Jesus
says, “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye
receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). There is a
condition to this promise—that we pray according to the will of God. But
it is the will of God to cleanse us from sin, to make us His children,
and to enable us to live a holy life. So we may ask for these blessings,
and believe that we receive them, and thank God that we have
received them. Henceforth
you are not your own; you are bought with a price. Through this
simple act of believing God, the Holy Spirit has begotten a new life in
your heart. You are a child born into the family of God, and He
loves you as He loves His Son. Now
that you have given yourself to Jesus, do not draw back, do not take
yourself away from Him, but day by day say, “I am Christ’s; I have
given myself to Him”; and ask Him to give you His Spirit and keep
you by His grace. As it is by giving yourself to God, and believing
Him, that you become His child, so you are to live in Him. Here
is where thousands fail; they do not believe that Jesus pardons them
personally, individually. They do not take God at His Word. It is the
privilege of all who comply with the conditions to know for themselves
that pardon is freely extended for every sin. Put away the suspicion
that God’s promises are not meant for you. They are for every
repentant transgressor. Look
up, you that are doubting and trembling; for Jesus lives to make
intercession for us. Thank God for the gift of His dear Son. “If
any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away;
behold, all things are become new.” 2 Corinthians 5:17. A
person may not be able to tell the exact time or place, or trace all the
chain of circumstances in the process of conversion; but this does not
prove him to be unconverted. A change will be seen in the character,
the habits, the pursuits. The contrast will be clear and decided
between what they have been and what they have become. Who has the
heart? With whom are our thoughts? Of whom do we love to converse? Who
has our warmest affections and our best energies? If we are Christ’s,
our thoughts are with Him. There is no evidence of genuine repentance
unless it works reformation. The loveliness of the character of
Christ will be seen in His followers. It was His delight to do the will
of God. There
are two errors against which the children of God especially need to
guard: The first is that of looking to their own works, trusting
to anything they can do, to bring themselves into harmony with God. All
that man can do without Christ is polluted with selfishness and sin. It
is the grace of Christ alone, through faith, which can make us holy. The
opposite and no less dangerous error is that belief in Christ releases
men from keeping the law of God; that since by faith alone we become
partakers of the grace of Christ, our works have nothing to do with our
redemption. Obedience
is the fruit of faith. Righteousness is defined by the standard of
God’s holy law, as expressed in the ten commandments (Exo. 20:3-20).
That so-called faith in Christ, which professes to release men from the
obligation of obedience to God, is not faith, but presumption. The
condition of eternal life is now just what it always has been,—just
what it was in paradise before the fall of our first parents,—perfect
obedience to the law of God, perfect righteousness. If eternal life were
granted on any condition short of this, then the happiness of the whole
universe would be imperiled. The way would be open for sin, with all its
train of woe and misery, to be immortalized. Christ
changes the heart. He abides in your heart by faith. You are to
maintain this connection with Christ by faith and the continual
surrender of your will to Him; and so long as you do this, He will work
in you to will and to do according to His good pleasure. The
closer you come to Jesus, the more faulty you will appear in your own
eyes; for your vision will be clearer. This is evidence that
Satan’s delusions are losing their power. No deep-seated love for
Jesus can dwell in the heart that does not realize its own sinfulness.
The soul that is transformed by the grace of Christ will admire His
character. A view of our sinfulness drives us to Him who can pardon; and
when the soul, realizing its helplessness, reaches out after Christ, He
will reveal Himself in power. The more our sense of need drives us to
Him and to the Word of God, the more exalted views we shall have of His
character, and the more fully we shall reflect His image. The
change of heart by which we become children of God is in the Bible
spoken of as birth. Again it is compared to the germination of the
good seed sown by the husbandman. It is God who brings the bud to bloom
and the flower to fruit. It is by His power that the seed develops. As
the flower turns to the sun, that the bright beams may aid in perfecting
its beauty and symmetry, so should we turn to the Sun of Righteousness,
that heaven’s light may shine upon us, that our character may be
developed into the likeness of Christ. ABIDING
IN JESUS
Do
you ask, “How am I to abide in Christ?” In the same way as you
received Him at first. “As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus
the Lord, so walk in Him.” Colossians 2:6. By faith you became
Christ’s, and by faith you are to grow up in Him—by giving and
taking. You are to give all,—your heart, your will, your
service,—give yourself to Him to obey all His requirements; and you
must take all—Christ, the fullness of all blessing, to abide in
your heart, to be your strength, your righteousness, your everlasting
helper—to give you power to obey. Consecrate
yourself to God in the morning; make this your very first work. Let your
prayer be, “Take me, O Lord, as wholly Thine. I lay all my plans
at Thy feet. Use me today in Thy service. Abide with me, and let all my
work be wrought in Thee.” This is a daily matter. Each morning
consecrate yourself to God for that day. Surrender all your plans to
Him, to be carried out or given up as His providence shall indicate.
Thus day by day you may be giving your life into the hands of God, and
thus your life will be molded more and more after the life of Christ. A
life in Christ is a life of restfulness. There may be no ecstasy of
feeling, but there should be an abiding, peaceful trust. When the mind
dwells upon self, it is turned away from Christ, the source of strength
and life. Hence, it is Satan’s constant effort to keep the attention
diverted from the Saviour and thus prevent the union and communion of
the soul with Christ. When
Christ took human nature upon Him, He bound humanity to Himself by a tie
of love that can never be broken by any power save the choice of man
himself. Satan will constantly present allurements to induce us to
break this tie—to choose to separate ourselves from Christ. But
let us keep our eyes fixed upon Christ, and He will preserve us. Looking
unto Jesus, we are safe. Nothing can pluck us out of His hand. All that
Christ was to the disciples, He desires to be to His children today. Jesus
prayed for us, and He asked that we might be one with Him, even as He is
one with the Father. What a union is this! Thus, loving Him and
abiding in Him, we shall “grow up into Him in all things, which is the
head, even Christ” (Ephesians 4:15). God
is the source of life and light and joy to the universe. Wherever
the life of God is in the hearts of men, it will flow out to others in
love and blessing. Our
Saviour’s joy was in the uplifting and redemption of fallen men. For
this He counted not His life dear to Himself, but endured the cross,
despising the shame. When the love of Christ is enshrined in the
heart, like sweet fragrance it cannot be hidden. Love to Jesus will
be manifested in a desire to work as He worked for the blessing and
uplifting of humanity. It will lead to love, tenderness, and sympathy
toward all the creatures of our heavenly Father’s care. Those who are
the partakers of the grace of Christ will be ready to make any
sacrifice, that others for whom He died may share the heavenly gift. They
will do all they can to make the world better for their stay in it. This
spirit is the sure outgrowth of a soul truly converted. No sooner does
one come to Christ than there is born in his heart a desire to make
known to others what a precious friend he has found in Jesus. If we have
tasted and seen that the Lord is good, we shall have something to tell.
We shall seek to present to others the attractions of Christ and
the unseen realities of the world to come. There will be an intensity of
desire to follow in the path that Jesus trod. And
the effort to bless others will react in blessings upon ourselves. Those
who thus become participants in labors of love are brought nearest to
their Creator. The spirit of unselfish labor for others gives depth,
stability, and Christlike loveliness to the character, and brings peace
and happiness to its possessor. Strength comes by exercise. We need not
go to heathen lands, or even leave the narrow circle of the home, if it
is there that our duty lies, in order to work for Christ. With a
loving spirit we may perform life’s humblest duties “unto the
Lord” (Col. 3:23). If the love of God is in the heart, it will be
manifested in the life. You are not to wait for great occasions or to
expect extraordinary abilities before you go to work for God. The
humblest and poorest of the disciples of Jesus can be a blessing to
others. Many
are the ways in which God is seeking to make Himself known to us and
bring us into communion with Him. If we will but listen, Nature
speaks to our senses without ceasing. God’s created works will
teach us precious lessons of obedience and trust. No
tears are shed that God does not notice. There is no smile that He does
not mark. If we would but fully believe this, all undue anxieties
would be dismissed. Our lives would not be so filled with
disappointment as now; for everything, whether great or small, would be
left in the hands of God. God
speaks to us through His providential works and through the influence of
His Spirit upon the heart. God speaks to us in His Word. Here we have
in clearer lines the revelation of His character, of His dealings with
men, and the great work of redemption. Fill the whole heart with the
words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst.
They are the living bread from heaven. The
theme of redemption is one that the angels desire to look into; it will
be the science and the song of the redeemed throughout the ceaseless
ages of eternity. Is it not worthy of careful thought and study now? As
we meditate upon the Saviour, there will be a hungering and thirsting of
soul to become like Him whom we adore. The
Bible was written for the common people. The great truths necessary
for salvation are made as clear as noonday. There is nothing more
calculated to strengthen the intellect than the study of the Scriptures.
But there is little benefit derived from a hasty reading of the Bible. One
passage studied, until its significance is clear to the mind and its
relation to the plan of salvation is evident, is of more value than the
perusal of many chapters with no definite purpose in view and no
positive instruction gained. Keep
your Bible with you. As you have opportunity, read it; fix the texts in
your memory. We
cannot obtain wisdom without earnest attention and prayerful study. Never
should the Bible be studied without prayer. Before opening its
pages, we should ask for the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit, and it
will be given. Angels from the world of light will be with those who in
humility of heart seek for divine guidance. How must God esteem the
human race, since He gave His Son to die for them and appoints His Holy
Spirit to be man’s teacher and continual guide! Through
nature and revelation, through His providence, and by the influence of
His Spirit, God speaks to us. But these are not enough; we need also to
pour out our hearts to Him. In order to commune with God, we must
have something to say to Him concerning our actual life. Prayer
is the opening of the heart to God as to a friend.
Not that it is necessary in order to make known to God what we
are, but in order to enable us to receive Him. Prayer does not bring God
down to us, but brings us up to Him. Our
heavenly Father waits to bestow upon us the fullness of His blessing. What
a wonder it is that we pray so little! God is ready and willing to
hear the sincere prayer of the humblest of His children. What can the
angels of heaven think of poor helpless human beings, who are subject to
temptation, when God’s heart of infinite love yearns
toward them, ready to give them more than they can ask or think,
and yet they pray so little and have so little faith? The
darkness of the evil one encloses those who neglect to pray. The
whispered temptations of the enemy entice them to sin; and it is all
because they do not make use of prayer. Yet prayer is the key in the
hand of faith to unlock heaven’s storehouse, where are treasured the
boundless resources of Omnipotence. There
are certain conditions upon which we may expect that God will hear and
answer our prayers: One
is that we feel our need of help from Him. If we regard iniquity in our
hearts, if we cling to any known sin, the Lord will not hear us;
but the prayer of the penitent, contrite soul is always accepted. When
all known wrongs are righted, we may believe that God will answer our
petitions. Another
element of prevailing prayer is faith. When our prayers seem not to be
answered, we are to cling to the promise; for the time of answering will
surely come, and we shall receive the blessing we need most. But to
claim that prayer will always be answered in the very way and for the
particular thing that we desire, is presumption. When
we come to God in prayer, we should have a spirit of love and
forgiveness in our own hearts. Perseverance
in prayer has been made a condition of receiving. We must pray always if
we would grow in faith and experience. We
should pray in the family circle, and above all we must not neglect
secret prayer, for this is the life of the soul. Family or public
prayer alone is not sufficient. Secret prayer is to be heard only by the
prayer-hearing God. There
is no time or place in which it is inappropriate to offer up a petition
to God. In the crowds of the street, in the midst of a business
engagement, we may send up a petition to God and plead for divine
guidance. Let
the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of the
heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that in every
unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to Him as naturally as the
flower turns to the sun. Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows,
your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot
weary Him. He is not indifferent to the wants of His children. We
sustain a loss when we neglect the privilege of associating together to
strengthen and encourage one another in the service of God. If
Christians would associate together, speaking to each other of the
love of God and the precious truths of redemption, their own hearts
would be refreshed and they would refresh one another. We
must gather about the cross. Christ and Him crucified should be the
theme of contemplation, of conversation, and of our most joyful emotion.
We should keep in our thoughts every blessing we receive from God,
and when we realize His great love we should be willing to trust
everything to the hand that was nailed to the cross for us. The
soul may ascend nearer heaven on the wings of praise. As we express
our gratitude, we are approximating to the worship of the heavenly
hosts. Many
are at times troubled with the suggestions of skepticism. God never
asks us to believe, without giving sufficient evidence upon which to
base our faith. Disguise it as they may, the real cause of doubt and
skepticism, in most cases, is the love of sin. We must have a sincere
desire to know the truth and a willingness of heart to obey it. |
