I wanted to speak
on, and this morning at breakfast Mr. Mitchell
gave me the title—The Word of God in the
Restoration of Christ's Disciples. Put more
strongly, The place of the Word of God in the
restoration of one of Christ's defeated and
discouraged disciples.
I would like to look at three things regarding
Peter's fall and restoration (Matt. 26:30-35, 6775). First, what Dr. Scroggie emphasized the
other morning—and the phrase came to me
with new power: we have known it since
children, but it came freshly to me as he
underscored it—newness of life. It is a great
phrase.
Peter was a fisherman, and I am sure he was
successful. He had had some blemishes in
his life before Jesus found him. He was
accustomed to cursing, because he had been
with Jesus for three and a half years, and
he certainly did not get it from the Lord;
it was a bad habit, and it came back to him; I
do not think he did it very often. Peter was a
boaster, a braggart; he talks more than any
other disciple in all the Gospels; he said more
than all the other disciples put together. When
a man is always getting his mouth open he
frequently says things that are unfortunate.
This is Peter. If he could boast this holy
night of what he was and of what he was going
to do, what do you think he was before the
Lord ever found him? You know there comes
a time in middle life when a man who is a
braggart loses the confidence of his fellowmen. It is all right for a boy. The Head master of Stonybrook told me that sometimes
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they get papers in the examinations of the
seniors when they are about eighteen, with
autobiographical parts, such as, "The world
has yet to see what a great man really is."
You can forgive a boy for that, but when he
gets to thirty-five or forty and struts around
boasting, people smile and lose confidence.
Then something tragic happens, and you
begin to lose confidence in yourself; and
you have a bad case, and people just do not
place much weight on what you say. Still,
Peter was a good money-maker, I am sure of
that; and he worked hard enough, but he had
come to an hour when life was growing a
little sour. And all of a sudden the Lord
came down to the Sea of Galilee, and called
him and his brother out of those fishing
nets, and He gave him the most wonderful
privileges that any man on earth could
ever have. First, He called him and that is
what has happened to you and me. I do
not know how it is with you, but when I
walk up and down the streets of New
York or London or Los Angeles, and pass
thousands of people, and know that most of
them are not saved, I wonder sometimes
why the Lord picked out you and me. You
may live in an apartment block of 200 people,
five are saved and 195 are not saved, and you
wonder why the Lord reached out for you.
But the Lord got hold of this man Peter,
and I like that hymn we sang—
Jesus has loved me, wonderful Saviour!
Jesus has loved me, I cannot tell why;
Came He to rescue sinners all worthless,
My heart He conquered, for Him I would
die.
And that is what He did for Peter.
But He did more than that; He called him
to be a fisher of men, and He changed his
name. "Thou art Simon, the son of Jona;
thou shalt be called Peter, which is by interpretation, a rock." He took this man of putty,
and He said, "I am going to transform you
into all you have ever dreamed of being."
And then He gave him all that He had, three
and a half years of fellowship. We are all
human on this platform, as human as
any in the audience, and I have found it a
great privilege to be with these men of God.
You never sit down with one of them for
five minutes that you do not get something
rich and good and a blessing to your heart;
and this dear friend of mine who came up
from London, travelling all night: what a
privilege has been the fellowship with him
through the years! But what do you think it
would mean to walk with Jesus for three
and a half years, to hear Him teach, to hear
Him preach, or to hear Him pray, to watch
Him
privately
and
remember
the
conversations at the table? Do you know that
if all the three years of Jesus's
ministry were as fully recorded as the last
week of His life, we should have a book bigger
than the whole Bible? We do not know more
than thirty days out of the life of Jesus,
but all the days must have been wonderful—
and Peter was with Him all that time.
More than that, he was a confidant of the
Lord. Jesus took him into His confidence,
into the inner circle. Three were taken to the
Mount of Transfiguration, Peter, James, and
John. I had never met Dr. Martyn LloydJones until I came to England, though I had
heard much about him and read his
sermons. I was asked to tea with him at
his Club, three hours before I was to speak
in Westminster Chapel. Now I am aware of all
my many idiosyncracies and peculiarities, and
I suppose other men are the same; and
when you get to my time of life you do not
open your heart at once; but in that hour our
hearts were just knit, and we became
intimate friends; but what would it mean to
be of the inner circle with Jesus Christ?
Three men He chose out of the whole
world, and Peter was one of them.
Then, it was Peter that gave the testimony:
"Thou are the Christ, the Son of the living
God"; and on this very night he was at the
institution of the Lord's Supper. Afterward
they rose up and started out for the Garden.
Three-and-a-half years of heaven on earth.
Now we come to the midnight of Peter's
life. As they walk along our Lord said, "All ye
shall be offended in me," and Peter said,
"If all should be offended, I will never be."
So the Lord repeated it, and said "Verily this
night, Peter, before the cock crow twice, thou
shalt deny me thrice." And Peter takes up
the challenge and throws it back and says,
"Even if I must die with Thee, I will never
deny Thee."
There we have three things. First, Peter
is telling the Lord Jesus that He is wrong;
and, beloved, when you and I begin to tell the
Lord Jesus He is wrong, we are on the
way to trouble; it is the way over the cliff
when we think we know more than the Lord
Jesus; we are headed for disaster. It would
have been a great thing if he had dropped
to his knees and said, "Jesus, Thou knowest
everything, and if that is what you think,
save me now from this awful thing." But
Peter said, "Lord, you are wrong." That
means something else; he really said,
"Lord, you do not know what a brave, big
man I am. Not me, Lord. Lord, you have
seen me for three years, don't you know
me better than that? I am a bold man, Lord;
you must be thinking about somebody else."
So the Lord told him, "No, nobody else—you:
before the cock crows twice, you will have
denied me three times." He replied, "Though
all the rest of them deny Thee, I will not." In
other words, "Lord, I do
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not think these other disciples of yours are
very much; I do not think John will hold up
to-night, and James and Matthew, and the
rest. Lord, you have got one you can lean on,
and that is me. Though all the rest of them
will deny you, not me." It is a terrible position to be in, for a child of God.
Turn to Mark 14: 67, "Thou also wast with
the Nazarene"—"This is one of them." "Of a
truth thou art one of them, for thou art a
Galilean." What did he do? They identified
him with Christ; that is what the world does
with you and me. We are called Christians,
that is, Christ's people. The only power in all
the world that separates men is the power
of Christ to save us from our sins; it is not
your colour, it is not whether you are a Tory
or a Socialist, a Republican or a Democrat,
a Jew or a Gentile: there is the world and the
Church, and the world looks on us as belonging to the Lord Jesus. "Thou also wast with
the Nazarene." And Peter replied, "Me!"
While the soldiers up the hall smite and curse
and ridicule Jesus, Peter denies Him. Alexander Whyte describes it as "an explosion of the
devil within the heart." And Peter replies,
"I never knew the man"—saved by, called by,
commissioned by, empowered by, Him; loving
Him, walking with Him, praying with Him,
eating with Him, on the Mount with Him,
confessing Him as Son of God: "I never knew
the man." That is denial.
If a father and mother, plain people with
a small income, sacrifice to send a boy to
the university, and in his last year they write
and say, "John, when do you graduate? We
cannot both afford to come, but your father
wants to come up; what is the date?" The
boy is a member of the rowing crew, or captain of the cricket team, the Editor of the
University publication, a brilliant speaker in
the Students' Union; and he says to himself,
"I do not think I want him up." So he does
not answer the letter. And the father says
to the mother, "Oh, you know he is busy with
exams., or maybe he did not get the letter; let
us make enquiries and find out when the
graduating day is." So the father goes up,
and in his plain clothes meets his son with
some other men coming down the hill, and he
rejoices, that this fine-looking boy, much better
dressed than the father, is his son; and goes
to meet him lovingly, saying, "0 my son, I am
proud of you." And the son looks at him and
says, "I am sorry, but I do not know you."
The father would just as soon die. This was
Peter with the Lord: "I never knew the man,"
and he began to curse and swear.
Now remember what this is: this is not an
apostasy; he is not losing his faith; he did not
sell Jesus into the hands of His enemies, like
Judas; this is not betrayal; this is not hardening his heart, for his heart was broken; this
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is not loss of love, for he loved the Lord; he is
not an enemy of Christ—not that; he is a
coward. He is thinking more of his skin than
of the Lord Jesus in His agony. He is only
thinking of himself; he loves the Lord, and is
challenged to acknowledge it, and he denies
Him.
I want to ask you to-day, Are you denying
the Lord in your business or in your home?
I am going to say something which I can only
say because I think this audience lives as close
to the Lord as any audience one can face.
I do not mean by that, that we are all Bishop
Taylor Smiths, or anything like that, but I
mean in the run of humanity I would say the
people who come to Keswick live as close
to the Lord as any one group of people that
could be found in a great crowd like this.
I said to an Englishman this week, "How is it
that so many people in Keswick—that is, in
the town as such, not Convention people—how
is it that so many citizens of Keswick, after
all these years, are not yet saved?" This man
belongs to your country and to this Convention, and he said, "There are stories in this
town about people who have come to Keswick,
and they are not flattering." I want to ask
you to-day: have you ever denied the Lord
in this town, so that Christ could not reach
a heart? I tell you men, we can live and talk
and act in our private offices with the women
with whom we work in such a way that they
would never know that we belong to the Lord
Jesus. That is denying the Lord Jesus. You
could be found in certain places where you
never could give a testimony, because people
would never know you belonged to the Lord:
"I never knew the man"—and we do not have
to say it. All we have to do is to live like it,
and they would never know we belonged to
Christ. There may be someone here to-day
who is like this.
I have a dear friend in Los Angeles who
is a dentist. He is a devout Christian, a very
expensive dentist, and when he gets Hollywood stars in the chair, he charges them. He
is a handsome man, and a very skilful operator, or he would not have these people. There
came into his office one of the famous stars
of Hollywood, who is supposed to be one of the
most beautiful women in the United States.
She came in with less on than many people
wear on a bathing beach. Pretty soon he hit
a nerve while drilling, and she let out an oath.
He said, "That will be all." She said, "What
do you mean? Haven't you ever heard anybody swear before?" "Yes," he said, "but
never in my office." She said, "I did not want
to hurt your feelings." He said, "You did not,
I do not care what you say; but you took my
Lord's name in vain, and I do not permit that
here." She burst into tears and said, "No
one ever talked to me like that before." He
said, "No, but I am doing it," and she said,
"Forgive me." The next time she came she
was dressed as a person ought to be dressed,
and no unseemly word was ever heard in that
office again from her. That is witnessing for
the Lord Jesus Christ.
What do you think were Peter's thoughts
as he went out? He remembered the words
of the Lord, and Peter knew that night he was
finished for ever. After three-and-a-half
years with Jesus, he had told a lie and denied
the Lord, and cursed—not twenty minutes
after Holy Communion, within an hour after
the Lord's Table, and he could sink that
low. I am sure Peter thought that salvation
was impossible for him. Not only had he
failed the Lord, but he had broken the Lord's
heart; and more than that, the Lord could
not use him any more. How could He use
him any more, a failure and a liar, a man
who had denied the Lord? He was finished.
There is nothing more awful in the world
than for a disciple of Christ to come to the
hour when he thinks he is finished in the
Lord's work—called to preach, called to win
souls, called to pray, and some awful
midnight sweeps across the soul, and you
know you are finished. You can make a
living, you can sell things, write books,
build houses; but I tell you, when God
calls us to do a piece of work we live in hell
unless we do that work; and when God calls
us into the ministry, or as a missionary, or
anything else, we will never be happy
unless we are doing what the Lord calls us to
do. This man was headed for a life of
misery,
the one who was supposed to be out of the
picture; He sent a word to Peter.
Sometimes that is just what Jesus does with
you and me, the chief of sinners; He sends
us a special word. I had a friend once in
Virginia, a pastor of a big church, and he had
an elder who was no good—of course, he never
came to church, but he was on the eldership
list. My friend, who was a man who lived for
the Lord, used to have talks with the other
elders, who said this man must come off the
roll. But the pastor, Tom Young, said, "We
have had this matter up ten times, and I know
it is a disgrace; let me have one more week,
I am going to pray for this man." "All right,"
said the elders, "one more week, and then he
must go." The next day an elder met this
reprobate on the street, and said, "You are
no good, you are a disgrace to the Church."
The man said, "I know, but what are you
talking to me for?" The elder replied, "I
want to tell you something. The Session
unanimously voted to take your name off the
roll, and the pastor said he loved you and was
praying for you." The man said, "Did he say
that?" "That is what he said; the rest of us
are not praying for you, but the pastor is."
He went down to the pastor's house and said,
"I am told you are praying for me." The
pastor said, "Yes, I pray for you every day;
though you are a scoundrel, I love you." And
the man said, "Well, if you love me, it is time
for me to change." With a broken heart he
fell on the carpet and cried to God for mercy,
and on Wednesday he came to the congregation and confessed his sins, and asked to be
forgiven. "Go and tell Peter."
If Peter was coming down those steps to get
out of that city on Easter morning, to get away
from Jesus, I think the Lord met him right
there. How do I know? Because at the end
of the book of Luke, when the disciples on the
Emmaeus road came back into the city of
Jerusalem that night, the disciples in the
Upper Room said to them, "The Lord is risen
indeed, and hath appeared to Simon." I wish
I knew what He said; but that is the way the
Lord deals with us, He never tells other people
of our secret fellowship with Him. He took
that man Peter up into that room, and I am
sure He did not have to probe that heart.
Peter just sobbed out his sin before Him, and
the Lord dealt with that there.
I open the Book of Acts. Fifty days have
gone by, or less, before the Book opens, and
I notice something: "When they were come
in, they went up into an upper room where
they were abiding" (Acts 1; 13). Peter is not
only of the Apostolic group, he is at the head
of it; he has been restored (v. 15)—"In those
days Peter stood up in the midst of the
disciples and said . . .," Peter is leading the
Apostolic group.
Now my third and last point, the dawning
of a new day. "Peter went out and wept bit-
terly." I think he stayed in all day Saturday
—I am sure the other disciples knew what he
had done. On Thursday night he was strutting around, going to be so brave, and the next
night he denied the Lord, and I think it had
got around. If it had been me, I would have
stayed in my room, I would have locked the
door, I would not see anybody, I would be
weeping and hating myself because I had
made a fool of myself and forfeited everything.
But on Sunday morning someone told Peter
that the tomb was empty, and he ran out to
see, and he found it was true, and he knew
the Lord had risen, My own opinion is that
the one person Peter never wanted to see
again as long as he lived, was the Lord
Jesus. I do not think he wanted to see
Him at all. I think he went back to his room,
wrapped up his few clothes together ready to
leave—and then he received a message,
because it says in Mark 16: 7 that an
angel said to the woman, "Go, tell His
disciples and Peter." God sent a special
word for the worst man,
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Then I look at chapter 2, and read of the
time when the Holy Spirit fell on those people:
"But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted
up his voice and said . . ." (v. 14). Those
lips that had denied and sworn, those lips
cleansed by the Blood of Christ, brought three
thousand people to the Lord Jesus within the
next two months. That is what Christ can
do for you and me.
I will ask you one more thing: why do you
think the Lord went after Simon Peter? I
think it was for one reason: because He had
work for Peter to do. Did you have a work
some years ago which you are not doing now?
Do you know there are more people in Great
Britain this afternoon who do not know the
Lord Jesus, than there were in the whole
Roman Empire when Jesus died on the Cross
for our sins? Do you think we have work
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to do, and the only people through whom God
is going to be able to work, are the people who
are in fellowship with Him?
One last word: there is nothing in all this
world, no pleasure, no possession, no power,
no reputation, no gains, there is nothing in all
this world that is worth the forfeiting of our
power and privilege of doing work for the
Lord Jesus. From this hour until Christ
comes, you and I will not let anything keep
us from fulfilling His will for us.
"Go, tell His disciples and Peter," and if
there is anyone out of fellowship, who has
denied the Lord here this afternoon, the same
warmth of love, the same power for cleansing
and restoration, are available for you as they
were for Peter, and you can go down from
this meeting to do a greater work than you
have ever done.
The Rest of Faith
BY PREBENDARY COLIN C. KERR, M.A., H.C.F.
“TRUSTING Jesus, that is all." I think
one of the comforts which is surely ours
to-night, as we contemplate breaking up from
this wonderful week, is just this: that though
the whole scheme of salvation in its fullness
is so profound in its conception that for
two thousand years men have been exploring
its depths and have never plumbed them,
yet in its application it is so simple that even
a tiny child can utter the word, "Jesus," and
enter into the most sacred relations. I am
anxious
that
we
should
recapture
something of the simplicity of the primal
principle of the Christian faith. What is it?—
"Trusting Jesus, that is all."
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him whate'er befall,
Trusting Jesus, that is all.
One's prayer to-night is that God may lead
this great company into that rest of faith
which surely He means us to know, even
under the most restless possible conditions in
this world. The rest of faith. "Trusting
Jesus, that is all."
My text is from Matthew 14: 28, 29. You
will recall the story. The night is dark, the
winds are boisterous, the water is heaving; the
spirits of the apostles, rowing their fishing
boat, are low; they have made no headway,
and their plight is, indeed, a sorry one.
That is the background of the story. In
verse 28 we read: "Peter answered Him and
said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto
Thee on the water." A tremendous statement
to make; a tremendous declaration of
personal faith in Jesus Christ. "Lord, if it
be Thou ; bid me come unto Thee on the
water. And He said, Come. And when Peter
was come down out of the ship, he walked
on the water, to go to Jesus."
Now, I should be glad if you would help
me by joining in my text. May I give it in
full alone, "If it be Thou, bid me come unto
Thee on the water. And He said, Come"? I
will reduce that, "Lord, bid me come. And
He said, Come." May we say that
together?: "Lord, bid me come. And He
said, Come." How we should remember this
meeting, not merely throughout time, but
throughout eternity, if the great company
here to-night heard the Lord Jesus say,
"Come," and we came! No, I am not
thinking in terms of evangelism; I am
thinking in terms of the wonderful plan that
God has for our lives, and which He is
willing to unfold step by step, if to-night we
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should hear the Lord Jesus say, "Come," and
if we just stepped out in faith upon the waters
of life in the response of obedience and faith,
Look at this story for a moment. The winds
were adverse; the waters were rolling, heaving and threatening; and John comments on
the fact that it was very dark. In the darkness the wind was whistling in their ears, the
waters were rising, tossing the little boat like
an empty nut-shell upon the water. They are
hopeless, dispirited, beaten. Then they see
a form in the distance. It looks human; but
they are superstitious, these fishermen, and
they begin to wonder whether it is human, or
a spirit. Then Peter looks, and if I understand his attitude aright, it is this: "I believe
it is the Lord; oh, if it were He, our troubles
would be ended in a moment. I wonder if it
is? I believe it is." "Lord, if it be Thou, bid
me come unto Thee on the water"—and if you
bid me come, I can come, and I will come; for
that moment I will become your responsibility, and you will become my sufficiency.
Lord, if it be Thou, that is the only uncertainty; I do not know if it is indeed the one
I have come to know and to trust; but, Lord, if
it be Thou, bid me come to Thee, and I will
come to Thee upon the water. Through the
whistling of the wind one majestic wo rd
sounded into Peter's ears and heart, "Come."
Peter got out of the boat and walked on the
water to go to Jesus. He did nothing of the
sort. But, you say, he did; it says, "he walked
on the water." I repeat, he did nothing of the
sort. The physical Peter walked on the water,
and the soles of his feet were doubtless wet;
but Peter himself, the real Peter, walked upon
that word "Come." "Lord, if it be Thou, bid
me come"—and he walked on the word
"Come," As faith found its focus in Jesus
Christ, he was able to walk even amid the
most threatening and dangerous conditions
that his mind could well conceive.
We have had a wonderful week, and we are
rejoicing—many of us; not quite all, for some
have not quite come through into the experience of the many. Many of us are happy in
heart, and our one sadness is that this is in a
certain sense the last meeting of the Convention. Soon we shall be travelling back to conditions which might well be the winds of
adversity, the darkness of uncertainty, and
the waters of insecurity. There seems so
little upon which man can really rest at peace
to-day. In the darkness of uncertainty no
man can see a day ahead. We are going back,
and the outlook at first reading is indeed a
very unpromising one. We shall meet the
winds of adversity. I do not know what that
adversity will be. There may be hostility.
It may come in your own home; Jesus Christ
is divisive, He came not to bring peace, but
a sword. It may be that you are going back
to a home which will be divided because you
have been found of God in Christ, and the
Holy Spirit has given you new values, new
desires; there are these new principles which
will soon be worked out in your daily life. It
may be that you are going back to a very
difficult home, and the winds of hostility will
often be whistling in your very ears.
It may be that you are going back to the
waters of insecurity. Yo ur business is
insecure; alas, maybe even your home; and
then, too, you feel in your own make-up
there is so much which could make you
anxious. You feel that life is insecure. Then
there is the darkness of uncertainty. You
cannot see a single day ahead; nor need
you, for that matter; but it is true, and you
are saying, "Well, if I could live at Keswick
in a Convention atmosphere, how different life
would be ! " Well, I am not so sure that it
would be; but the long and short of it is that
on Saturday we are all going our various
ways.
If the Holy Spirit has caused you to see
the Lord Jesus in something of His fullness,
and has been enabling you to receive of His
fullness by grace, you will be able to say,
"Lord, I do not ask you to still the waters, or
even to silence the winds; I do not ask that
the darkness may give place to light; but say
the word, 'Come,' call me to follow Thee,
and I shall be able to do it, and by grace I
will. Lord, if you tell me to come, that is
your way of saying I am your responsibility,
and it is my way of saying, 'Lord, Thou art my
sufficiency.' "
Trusting Jesus, that is all. Do you know,
it is so difficult for many of us to rest in the
simplicity of the faith, We want complicated
systems; we try to work out all sorts of
schemes by which we hope to live the Christian life. Well, I can only say that, so far as
my poor experience is concerned, I am ever
rejoicing in the simplicity suggested by the
hymn we have sung.
Trusting as the moments fly,
Trusting as the days go by,
Trusting Him whate'er befall,
He will never let you down. How often
little children have brought the most wonderful messages of comfort to the soul! We have
in my home a little laddie, 5 3/4 years of
quicksilver. The other day I was walking with
him, and taking my hand over a rough piece
of road, and with childlike naturalness and
tightening grip, he said, "Daddy, you won't
let me fall, will you?" As I replied, "Daddy
will not let you fall," the words of the old
hymn came running through my mindI am trusting Thee, Lord Jesus,
Never let me fall,
I am trusting Thee for ever,
And for all.
You may say it all sounds so simple; it is
just a question of trusting. Precisely; and
that is no new thing. That is one of four
points I want to make. I sometimes hear
people speak as though in an old dispensation
men were saved by works, and in this dispensation we are saved with faith. But God's
plan has ever been the faith plan, right the
way through. It was by faith that Noah sacrificed to God; it was by faith that Abraham
left the land, not knowing where he
went; it was by faith that Joseph gave
commands concerning his bones; it was by
faith that Mo ses ref used to be called
the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Right the
way through it has been faith. The
immediate object of faith in men's vision
has changed from time to time, but God has
ever called upon man to do one thing, and
one thing only: believe; trust Him.
The reasons for that may be many. In the
first place, man lost all through doubting. He
doubted God's word, "Thou shalt not die,"
He doubted God's love. God said, "Thou
shalt not eat of every tree in the garden."
Doubting God's wisdom, "You shall be as gods,
knowing good and evil"; doubting His wisdom and His love; and from that moment it
would seem that God said that the world had
lost all in unbelief, but it can recover everything in faith.
There is another reason. Faith is one of the
few things which gives all the credit and all
the glory to its object; and God means that
all the glory should go to the Lord Jesus, who
has bought us by grace. We have faith in
Jesus Christ. Why? Here is a little child
which trusts its mother. Why? Because the
child is good, wise, strong and sensible? No.
Because it has an intuition that mother is the
right person to trust; the glory is the mother's,
God means the whole of the glory of the
outworking of salvation's scheme to
redound to the Lord Jesus, whether in
justification,
sanctification,
or
glorification. The work of the Holy Spirit
is to cause the soul so to appreciate the
Lord Jesus in His atoning death, which
justifies; in His resurrection, which
sanctifies; in His coming glory, which we
shall share; so to appreciate the Lord Jesus —
.I use that word in a proper sense—that the
soul seeing Him will go out to Him and rest
upon Him. The glory will be His, and the
blessing will be the soul's. God's plan is a
faith plan.
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The second point in this faith plan is: the
centre and circumference of all that lies in
between, is Jesus Christ. There are many
people who want to ascend the Mount of
Transfiguration. We might think of a parallel
in Keswick. They want to see the spiritual
life in the fullness of its unfolding. They find
themselves in the presence of a Moses and an
Elijah and of Jesus, and they are, like Peter,
only too ready unconsciously to put on an
equality with the Lord Jesus, the great or the
good. "Lord, it is good for us to be here. Let
us make three tabernacles: one for Moses, one
for Elijah, and one for Thee." A dazzling
cloud comes over the scene, and they fall on
their faces as foolish men will do, and when
they look up again they see "no man save
Jesus only." Now Moses stands for religion,
and Elijah the prophet stands for ethics. Take
heed that your trust is not even partially in
your religion, or in your ethical code; that
your soul's trust is in One, and One only, that
is, our blessed Lord and Saviour Himself.
Now just one further thought about faith
before I seek to lead this line of thinking to
a practical conclusion. Do remember, in the
third place, that faith is more than credulity.
I have made three statements about faith—
namely, that God's plan for the soul is nothing
new; that the centre and circumference of the
faith plan is Jesus Christ; and that faith is
more than credulity. It is not so much a
mental assent, as a moral answer. Faith is
the response of the soul to something that God
has shown to that soul. Our prayers this
week have been, and indeed our prayers
to-night are, that the Holy Spirit shall so work
in our souls that we shall so see the Lord
Jesus, that there will be that full response
which will bring a perfect rest. It will be the
rest of faith.
That brings me to my fourth and last
thought, which by God's Spirit I would apply
to us all. The rest of faith meets all the needs
of the soul, and I am going to quote a single
Scripture to substantiate that statement. I
refer to that well-known verse, Matthew 11: 28,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." Jesus
said, "Come." It may be that to-night Jesus
will come against the background of this verse,
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest, Take
my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am
meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest
unto your souls." "Come," life initiated; "Take
my yoke," life demonstrated in service; "Learn
of me," life deepened in the school of the
Spirit.
The Lord Jesus is calling us unto Him for a
threefold purpose: (I) That we may find that
perfect rest of eternal life, spiritual life, which
so links us to God that oneness with Him gives
us complete peace and assurance. He is calling upon us to know the rest of life possessed,
life initiated. He is calling upon us (ii) to
know that rest which can look out upon the
problem of service: whether in the mission
field, in your own home, in an office or elsewhere, life is bound to demonstrate itself.
You will take the yoke, and there will be service. Oh, the peace that can be ours, and
should be ours, as we view all the implications
of our service, all the difficulties, all the problems; that peace which can be ours if indeed
we hear Him say "Come," and we come. Then
(iii) there is the question of our own character. This character of ours has been such a
problem, and probably still is. Can this life
be developed from day to day? The answer
to that problem is "Come unto me, all ye that
are weary and heavy laden, and ye shall find
rest to your souls"—the rest of life, the rest
of service fully yoked, and the rest of knowing
that the Holy Spirit is undertaking the
development of our spiritual beings: "Learn
of me" . . . "Come, and ye shall find rest."
May I close by telling you of an incident
that happened to me only a few weeks ago,
which has roots going back twenty years ago?
I was preaching in a chapel that some of us
visited last Sunday, and I felt I ought to give
and explain a slogan instead of preaching a
sermon. I said to the people present, "I am
going to give you a slogan for the Christian
life, I will say it once, and then I will repeat
it three times, each time shifting the point of
e m p h a s i s . M y s l o g a n i s t h i s : T h e jo y
o f r e s ti n g i n J e s u s . N o w t h e n , t h e jo y
o f r es t i n g i n J e s us ; th e j o y o f r e s t i n g
in Jesus; the joy of resting in Jesus.
I happened to tell that sto ry thi rteen
years ago in a certain well-known town fifty
miles or more from London. Afterwards I
was told that one of the congregation visited
a hospital where a woman was dying of
cancer, with only three weeks to live. She
was in terrible pain, and had all the apprehension of such a death. After she died the
doctors came to my friend and asked her in
explain the change which had come into the
life of Mrs. X, since everybody was talking
about it. The physician and the surgeon
asked her if she could explain what had hap-pened; and even the nurses and the outpatients talked of it.
The explanation of the change which had
come into this poor cancer-ridden person's
life, the peace which had become supreme and
which carried her through in triumph to the
glory, was that the Holy Spirit had made
plain the slogan, the joy of resting in Jesus.
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A Prince with God
And Jacob was left alone; and there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.
And when he saw that he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow
of his thigh; and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint, as he wrestled
with him.
And he said, Let me go, for the day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee
go, except thou bless me. And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he
said, Jacob.
And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a
prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.
And Jacob asked him, and said, Tell me, I pray thee, thy name. And he said,
Wherefore is it that thou dost ask my name? And he blessed hire there.
And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to
face, and my life is preserved. And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon
him.—Genesis 32:24-31.
-
friends to know the full facts; and during this
week, surely, if God has been with us, we
have been alone at times with the persons we
really are—the prayerless Christians we
really are; that unattractive character we
possess; even the dishonest business men we
have been. We have been made to think of
the years of tragically ineffective service. We
have been facing up to the persons we really
are, in the solitude of the soul: we have
been alone. If you have not been there,
then I am desperately sorry for you,
Has not every life this solitude, the room
marked "Private," the door kept locked, the
place seldom entered, that realm of our life
that is closed to visitors? Jacob was in a
place like that. He was left alone there in
the solitude, and God met him there. Has
God met you there during this week? Has
God met me, in the place of a full
consciousness of the kind of Christian I
really am? Alone, unexpectedly, and
unwantedly, God met Jacob in the solitude.
Then note the struggle in which God strove
with him; for we read, "there wrestled a man
with him until the breaking of the day."
Note that it was a personal encounter.
"There wrestled a man with him," and
although the experience of this Convention
would seem at first to be the experience of
great crowds and vast congregations, that
impression very quickly disappears in the
growing consciousness that God has come
to deal with us as individuals.
Has your experience been like that? Sitting
here in this tent, again and again we have
known that the issue of the Convention is a
personal one; that really God is not here to
WE are now reaching the closing moments of
the teaching ministry of this Conven-tion,
and I would suggest that the thought that
should be uppermost in our minds is,
whether or not the purpose for which God
brought us here has been as yet fulfilled?
Surely nothing could be more tragic than
that we should go back from Keswick just
as we came. It is with this in view that I
feel we would do well, in this last address,
to face together quietly the whole issue that
has been brought before us this week. I
want to suggest that the experience of
this week is in a very real measure
reflected in the experience of Jacob.
First of all, I want to notice with you the
solitude in which God met with him, for we
read that Jacob was left alone. Jacob was
alone because he wanted to be alone, and he
wanted to be alone because of the news of the
approach of Esau. That news had stirred up
the memories of the past, and had stabbed
awake the conscience he had tried so often to
deaden and kill. In the solitude, Jacob faced
the facts concerning the nature of the man he
really was. In that solitude he wanted no
onlooker, no listener, as he faced the facts and
consequences of his own character and life;
he wanted to be alone.
Has your experience this week been like
that of Jacob? Have you been discovering
and visiting the lonely places in your soul?
Has memory been stirred? Has conscience
been stabbed awake? Has it not been our
experience during this week that we have
been faced with the facts concerning the persons we are? When we are going through
such a spiritual experience, we do not want
anyone with us. We would not like our best
130
meet with crowds, but to meet with us, to meet
with you, to meet with me. Essentially the
whole issue of this Convention is a personal
one betwixt God and you. Has it been a personal encounter with God this week? Have
you been in this tent alone with Him? Or it
may be you have gone to your room to get
alone with Him, and you have known there
that the whole issue is just one betwixt you
and God.
Also, I note that it was a prolonged encounter. "There wrestled a man with him until
the breaking of the day." How stubborn the
will of man is; we will not yield! To-night
in this tent it may be there are some in whom
the struggle is still going on. For all I know,
it may have been going on for weeks, months,
or years before you came to Keswick; but it is
still going on to-night, still there is a Man
wrestling with you.
The solitude in which God met with him;
the struggle in which God strove with him;
then comes the surrender in which God dealt
with h im . I am no t con cern ed with the
method which God used to deal with Jacob,
but with its effect. God may use a very different way to deal with you and with me, but
the effects will be the same. Two things happened to Jacob as God handled him in that
tremendous moment in his life. First there
came the consciousness of utter weakness—
"He touched the hollow of Jacob's thigh, and
the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint,"
and this unscrupulous man who could get
on so well by himself, suddenly found
himself overwhelmed with the consciousness
of utter weakness, and instead of resisting
Gad, he is holding on to Him—"I will not
let Thee go except Thou bless me." Has
God brought you to a place where you are
conscious of your utter weakness?
I do not know what you have felt this
week, but right from the beginning of this
Convention I have sensed in the listening
of the thousands of us who have gathered
in the presence of God, a hunger that is
almost frightening, a wistfulness, a desire,
a yearning. The thing I am frightened of
above everything else is that we who have
the responsibility of ministering should
somehow fail, and that Christians should
go away unblessed. Can we afford to go
back as we came? Is the record of our
Christian life and witness and work and
fellowship in churches, in chapels, in
mission halls, going to be the same? Those
of us who are engaged in Christian work, are
we to go on giving talks, preaching sermons,
giving addresses, and is the same old dreary
deadness to continue in our work, nothing
happening, nobody being blessed, no growth,
no life? The consciousness of utter
weakness—has God brought you there? Has
God brought you to the place where you
realize that there is only one who can meet
your need, and that is the living God? Has
the cry gone out from your heart, "I will not
let Thee go except Thou bless me; for the
situation that I confront, if you do not help
me, is one before which I am absolutely bankrupt"?
Surely, unless the Church of Jesus Christ,
and unless you and I as members of that
Church, somehow or other are brought into
a deeper, fuller experience of the reality and
power of the Spirit of God, and the grace,
wisdom and loveliness of the indwelling
Christ, unless God brings us there, where are
we? The man who had been fighting God
is now holding on to Him. Are you holding
on to God to-night?
With the consciousness of utter weakness
came a confession of utter sinfulness. "What
is yo ur nam e?" "Jac o b. " What is yo ur
name? What is your work? What is your
character? What kind of Christian are you?
Jacob confessed his utter sinfulness; he was
just Jacob, the supplanter, the cheat, the rotten I do not know anything more sad in
Christian work than that we should hide the
reality of our own condition from God behind
a façade of reputation, of position that we
hold, of length of service, of orthodoxy of do
trine. I feel if God is going to get us anywhere, then the confession of sin has to go
deeper than it has yet gone. Until we face
up to the fact of the men we are, the women
we are, as did Jacob in his utter weakness and
sinfulness, we shall not hold on to God for the
blessing and life we so desperately need. "I
will not let Thee go except Thou bless me."
The struggle was over so far as resistance
to God was concerned.
Then comes the choicest and the sweetest
thought of all. The solitude in which God met
with him—have you been alone? The struggle
in which God strove with him—has He been
striving with you? The surrender in which
God dealt with him; and then, to me, the incredible thought, for the contrast is so tremendous as to be unbelievable; the sovereignty
in which God would work with him.. "Thou
shalt be no more Jacob, but Israel . . ." a
prince!—lifted up into the royal family of
heaven; made kings and priests unto God.
That suggests intimacy with the throne, for
surely the mark of a prince is nearness to the
king, enjoying his trust and confidence.
If you and I are going to be what God wants
us to be, we are going to be lifted up into a
life of intimacy with the King. That is going
to be the throbbing heart and source of everything, and in that intimacy and in that fellowship Gad will have His way with us. That is
the most wonderful thought of all, the discovery of the desire and design on the part
of God, that He can and does and will put
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His confidence and trust in us—to have
"power with God." I feel the real trouble
with so many of us is just here—God cannot
trust us with power, for we are not to be
trusted. But if in the intimacy of an abiding
fellowship with Him, we can prove our love
and loyalty and obedience, we shall find that
in that intimacy with the King we are given
responsiblity in the world, and having power
with God we shall have power with men.
Surely the need to-day in the world is for men
and women to whom God can entrust the
responsibility of being used.
When Robert Murray McCheyne was giving
a report to the Presbytery concerning the
revival in Dundee many years ago, he had one
thing to say concerning those who were used
of God in that time of revival. His comment
was a very simple one: "These men are
peculiarly given to secret prayer." That was
all. They were intimate with the King! You
and I can be lifted by God, to-night, as we
yield ourselves in our helplessness and our
sinfulness to Him, into that life of intimacy
with the King. We shall find in time, as God
will ordain, that we are given responsibility
with men. You will not get responsibility from
God any other way.
Has God's purpose for your life been fulfilled? Has He brought you here, or has it all
been just a wasted week? Will you very
quickly get into the lonely place of your soul,
and see again the kind of Christian you really
are? There in the solitude God will meet
with you, because it is not His desire or will
that you and I should remain there. His great
longing is that He should be able to transform
us in this Convention from Jacob to Israel,
from the man who was unattractive, who was
putting people off, who was sometimes sailing
very near the wind, who was dishonouring
God, who would only turn occasionally to God
when he was in a mess or in a hole—from all
that, and maybe worse, into Christians living
in the rarest intimacy with the throne and
being given measureless responsibility and
opportunity with men.
I thank God that that is a work He alone
can do. I am thankful that my responsibility
is to be simply a messenger to you to-night,
All I would ask of God now, is that in your
life and mine the Holy Spirit of God should
come down and seal the ministry of this week
in our souls, that all that we have learned
of the person and work of Jesus Christ and the
presence and po wer of the Holy Spirit
in the life of the believer, should find its way
deep down into our very souls, and there
should become a living, vital experience.
Don't go back the man you came. Don't go
back the woman you came, the girl, the fellow;
don't go back as you came, for God's intention
is that you should be no more Jacob, but
Israel, a prince, living in intimacy with the
throne and given responsibility with men.
Could we spend just a moment in concluding
to tell the Lord that is what we want? Jacob
was left alone. Could you get into the solitude
of the man you are, and the Christian you are,
and there for a moment or two with Gad,
acknowledge your utter weakness, your utter
sinfulness, and ask Him in the light of all that
He offers us in the person of Christ indwelling
in our hearts and lives by the Holy Spirit,
to lift you up into the royalty of the family of
heaven, intimate with the King, and trusted
in the world; that we be no more Jacob, but
Israel? Ask Him to make it real in your soul
now.
132
FRIDAY, JULY 18th
10 a.m—MISSIONARY MEETING
THE FIELD IS THE WORD
THE NEXT STEP
REV. WILLIAM STILL
TRIUMPH IN THE PLACE OF DEFEAT
REV. ALAN REDPATH
5.15 p.m.—SPECIAL ADDITIONAL MEETING
THE REVIVAL IN THE HEBRIDES
REV. DUNCAN CAMPBELL
8.15 p.m.—COMMUNION SERVICE
133
T
Thanks be unto God!
HE note of praise and thanksgiving
again, how few, among the large numbers of
young folk at the meeting
In the afternoon two meetings were held in
the small tent, one designed to give instruction to those who had received blessing at the
Convention, on the next steps in the life of victory; and at the other, to which reference has
already been made, the Rev. Duncan Campbell spoke on the Revival in the Hebrides.
Despite the awkwardness of the hour, the tent
was not only filled at 5.15 p.m., but some
hundreds stood around the raised sides of the
tent. The longing that all Britain should
experience like blessing to that in Lewis was
very apparent. "Let it come, 0 Lord, we pray
Thee."
Once more the Convention closed with the
United Communion Service, at which the congregation was, it is thought, larger than ever
before: the tent was quite filled. When all
had quietly filed in—the gates being opened
only ten minutes before the meeting began—
Dr. Graham Scroggie, who conducted the service, announced the hymn, "Here, 0 my
Lord, I see Thee face to face." After prayer,
Dr. Scroggie spoke upon the annunciation of
Jesus by John the Baptist, "Behold the
Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the
world." Examining this word by word, he
described sin as moral obliquity, corruption,
lawlessness. The sin of the world is that of
all mankind. The phrase, "the Lamb of God,"
has behind it all the Old Testament teaching
upon the sacrificial offerings. He takes away—
not only lifts up, but removes altogether—
the sin of the world. One thing is necessary
to receive the benefits of that Atoning
Sacrifice: we must "Behold," or personally
appropriate.
The matchless Communion hymn, "When I
survey the wondrous Cross," was then sung,
before all participated in the remembrance of
His death, until He come. There was unusual°
quiet while the elements were distributed, for
Dr. Scroggie had suggested that all should
open their Bibles at John 15, and meditate upon
verses 1-8 while waiting.
All having partaken of the bread and of the
wine, symbolizing His body broken and His
blood shed for us men and our salvation; and
expressing a true and deep fellowship of spirit
in Christ Jesus, despite differences of denominational allegiance, the Convention came to it
close with the singing of the hymn, "It may
be at morn," reminding us all that our Lord
if coming again, and that it may be soon.
dominated the last of the general prayer
meetings, for which a larger number than
ever gathered in the small tent—almost filling
it; while the Methodist Church was filled for the
missionary prayer meeting. In both gatherings there was great liberty in prayer, and the
hour of intercession seemed all too short.
According to long-established custom, the
morning was devoted to the great missionary
meeting, from 10 a.m, until noon. Charles
Wesley's triumphant hymn, "Jesus, the name
high over all," was sung with such conviction by the great congregation that the very
hills seemed to re-echo the glorious tidings.
Then the Rt. Rev. G. F. B. Morris, Bishop in
North Africa, read Philippians 2: 5-11, and the
Rev. A. T. Houghton led in prayer. Four missionaries, representing different fields or distinctive spheres of service, spoke on the
present situation—of challenge, need, or
opportunity, as the case might be; and then
Mr. Fred Mitchell prayed for the Far East. It
was a comprehensive laying before God of the
great lands of China and Japan; war-stricken
Korea; Indonesia and Thailand; and far-flung
islands of South-East Asia. Two more missionaries spoke; then during the singing of
"Stir me, oh, stir me, Lord," the offering was
taken. After two further missionary speakers,
Mr. P. S. Henman prayed for Europe—which
this year was not the subject of one of the
seven-minute addresses.
A very effective break in the sequence of
missionary speakers was made when two visitors from overseas gave their testimonies.
Both are studying at British Universities, and
were staying in the I.V.F. Camp at Keswick.
They were introduced by Mr. F. Crittenden,
the Camp organizer.
Two more speakers—one sounding another
new note, a call for teachers—ended the survey of work abroad; and "Who is on the Lord's
side?" brought the challenge home to every
heart. Then the Chairman, himself a former
missionary, invited various groups to stand—
first, serving missionaries; then, returned or
retired missionaries; next, accepted recruits—
quite a number, but haw few compared with
the vastness of the need Next came the
challenge to young folk who would yield their
lives to the Lord's service overseas if He
should so appoint: and about fifty stood—a
consecrated offering, well-pleasing to God; but
134
The Field is the World
EARLY four thousand people crowded
N
into the large tent for the great missionary meeting. As usual, the centre block
of seats was reserved for missionaries on furlough, retired missionaries, and accepted
candidates—a large group of Christ's ambassadors, representing every field and sphere' of
Evangelical witness overseas. The Rev. A. T.
Houghton presided; and the meeting opened
with the hymn, "Jesus, the name high over
all." The Rt. Rev. G. F. B. Morris, Bishop in
North Africa, read Philippians 2: 5-11; and the
Chairman, after prayer, briefly explained that
ten missionary speakers had been asked to
deal with particular aspects of missionary
work in relation to world need, the aim being
to give a general picture of the present
position of missionary endeavour.
literates a year; and the correspondingly vast
increase over the whole of Africa presented
great opportunities and responsibilities. Communists were awake to the immense possibilities
of these newly-opened minds, and books on
Communism were widely circulated. The
greatest factor against Communism, rationalism
and modernism, was the Word of God; there
was a keen desire for reading matter, and a
mobile bookshop had speedily disposed of their
stock of Bibles at £1 each. More equipment
and a larger supply of good sound literature were
needed to meet the challenge of the enemies of
the Church of Christ, as were also the prayers
and active help of God's people for the
printing
and
distribution
of
Christian
literature.
The Rev. George A. Young described China
as a country with five hundred million people
controlled by Communism, where a great
struggle was going on between Satan and
Christ. Although the country was now closed
to missionaries, it contained a living Church
of a million people, who loved God and were
prepared to die for their faith. Methods of
political indoctrination had caused many
Christians to deny Christ; and Mr. Young
read a letter from a former believer containing
the statement, "I no longer believe in God,
and send you my revolutionary love." The
diabolical methods used to undermine the
faith of a Christian civil servant were
described; yet the officials at the end of a
long period of torture reported to their
headquarters, "We have failed to change
this man, and he is beginning to change
us." His identity card was stamped "A firm
believer in Christ," and he was released—for
the Communists do not wish to make
martyrs. He is now witnessing courageously.
A living Church in China had been founded
on the Bible; and what God had established
could never die.
THE WOMEN O F I N D I A
Speaking of the women of India, Dr. Eileen
Barter Snow, a medical missionary, gave a
graphic picture of the refugee problems
created by the exchange of populations
between India and Pakistan. With all the
hospitals full of sick and wounded people, the
work of Christian women doctors and nurses
had been truly heroic. A Christian girl, who
wished to become a doctor—one of two survivors of a large party of refugees of a long
trek to Burma—had refused an Indian
Government grant because it necessitated her
signing a declaration that she was a Hindu; she
was now being trained as a doctor by the aid of a
grant from a West of England school, Women like
these formed a small minority, however, for
only 20 per cent. of India's women can
read. India to-day had more illiterates than
ten years ago, because there were not now
enough teachers; the need for medical women
and nurses for work among the women and
children was greater than ever, and there
was at present only one trained nurse to
every 43,000 people. The feeling among the
women of India was expressed in the pathetic
question asked by an Indian mother, "Would you
say 'God is love' if you had watched your child
die of typhoid and starvation? If you talk of
the love of God, come and show us that love."
CHRISTIAN LITERATURE
The subject of Christian Literature was discussed by the Rev. A. Stewart, who said that
the growth of literacy in the world to-day was
astounding. One province alone in Northern
Nigeria had set itself the target of 10,000 new
BUDDHISM FOR ALL BURMA
Home on furlough after his first term of
missionary work in Burma, the Rev. Desmond
Dancey said the Government of Burma was
working hard to revive Buddhism as the
national religion; but among the lesser
CO MMU N IS T CHIN A
135
educated Muslims there was a great fear of
evil spirits, and very few observed the principles laid down by the founder of their
religion. After half a century of Christian
work there was no real movement of the Spirit
of God among the Buddhists; many had had
their hearts stirred, but failed to take the step
of open confession. This fact had led to the
concentration of missionary work among the
hill tribes, where a Christian Church had been
established; but there were not enough missionaries and evangelists to make use of the
boundless opportunities that existed.
The entry of missionaries had not been prevented, but it was restricted; nurses and
teachers were still getting into Burma, but all
Westerners were viewed with a certain
amount of suspicion, and Bible Schools for the
training of native evangelists were absolutely
essential for the spreading of the Gospel in
Burma.
A comprehensive petition to God was offered
by Mr. Fred Mitchell, for the countries of the
Far East, and especially for peace in Korea.
THE TOUCH OF THE GREAT PHYSICIAN
Dealing with medical missions, Dr. Paul
Brand developed the theme of Christ's work
for the whole man, body, mind and spirit;
some Medicals were inclined to think of men
as bodies, and many brethren in the pulpit
thought of them as sinners—sometimes,
instead of condemning a man for possessing a
violent temper, it might be better to make
inquiries about his digestion ! The fact that
skilled surgeons, nurses, and masseuses had
touched them, left a profound impression upon
patients suffering from leprosy; they were
easily led afterwards to feel the touch of the
Master Himself. The doctors and nurses had
been unable to give back sight to a woman
patient, but her heart had been opened to the
Lord because in the hospital she had found
the touch of love for the first time.
Millions of people were suffering in a preventable way, whose diseases could be cured
for a very small expenditure of money. The
world needed people with good qualifications
who were prepared to consecrate their gifts
and use their hands in the name of the Lord
Jesus Christ to "touch" men for Him.
THE MYSTERY OF GREAT DARKNESS
Many problems of the Jewish Church were
explained by Canon H. Jones, recently
returned from an International Missionary
Conference in Germany, where he had listened to testimonies of German Christians
who had suffered in Nazi and Communist concentration camps. The fortitude and courage
exhibited by these men had been the means of
winning other Jews to Christ. Abram had
spoken of "A horror of great darkness" when
135
referring to the sufferings of the Jewish
people: and the darkness of persecution had
gone on all through the centuries, culminating
in the awful cruelties of the Nazi regime,
To-day whole communities of Jewish people
were being transplanted from one part of the
world to the other, and the State of Israel was
being built up under enormous difficulties.
The people of Jewry needed the light of the
Messiah, and this was a challenge to all Christian people,
The speaker concluded with the pertinent
question: "Thousands of you have Jewish
neighbours; what are you doing about them?"
During the singing of the hymn, "Stir me,
oh, stir me, Lord," an offering was taken.
THE MOUNTAIN OF MAHOMMEDANISM
Speaking of the Moslem world, Miss C.
Radley said that only in the spirit of unconquerable faith, like Caleb's, could "this great
mountain" be dealt with (Josh. 14: 12). Oneseventh of the world's population was held in
the darkness of the superstition and error of
this great anti-Christian religion—more than
all the Protestant Christians in the world. The
challenge to the Christian world was the conversion of 315 million people. The Word of
God was denied by the Moslems, who put in its
place the lifeless doctrines of the Koran.
Medical work held great possibilities in -Moslem lands, if sufficient workers could be
recruited. Fifty-four million people in Pakistan
and 35 millions in India needed medical help;
Arabia was crying out for women doctors,
as was also the Sudan; and even Egypt, the
strategic centre of the Moslem world.
Although
there
was
government
opposition to religious teaching, educational
work in colleges, hospitals, and domestic
science schools still presented opportunities for
the Gospel message.
A CHANGING CONTINENT
Archdeacon F. H. Wilcock gave an array cf
facts concerning the vast continent of Africa,
where the outlook was entirely different from
that held fifteen years ago, when the white
man, whether a government servant, a commercial man, or a missionary, was accepted as
a leader. That position had been changed.
To-day young Africa was hearing the voice of
materialism, nationalism, and the sinister
voice of Communism. The Church of God,
through educational, medical, pastoral and
agricultural avenues, could help the African
to hear the voice of the Son of God, and the
door of opportunity was never wider open
than to-day. In the course of his work as a
diocesan missioner, the Archdeacon had been
impressed by the obvious hunger of the people
for the Word of God, and a gracious revival
had come to the Church in many parts of
Africa. In South-Eastern Nigeria, God had
blessed three interdenominational crusades,
and prayer was especially needed for the
work of the Christian Council of Nigeria.
Prayer for Europe was offered by Mr. P. S.
Henman; and then two overseas students were
introduced by Mr. F. Crittenden.
TWO TESTIMONIALS
Mr. Adipoja Ladimeji, a striking figure in
African robes, replying to a question, said he
was now a Christian, though from boyhood he
had been brought up in the Koranic School;
he had afterwards attended a Mission School.
Asked how he came to change, he replied:
"In my last year we had some compulsory lessons on the plan of salvation, and I began to
learn about Jesus Christ. God spoke to me
very clearly during some revival services, and
I decided to give my life to Jesus."
The speaker continued that, to his great joy,
his brother had become a 'Christian, and he
himself had joined the Christian Union at
Exeter University. His message to Christian
people at Keswick would be that God's Spirit
alone would bring about a change in the Moslems; he would beg young people to go out to
serve God in Africa, and asked older people to
pray earnestly for their work.
Mr. Crittenden thanked the student for his
testimony, promised that Keswick people
would pray for him, and then introduced Mr.
Burjor Chiara, from India.
Mr. Chiara said he was not a Christian when
he first came to England; he was a Parsee, and
believed that Christ was killed by wicked men.
At first he had attended Christian Union meetings out of curiosity, but bad grown more and
more interested in the claim that Christ died
and rose again. One of the members invited
him to spend Christmas with his family, and
family prayers, grace before meals, Bible reading before going to bed, and the singing of
carols, made him feel there was something else
in the Jesus they all loved. Afterwards members of the family had written to him, sent
him a Bible, and finally he had accepted Jesus
Christ as his Saviour and been baptized.
His message to Christian people at Keswick
would be: "As many of you as can, do open
your homes to Overseas students; welcome us
to your homes, and give us a chance to see
your faith in Christ in actual operation."
Emphasizing the appeal of the two students,
Mr. Crittenden pointed out that 10,000 Overseas students were in England, most of whom
would be leaders when they returned home.
It was essential that English homes should be
opened to them, not once, but often. Many
Overseas students had not been welcomed in
English churches, and no one had spoken to
them of the love of Christ. These students
137
would either return to their homes as missionaries for Jesus Christ, or disillusioned
because they had never seen Christianity at
work.
MODERN METHODS OF EVANGELISM
An interesting account of work in the South
American continent was given by Mr. Horace
Banner, who said that every type of missionary enterprise, every shade of colour, and
every degree of civilization was represented,
and all had much in common. The cost of
living had rocketed, which was the reason that
so few missionaries had gone to South
America; but spiritual harvest festivals could
be held there every day in the week all the
year round. Even where the Gospel plough
had been put into a field full of tares and
stones, the "field" had yielded a harvest.
In present-day South America there existed
means of spreading the Gospel unknown to
past generations, such as Gospel broadcasts, a
Gospel Printing Press, with publications in
Spanish, Po rtuguese, a nd f if ty tr ibal
languages. If Satan was ever able to close
the door of South America and put missionaries on the outside, there would be hundreds of thousands of Christians on the inside.
CALL TO TEACHERS
The last missionary speaker, Mr. Harvey
Cantrell, represented the teachers in Mission
Schools—which included not only missionaries,
but faithful Christian nationals, who worked
with very little equipment in hard places.
It had been said that an educationalist could
not be a missionary; this was untrue. In a
school or training college there existed
unparalleled opportunities for proving that
Christ was a real Person, because the teachers
lived alongside the students, who had an
uncanny knack of finding out whether the
testimonies were true. In a school, living by
God's grace in daily work, facing problems
and doing the most ordinary chores together,
a great impact could be made on the lives of
young people. The world desperately needed
Christian education, and this country must
export the best kind based on the Word of
God.
The speaker then related how, twenty-five
years ago, in spite of a rooted dislike to anything of the sort, he had stood up at a Keswick
missionary meeting and responded to the call
of God to go out and teach; and invited young
people who could teach to make their lives
really whole by responding also.
WHO WILL GO—OR GIVE?
After the hymn, "Who is on the Lord's
side?" the Chairman, in a brief appeal, said
the speakers had presented the world's need
in a manner which had touched all hearts and
minds. At all costs a state of collective,
psychological emotion must be avoided; but
if the Lord had spoken to hearts and minds
and intellects, it would be tragic to leave the
meeting without getting down to business
with God.
At the request of the Chairman, a goodly
number of retired missionaries stood up, and
were joined by a still larger number of missionaries on furlough. Then missionaries who
had completed their training, and accepted
recruits still in training were also greeted.
A large number of parents expressed their
willingness for their children to be dedicated
to the mission field; and a smaller number
pledged themselves to give sacrificially and
systematically to foreign missions.
Some fifty young people responded to the
appeal for new recruits, and stood while the
Chairman prayed for God's blessing on their
self-dedication and future work. Practical
advice was then given as to the next steps,
and the meeting ended with the Benediction.
Saviour from sin, I wait to prove
That Jesus is Thy healing name;
To lose, when perfected in love,
Whate'er I have, or can, or am.
I stay me on Thy faithful word:
The servant shall be as his Lord.
Answer that gracious end in me
For which Thy precious life was given;
Redeem from all iniquity;
Restore, and make me meet for heaven:
Unless Thou purge my every stain,
Thy suffering and my faith are vain.
Didst Thou not die that I might live
No longer to myself, but Thee,
Might body, soul, and spirit give
To Him who gave Himself for me?
Come then, my Master and my God,
Take the dear purchase of Thy blood.
Thy own peculiar servant claim,
For Thy own truth and mercy's sake;
Hallow in me Thy glorious name;
Me for Thine own this moment take,
And change, and throughly purify;
Thine only may I live and die.
CHARLES WESLEY.
The Next Step
"W
BY THE REV. WILLIAM STILL
HERE do we go from here?" seems
to be a good title for this meeting. We go
back home, of course, to live radiantly,
witness faithfully, and serve sacrificially, the
Lord whom we have enthroned in our
hearts. If we do, then what? I would like to
give a word of warning. We have had with
us this week a prophet of the day and of
the hour, Dr. Wilbur Smith, and those who
have heard him will have gathered that he
has a burden, that in this late day the
pressure of evil is greater than before, so
that it is now harder than it was to get people
saved, it is now more costly to be holy than
in earlier days; consequently we shall have
to draw more deeply upon divine strength
and grace than our fathers did, if men and
women are to be saved and made holy.
If you believe this, then it is almost a
terrible thought, that it is going to cost us
more to-day than it cost our fathers to
resist the growing pressure of the devil and
his powers upon the Christian Church. It
may be that a permanent element of
Keswick teaching should be brought out today and made more explicit than perhaps it
has been before. I mean the fact of the
devil and his powers in relation to the holy
life, "for evil men shall wax worse and
worse, deceiving and being deceived."
Precisely where does the devil come
into the holy life? He comes in, or more
correctly, comes out, when, after our sins
are washed away, we definitely and
absolutely take our place with Christ in His
death as a practical experience of daily life
and thought and service. We then
discover him to be an evil intelligence of
unimaginable subtlety, who has been
concealing himself in the cloak of our
flesh, as he was formerly present and
active in all our sins which have been
washed away by the blood of Jesus. We
find, therefore, that there are three enemies
of
the
Christian,
which
appear
successively: sin, self, and Satan. There
are three remedies for these.
The remedy for sin is the blood of Jesus
that washed away our sins once for all. The
remedy for self, the self-life, the old
Adam, is the Spirit of God, who makes us
one with Christ crucified; by whom we have
within our hearts Him who was crucified,
who went through death, and therefore
gives Himself in death to us. The blood
for sin; the Holy Spirit indwelling to deal
with self; now what do we have to deal with
Satan?—truth, the truth of God's Holy Word,
the sword of the Spirit, The supreme example
of how to wield truth against Satan is found
in our Lord's experience in the wilderness.
Having reckoned ourselves dead unto sin,
having taken our place definitely there with
Jesus—and I believe that whether we know
it or not, there is one supremely vital, critical
m oment when we m ake an irrevo cable
decision, we burn our boats once for all; and
although we may slip and backslide and do
all sorts of things afterwards, God will always
bring us back to the point where we sacrificed
ourselves unto Christ, and that willingly.
Now, after that, when we seek to go on to
Christian service, Satan personally takes over
in the fight. He has to, because our sins, having been washed away in the blood of Jesus,
and the flesh having been torn aside as we
have taken our stand on Romans 6: 11, the
devil is obliged himself to come into action;
and it is here that his ingenious subtlety
deceives Christians.
He does so in three ways, and I would bid
you take note of these, First, he comes and
seeks to deny that we have actually taken our
place with Christ in His death. The devil
makes this supremely hard to believe, as he
strives with all his might to make us look at
Romans 6: 11, and say, "Yes, that is true in
theory, and may be true of some in practice;
but of me it is not true."
Satan tries to deny the fact of our being
crucified with Christ, in two ways. First he
appeals to our feelings, our personal condition,
our experience, whereas we must stand upon
the fact of Romans 6: 11, upon our position
and act of identification with Christ there.
Whatever our feelings may be, and however
much Satan may tell us we are not dead to
sin, the word comes home to us if we take our
stand upon it; for if our hearts condemn us,
God (and His Word) is greater than our
hearts.
Secondly, he comes to us by stirring up the
old dead self-life, by tempting us. This he
tried with Jesus, when he tempted Him, in His
hunger, to turn stones into bread; but he got
no further, nor could he get any deeper than
temptation with Him, because as Jesus says,
"Satan cometh and hath nothing in me." There
was no ground in Him whereon Satan could
begin to work. Our old self-life is like a pool
that has been cleared of rubbish; all the sediment sinks to the bottom, and Satan comes
139
with a stick and stirs it all up again, I am
perfectly sure it will be the experience of
many who have taken their stand upon
Romans 6: 11, to endure fierce temptation.
The demons of hell will attack you from all
sides—respectable ones, intellectual ones, as
well as the vile ones; all those you can possibly
imagine and many you cannot, so that your
flesh will seem to become more vile than it has
ever been before.
Have you noticed this week certain hints
as to how this operates in those who would
serve Christ? Dr. Smith was quoting James
Fraser, whom the devil attacked with vile
thoughts which he himself had never
known before. One who has been used in
mighty revival has confessed that in the very
midst of it, when the power of God had
rained upon the people, he himself in secret
and private was being tried with the most
horrible temptations, things which he could
never have thought of himself. I have heard a
brother say that the most trying moment
of his week was just before he was due to
face the people with God's Word; then
thoughts came to him that he himself, even
as a sinner, would never have thought. Satan
himself had come out into the open.
Someone has been greatly blessed this
week at Keswick; a confident, radiant and
victorious Christian, greatly blessed.
Last night, out of the blue, in the
meeting, som eth in g cam e o ver that
o n e, an d I saw the face at the close of the
meeting, sad and disturbed. "Oh, I feel such
a poor Christian; I feel there is much I
ought to confess, but I do not know what."
My reply was, "It is the devil; go and laugh
your head off."
Satan comes a third way. We are told
not to bring railing accusation against the
devil, but I can call him what he is—a dirty
brute! He not only comes to tempt us and stir
up the flesh that is crucified with Christ, but
when we have given way to temptation, he
begins to accuse us of what he has done, the
accuser of the brethren (see Rev. 12:10).
How are we to deal with Satan as he
comes in these three ways? First, when he
comes denying that we are dead to sin, we
must simply—and this is very important—
hold on to Romans 6: 11. There are other
verses, but this is the simplest, the clearest,
and the most concise. We take it and cling
on to it with teeth and nails, walk to it,
shout it, and groan it in prayer, until by
faith it becomes power. This is power!
Secondly, when Satan stirs up the old flesh
that is crucified with Christ, we have to detect
him. If we say, "Oh, my sinful, sinful flesh,"
we are wrong, we are deceived, and shall
never get rid of it. It is Satan, who has been
obliged to come out into the open because we
have taken our stand on Romans 6:11. He
comes as one stirring up mud in our lives,
Having detected him, we name him, name
him as Jesus named him when He looked into
the eyes of Peter and said, "Satan."
Thirdly, when, after he has tempted us, he
comes to accuse us of the very thing for which
he is responsible, we reply to him by using
Revelation 12:11. I want you to notice three
points there: "And they overcame him
because of the blood of the Lamb, and
because of the word of their testimony; and
they loved not their lives unto death."
Three things(i) The fact that Jesus died, and Satan
is defeated. Hold on to this. We say we know
it, but it seems to me that we hold theoretical
doctrines which we never put into practice,
they never come home to us, our wills have
never been moved by them. Do you really
believe that Jesus died, and Satan is defeated?
You do not believe it if your life is not victorious, if you do not prove it. That is the
fact; the victory over Satan by the blood of the
Lamb.
(ii) The faith that resists the devil on the
ground of the blood shed. Many Christians
just do not believe that if they resist the devil,
he will leave them. They do not believe it
because they have never proved it. Resist the
devil, and he will flee; speak the word of testimony against him, the word of testimony
about the power of the blood of Jesus, for he
is a coward, he is terrified. One of the
mightiest conversions I have seen in recent
months is of a native of Poland, half German,
who was in the Storm Troopers and came
through the most terrible sufferings. He has
been gloriously saved, and has grown so
quickly that just before I came to
Keswick I was sitting at his feet. He looked
into my face one day and said, "You know,
I have learned something." I said, "Yes, what
is it?" He said, "I have learned that God is
strong, and Satan is weak." Have you
learned that Satan is weak?
(iii) The death: the fact, the faith, then
the death. We have to hold the fact and
resist the devil even unto blood and even unto
death, until he flees. Yes, resist, resist, resist,
with growing faith, standing upon the blessed
eternal truth of God's Word, with mind fixed,
heart resolute, hands clenched so tightly that
we would rather draw blood than give in to
Satan. This conflict will surely come upon
those who are determined to go on with the
Lord unto holiness and victorious service.
I offer you three passages of Scripture. The
first is Romans 6:11; the second, Ephesians
6:10-17. I have been thinking much about
this passage while I have been speaking. The
third is Revelation 12:7-12. Take these words,
believe them in your heart, and prove them
fully true in experience.
140
Triumph in the Place of Defeat
T
HIS Convention to some of you may be
over; but the new experience of proving
the power of God in a way you have never
done before is just beginning. My heart
thrills at the possibilities before us all, in the
hands of the One who was wounded to save
us. I have been wondering how best in these
closing moments I could say a word which
will be of practical help to you as you go back
home again. I wonder what word "home"
conjures up? A place of problems and difficulties? Your particular place of service and
witness for the Master? How often young
people say to me, "If only the Lord would
shift me to some different place, I would get
on better"! I would not say anything which
might sound in any sense detrimental to the
missionary cause; but for some folk it would
be easier to go to Brazil or Africa than to
stay at home; for many people, home is the
hardest place. I am not sure that this is
always so, but I do not think the Lord calls
many away from any set of circumstances to
another until, in the place where they have
failed the Lord time and time again, they
have got victory. When we really get
victory where once we have failed, the Lord
can do something with us.
You are going back, perhaps, to a place
where you have failed. I am. I do not say
that to be dramatic, but because I know it
is true. This Convention does not leave
the people on the platform untouched. I
have been listening with all my heart, and
really just drinking it all in. God has been
speaking to me, and I know that in the
ministry of my church at Richmond many
times I have failed. I want to go back and
prove God in a new way. I want to prove
Him in my own life, in the particular
things in which I have failed; and the Lord
will see me through in triumph. Is that not
your desire? Perhaps we are going back with
the thought that we are returning to the
old place, and it fills us with dread. How
are we going to get on with those people who
are difficult? What are we going to do?
Paul wrote his letter to the young
Church at Colosse, when its members
were having a pretty tough time. They
had not grown very far, and they were
being attacked by all sorts of enemies—by
modernism, ritualism, and spiritualism, the
three great enemies of the Church. Paul had a
word of encouragement for them. The first
thing he said was this: You know, if you
are going to get through, you need to have
a vision of the greatness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Get your eyes upon Him, listen to what
He says, for in Him are hid all the treasures of
wisdom and knowledge; in Him dwells all the
fullness of God (2:3, 9).
I once saw a poster outside a church in
which the preacher was advertised to preach
on the subject: "The contribution of Jesus to
Christianity." Would you credit it! That is
sheer blasphemy. If there was no Jesus, there
would be no Christianity. In Him are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in
Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. In other words, every aspect of the
character of God the Father is in God the Son,
expressed in the Christian's life in the person of
God the Spirit—all the mercy of God, all the
love of God, all the patience of God, all the
wisdom of God, all the understanding of God,
all the power of God; every attribute of the
character of God is in Jesus, in whom
dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead. Yes,
Jesus came as a man, and lived for thirtythree years as a man; but the incarnation of
Jesus Christ is not only historical, but a present
fact, and the greatest thrill to me as I face the
future with all its possibilities is to know that
all power and authority is in the hands of the
Man at God's right hand, who is my Saviour.
The first thing I want you to get this afternoon, therefore, is a clear view of a mighty
Saviour, and to realize in your heart what a
wonderful Lord He is—not something or
someone else than God, but God Himself, in
whom are all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge; in whom is all the fullness of the
Godhead. He is your Saviour.
The second thing that Paul wanted the
Colossians to know, was that Christ was in
them. In 1:27 he says, "Christ in you, the
hope of glory." And in the last verse of the
chapter he adds, "the power which worketh in
me mightily." If you want to grow in your
Christian life, there are two things I commend to you: one is a Scofield Bible, and the
other some of F. B. Meyer's Bible biographies.
You can feast on them; I have done so, and I
love them. I cannot remember which of Dr,
Meyer's books contains this story, but in one
141
•
of them he tells of a widow with one sun.
She was very poor, and when her boy was
thirteen or fourteen he ran away from home,
exaggerated his age and joined the Navy. He
was away from home for many years, and she
had to work very hard to keep her home going.
To make ends meet she took in lodgers. One
day there was a knock at the door, and there
stood a sailor with a big beard. He asked if
he could have a room, and she provided him
with accommodation and meals. She did not
know who he was; that was a mystery. After
a few days they were sitting together at a
meal, and perhaps it was a look in his eyes,
or a gesture, or the tone of his voice, but suddenly it dawned on her that it was her boy-and she flung herself into his arms. That
was the glory of the mystery, as they rejoiced
together in their love for each other. Then
he said to her: "Mother, I have been watching
you these last few days, and I have seen the
marks of worry and care on your brow; I have
seen the scars on your hands, so soiled with
hard work and toil, and I have realized something of what it must have meant to you to
struggle along. It has been an awful strain,
and I can see you are living on the edge of a
breakdown. Now, mother, please stop it; I
am back again, I have come into this home
and I want to take charge; I want to run it for
you. I want you to rest, and let me do it all.
Just you sit back, stop worrying, and leave it
all to me." That was the richness of the glory
of the mystery.
Jesus has come in, you have recognized
Him, you have come to know Him, and now
you long to express Him in your life. So
many Christian folk are living at tension constantly; they are on edge, and the tension is
severe. I know the Christian life is a battle;
yes, but I thank the Lord for victory when
I rest in Him—
My Saviour, Thou has offered rest:
Oh, give it then to me;
The rest of ceasing from myself,
To find my all in Thee.
It was what Hudson Taylor called the
exchanged life; no more "I," but "Him."
Now, you are going back to a place of tremendous pressure, where you have been working yourself almost to death. Yes, we are all
going back to something like that. Maybe
you have lived there for years, and you have
not borne a faithful witness; your brow has
been marked with worry, you have been on
edge and in tension all the time. I hope this
week in Keswick has meant that all that has
snapped, and you have "let go and let God."
I am discovering a great secret: that if I seek
to live my life from day to day in the will of
the Lord, a surrendered life which is yielded
to Him, every demand on that life is a demand
on the life of Jesus Christ within me; and He
is always sufficient—so why worry? Have
you got that? Now do make that practical
when you go back home, back to the place of
tension and conflict, where for months you
have suffered nervous strain and pressure; for
now you know that it all is a demand on the
love of the indwelling Christ, in whom are all
wisdom, all patience, all mercy, all love. So
just hand it over to Him.
Just one other thing Paul says. You know,
here is the secret of going on with God. You
need a great and mighty Lord; you need to
recognize that that wonderful Lord seeks to
come in to take the lead, to carry the burden,
and do the job you have failed to do. There
is something else: it is not only that God is in
Christ, and Christ in God, but you are in
Christ. Paul says that you are "complete in
Him which is the head of all principality and
power" (2: 10); you are "rooted and built up
in Him, and stablished in your faith" (v. 7).
You are in Christ, for your life is hid with
Christ in God. What a position of security!
Why here in front of you, in imagination,
may I picture a big portmanteau. On the top
there is a name, GOD. You lift the lid and
there is another portmanteau inside, on which
is the name CHRIST. You lift that lid and
there inside is another, with your name on
the lid. Your life is hid with Christ in God.
What a position of security!
If I would know that security in my heart
and be sure of it, and live a life of radiance, joy
and victory, my life must be rooted in Christ,
rooted like the trees are rooted in the soil.
When I was in Philadelphia, one morning on
the placards were great headlines, "Gale
strikes Philadelphia." I thought it strange,
as I had not noticed a gale—there had been
some wind during the night, but I hadn't
thought much about it. As I went along I saw
many trees flat on the pavement, having been
uprooted. There was one poor fellow standing
looking at his beautiful car, which he had taken
out of the garage only the day before—and a
tree right across it had split it in two. Those
trees had grown to a tremendous height,
and were lovely; but they do not go deep
enough into the soil. A good old English oak
planted in the streets of Philadelphia would
not crash like that!
Now, your lives are hid with Christ in God;
rooted in Jesus. The most important part of
your Christian life is the life that nobody but
you and God can see. The place at home
where you shut the door and you are alone
with God. My dear fellow-ministers, you and
I are no better men in the pulpit than we are
behind that door, nor more effective in our
ministry than we are there. I am not talking
about leading a prayer meeting, about leading
a family in family prayers; but I am talking
about a place in a home where there is a bit
142
of carpet, on which you kneel every day: a
secret spot, where the door is shut and you
are alone with God. I never have time to
pray, I have to make it; and I would leave this
note with you as we close. Get your eyes
upon the Lord, the Lord Jesus, Jesus the
mighty conqueror of Satan; get your eyes on
Him, remember how wonderful He is, and
what a wonderful Lord we have. He is within
us. Go deep into Christ, dear Christian, and
let Him go deep into you
Guard your quiet time, guard it against
every inroad of Satan, watch it day by day;
and when you feel least like praying, that is
the time to pray most of all.
I am persuaded from my personal experience, and from the Word of God, that when
the Christian has his eyes upon the Lord,
Satan cannot touch him. I beg you, fellowChristians, to end this Convention with your
eyes right on Jesus, and keep them there, until
in days to come we meet Him face to face,
and that will be even more wonderful than
Keswick
Thou to us, 0 Chris t, ar t given
Force and freedom still to be;
Let us ante-date our heaven
Evermore by trusting Thee;
Thee opposing
Always to our Enemy.
Teach us thus to live believing,
Using Thee for all our need;
To Thy care our spirits giving,
By Thy Spirit fill'd and freed;
Thus made ready
For the Master's use indeed.
-HANDLEY C. G. MOTTLE.
143
The Revival in the Hebrides
BY THE REV. DUNCAN CAMPBELL
IN speaking of the gracious revival of the
Holy Spirit in the Hebrides, I shall direct your
attention to three aspects of it—how it began;
what are its main features; and what it
accomplished in the Church and in the
community.
In October, 1949, the Free Church Presbytery of Lewis met in the town of Stornoway;
they met to discuss, among other things, the
appalling drift away from the Church,
especially of the younger people of the island.
They were there also to consider the dearth
of conversions in their congregations. A resolution was passed calling upon their faithful
people to view with deep concern the inroads
made by the prevailing spirit of the age. I am
not in a position to say what response was
received to that resolution and appeal by the
Presbytery. This I do know, that in every
congregation, both the Free Church and the
Church of Scotland, God had His watchmen
on the walls of Zion. There can be no doubt
whatsoever about that. I can only speak
about what I know; and I am here this afternoon to declare with absolute certainty that
in one congregation at least there were men
and women who were deeply burdened. I
refer to the parish church of Barvas, where
the revival broke out.
Here were men and women baptized into
a sense of the need and the condition of men;
men who were labouring under a burden, men
and women who could have said with
Hezekiah of old, "I have made a covenant
in my heart with the Lord God of Israel."
And this was the covenant that they made:
that they would not give rest to their eyes—
quoting from Psalm 132—nor slumber to their
eyelids, until they found a place for their God,
the God whom they believed in, the God of
revival.
I take you now to a barn in the town of
Barvas, and here in this barn I find men on
their faces before God. They have gathered
to pray, but this is no ordinary prayer meeting. Here are men, led by their minister,
who were there to do business with God, and
at ten o'clock at night they knelt among the
straw, to spend the night on the walls of Zion;
to plead with God that He would come and
make bare His holy arm.
For months they waited, for months they
gathered in this barn three nights a week,
and waited on their faces before God until
four and five o'clock in the morning. One
night a young man, a deacon from the Free
Church, rose and read Psalm 24, "Who shall
ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall
stand in his holy place? He that bath clean
hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted
up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully,
He shall receive—not a blessing, but—the
blessing of the Lord." He read it again, and
then faced his praying companions with the
words, "Brethren, we have been praying for
weeks, waiting upon God. But I would like
to ask now: Are our hands clean? Is the heart
pure?"
I cannot take time to go into all that happened, but that night, or rather the following
morning, God swept into that barn. Had you
gone there at four o'clock in the morning you
would have found three men prostrate on the
floor in a trance; they had prayed until they
passed out of consciousness.
My dear people, this is no fairy tale. Here
are men moving out of the realm of the common and the natural into the sphere of the
supernatural; and that is revival. That very
morning in their little cottage, several miles
distant, two elderly sisters are on their faces
before God, one 82 and the other 84 years of
age. They know that the others are waiting
upon God, and in this cottage something happens. Heaven swept down and glory crowned
the place; they knew that revival was near.
The older sister, addressing her younger sister,
said, "This is what He has promised—`I will
pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods
upon the dry ground'; and we are dealing with
a covenant-keeping God."
So convinced was she, that a message was
sent that morning to the parish minister
with a request that a wire be sent to the
Faith Mission. Why did they communicate
with the Faith Mission? Here is the answer:
forty-five years ago the two sisters were led
to Jesus Christ through D. M. Miller,
working in Lewis under the auspices of the
Faith Mission. How wonderful our God is
in His sovereign purposes! Away back,
forty-five years ago, He had His plan and
programme for Lewis.
To make a long story short, I received a wire
in Skye, where I was labouring, and where
God was graciously moving. I replied, saying
that it was impossible for me to go to Lewis,
as I was then preparing for a holiday Conven-
144
ion in another parish; but that I would put
Lewis on my programme for the following
year. That reply was brought to the sisters,
and here is their reaction to it; "That is what
man has said. God hath said that he is
coming, and he will be here within a fortnight." Now I cannot go into the details as
to how it was necessary for us to cancel the
Convention. All I can say is that the Tourist
Board swept in and commandeered the hotels
and the boarding-houses we were counting
upon to give accommodation. Peggy's prayer
was answered; but behind her prayer were the
sovereign purposes of God.
Within a fortnight I was there. I shall
never forget that first meeting in the parish
church of Barvas, and the spirit of
expectancy. I was met by the elders, and was
assured that God was going to do
something. A deacon from the church came
and said, "Mr. Campbell, God is hovering
over, He is going to break through." Here
were men who dared to believe that there is
a God who will fulfil His promise to those
who pass through into the realm of
prevailing prayer.
But nothing happened in that meeting; it
was a very ordinary meeting—the singing was
good, there was a measure of liberty in
prayer, but nothing more than that. But at
the close of the service this deacon came again
to me, and said, "Do not be discouraged; He
is coming; I hear already the rumblings of
heaven's chariot wheels." Here were men
who knew something, and could talk in
heaven's language.
Then he suggested that we go and spend
the night in prayer. So we went to a cottage
nearby, and there we waited in God's presence. About thirty of us had gathered; God
was beginning to move, the heavens were
beginning to open, we were there on our faces
before God. Three o'clock in the morning
came, and God swept in.
Again I see about a dozen men and women
prostrate on the floor, lying there speechless.
Something had happened; we knew that God
had taken the field, and the forces of darkness
were going to be driven back, and men were
going to be delivered. We left that cottage at
three o'clock in the morning, to discover men
and women seeking after Gad. I walked along
a country road, and found three men on their
faces, crying to God for mercy; there was
a light in every home, no one seemed to think
of sleep. The Spirit of God was moving, and
it will not surprise you when I say that when
we gathered at the church the following day
the place was crowded, a stream of buses
having come from the four quarters of the
island. Who told them? I cannot tell you.
God has His own wonderful way of working.
A butcher's van brought seven men from a
distance of seventeen miles away, and the
seven men were gloriously converted that
night.
We gathered in the church, and I spoke for
about an hour. You see, we are not at Keswick there, and we are not restricted in prayer
or in preaching! The Spirit of God was at
work. All over the church men and women
were crying for mercy, and I could hear them
on the road. There are some in this meeting
to-night who were at that second service.
They, I am sure, can again picture the scene:
men and women were crying, some falling
into a trance, some swooning, many crying,
"Oh, God, is there mercy for me?" A young
man beneath the pulpit prayed, "Oh, God, hell
is too good for me."
This is the desperate need in the field of
evangelism to-day—conviction of sin that will
bring men on their faces before God.
I closed the meeting with the Benediction,
and the people moved out. As the last person
was about to leave the building, this young
man began to pray, and he prayed for almost
three-quarters of an hour—just think of it,
three-quarters of an hour in prayer—and as
he prayed, the people kept gathering, and now
we had twice as many around the church as
in it. They had come from everywhere, ward
having gone round that meetings were to be
held right through the night; they had come
from Stornoway, from Ness, and different
parishes. When this young man stopped
praying, the elder gave out Psalm 132, and as
that vast congregation sang the words of that
wonderful Psalm, they streamed back into the
church again and the meeting went on until
four o'clock in the morning.
Leaving the church at four o'clock, a messenger came, saying, "Mr. Campbell, people
are gathered at the Police Station, from the
other end of the parish; they are in great
distress; can anyone here come along and pray
with them?" I went along to the Police
Station, and can never forget the scene that
met our eyes. Under a starlit sky, with the
moon gazing down upon us, and angels, I
believe, looking over the battlements of glory,
were men and women on the road, by the
cottage side, behind a peat stack, crying to
God for mercy. Yes, the revival had come!
For five weeks that went on—in one church
at seven o'clock, in another at ten, in a third at
twelve, back to the first church at three o'clock,
and home between five and six, tired, but glad
that we had found ourselves in the midst of
a God-movement of the Holy Spirit. I spent
five weeks in this particular parish, and then
it spread to the neighbouring parishes; and
what we saw there in Barvas we saw in the
other districts.
That was how it began. Now let me deal
with one or two features of the movement.
First of all, I would say the outstanding
145
feature is this deep sense of God, this consciousness of the Eternal, men moved with
bowed heads, the realization of God in the
midst so overwhelming that sometimes they
dared not move. People are here who can
tell you how true what I am saying is. It may
help you to understand what I am trying to
get at when I tell you this—do not misunderstand me—a young woman came to me from
Lewis yesterday and said, "Mr. Campbell, what
is wrong?"' I said, "What do you mean?" She
said, "I am missing that consciousness of God, I
am missing that sense of the Eternal; I am
missing the subduing presence and power of
the Holy Spirit." My dear people, da not misunderstand me, I am speaking just now of an
island, of a community in the grip of God, and
men bowed before Him. The outstanding
feature is the tremendous sense of the subduing presence of God.
One who came into saving and covenant
relationship with Jesus Christ spoke on the
following evening to a young man Suddenly
conviction grips him, and he begins to tremble
and try to shake it off; he goes to the town of
Stornoway and enters the public-house to get
away from this overwhelming sense of the
presence of God, and when he enters the
public-house he finds there men speaking
about their lost and ruined state. He says,
"This is no place for a man anxious to shake
this off; I will go to a dance." That night he
went to a dance, and was not in the hall five
minutes when a young woman came up to him
and said, mentioning his name, "Oh, where
would Eternity find us if God struck us dead
now?" The sense of God was everywhere.
That evening that young man found the
Saviour; he could not escape God.
The second outstanding feature is this deep
sense of sin. This is terrible to behold. Let
me illustrate it by telling you something that
happened in the village or township of Arnol.
Here we were met with a measure of opposition. Do not run away with the idea that all
was plain sailing. Oh, no, we have been met
with opposition, and meet with opposition still;
but our God is a conquering God. In this community of four to five hundred souls, very few
came to our meetings. The church was
crowded with people from other districts; and
again we gave ourselves to prayer. An elder
from a neighbouring church prayed for this
township, for this village was dead; not a
single young person darkened the doors of the
church, the Sabbath was given over to the
drinking house and poaching. I am talking
about facts that cannot be gainsaid.
We pray until past 12.30, and again something happens, and we move out of the realm
of the ordinary and natural into the sphere of
the supernatural, and God lets His power
loose. We leave that meeting, and the first
person to meet us is a woman with a stool in
her hand, who said, "Is there a corner for me
in the church?" It was crowded by the people
of the village. I went into a neighbouring
house to seek some refreshment, having
preached for three hours, before I went to the
prayer meeting. I went into that house for a
glass of milk, and the lady of the house was on
her knees with seven other women round her.
Here were eight women in great distress of
soul.
Within forty-eight hours the drinking house
was closed, and will be closed for ever. To-day
it is boarded up, and were you to go to that
village you would find great strong men,
pillars of the Church of Jesus Christ. Going
through the village, an old elder of the Free
Church drew my attention to this house that
was the drinking house of this village, and
he said, "Fourteen of the young men who frequented that den of iniquity were praying in
the prayer meeting last Thursday." Oh, men
and women, it was God at work. To-day they
require a bus to take them to the church service. Were you to go to that village to-day
you would find three prayer meetings during
the week; you would find a group of men on
their knees before God at midnight—they
gather at ten and wait until one o'clock in the
morning, praying for the spread of the revival.
That village, as some of you who are from
Lewis know, is completely changed. You cannot enter that township to-day and not feel
this wonderful sense of the Lord. There is not
a single young man between the age of 18 and
35 who is not praying to-day in the prayer
meeting. Oh, dear people, this is God at work.
From there we went to Bernera. I think I
must relate the wonderful story of the young
man spoken of so frequently as the Evan
Roberts of Lewis, who came in during the
first wave. He was a young lad who went
to the church carrying a chair to sit on. God
met with him that night; the following night he
led his father to Christ; the following evening
he led his mother to Christ, and I can see him
now beneath the pulpit, saying, "This is where
father found Jesus last night; this is where I
found the Saviour the night before." This
young lad was endued with the power of the
Holy Ghost.
In Bernera things were difficult; the stream
of Christianity was running low, the churches
empty, there were no prayer meetings. So I
sent a wire requesting the praying men of
Barvas to come and assist me in prayer, and
making this special request that little Donald
be brought with them. They came, and in a
meeting at which about eighty people were
gathered, I was preaching from the text, "And
thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto
heaven, shall be brought down to hell." That
has been the burden of the message from the
146
beginning to this day, when God is sweeping
through the isles, The burden of the message
has been the severity of God in judgment, the
glories of heaven, and the terrible reality of
doomed souls in a burning hell. Listen, you
preachers of the Gospel: I am convinced of this,
that we have to get back to this emphasis;
we have been soft-pedalling far too long, and
the soul-destroying doctrine of Universalism
is eating at the vital part of our message.
Half-way through that address I stopped, and,
looking down at this lad, I said, "Donald, will
you lead us in prayer?"
He stands; he is not praying more than five
minutes when God sweeps into the church,
and there is the congregation falling almost
on the top of each other; others throw themselves back and become rigid as in death. Do
not ask me to explain these physical manifestations; I only state that again we are moving
into the realm of the supernatural. But the
remarkable thing about that great meeting is
this, that while that was happening in the
church, fishermen out in their fishing boats,
men behind their looms, men at the pit bank,
a merchant out with his van, school teachers
examining their papers, were gripped by God,
and by ten o'clock the roads were black with
people seeking after God who were never near
me. I went along that country road a nd
found in one place three men lying on their
faces, so distressed about their souls that they
could not talk to me; yet they were never near
a meeting that I held. This is revival!
Just another word. Mr. Tom Rees, of
Hildenborough, visited Lewis some time ago;
several minister friends were visiting at the
same time. Both parties were there to ask
questions—Were lives changed? Where communities changed? What impact did the revival
make upon the Church? Here I quote from
the local Press, The Stornoway Gazette: "More
are attending the prayer meetings in Lewis
to-day than attended public worship on the
Sabbath before the outbreak of this revival."
That is the impact on the Church; but what
about the community? I make this statement.
Social evils were swept away as by a flood in
a night, and to-day in the communities
touched by this gracious movement you have
men and women living for God, family worship in every home, five or six prayer meetings
a week in the parish, the ministers and elders
doing their utmost to build up the young men
and women in the faith. At a conference of
ministers recently I discovered this: I put a
question to them—how are things in your different parishes, in your respective districts;
how are the young converts getting on? Of
the hundreds that professed during this
gracious first wave of the Holy Spirit, right
up until that visit of mine to this particular
district, only four young women have ceased
to attend the prayer meetings, only four of the
hundreds that came to know Jesus Christ.
Oh, dear people, here was a mani festation of God, something greater than
organization, something greater than planning, something more wonderful than a new
approach, something more convincing than a
new dynamic in the realm of evangelism. God
at work; and I say that is the only answer to
the problems that face us to-day. We may
organize, we may plan, but until we get on our
faces before God and do business with a
covenant-keeping God, we shall not see
revival. We can have our conventions and
our conferences, and speak of our wonderful
times, but what we want, and what we need,
is a fresh manifestation of the mighty power
of God that brings men down in deep conviction to seek the Saviour. The main emphasis
has been on the severity of God; but this
remarkable thing has to be noted—eightythree hymns have been written by the converts, some as fine as anything we have in our
Gaelic literature, and without one single
exception every hymn has been on the love
of Jesus or the wonder of the Saviour.
Early Morning Prayer
ONCE again, the Eskin-street tent was the
rallying place for the many who realized
the vital need for united prayer before the
Convention meetin gs began each day.
Although it meant an early rise and a walk
in the rain before breakfast, hundreds
gathered in this way, and in ever-increasing
numbers as the days went by.
Apart from an opening hymn, a few verses
of Scripture, and some brief suggestions for
making the best use of the precious minutes,
the whole hour was devoted to prayer, and
although in the time available forty to fifty
took part, there were always many who stood
in silent prayer at the close to signify that
they would have prayed audibly had there
been the opportunity.
Not only was there liberty in prayer, but a
great variety of needs was brought before God
in this way: the nation, the longing for revival,
the Church, Christian work, the world situation, homes, all who are ill in body or mind
and those Who minister to them, youth and
children's work; and time was set apart to surround the Convention meetings, the speakers
and workers, with prayer support.
Each morning there were many written
requests for prayer for specific persons or
needs, and these were read and remembered
by various members of the speakers' team
present at the meeting. These requests
revealed the widespread need for prayer without ceasing. An unsaved husband or wife, a
wayward son, a Christian who now followed
afar off, a dying father, a soldier overseas, and
many other requests, unfolded to the Church
at prayer a challenge such as faced the early
Church from time to time; and gladly the
company responded as one and another prayed
for these cases.
T
The verses of Scripture which were read
referred to Bible prayer meetings—the prayer
meeting in the upper room that preceded
Pentecost, the Church at prayer for Peter In
prison, Elijah at prayer on Mount Carmel for
the people halting between two opinions, our
Lord in prayer to His Father (John 17), the
prison prayer-meeting of Paul and Silas, and
finally Acts 4, where the Church prays for
holy boldness to witness for Christ despite persecution and death.
Friday's meeting was for praise and testimony for blessing received at Keswick 1952.
The tent seating was nearly full, and there
was a spirit of liberty, praise, and
thanksgiving manifest from the outset. Men
and women, young and old, from this country
and overseas, rose in their places in rapid
succession to testify to the way the Holy
Spirit had dealt with them at Keswick. Some
were converted, others restored, many recommissioned, and all had had a deep
blessing. It was impossible for all to speak.
Towards 8 a.m. the chairman invited the
many who still asked to testify, to rise• and
give their names and home towns on/y. In
ones, twos, threes, and sometimes fives or
more, people stood all over the tent in a rising
volume of praise.
Then unitedly the meeting rose to sing
"Rejoice in the Lord . . If God be for us,
who can be against us?" and, still standing,
repeated together the Lord's Prayer and
Hebrews 13: 20-21. As the gathering dispersed
many could say with new meaning, "I have
proved God answers prayer. Glory to His
N a m e ! " P.S. HENMAN.
Missionary Prayer Meetings
HE missionary prayer meetings attracted
larger numbers than ever this year, in spite
of the rain, and the Methodist Church was
taxed to its utmost capacity. A good many
extra chairs had been provided, to be placed
down the aisles; but every day all available
seats were occupied, and on Tuesday (Africa)
and Thursday (China, Central Asia, and
Closed Lands) not only were all seats filled,
and the platform and seats all round the
organ were occupied, but many young people
sat on the floor, and large numbers stood at
the back. It was encouraging to find that there
was no diminution of prayer for China, in
spite of the decrease of first-hand information.
Special prayer was offered on the Tuesday
for a lawsuit begun in Africa against a Mission
by disaffected African Christians. It was
good to learn afterwards that the case collapsed quite suddenly, and the Mission was
vindicated. There were smaller numbers present on the Friday morning, though the
church was comfortably filled: no doubt the
attendance was affected by the special nature
of the general prayer meeting in the Eskinstreet tent, which provided an opportunity
for testifying in prayer to blessings received
during the Convention.
Burma, South-East Asia, Japan, Korea and
Oceania were the topics for prayer on this last
morning, and it was encouraging to find that
there was a good deal more intelligent prayer
than usual for South-East Asia, of which most
people in the past have been ignorant.
A good many nationals of other countries
were present at the missionary prayer meetings and a number prayed with much understanding of the needs of their own countries,
but also for their brothers in other lands.
A. T. HOUGHTON.
Reception for Missionaries and Overseas Guests
0 visitors to Keswick are more grateful
than the many missionaries who attend,
for all that the Convention means to "hungry
and thirsty" Christians, in the opportunity it
affords for waiting upon God, hearing His
Word, and enjoying fellowship with His people.
The many missionaries present always make
an immeasurable contribution to the Convention—probably all unconsciously to themselves; they also gladly testify to the blessing
it brings them, after self-spending service
abroad, often in lonely mission stations, with
few opportunities for fellowship with other
mature Christians. This year again they were
present in large numbers, from the four quarters of the globe; and it was a joyous privilege
to move among them, at the reception held in
the small tent on Wednesday afternoon.
The occasion was enriched, as in recent
years, by the inclusion in the reception of
visitors to the Convention from overseas.
Indeed, the roll-call revealed that fifty-three
different lands were represented, by nationals
or missionaries. The reality of the truth expressed in the Convention motto, "All one in
Christ Jesus," was never more clearly demonstrated, than in this happy gathering.
After the half-hour of informal fellowship,
during tea, the Rev. A. T. Houghton expressed
the welcome of the Convention Council, as its
Chairman, and said that, as a former missionary, he knew personally what the Convention meant to those on furlough. Mr. Timothy
Buckley then sang "0 rest in the Lord," and
Mr. Robert Laidlaw gave a brief message,
from the life-story of Moses, on the preparation by God of His servants. The Chairman
then expressed the thanks of all to Mr. and
Mrs. A. W. Bradley, who arrange the missionary house parties and the reception, as
well as doing much else behind the scenes.
Mr. Bradley spoke of what "The Keswick
Week" means to missionaries to whom it goes,
as revealed in letters of grateful thanks which
reach him for it. Finally, all joined in the
Lord's Prayer, in the languages of the lands
they represented.
HE number of people influenced by the
Keswick Convention is incalculable, because
lives blessed become thereby channels of
blessing to others : and so the circle widens. Of
inestimable influence, especially, are the
clergy and ministers of all denominations, and
other leaders of Christian work at home and
abroad, who attend—mostly unrecognized as
such, since nearly all discard at Keswick their
clerical collars or other distinctive attire.
They completely filled the Methodist Church,
however, for the special meeting for ministers,
on the Tuesday morning.
After th e hymn, "Come ye yo urselves
apart," Prof. A. M. Renwick, leader of the
house-party of Scottish ministers, offered
prayer; and the Bishop of Barking, who presided, spoke of the great responsibility of the
ministry—toward God, in that ministers are in
an especial sense His ambassadors, and the
world judges Christ by them; toward other
people, as shepherds of Christ's flock; and
toward themselves, that they should really
practise what they preach. Many present will
long remember the Bishop's account of a shepherd's words to him—with reference to a
pastoral staff—that it is easy to break a sheep's
leg by using a crook clumsily; likewise
irreparable harm can be done by a careless
word or thoughtless deed.
The hymn, "Go, labour on" was itself doubt-
less a message of encouragement and recommissioning to some present; and then Dr.
Wilbur Smith gave a most thought-provoking
and challenging message. Speaking heart-toheart to his brethren in the ministry, he
stressed the importance of the spoken word
in preaching; but by itself it is not enough—
it must be in power, and in the Holy Ghost
(1 Thess. 1:5). No other profession so exposes
the inner life of a man, as the ministry, he
declared. Congregations watch and examine
the preacher : and all that hundreds know
about God and the Lord Jesus Christ, they
hear from the preacher. To convince and convict them and lead them to Christ, the Gospel
must be preached not in word only, but in
power and the Holy Ghost.
There are three major sources of power, the
doctor continued—the Word; the Lord Himself;
and the Holy Spirit. But power is promised
only to those doing something for Christ. "You
cannot sit at home and have it—what do you
want it there for?" It is given in ministry,
to overcome the powers which hold in their
grip unredeemed men—the power of the flesh,
of the world, and of Satan. If we stand before
men vlio are gripped in these powers, with
nothing but words on our lips, we shall fail:
only the Holy Spirit can break the enchaining
powers and set men free. But we cannot have
the power of the Spirit temporarily, when we
The Ministers' Meeting
149
enter a pulpit. The Holy Spirit is a Person,
who indwells; He cannot be put on and off
like an overcoat. Sunday morning at 10.30 is
too late to be clothed with the Holy Spirit.
We shall be in the pulpit what we have been
all the week. Dr. Smith recalled hearing the
saintly Dr. James Gray saying, "Brethren, it
is a sin not to be filled with the Holy Ghost."
The very entrance into heaven of the men and
women to whom we preach depends, humanly
speaking, upon us.
With these solemn words ringing in their
ears and echoing in their hearts, the large company of preachers bowed before their Lord,
in re-dedication to His service.
Young People's Meetings
THE usual happy atmosphere once again Wednesday morning's subject was the way
of faith. It should be (i) an unfeigned,
characterized the young people's meetings, from the very start. Ably led by the unwavering, objective faith; (ii) a responsive
Rev. G. B. Duncan, for the fifth time in six faith, yielding to and resting in Christ; and
years, assisted by Mr. Tim Buckley as soloist, (iii) an effective faith, characterized by a
and Mr. Stephen Olford as speaker, the meet- glowing passion, confirmed by a growing perings were a means of bringing large numbers severance, and crowned by a glorious permato the issue of complete surrender to the Lord nence.
The final meeting led the young people preJesus Christ.
At the first meeting, on the Sunday evening, sent—who filled the tent almost to capacity—
Mr. Olford chose an evangelistic theme, taking along the way of love. The love of His people
as his text Revelation 3: 20, and as should be like their Master's, who "loved us,
illustration of it, using Holman Hunt's and gave Himself for us." They should love
picture, "The Light of the World." Under three (i) infinitely, with an unswerving, unchangaspects, he spoke of the character of the ing, unfailing love; (ii) personally, impartially
Christ who knocks at the door of the human and intimately; and (iii) sacrificially, giving
heart—the
authoritative
Christ;
the and forgiving, "even as Christ forgave us."
analysing Christ; and the appealing Christ.
At the end of the meeting a number of young
people remained behind, having accepted
Christ in the meeting as their Saviour.
For the rest of the week, at 11.45 a.m. daily,
Mr Olford took as his theme "The Pathway
to Victory," based upon Galatians 2: 20. From
this text he showed that there was a fourfold
pathway to victory--the way of death, of life,
of faith, and of love. On Monday, the way of
death was explained—(i) recognition of God's
condemnation of the sinful flesh; (ii) the
crucifixion of the flesh at Calvary; and (iii) the
cancellation of it. On Tuesday, Mr. Olford
took up the second point, the way of life—
"Christ liveth in me." He spoke of (i) the
miracle
of Christ's
(ii) the
Prebendary
Colin Kerr drew on his wide
THE open-air meetings
in the Market
Place, in
at dwelling;
measure
it; and (iii) the mastery
of it—"I
experience
of the power of Christ to transnine o'clock each evening,
fromofSundo all things
Christ,
form who
evenliveth
the down-and-outs. Mr. Robert
day to Thursday of thecan
Convention
week,through
were
in me."
Laidlaw, with a wealth of illustration, showed
built around the general
title, "Christianity—
what Christ can do for the soul; and he was
Reasonable and Dynamic," and were planned
followed by Dr. Wilbur Smith, whose homely
to present the Gospel in different ways to
American humour, combined with a deep
different types of people, so that "by all means
reverence for the power of the Word of God,
we might save some."
had the large crowd won to him, and so to his
On the Sunday night, "The Evidence of Permessage, very quickly.
sonal Experience" was set forth by four of the
On Monday night the theme was "The
Convention speakers, who gave something of
Dynamic of the Cross," and the team consisted
their own rich experience of the grace of God
of members of Her Majesty's Forces. Their
in Christ. First the Rev. Alan Redpath told
task was to present the message and challenge
the clear-cut story of his conversion; then
Open-air Meetings
150
of the Cross, illustrated from personal experience. "For Christ also hath once suffered,
the just for the unjust, that He might bring us
to God" _(1 Pet. 3: 18) was the text of Scripture gradually unfolded. Major-General
Wilson-Haffenden, now Financial Secretary to
C.M.S., brought us vividly to the foot of the
Cross; and the Rev. Joe Mullins, late Major,
who won a Military Cross in Burma, spoke of
the theology of the Atonement. Then an expilot, now an Airmen's Scripture Reader, and
a young Corporal recently converted, spoke
of the power of Christ crucified in their own
lives.
On Tuesday, a rather ambitious attempt was
made, with six Oxford and Cambridge undergraduates, to deal with "The Evidences of the
Resurrection," and to reach the many thoughtful people who stood for the whole hour in the
Market Place without moving. Perhaps there
was not so much appeal as on the former
nights, but a deep impression was made on
many as we sought to recapture the atmosphere of the first Pentecost, when with great
boldness the apostles gave witness to Christ
not only crucified, but risen. The influence
of an Oxford rowing Blue on many of the
non-Christian young people standing around,
as he told simply of his own reasons for
believing in the living Lord Jesus, can hardly
be over-estimated; and each member of this
carefully briefed team contributed something
to a quiet, but powerful, evening.
On Wednesday, after a day of cold and torrential rain, we were washed out, and the
open-air meeting had to be cancelled. On the
following night we again had to cancel
officially; but when two or three of us got to
the Market Place there were so many people
standing in doorways that, despite the rain,
we held an impromptu meeting. Two or three
of the international team who should have
spoken on the Wednesday evening were collected, and soon we had a large crowd that
stood in the rain, or listened in doorways, for
the whole hour.
Each night the meetings started with the
playing of records of well-known Christian
hymns and solos, on the public address system.
Occasionally the great crowd filling every corner
of the Market Square would join in; but we did
not want to draw too obvious a line between
the Convention people and the many holidaymakers and Keswick people whom it was our
special aim to reach by this method, so no
hymn sheets or hymn books were used. Every
night Mr. Timothy Buckley sang, and even the
windows of the public-houses were opened, so
that patrons could hear him. Each evening the
leader sought to draw in the net with a closing
appeal for personal committal to our Lord and
Saviour Jesus Christ, and always there were
enquirers. Hikers, waitresses, miners, Roman
Catholics, senior schoolboys, shop-girls, students,
children and older folk were all reached in this
way; and the same people came again and
again.
On the last night conversations were being
held until 11 p.m., and prayer was being
openly made with those who were seeking
Christ. The last evening, which began so
unpromisingly, seemed to be the one in which
God was specially at work, although we felt
His power throughout.
A word of special thanks should go to the
police and car-park attendants, to those who
erected the platform, and especially to the
technician working the public address system,
who gave of his best at the end of a long day
of monitoring every address in the large tent.
We must pray for all those who took the
booklets, who came for talks, and who
expressed deep interest in the things of God.
May we also dare to hope that any Christians
who came to Keswick thinking that the day
of open-air witness was over, caught a new
vision of their opportunities? The Gospel was
first preached in the open-air. May it be
preached until the One who is proclaimed in
the open-air comes in the open skies to receive
to Himself a great multitude which no man
could number, but which includes those who
have come to know Him under the open
heavens.
MAURICE A. P. WOOD.
Closely associated with the Convention from
its earliest days, THE LIFE OF FAITH contains the distinctive Keswick message every
week throughout the year. Fullest news concerning the Convention is given, and reports
of similar gatherings throughout the world.
A full descriptive account of the 1953 Convention will appear in the special numbers next
July. THE LIFE OF FAITH gives regularly
up-to-date news of Evangelical activities in all
parts of the globe. It is the foremost weekly
paper for the deepening of the spiritual life,
Among its regular features is a Bible School, in
which foremost Bible teachers contribute series of
lessons.
Authoritative
book
reviews
and
illustrated articles make it the best-balanced
newspaper for Christians of all ages.
Full particulars of THE LIFE OF FAITH, and
of the Bible School, are obtainable from
Marshall, Morgan and Scott, Ltd., 33,
Ludgate Hill, London, E.C.4.

1952 Keswick Week - X-tended Missions Network

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