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^■- •* ' 
 
 wi^ 
 
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^ ' 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 Let M Draw Nigh. Tho Way to a Life Abiding Ck)n- 
 tlnual]; in tho Socrot of Ood'a ProHence. (Extracted 
 with additionB from the "HoUest of All.") Cloth 
 extra. PottSvo 35 
 
 The Holiest of All. An Exposition of tho Hebrews. 
 
 Pott4to,KUt top 2.50 
 
 Abide In Christ. ThouKhtfl on the Blessed Life of Fel- 
 lowship with the Son of God. 68th thousand. Small 
 Crown Svo 75 
 
 Like Christ. Thoughts on the Blessed Life of Confor- 
 mity to the Son of Ood. A sequel to "Abide in 
 Christ ." 22nd thousand. Small Crow n Svo 75 
 
 With Christ in the School of Prayer. Tboughte on 
 our Training for tho Ministry of Intercession. Slst 
 thousand. Small Crown Svo 75 
 
 The Spirit of Christ. Thoughts on the Indwelling of 
 tho Holy Spirit to tho Believer and the Church. 14th 
 thousand. Small Crown Svo 75 
 
 The New Life. Words of God for Disciples of Clirist. 
 
 9ththou8and. Small Crown Svo 75 
 
 Holy In Christ. Thoushts on the calling of God's 
 Children to bo Holy as He is Holy. 12th thousand. 
 Small Crown Svo. 75 
 
 The Children for Christ. Thoughts for ChriKtian Par- 
 ents on the Consecration of the Home Life. 8th 
 thousand. Small Crown Svo 1.25 
 
 Jesus Himself. Cloth 35 
 
 Love Made Perfect. Cloth 35 
 
 Be Perfect. A Message from the Father in Heaven to 
 His Children on Earth. Meditations for ,^ month. 
 
 Second! Edition. Cloth extra. Pott Svo. 35 
 
 Why do you not Believe? Cloth extra, pott Svo 35 
 
 Wholly for God. Tho True Christian Life. A series of 
 extracts from uho writings of Wm. Law. Selected, 
 and with an introdiiction by the Rev. Andrew Mur- 
 ray. Crown, Cvo., gilt top LS7 
 
ABIDE IN CHEIST: 
 
 / 
 
 
 THOUGHTS 
 
 ON THE BLESSED LIFE OF FELLOWSHIP 
 WITH THE SON OF GOD. 
 
 By rev. ANDREW MURRAY, 
 
 , AUTHOR OF 
 
 U« CHHIST, 'IM „,a,T or 0HBX8T.' 'HOLV ,H CHH.W, «C. 
 
 'Abide in me, and I in you.* 
 
 Sittg.tijfjtf) QT^ousantt. 
 
 FLEMING H. REVELL COxAIPANY, 
 
 CHICAGO, NEW YORK, TORONTO, 
 
 llublisljcrs of ffibnnaclirnl Ititcrntitre. 
 
Entered iMsoordinR to Act of the Parliament of Canada, 
 in the year 1895, by Tbr Fleming H. Rkvkix Co., at the 
 Department ^ Agrlcnlture. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 DURING the life of Jesus on earth, the word He 
 chiefly used when speaking of the relations 
 of the disciples to Himself was : * Follow me.' "When 
 about to leave for heaven, He gave them a new word, 
 in which their more intimate and spiritual union 
 with Himself in glory should be expressed. That 
 chosen word was : * Abide in me.' 
 
 It is to be feared that there are many earnest 
 followers of Jesus from whom the meaning of this 
 word, with the blessed experience it promises, is 
 very much hidden. While trusting in their Saviour 
 for pardon and for help, and seeking to some extent 
 to obey Him, they have hardly realized to what 
 closeness of union, to what intimacy of fellowship, 
 to what wondrous oneness of life and interest. He 
 invited them when He said, * Abide in me.' This 
 is not only an unspeakable loss to themselves, but 
 the Church and the world suffer in what they lose. 
 
 If we ask the reason why those who have indeed 
 accepted the Saviour, and been made partakers of the 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost, thus come short of the 
 fuU salvation prepared for them, I am sure the 
 answer will in very many cases be, that ignorance i& 
 
6 
 
 PUEKACE. 
 
 n 
 
 the cause of the unhelief that fails of the inheritance. 
 If, in our ortliodox Churches, the abiding in Christ, 
 the livin|4 union with Him, the experience of His 
 daily and hourly presence and keeping, were preached 
 with the same distinctness and urgency as His 
 atonement and pardon through His IJood, I am 
 confident that many would be found to accept with 
 ,dadness the invitation to such a life, and that its 
 influence would be manifest in their experience of 
 tlie purity and the power, the love and the joy, the 
 fruit-bearing, and all the blessedness wliich the 
 Saviour connected with the abiding in Him. 
 
 It is with the desire to help those who have not 
 yet fully understood what the Saviour meant with 
 His command, or who have feared that it was a life 
 beyond their reach, that tliese meditations are now 
 ])ublished. It is only by frequent repiitition that a 
 child learns its lessons. It is only by continuously 
 fixing the mind for a time on some one of the lessons 
 of faith, that the believer is gradually h(»lped to take 
 and thoroughly assimilate them. 1 have the hope 
 that to some, es])eeially young believers, it will be a 
 help to come and for a month day after day spell 
 over the precious words, ' Abide in me,' with the 
 lessons connected with them in the Parable of the 
 Vine. Step by step we sliall get to see how truly 
 this promise-precept is meant for us, how surely 
 grace is provided to enable us to obey it, how indis- 
 pensable the experience of its blessing is to a healthy 
 Christian life, and how unspeakable tlie blessings are 
 that flow from it. As we Usteu, aud meditate, and 
 
PKEKACE. 
 
 juiiy, — as we surrender ourselves, and accept in faitli 
 tlic whole Jesus as He oflers Himself to us in it, — 
 the Holy Spirit will make the word to he spirit and 
 life; this word of Jesus, too, will hecome to us the 
 power of God unto salvation, and through it will 
 come the faith that grasps the long-desirtd Messing. 
 
 I pray earnestly that our gracious Lord may he 
 ])leased to hless this little hook, to help those 
 who seek to know Him fully, as He has already 
 lik'ssed it in its orighial issue in a different (the 
 Dutch) language. I pray still more earnestly that 
 lie would, hy whatever means, make the multitudes 
 of His dear children who are still living dividetl 
 lives, to see how He claims them wholly for Him- 
 self, aud how the whole-hearted surrender to ahide 
 in Him alone brings the joy unspeakable and full of 
 Ljlory. Oh, let each of us wlio has begun to taste 
 I he sweetness of this life, yield himself wholly to be 
 a witness to the grace and power of our Loid to 
 keep us united with Himself, aud seek by word and 
 walk to win others to follow Him fully. It is only 
 ill such fruit-bearing that our own abiding can be 
 maintained. 
 
 in conclusion, I ask to be permitted to give one 
 word of ad\ice to my reader. It is this. It needs 
 time to grow into Jt'sus the Vine: do not expect to 
 abide in Him unless you will give Him that time. 
 It is not enough to read Goil's AVord, or meditations 
 as here ofJ'ered, and when we think we have hold ol 
 the thoughts, and have asked (lod for His blessing, 
 lu '^0 out in the hope that tlie blessing will abide. 
 
8 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 No, it needs day by day time with Jesus and with 
 God. We all know the need of time for our mmls 
 each day,— every workman claims his hour for 
 dinner ; the hurried eating of so much food is not 
 enough. If we are to live through Jesus, we must 
 feed on Ilim (John vi. 57); we must thoroughly 
 take in and assimilate that heavenly food the Father 
 has given us in His life. 'I'herefore, my brother, 
 who would learn to abide in Jesus, take time each 
 day, ere you read, and while you read, and after you 
 read, to put yourself into living contact with the 
 living Jesus, to yield yourself distinctly and con- 
 sciously to His blessed influence ; so will you give 
 Him the opportunity of taking hold of you, of 
 dm wing you up and keeping you safe in His 
 almighty life. 
 
 And now,to all God's children whom He allows me 
 the privilege of pointing to the Heavenly Vine, I offer 
 my fraternal love and salutations, with the prayer 
 that to each one of them may be given the rich and 
 full experience of the blessedness of abiding in 
 Christ. And may the grace of Jesus, and the love 
 of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, be 
 their daily portion. Amen. 
 
 A. M. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 »Ar 
 
 1. All ye who have come to Him, 
 
 2. And ye shall fiud Rest to your Souls, 
 
 8. Trusting Him to keep you, . 
 4. As the Branch in the Vine, . 
 
 6. As you came to Him, by Faith, 
 
 9. Ood Himsulf has united you to Him, 
 
 7. As your Wisdom, 
 
 8. As your Righteousness, • 
 
 9. As your Sanctificanoii, , 
 
 10. As your Re'^omption, . . 
 
 11. The Crucified One, 
 
 12. God Himself will stablish you in Him, 
 
 13. Every Moment, . 
 
 14. Day by Day, 
 
 15. At this Moment, . . . 
 
 16. Forsaking all for Him, . , 
 
 17. Through the Holy Spirit, . 
 
 18. In Stillness of Soul, 
 
 19. In Affliction and Trial, 
 
 20. That you may biar n;uch Fruit, 
 
 21. So will you have Power in Prayer, 
 
 22. And in His Love, 
 
 23. As Christ in the Father, 
 
 24. Obeying His Commandments, 
 
 25. That your Joy may be full, . 
 
 26. And in Love to the Brethren, 
 
 27. That you may not sin, 
 
 28. As your Strength, 
 
 29. And not in Self, 
 
 30. As the Surety of the Covenant, 
 
 31. The GloriGed One, 
 
 Mcn 
 
 11 
 17 
 24 
 
 80 
 36 
 45 
 
 :M 
 
 58 
 
 64 
 
 72 
 
 78 
 
 85 
 
 92 
 
 99 
 
 106 
 
 113 
 
 120 
 
 127 
 
 134 
 
 140 
 
 147 
 
 154 
 
 161 
 
 167 
 
 173 
 
 180 
 
 187 
 
 195 
 
 202 
 
 210 
 
10 
 
 ABIDE IN (JllKI.ST : 
 
 JOHN XV. 1-12. 
 
 HI 
 
 it I 
 hi 
 
 1 I am the True Vine, aii.l my Fatlier is the Hushan.lman. 
 
 2 Ev.iy branch in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away: an.l 
 every branch thivt beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may brmg 
 
 furtli more fruit. 
 
 3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto 
 
 ^7' Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of 
 itself, except it abide in tho vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide 
 
 in me, . ,.,,,. i 
 
 5 I am the Vine, ye are the branches : he that alndeth in me, and 
 
 I in him, the samebringeth forth much fruit : for without me ye can 
 
 do nothing. , , i i • 
 
 G If a n.an abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is 
 witliered ; and men gather thtin, and cast them into the hie. and they 
 
 are burned. _ , n i i i. 
 
 7 If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what 
 
 ye will, and it shall be «l.>ne unto you. 
 
 8 H.roin is my Father ghuified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall 
 
 ye be my di.-ciides. 
 
 9 As tl,e Father hath loved me, so have I loved ui : continue ye 
 
 in my love. 
 
 10 If ye keep my comman.lments, ye shall abide m my love ; even 
 as I have kept my Fatlier's commandments and abide in His love. 
 
 11 Tliese things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain 
 in you, and that your joy might be full. 
 
 12 This is my commaudmeut, That ye love one another, as 1 Lave 
 
 loved you. 
 
ALL YE WHO UAVE COME TO II IM. 
 
 11 
 
 FtRST Day. 
 
 AUIDK IN CHKIST, 
 
 ^U VIC Ixiljo ijabe come to ©im. 
 
 'Come unto me.'— Matt. xi. 28. 'Abide in me.'— John xv. 4. 
 
 TT is to you who have heard and hearkened to the 
 -*- call, ' Come unto mc,' that this new invitation 
 conies, 'Aliide in me.' Tlie message comes from 
 the same loving Saviour. You doubtless have never 
 repented having come at His call. You experienced 
 that His word was truth ; all His promises He ful- 
 tilled ; He made you partakers of the blessings Jind 
 the joy of His love. Was not His welcome most 
 hearty, His pardon full and free. His love uiost 
 sweet and precious ? You more than once, at your 
 first coming to Him, had reason to say, ' The half was 
 not told me.' 
 
 And yet you have had to complain of disappoint- 
 ment : as time went on, your expectations were not 
 realized. The blessings you once enjoyed were lost ; 
 the love and joy of your first meeting with your 
 Saviour, instead of deepening, have become faint and 
 feeble. And often you have wondered what ibe 
 reason coul4 |je, that with such ft Saviour, so mighty 
 
2 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST! 
 
 • I 
 
 .and so loving, your cxpenetico of salvation should 
 not liave been a fuller one. 
 
 The answer is veiy simple. You wandered from 
 Him. The blessings He bestows are all connected 
 with His * Come to me,' and are only to be enjoyed 
 in close fellowship with Himself. You either did 
 not fully understand, or did not rightly remember, 
 that the call meant, ' Come to me, to stay with me.' 
 And yet this was in very deed His object and pur- 
 pose when first He called you to Himself. It was 
 not to refresh you for a few short hours after youi 
 conversion with the joy of His love and deliverance, 
 and then to send you forth to wander in sadness 
 and sin. He had destined you to something better 
 than a short-lived blessedness, to be enjoyed only 
 in times of special earnestness and prayer, and then 
 to pass away, as you had to return to those duties in 
 wh' ;h far the greater part of life has to be spent. 
 No, indeed ; He had prepared for you an abiding 
 dwelling with Himself, where your whole life and 
 every moment of it might be spent, whore the work 
 of your daily life miglit be done, and where all the 
 while you might be enjoying unbroken communion 
 with Himself. It was even this He meant when to 
 that first word, * Come to me,' He added this, ^ Abide 
 in me.* As earnest and faithful, as loving and 
 tender, as the compassion that breathed in that blessed 
 ' Come,' was the grace that added this no less blessed 
 ' Abide! As mighty as the attraction with which that 
 first word drew you, were the bonds with which this 
 second, had you jjut listened to it, would ]iave kept 
 
ALL YB WHO HAVB COME TO HIM. 
 
 13 
 
 should 
 
 d from 
 nected 
 njoyed 
 ler did 
 lember, 
 ith me* 
 id pur- 
 It was 
 jr youi 
 rerauce, 
 sadness 
 ; better 
 id only 
 lid then 
 uties in 
 J spent, 
 abiding 
 ife and 
 le work 
 all the 
 nuinion 
 when to 
 Abide 
 ing and 
 i blessed 
 blessed 
 ich that 
 lich this 
 ive ke|>t 
 
 ■I 
 
 you. And as great as were the blessings with which 
 that coming was rewarded, so large, yea, and much 
 greater, were the treasures to which that abiding 
 would have given you access. 
 
 And observe especially, it was not that He said 
 * Come to me and abide with me,' but, ' Ahide in me! 
 The intercourse was not only to be unbroken, but 
 most intimate and complete. He opened His arms, 
 to press you to His bosom ; He opened His heart, 
 to welcome you there ; He opened up all His Divine 
 fulness of life and love, and offered to take you up 
 into its fellowship, to make you wholly one with 
 Himself. There was a depth of meaning you cannot 
 yet realize in His words : ' Abide in me.* 
 
 And with no less earnestness than He had cried, 
 ' Come to me,' did He plead, had you but noticed it, 
 ' Abide in me! By every motive that had induced 
 you to come, did He beseech you to abide. Was it 
 the fear of sin and its curse that first drew you ? the 
 pardon you received on first coming could, with all 
 the blessings flowing from it, only be confirmed and 
 fully enjoyed on abiding in Him. Was it the long- 
 ing to know and enjoy the Infinite Love that was 
 calling you ? the first coming gave but single drops 
 to taste, — 'tis only the abiding that can really satisfy 
 the thirsty soul, and give to drink of tne rivers of 
 pleasure tliat are at His right hand. Was it the 
 weary longing to be made free from the bondage o( 
 sin, to become pure and holy, and so to find rest, 
 the rest of God for the soul ? this too can only be 
 realized as you abide in Him, — only abiding in 
 
14 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 Jesus gives rest in Him. Or if it was the hope of 
 an inheritance in glory, and an everlasting home in 
 the presence of the Infinite One : the true prepara- 
 tion for this, as well as its blessed foretaste in this 
 life, are granted only to those who abide in Him. 
 In very truth, there is nothing that moved you to 
 come, that does not plead with thousandfold greater 
 force : ' Abide in Him.' You did well to come ; you 
 do better to abide. Who would, after seeking the 
 King's palace, be content to stand in the door, when 
 he is invited in to dwell in the King's presence, and 
 share with Him in all the glory of His royal life ? 
 Oh, let us enter in and abide, and enjoy to the full 
 all the rich supply His wondrous love hath prepared 
 for us ! 
 
 And yet I fear that there are many who have 
 in^^eed come to Jesus, and who yet have mournfully 
 to confess that they know but little of this blessed 
 abiding in Him. With some tlie reason is, that they 
 never fully understood that this was the meaning of 
 the Saviour's call. With others, that though they 
 heard the word, they did not know that such a life 
 of abiding fellowship was possible, and indeed within 
 their reach. Otliers will say that, though they did 
 believe tliat such a life was possible, and seek 
 after it, they have never yet succeeded in discover- 
 ing the secret of its attainment. And others, again, 
 alas ! will confess that it is their own unfaithfulness 
 that has kept them from the enjoyment of the 
 blessing. When the Saviour would have kept them, 
 they were not found ready to stay; they were not 
 
AIX YK WHO HAVE COME TO HIM. 
 
 15 
 
 i hope of 
 
 home in 
 
 prepara- 
 
 :e in this 
 
 in Him. 
 
 d you to 
 
 (1 greater 
 
 line ; you 
 
 iking the 
 
 3or, when 
 
 ence, and 
 
 3yal life ? 
 
 the full 
 
 prepared 
 
 vho have 
 
 ournfully 
 
 s blessed 
 
 hat they 
 
 eaniii" of 
 
 ugh they 
 
 K'h a life 
 
 d within 
 
 they did 
 
 md seek 
 
 discover- 
 
 :rs, again, 
 
 thfulncss 
 
 b of the 
 
 apt them, 
 
 were not 
 
 l»repared to give up everything, and always, only, 
 wholly to abide in Jesus. 
 
 To all such I come now in the name of Jesus, 
 tlieir Redeemer and mine, with the blessed message : 
 ' Abide in me.' In His nanu. I invite them to come, 
 and for a season meditate witli me daily on its 
 ineaniug, its lessons, its claims, and i*s ])r(tmises. 
 I know how mnny, and, to the young believer, how 
 (hflicult, the fj^uestions are which suggest tliemselves 
 in connection with it. Tiiere is especially the 
 question, witli its various aspects, as to the possi- 
 bility, in the midst of wearying work and continual 
 distraction, of keejjing up, or rather being kept in, 
 the abiding comnumion. I do not undertake to 
 remove all dilliculties ; this Jesus Christ llimsell" 
 alone must do by His Holy Spirit. But what I 
 worM fain by the grace of God be permitted to do is, 
 to repeat day by day the Master's blessed command, 
 ' Abide in me,' until it enter the heart and find a 
 place there, no more to be forgotten or neglected. 
 I would fain that in the light of Holy Scripture we 
 shouLl meditate on its meaning, until the under- 
 standing, that gale to the heart, o[)ens to ajjprehend 
 something of what it oilers and expects. So we 
 shall discover the means of its attainment, and 
 learn to kiu»w what keeps us from it, and what can 
 help us to it. So we shall feel its claims, and be 
 compelled to acknowledge that there can be no true 
 allegiance to our King without sim])ly and heartily 
 accepting this one, too, of His connnands. So we 
 shall gaze on its blessedness, until desire be inflamed. 
 
16 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 !l 
 
 ' 
 
 {infl the will with all its energies be roused to claim 
 it 11(1 possess the unspeakable blessing. 
 
 Come, my brethren, and let us day by day set 
 jv.rselves at His feet, and meditate on this word of 
 His, with an eve fixed on Kim alone. Let us set 
 ourselves in quiet trust before Him, waiting to hear 
 His holy voice, — the still small voice that is mightier 
 than the storm that rends the rocks, — breathing its 
 quickening spirit within us, as He speaks: 'Abide 
 in me.' The soul that truly hears t/c-sw.s Himself 
 speak the word, receives with the word the power 
 to accept and to hold the blessing He offers. 
 
 And it may please Thee, blessed Saviour, indeed, 
 to speak to us ; let each of us hear Thy blessed 
 voice. May the feeling of our deep need, and the 
 faith of Thy wondrous love, combined with the 
 sight of the wonderfully blessed life Thou art wait- 
 ing to bestow upon us, constrain us to listen and to 
 obey, as often as Thou speakest : * Abide in me.' 
 Let day by day the answer from our lieart be 
 clearer and fuller : ' Blessed Saviour, I do abide in 
 Thee.' 
 
 w ^ 
 
ed to claim 
 
 AND VE SHALL FIND KEJ3T TU YOVli &U[ l.S. 17 
 
 by day set 
 ^is word of 
 Let us set 
 ing to hear 
 is mightier 
 •eathing its 
 JS : ' Abide 
 us Himself 
 the power 
 irs. . ,: 
 
 \XY, indeed, 
 hy blessed 
 id, and the 
 
 with the 
 1 art wait- 
 ten and to 
 :le in me.' 
 
 heart be 
 3 abide in 
 
 Second Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^nti 2e sfiall to aaest to gour ^ouls, 
 
 'Come unto me, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke apon 
 you, and learn of me ; and ye shall find rest to your souls '-Mait 
 XI. 28, 29. ^lAn. 
 
 \Jl^-ST for the soul: Such was the first promise 
 with wliich the Saviour sought to win the 
 heavy-laden sinner. Simple though it appears, the 
 promise is indeed as large and comprehensive as 
 can be found. Rest for the soul,— does it not imply 
 deliverance from every fear, the supply of every 
 want, the fulfilment of every desire? And now 
 nothing less than this is the prize with which the 
 Saviour woos back the wandering one— who is 
 mourning that the rest has not been so abidin- or 
 so full as it had hoped— to come back and abide in 
 Him. Nothing but tliis was the reason that the 
 rest Jias either not been found, or, if found, has 
 been disturbed or lost again: you did not abide 
 with, you did not abide in Him. 
 
 Have you ever noticed how, in the original 
 invitation of tlie Saviour to come to Him" the 
 promise of rest was repeated twice, with such a 
 
18 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 II 
 
 t ) 
 I 
 
 variation in the conditions as might have sug<,'estcd 
 that a1»iding rest could only be found in abiding 
 nearness. First the Saviour says, ' Come unto me, 
 and I will give you rest ; ' the very moment you 
 come, and believe, I will give you rest, — the rest of 
 pardon and acceptance, — the rest in my love, liut 
 we know that all that God bestows needs time to 
 become fully our own ; it must be held fast, and 
 ai)propriated, and assimilated into our inmost being ; 
 without this not even Christ's giving can make it our 
 very own, in full experience and enjoyment. And 
 so the Saviour repeats His promise, in words which 
 clearly speak not so much of the initial rest with 
 which He welcomes the weary one who comes, but 
 of the deeper and personally appropriated rest of 
 the soul that abides with Him. He now not only 
 says, ' Come unto me,' but 'Take my yoke upon you 
 and learn of me ; ' become my scholars, yield your- 
 selves to my training, submit in all things to my 
 will, let your whole life be one with mine, — in other 
 words. Abide in me. And then He adds, not only, 
 ' I will give,' but ' ye shall find rest to your souls.' 
 The rest He gave at coming will become something 
 you have really found and made your very own, — 
 the deeper the abiding rest which comes from longer 
 acquaintance and closer fellowship, from entire sur- 
 render and deeper sympathy. ' Take my yoke, and 
 learn of me,' * Abide in me,' — this is the path to 
 abiding rest. 
 
 Do not these words of the Saviour discover what 
 you have perhaps often sought in vain to know, 
 
AND YE SHALL FIND REST TO YOUR SOULS. 19 
 
 iKsested 
 
 'oo 
 
 abiding 
 into nie, 
 ent you 
 e rest of 
 e. liut 
 ', time to 
 fast, and 
 it being ; 
 ke it our 
 t. And 
 Is which 
 "est with 
 mes, but 
 I rest of 
 not only 
 ipon you 
 )kl your- 
 s to my 
 -in other 
 not only, 
 iir souls/ 
 nnething 
 
 own, — 
 m lon«4er 
 itire sur- 
 
 A<o, and 
 e path to 
 
 ver what 
 know, 
 
 how it is that the rest you at times enjoy is so often 
 h)st. It must have been this: you had not under- 
 stood how entire surrender to Jesus is the secret of 
 perfect rest. Giving U]> one's whole life to Him, 
 for Him alone to rule and order it ; taking up His 
 yoke, and submitting to be led ami taught, to learn 
 of Him ; abiding in Him, to be and do only what 
 He wills ; — tliese are the conditions of discipleship 
 without which there can be no thought of maintain- 
 in*' the rest that was bestowed on first cominj' to 
 Christ. The rest is in Christ, and not something 
 He gives apart from Himself, and so it is only in 
 having Him that the rest can really be kept and 
 enjoyed. 
 
 It is because so many a young believer fails to 
 lay hold of this trutii that the rest so speedily 
 passes away. With some it is that they really did 
 not know ; they were never tauglit how rfesus claims 
 the undivided allegiance of the whole heart and life ; 
 how tliere is not a spot in the whole of life over 
 which He does not wish to reign ; how in the very 
 least things His discijjles nmst only seek to please 
 Him. They did not know Ikjw entire the conse- 
 cration was that Jesus claimed. With others, who 
 had some idea of what a very holy life a Christian 
 ought to lead, the mistake was a diHerent one : they 
 could not believe sucli a life to be a possible attain- 
 ment. Taking, and bearing, and never for a moment 
 laying aside the yoke of Jesus, a])peared to them to 
 require such a strain of efl'ort, and such an amount 
 of goodness, as to be altogether beyond their reach. 
 
20 
 
 AUllJK IN C1IUI8T: 
 
 ■ 
 
 \t 
 
 The very idea of always, all the day, abiding in 
 Jesus, was too high, — soiuetliiiig they uiight attain 
 to after a life of holiness and growth, but eertainly 
 not what a feeble beginner was to start with. They 
 did not know how, when Jesus said, ' My yoke is 
 easy,' lie sjxike the truth ; liow just the yoke gives 
 the rest, because the moment tlie soul yields itself 
 to obey, tlie Lord Himself gives the strength and joy 
 to do it. They did not notice iiow, when He said, 
 ' Learn of me,' He added, ' I am meek and lowly in 
 heart,' to assure them that His gentleness would 
 meet their every need, and bear tliem as a motlusr 
 bears her feeble child. Oh, they did not know 
 that when He said, ' Abide in me,' He only asked 
 the surrender to Himself, His almiglity love would 
 hold them fast, and keep and bless them. And so, 
 as some had erred from the want of full consecra- 
 tion, so these failed because they did not fully trust. 
 These two, consecration and faith, are the essential 
 elements of tlie Christian life, — the giving up all 
 to Jesus, the receiving all from Jesus. They are 
 implied in each other ; they are united in the one 
 word — surrender. A full surrender is to obey as 
 well as to trust, to trust as well as to obey. 
 
 With such misunderstanding at the outset, it is 
 no wonder that the disciple life was not one of 
 such joy or strength as had been lioped. In some 
 things you were led into sin without knowing it, 
 because you had not learned how wholly Jesu: 
 wanted to rule you, and how you could not keep 
 right for a moment unless you had Him very near 
 
AND YE SHALL FIND REST TO YOUR SOULS. 21 
 
 it is 
 
 me of 
 
 some 
 
 it, 
 
 Jesu: 
 
 keep 
 
 ' near 
 
 "g 
 
 I 
 
 you. In other things you knew wliat sin was, but 
 had not the power to conquer, hecause you did not 
 know or believe how entirely Jesus would take 
 charge of you to keep and to help you. Either way, 
 it was not long before the bright joy of yor.r first 
 love was lost, and your path, instead of being like 
 the path of the just, shining more and more unto 
 the perfect day, became like Israel's wandering in 
 the desert, — ever on the way, never very far, and 
 yet always coming short of the promised rest. 
 Weary soul, since so many years driven to and fro 
 like the panting hart, come and learn this day 
 the lesson that there is a spot where safety and 
 victory, where peace and rest, are always sure, and 
 that that spot is always open to thee — the heart of 
 Jesus. 
 
 But, alas ! I hear some one say, it is just this 
 abiding in Jesus, always bearing His yoke, to learn 
 of Him, that is so difficult, and the very effort to 
 attain to this often disturbs the rest even more 
 tlian sin or the world. What a mistake to speak 
 thus, and yet how often the words are heard ! Does 
 it weary the traveller to rest in the house or on the 
 bed where he seeks repose from his fatigue ? Or is 
 it a labour to a little child to rest in its mother's 
 arms ? Is it not the house that keeps the traveller 
 witliin its shelter ? do not the arms of the mother 
 sustain and keep the little one ? And so it is with 
 Jesus. The soul has but to yield itself to Him, to 
 be still and rest in the confidence that His love has 
 undertaken, and that His faithfulness will perform, 
 
 
 
22 
 
 Ami)E IN cnuisT : 
 
 il !ii 
 
 > i 
 
 ,i I 
 
 !t If 
 
 \ t 
 
 I lie work of keeping it safe in the shelter of His 
 iiosom. Oh, it is heeause tlie Idossing is so great 
 tliat our little hearts cannot rise to apprehend it ; 
 it is as if we eannot ]»elieve that Christ, the 
 Almighty One, will in very deed teach and keep 
 us all the day. And yet this is just what lie has 
 jtroniised, for without this Ih; cannot really give us 
 rest. It is as our heart takes in this truth that, 
 when He says, ' Ahide in nie,' ' Learn of nie,' He 
 really means it, and Unit it is His own work to keep 
 us ahiding when wv yield ourselves to Him, that 
 we shall venture to ciist ourselves into the arms of 
 His love, and abandon ourselves to His blessed 
 keeping. It is not the yoke, but resistance to the 
 yoke, that makes the dilliculty ; the whole-hearted 
 surrender to Jesus, as at once our Master and our 
 Keeper, finds and secures the rest. 
 
 Come, my brother, and let us this very day 
 commence to acce[)t the word of Jesus in all 
 simplicity. It is a distinct command this : 'Take 
 my yoke, and learn of me,' ' Abide in me. A 
 command has to be obeyed. The obedient scholar 
 asks no questions about possibilities or results ; he 
 accepts every order in the confidence that his teacher 
 has provided for all that is needed. The power and 
 the perseverance to abide in the rest, and the bless- 
 ing in abiding, — it belongs to the Saviour to see 
 to this ; 'tis mine to obey, 'tis His to provide. Let 
 us this day in innnediate obedience accept the 
 command, and answer boldly, * Saviour, I abide in 
 Thee. At Thy bidding I take Thy yoke ; I under- 
 
AND YE SHALL FIND REST TO YOUK bOULS. 23 
 
 !r of His 
 I so great 
 v.hend it ; 
 lirist, the 
 and keep 
 it He has 
 ly give us 
 ruth that, 
 nie,' He 
 ik to keep 
 Him, that 
 le arms of 
 is blessed 
 ICC to the 
 le-hearted 
 r and our 
 
 very day 
 IS in all 
 ts: 'Take 
 me. A 
 it scholar 
 suits ; he 
 is teacher 
 )0wer and 
 the bless- 
 iir to see 
 ide. Let 
 jcept the 
 abide in 
 I under- 
 
 take the ihity witliout delay; T abide in Thee.' Let 
 each consciousness of failure only give new urgency 
 to the command, and teach us to listen more 
 earnestly than ever till the Spirit again give us to 
 hear the voice of Jesus saying, with a love and 
 authority that inspire both hope and obedience, 
 ' (>hil(l, abide in me.' Tliat word, listened to as 
 coming from Himself, will be an end of all 
 doul>ting, — a Divine ]>roniise of what shall surely 
 b*.' granted. And witli ever-increasing simplicity 
 its meaning will be ii. 'prated. Abiding in Jesus 
 is nothing but the givln., up of oneself to be ruled 
 and taught and led, and so resting in the arms of 
 Everlasting Love. 
 
 lUesscd rest! the fruit and the foretaste and the 
 fcllowsliip of CJod's own rest ! found of them wlio 
 thus come to Jesus to abide in Him. It is the 
 l)eace of God, tlie great calm of the eternal world, 
 that passeth all understanding, and that keeps the 
 heart and mind. Witli this grace secured, we have 
 strength for every duty, courage for every struggle, 
 a blessing in every cross, and the joy of life eternal 
 in death itself. 
 
 my Saviour! if ever my heart should doubt 
 or fear again, as if the blessing were too great to 
 expect, or too high to attain, let me hear Thy voice 
 to quicken my faith and obedience : ' Abide in me ; ' 
 ' Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me ; ye shall 
 Jlnd rest to your souls.' 
 
24 
 
 ABIDE IN CUllIST: 
 
 ! IV ! 
 
 
 Third Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^Trusting %lim to keep ^m, 
 
 ' I follow after, if tliat I may apprehend that for which 1 (ilso am 
 apprehended of Christ Jesr.s.' — PaiL. iii. 12. 
 
 IVrOEE than one admits that it is a sacred duty 
 •^'-■- and a blessed privilege to abide in Christ, 
 but shrinks back continually before the question : 
 Ts it possible, a life of unbroken fellowship with 
 the Saviour ? Eminent Christians, to whom special 
 opportunities of cultivating this grace has been 
 granted, miiy attain to it; for the large majority of 
 disciples, whose life, by a Divine appointment, is so 
 fully occupied with the affairs of this life, it can 
 scarce be expected. The more they hear of this 
 life, the deeper their sense of its glory and blessed- 
 ness, and there is nothing they would not sacrifice 
 to be made partakers of it. But they are too 
 weak, too unfaithful, — they never can attain to it. 
 
 Dear souls ! how little they know that the 
 abiding in Christ is just meant for the weak, and 
 so beautifully suited to their feebleness. It is not 
 the doing of some great thing, and does not demand 
 
 ' 
 
TRUSTING HIM TO KEEP YOU. 
 
 25 
 
 1 I also am 
 
 red duty 
 I Christ, 
 question : 
 lip with 
 n special 
 las been 
 jority of 
 snt, is so 
 3, it can 
 of this 
 blessed- 
 sacrifice 
 are too 
 1 to it. 
 hat the 
 3ak, and 
 [t is not 
 demand 
 
 that we first lead a very holy and devoted life. 
 No, it is simply weakness entrusting itself to a 
 Mighty One to be kept, — the unfaithful one casting 
 self on One who is altogether trustworthy and 
 true. Abiding in Him is not a work that we have 
 to do as the condition for enjoying His salvation, 
 but a consenting to let Him do all for us, and in 
 us, and through us. It is a work He does for us, — 
 the fruit and the power of His redeeming love. 
 Our port is simply to yield, to trust, and to wait 
 for what He has engaged to perform. 
 
 It is this quiet expectation and confidence, resting 
 on the word of Christ that in Ilim there is an 
 abiding place pre{'ared, which is so sadly wanting 
 among Christians. They scarce take the time or the 
 trouble to realize that when He says ' Abide in me,' 
 He offers Himself, the Keeper of Israel that slumbers 
 not nor sleeps, witli all His power and love, as the 
 living Jiome of the soul, where the mighty influences 
 of His grace will be stronger to keep than all their 
 feebleness to lead astray. The idea they have of 
 grace is this, — that their conversion and pardon are 
 God's work, but that now, in gratitude to God, it is 
 their work to live as Christians, and follow Jesus. 
 There is always the thought of a work that has 
 to be done, and even though they pray for lielp, 
 still the work is theirs. They fail continually, 
 and become hopeless ; and the despondency only in- 
 creases the helplessness. No, wandering one ; as it 
 was Jesus who drew thee when He spake * Come,' so it 
 is Jesus who keeps thee when He says * Abide.' The 
 
 1 1 
 
 *14 
 
^^'iil! 
 
 26 
 
 ATilDE IN CIIIMST: 
 
 i ii II 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
 ^'race to cothc and the grace to abide are alike from 
 Him alone. Tliat word Come, heard, meditated on, 
 accepted, was the cord of love that drew thee 
 nigh ; tliat word Abide is even so the band with 
 which He liolds tliee fast and binds tliee to Him- 
 self. Let the soul but tak(^ time to listen to the 
 voice of Jesus. ' In mc' He says, ' is tliy place, — in 
 my almiglity arms. It is I who love thee so, who 
 speak Abide in me; surely thou canst trust me.' 
 Tlie voice of Jesus entering and dwelling in the 
 soul cannot but call for the response : * Yes, Saviour, 
 in Tliee I can, I will abide.' 
 
 Abide in me : These words are no law of Moses, 
 demanding from the sinful what they cannot per- 
 form. They are the command of love, which is 
 ever only a promise in a different shape. Think of 
 this until all feeling of burden and fear and despair 
 l)ass away, and the first thought that cf)nies as you 
 hear of abiding in Jesus be one of bright and joyous 
 hope : it is for me, I know I shall enjoy it. You 
 are not under the law, with its inexoral)le Do, but 
 under grace, with its blessed Believe what Christ 
 will do for you. And if the question be asked, 
 *But surely there is something for us to do ?' the 
 answer is, * Our doing and working are but the fruit 
 of Christ's work in us.' It is when the soul becomes 
 utterly passive, looking and resting on what Christ 
 is to do, that its energies are stirred to their highest 
 activity, r.nd that we work most effectually because 
 we know that He works in us. It is as we see 
 in that word In me the mighty energies of love 
 
i iiii 
 
 TRL STING IIIM TO KEEP YOU. 
 
 27 
 
 alike from 
 litated on, 
 Irew thee 
 •and with 
 5 to Hiin- 
 ten to the 
 )lace, — in 
 e so, wlio 
 rust nio.' 
 ii< in the 
 3, Saviour, 
 
 f Moses, 
 inot per- 
 wliicli is 
 Think of 
 d despair 
 es as you 
 id joyous 
 it. You 
 Do, but 
 ,t Christ 
 e asked, 
 lo ? ' the 
 the fruit 
 becomes 
 t Christ, 
 highest 
 because 
 we see 
 of love 
 
 renching out after us to have us and to hold us, 
 that all the strength of our will is roused to abide 
 in Him. 
 
 This connection between Christ's work and our 
 work is beautifully cxi)ressed in the words of Paul : 
 ' I follow after, if that / 7nai/ apprehend that wherc- 
 uuto / also am aj^i^reJi ended of Christ Jesus.' It 
 wiis because he knew that the mighty and the 
 faithful One had grasped him with the glorious pur- 
 jtose of making him one with Himself, that he did 
 his utmost to grasp the glorious prize. The faith, 
 the experience, the full assurance, * Christ hath 
 a])i)rehended me,' gave him the courage and the 
 strength to press on and apprehend that whereunto 
 he was apprehended. Each new insight of the great 
 end for which Christ had apprehended and was hold- 
 ing him, roused him afresh to aim at nothing less 
 
 Paul's expression, and its aj)]tlication to the 
 Clnistian life, can be best understood if we think 
 of a father helping his child to mount the side of 
 some steep precipice. The father stamls al)ove, and 
 has taken the son by the hand to helj) him on. He 
 points him to the spot on which he will help him 
 to plant his feet, as he leaps upward. The lea]) 
 would be too high and dangerous for the child alone ; 
 but the father's hand is his trust, and he h.-aps to 
 get hold of the point for which his father has taken 
 hold of him. It is the father's strength that secures 
 him and lifts him up, and so urges him to use his 
 utmost strength. 
 
 Such is the relation between Christ and thee, 
 
 ^ 11 
 
 § ^»- 
 
 |,H 
 
 m 
 
 
28 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 ;;!! 
 
 i'i 
 
 weak and trembling believer ! Fix first thine eyes 
 (in tlie whrrcunto for which He hath ajiprehended 
 thee. It is nothing less than a life of al)i(ling, 
 unbroken fcllowsliip with Himself to which He is 
 seeking to lift thee np. All that thou liast already 
 received — pardon and peace, the Spirit and His 
 grace — are but preliminary to this. And all that 
 tlion seest promised to thee in the future — holiness 
 and fruitfulness and glory everlasting — are l)ut its 
 natural outcome. Union nntJi Ifim^^df, and so with 
 the Father, is His liighest oliject. Fix thine eye on 
 this, and gaze until it stand out before thee clear 
 and unmistakeable : Christ's aim is to have me 
 altiding in Him. 
 
 And then let the second thought enter thy heart : 
 Unto this I am (ipprcJicndcd of Chrht. His almighty 
 ])ower hath laid liold on me, and oflers now to lift 
 uuHi]) to where He would have me. Fix tliine eyes 
 on Christ. (Jaze on tlie love that beams in those 
 eyes, and that asks whether tliou canst not trust 
 Him, who sought and found and brought thee nigli, 
 now to kec]) tlice. (Jaze on that arm of power, and 
 say wlietluT tliou hast not reason to be assured that 
 He is indeed able to keep thin; abiding in Him. 
 
 And as thou thinkest of (he spot whither He 
 points, — the blessed vhcriii hId f(tr wliich He appre- 
 hended thee, — and kee])est thy gaze fixed on Himself, 
 holding thee and wailing to lift thee up, () say, 
 couldest thou not this verv dav take the upward 
 step, and rise to enter upon this blessed life of 
 abiding in Christ ? Yes, begin at once, and say, 
 
 ena 
 Tr| 
 
 1 ah 
 
'iU 
 
 TUUSTING HIM TO KEEP YOU. 
 
 29 
 
 thine eyes 
 pprc'lieiided 
 of a])i(Iin,;j^, 
 hich He is 
 ast already 
 ^ and His 
 hI all that 
 — holiness 
 ire luit its 
 nd so with 
 ine eye on 
 thee clciir 
 
 have nie 
 
 thy heart : 
 1 almighty 
 ow to lift 
 Ihine eves 
 i in those 
 not trust 
 hee nigh, 
 inver, and 
 ured that 
 Mini. 
 
 ither He 
 fe ai»])r('- 
 Hiniself, 
 ), () say, 
 upward 
 1 life of 
 and say, 
 
 ' my Jesus, if Thou biddest me, and if Thou 
 eiiLTaLic'st to lift and keep me there, I will venture. 
 Trembling, but trusting, I will say : Jesus, I do 
 abide in Thee.' 
 
 "Sly beloved fellow-believer, go, and take time 
 alone with Jesus, and say this to Him. 1 dare not 
 >l)eiik t(» you about abiding in Him for the mere 
 sake of ealling forth a pleasing religious sentiment. 
 God's truth must at once be acted on. yield 
 yourself this very day to the blessed Saviour in the 
 surrender of the one thing He asks of you : give up 
 your.self to abide in Him. He Himself will work it 
 in you. You can trust Him to keep you trusting 
 and aliiding. 
 
 And if ever doubts again arise, or the bitter 
 experience of failure tempt you to despair, just 
 remember v;liere Paul found His strength : ' I am 
 apitrehended of Jesus Christ.' In that assurance 
 you have a fountain of strength. Fnjm that you 
 can look up to the whereunto on which He has set 
 His heart, and set yours there too. From that you 
 gather confidence that the good work He hath begun 
 He will also perform. And in that contidence you 
 will gather courage, day by day, afresh to say, * " 1 
 follow^ on, that I may also apprehend that for which 
 I am apprehemled of Christ Jesus." It is because 
 desus has taken hold of me, and because desus keeps 
 me, that I dare to say : Saviour, I abide in Thee.' 
 
 ■ Ml 
 
 
 
 «i 
 
 i 
 
30 
 
 ▲BIDE IK CllEIBT: 
 
 Fourth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^s tije Brancfi in tfte Fine. 
 
 ' I am the Vine, ye are the branches.'— John xy. 6. 
 
 IT was in connection with the Parable of the Vine 
 that our Lord first used the expression, ' Abide 
 in me.* That parable, so simple, and yet so rich in 
 its teaching, gives us the best and most complete 
 illustration of the meaning of our Lord's command, 
 and the union to which He invites us. 
 
 The parable teaches us the nature of that union. 
 The connection between the vine and the branch is 
 a living one. No external, temporary union will 
 suffice ; no work of man can effect it : the branch, 
 whether an original or an engrafted one, is such only 
 by the Creator's own work, in virtue of which the 
 life, the sap, the fatness, and the fruitfulness of the 
 vine communicate themselves to the branch. And 
 lu&t so it is with the believer too. His union with his 
 '^ord is no work of human wisdom or human will, 
 * u an act of God, by which the closest and most 
 : " plete life-union is effected between the Son of 
 Cou and the sinner. ' God hath sent forth the SpirU 
 
 i!!l!|l! 
 
AS THE BKANCII IN THE VINE. 
 
 ai 
 
 '♦ 
 
 XV. 6. 
 
 of the Vine 
 ion, • Abide 
 b so rich in 
 t complete 
 command, 
 
 that union. 
 J branch is 
 union will 
 ihe branch, 
 3 such only 
 which the 
 less of the 
 Qch. And 
 m with his 
 iman will, 
 and most 
 he Son of 
 :k the Spirit 
 
 of His Son into yoxr hearts.' The same Spirit whicli 
 
 dwelt and still dwells in the Son, becomes the life 
 
 of the believer ; in the unity of that one Spirit, and 
 
 [the fellowship of the same life which is in Christ, 
 
 [he is one with Him. As between the vine and 
 
 [branch, it is a life-union that makes them one. 
 
 The parable teaches us the completeness of the 
 lunion. So close is the union between the vine and 
 the branch, that each is nothing without the other, 
 [that each is wholly and only for the other. 
 
 Without the vine the branch can do nothing. To 
 the vine it owes its right of place in the vineyard, 
 its life and its fruitfulness. And so the Lord says, 
 * Without me ye can do nothing.' The believer can 
 each day be pleasing to God oidy in that which he 
 does through the power of Christ dwelling in him. 
 The daily inflowing of the life-sap of the Holy Spirit 
 is his only power to bring forth fruit. He lives 
 alone in Him and is for each moment dependent 
 on Him alone. 
 
 Without the branch the vine can also do nothing. 
 A vine without branches can bear no fruit. No less 
 indispensable than the vine to the branch, is the 
 branch to the vine. Such is the wonderful con- 
 descension of the grace of Jesus, that just as His 
 people are dependent on Him, He has made Himself 
 dependent on them. Without His disciples He 
 cannot dispense His blessing to the world ; He 
 cannot offer sinners the grapes of the heavenly 
 Canaan. Marvel not ! It is His own appointment ; 
 and this is the high honour to which He has called 
 
I I ' ! 
 
 32 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 His redeemed ones, that as indispensable as He is 
 to them in heaven, that from Him their fruit may 
 be found, so indispensable are they to Him on 
 earth, that through them His fruit may be found. 
 Believers, meditate on this, until your soul bows to 
 worship in presence of the mystery of the perfect 
 union between Christ and the believer. 
 
 There is more : as neither vine nor branch is 
 anything without the other, so is neither anything 
 except for the other. 
 
 All the vine possesses belongs to the hranches. The 
 vine does not gather from the soil its fatness and 
 its sweetness for itself, — all it has is at the dis- 
 posal of the branches. As it is the parent, so it is 
 the servant of the branches. And Jesus, to whom 
 we owe our life, how completely does He give Him- 
 self for us and to us : * The glory Thou gavest me, 
 I have given them ; ' * He that believeth in me, the 
 works that I do shall he do also ; and greater works 
 shall he do.' All His fulness and all His riches 
 are for thee, believer ; for the vine does not live 
 for itself, keeps nothing for itself, but exists only for 
 the branches. All tliat Jesus is in heaven, He ia 
 for us : He has no interest there separate from ours ; 
 as our representative He stands before the Father. 
 
 And all the branch possesses belongs to the vine. 
 The branch does not exist for itself, but to bear fruit 
 that can proclaim the excellence of the vine : it has 
 no reason of existence except to be of service to 
 the vine. Glorious image of the calling of the 
 believer, and the entireness of his consecration to 
 
 II 
 
 I ,, : 
 -'i.'-**^Jl»«« 
 
AS THE BRANCH IN THE VINE. 
 
 33 
 
 the service of his Lord. As Jesus gives Himself so 
 wholly over to him, he feels himself urged to be 
 wholly his Lord's. Every power of his being, every 
 moment of his life, every thought and feeling, belong 
 to Jesus, that from Hira and for 11 im he may bring 
 forth fruit. As he realizes what the vine is to the 
 branch, and what the branch is meant to be to the 
 vine, he feels that he has but one thing to think of 
 and to live for, and that is, the will, the glory, the 
 work, the kingdom of his blessed Lord, — the bring- 
 ing forth of fruit to the glory of His name. 
 
 The parable teaches us the ohject of the union. 
 The branches are for fruit and fruit alone. ' Every 
 branch that beareth not fruit He taketh away.' The 
 branch needs leaves for the maintenance of its own 
 life, and the perfection of its fruit : the fruit itself it 
 bears to give away to those around. As tlie believer 
 enters into his calling as a branch, he sees that he 
 lias to forget himself, and to live entirely for his 
 fellownien. To love them, to seek for them, and to 
 save them, Jesus came : for this every Ijranch on 
 the Vine has to live as much as the Vine itself. It 
 is for fruit, much fruit, that the Father has made us 
 one with Jesus. 
 
 Wondrous Parable of the Vine, — unveiling the 
 mysteries of the Divine love, of the heavenly life, 
 of the world of Spirit, — how little have I understood 
 tliee ! Jesus tlie living Vine in lieaven, and I the 
 living branch on eaitli ! How little have I under- 
 stood how great my need, but also how perfect my 
 claim, to all His fulness ! How little understood 
 
:< I i 
 
 I'i 
 
 ! I 
 
 34 
 
 ABIDE IN CHUIST : 
 
 how great His need, but also how perfect His claim, 
 to my emptiness ! Let me, in its beautiful lij,'ht, 
 study the womlrous union between Jesus an.' His 
 peoi)l(', until it becomes to me the guide into full 
 comnmnion with my beloved Lord. Let me listen 
 and believe, until my whole being cries out, 'Jesus 
 is indeed to me the True Vine, bearing me, nourish- 
 ing me, supplying me, using me, land filling me to 
 the fidl to make me bring forth fruit abundantly.* 
 Then shall I not fear to say, ' I am indeed a brancli 
 to Jesus, the True Vine, abiding in Him, resting on 
 Him, waiting for Him, serving Him, and living only 
 that through me, too. He may show forth the riches 
 of His grace, and give His fruit to a perishing 
 world. 
 
 It is when we try thus to understand the meaning 
 of the parable, tliat the blessed command spoken in 
 connection with it will come home to us in its true 
 ] tower. The thought of what the Vine is to the 
 branch, and Jesus to the believer, will give new 
 force to the words, ' Abide in me ! ' It will be as 
 if He says, ' Tliink, soid, how completely I belong 
 to thee. I have joined myself inseparably to thee ; 
 all the fulness and fatness of the Vine are thine in 
 very deed. Now thou once art in me, be assured 
 that all I have is wliolly thine. It is my interest 
 and my honour to have thee a fruitful branch ; only 
 Abide in mc. Thou art weak, but I am strong ; 
 thou art poor, but I am rich. Only abide in me ; 
 yield thyself wholly to my teaching and rule ; simply 
 trust my love, my grace, my promises. Only believe : 
 
 ! tUi 
 
AS THE BHANCII IN THE VINE. 
 
 35 
 
 t His claim, 
 utiful li<rlit, 
 ms an:' His 
 ide into full 
 t me listen 
 out, 'Jesus 
 ne, nourisli- 
 lling nie to 
 ibundantly.' 
 3d a brancii 
 , resting on 
 living only 
 I the riches 
 I perishing 
 
 le meaning 
 
 spoken in 
 
 in its true 
 
 is to the 
 
 give new 
 
 will be as 
 
 ^ I belong 
 
 y to thee ; 
 
 e thine in 
 
 be assured 
 
 »y interest 
 
 ich; only 
 
 n strong; 
 
 e in me; 
 
 e ; simply 
 
 y believe : 
 
 si 
 
 I 
 
 I am wholly thine ; I am the Vine, thou art the 
 hranrh. Abide in me.* 
 
 Wliat sayest thou, my soul ? Shall I longer 
 hesitate, or withhold consent ? Or shall I not, 
 instead of only thinking how hard and how difficult 
 it is to live like a branch of the True Vine, because 
 I thouglit of it as something I had to accomplish, — 
 shall I not now begin to look upon it as the most 
 blessed and joyful thing under heaven ? Shall I 
 not believe that, now I once am in Him, He Him- 
 self will keep me and enable me to abide ? On 
 my part, abiding is nothing but the acceptance of 
 my position, the consent to be kept there, the 
 surrender of faith to the strong Vine still to hold 
 the feeble branch. Yes, I will, I do abide in Thee, 
 lilessed Lord Jesus. 
 
 Saviour, how unspeakable is Thy love ! ' Such 
 knowledge is too wonderful for me: it is high, I 
 <'annot attain unto it.' I can only yield myself to 
 Tliy love with the prayer that, day l)y day, Thou 
 wouldest unfold to me somewhat of its precious 
 mysteries, and so encourage and strengthen Thy 
 lovi ig disciple to do what his heart longs to do 
 indeed, — ever, only, wholly to abide in Thee. 
 
36 
 
 ABID£ IN CIIKIST: 
 
 Fifth Day. 
 
 ' / ' ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ' ^15 SOU came to ®im, bg JFaitlj. 
 
 • As y« have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in Him ! 
 rooted and built up in Him, aud stablished in the faith, abounding 
 therein.' — CoL. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 IN these words the apostle teacnos us the weijrhty 
 lesson, that it is not only by faith that we first 
 come to Christ and are united to Him, but that it 
 is by Taith that we are to be rooted and established 
 in our union with Christ. Not less essential than 
 for the commencement, is faith for the progress of 
 the spiritual life. Abiding in Jesus can only be by 
 faith. 
 
 There are earnest Christians wl.o do not under- 
 stand this ; or, if they admit it in tlvjory, they fail 
 to realize its application in practiie. They are very 
 zealous for a free gospel, with our first acceptance of 
 Christ, and justification by faith alone. But after 
 this they think everything depends on our diligence 
 and faithfulness. While they firmly grasp the truth, 
 * The sinner shall be justified by faith,' they have 
 hardly found a place in their scheme for the larger 
 truth, 'The just shall live by faith.' They have never 
 
 ill^H 
 
AS YOU CAME TO HIM, BY FAITH. 
 
 37 
 
 ilk ye IN Him : 
 litl), abounding 
 
 the weifrhty 
 hat we first 
 hut that it 
 estahlished 
 ential than 
 progress of 
 only be by 
 
 not under- 
 y, they fail 
 ley are very 
 iccptance of 
 But after 
 ir diligence 
 p the truth, 
 they have 
 the larger 
 have never 
 
 understood what a perfect Saviour Jesus is, and how 
 Ho will each day do for the sinner jus I as much as 
 He did the first day when he came to Him. They 
 know not that the life of grace is always and only 
 a life of faith, and that in the relationship to Jesus 
 the one daily and unceasing duty of the disciple is to 
 hiiieve, because believing is the one channel through 
 wliich Divine grace and strength flow out into the 
 heart of man. The old nature of the believer remains 
 evil and sinful to the last ; it is only as he daily 
 comes, all empty and helpless, to his Saviour to 
 receive of His life and strength, that he can bring 
 forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory of God. 
 Therefore it is : * As ye have received Christ Jesus 
 the Lord, so walk ye in Him : rooted in Him, and 
 stablished in the faith, abounding therein.' As you 
 came to .Ksus, so abide in Him, by faith. 
 
 And if you would know how faith is to be 
 exercised in thus abiding in Jesus, to be rooted 
 more deeply and firmly in Him, you have only to 
 look back to the time when first you received Him. 
 You remember well what obstacles at that time 
 there appeared to be in the way of your believing. 
 Tliere was first your vileness and guilt : it appeared 
 impossible that the promise of pardon and love 
 could be for such a sinner. Then there was the 
 sense of weakness and death : you felt not the power 
 for the surrender and the trust to which you were 
 called. And then there was the future : you 
 dared not undertake to be a disciple of Jesus 
 while you felt so sure that you could not remain 
 
 'i 
 
 'J' I 
 
 V.) 
 
 
\\\ 
 
 ii ill! 
 
 w 
 
 1 1 I 
 
 iMlii^i' 
 
 ii 
 
 38 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 standing, but would speedily again be unfaithful and 
 fall. These diflieulties were like mountains in your 
 way. And how were they removed ? Simply by 
 the word of God. That word, as it were, compelled 
 you to believe that, notwithstanding guilt in the 
 past, and weakness in the present, and unfaithful- 
 ness in the future, the promise was sure that Jesus 
 would accept and save you. On that word you 
 ventured to come, and were not deceived: you 
 found that Jesus did indcjed accept and save. 
 
 Apply this, your experience in coming to Jesus, 
 to the abiding in Ilini. Now, as then, the tempta- 
 tions to keep you from believing are many. WLcii 
 you think of your sins since you became a disciple, 
 your heart is cast down with shame, and it looks as if 
 it were too much to expect that Jesus should indeed 
 receive you into perfect intimacy and the full enjoy- 
 ment of His holy love. When you think how 
 utterly, in times past; you have failed in keeping 
 the most sacred vows, the consciousness of present 
 weakness makes you tremble at the very idea of 
 answering the Saviour's command with the promise, 
 * Lord, from henceforth I will abide in Thee.' And 
 wlu-n you set before yourself the life of love and 
 joy. o; holiness and fruitfulness, which in the future 
 are to flow from abiding in Him, it is as if it only 
 serves to make you still more ho})eless : you, at 
 least, can never attain to it. You know yourself 
 too well. It is no use e\i)ecting it, only to be dis- 
 appointed ; a life fully and wholly abiding in Jesus 
 is not for you. 
 
 ■ .l, l .l.,UtU-»U'H-IJ.. 
 
AS YOU CAME TO HIM, BY FAITH. 
 
 39 
 
 unfaithful and 
 ntuiiis ill your 
 ? Simply by 
 ere, compelled 
 guilt in the 
 id uufaithf ni- 
 ne that Jesus 
 at word you 
 eeeived : you 
 J save. 
 
 ling to Jesus, 
 , the tempta- 
 lany. Wl.^a 
 ne a disciple, 
 it looks as if 
 ihould indeed 
 ^e full enjoy- 
 think how 
 in keeping 
 '< of present 
 ery idea of 
 the promise, 
 'hee.' And 
 )f love and 
 1 tlie future 
 IS if it only 
 ss: you, at 
 Jvv yourself 
 y to be dis- ^ 
 ng in Jesus m 
 
 Oil that you would learn a lesson from the time 
 of your first coming to the Saviou.c ! Remember, 
 dear soul, how you then were led, contrary to all 
 I that your experience, and your feelings, and even 
 your sober judgment said, to take Jesus at His 
 word, and how you were not disappointed. He did 
 receive you, and pardon you ; He did love you, and 
 save you, — you know it. And if He did tliis for 
 you when you were an enemy and a stranger, what 
 tliiiik you, now that you are His own, will He not 
 much more fulfil His promise ? Oh that you would 
 come and begin simply to listen to His word, and to 
 ask only the one question : Docs He really mean 
 that I should abide in Him ? The answer His word 
 gives is so simple and so sure : Y>y His almighty 
 grace you now are in Him; that same almighty 
 grace will indeed enable you to abide in Him. By 
 faith you became partakers of the initial grace ; by 
 that same faith you can enjoy the continuous grace 
 of abiding in Him. 
 
 And if you ask what exactly it is that you now 
 have to believe that you may abide in Him, the; 
 answer is not dillicult. Believe first of all what He 
 says : ' 1 am the Vine.' The safety and the fruit- 
 fulness of the branch de})end ui)on the strength of 
 the vhie. Think not so much of thyself as a brancii, 
 nor of the abiding as thy duty, until thou hast liixt 
 had thy soul filled with the faith of what Chrii-t as 
 the Vine is. He really tvill he to thee all tuat a. 
 vine can he, — holding thee fast, nourishing thee, 
 and making Himself every moment responsible for 
 
 a 
 
 m 
 
40 
 
 ABIDE IN CMKIST; 
 
 tliy growth and thy fruit. Take time to know, set 
 thyself heartily to believe : My Vine, on whom I 
 can depend for all 1 need, is Christ. A large, strong 
 vine bears the feeble branch, and holds it more than 
 the branch holds the vine. Ask the Father by the 
 Holy Ghost to reveal to thee what a glorious, loving, 
 mighty Christ this is, in whom thou hast thy place 
 and thy life ; it is the faith in what Christ is, more 
 than anything else, that will keep thee abiding in 
 Him. A soul filled with large thoughts of the Vine 
 will be a strong branch, and will abide confidently 
 in Him. Be much occupied with Jesus, and believe 
 much in Him, as the True Vine. 
 
 And then, when Faith can well say, ' He is my 
 Vine,' let it further say, ' I am His brancli, I am in 
 Him.' I speak to those who say they are Christ's 
 disciples, and on them I cannot too earnestly press 
 the importance of exercising their faith in saying, 'I 
 am in Him.' It makes the abiding so simple. If I 
 realize clearly as I meditate : Now I am in Him, I 
 see at once that there is nothing wanting but just 
 my consent to be what He has made me, to remain 
 where He has placed me. / am in Christ : This 
 simple thought, carefully, prayerfully, believingly 
 uttered, removes all difficulty as if there were some 
 great attainment to be reached. No, /«m in Christ, 
 my blessed Saviour. His love hatli prepared a home 
 for me with Himself, when He says, * Abide in my 
 love ; ' and His power has undertaken to keep the 
 door, and to keep me in, if I will but consent. 1 
 am in Christ ; I have uow but to say, * Saviour, I 
 
 aiail 
 

 AS YOU CAME TO HIM, BY FAITH. 
 
 4i 
 
 i to know, set 
 on whom I 
 - large, strong 
 it more than 
 ather by the 
 )rious, loving, 
 ist thy place 
 irist is, more 
 3 abiding in 
 3 of the Vine 
 confidently 
 , and believe 
 
 * He is my 
 
 ich, I am iji 
 
 are Christ's 
 
 nestly press 
 
 n saying, 1 
 
 iiple. If I 
 
 I in Him, I 
 
 g but just 
 
 to remain 
 
 trist: This 
 
 'elievingly 
 
 Were some 
 
 in Christ, 
 
 cd a home 
 
 de in my 
 
 keep the 
 
 nsent. 1 
 
 Saviour, I 
 
 fri 
 
 less Thee for this wondrous grace. I consent ; I 
 JL'ld myself to Thy gracious keeping ; I do abide in 
 lee.' 
 
 It is astonishing how such a faith will work out 
 all tluit is further implied in abiding in Christ. 
 Tliere is in the Christian life great need of watch- 
 fulness and of prayer, of self-denial and of striving, 
 of obedience and of diligence. But ' all things are 
 possible to him that believeth.' ' Tliis is the victory 
 tliat overcometh, even our faith.' It is the faith that 
 continually closes its eyes to the weakness of the 
 creature, and finds its joy in the suihciency of an 
 Almighty Saviour, that makes the soul strong and 
 glad. It gives itself up to be led by the Holy Spirit 
 into an ever deeper appreciation of that wonderful 
 Sa\iour whom God hath given us, — the Infinite 
 luimanuel. It follows the leading of the Spirit 
 from page to page of the blessed Word, with the one 
 desire to take each revelation of what Jesus is and 
 what lie promises as its nourishment and its life. 
 In accordance with the promise, * If that wliicli ye 
 have heard from the beginning abide in you, ye shall 
 also abide in the Father and the Son,' it lives by every 
 word tliat proceedeth out of the mouth of God. And so 
 it makes the soul strong with the strength of God, 
 to V»e and to do all. that is needed for abiding in Christ. 
 15eliever, thou wouldest abide in Christ : only 
 believe. Believe always ; believe now. Bow even 
 now before thy Lord, and say to Him in childlike 
 faitii, that because l[e is thy Vine, and thou art Hi§ 
 branch, thou wilt this day abide iu Hiui. 
 
 n 
 
 'A 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 ml 
 
 III 
 
 , 'Pi 
 
 
 
n 
 
 i! i 
 
 '1^ 
 
 Mm 
 
 42 
 
 ABIDE IN CHlllST; 
 
 Note. 
 
 * ** I am the True Vine." He who offers us the 
 privilege of jiii actual uniou with Himself is the 
 great I Am, the almiglity God, who upholds all 
 things by the word of His power. And this 
 almighty God reveals Himself as our perfect 
 Saviour, even to the unimaginable extent of seeking 
 to renew our fallen natures by grafting them into 
 His own Divine nature. 
 
 ' To realize the glorious Deity of Him whose call 
 sounds forth to longing hearts with such exceeding 
 sweetness, is no small st(}p towards gaining the full 
 ])rivilege to which we are invited. But longing is 
 by itself of no use ; still less can there be any profit 
 in reading of the blessed results to be gained from 
 a close and personal union with our Lord, if we believe 
 that union to he ynictieallij btyond our reach. His 
 words are meant to be a living, an eternal, precious 
 reality. And this they can never become unless 
 %ve are sure that we may reasouahly expcet their accom- 
 idlshment. But what could make the accomplishment 
 of such an idea possible, — what could make it reason- 
 able to suppose that we poor, weak, selfish creatures, 
 full of sin and full of failures, might be saved out of 
 the corruption of our nature and made partakers of 
 the holiness of our Lord, — except the fact, the mar- 
 vellous, unalterable fact, that He who proposes to 
 us so great a transformation is Himself the ever- 
 lasting God, as able as He is willing to fulfil His 
 
i'iv.* 
 
 AS YOU CAME TO HIM, BY FAITII. 
 
 1 
 
 'fibrs us the 
 
 ni«(3lf is the 
 
 upholds all 
 
 Antl this 
 
 our perfect 
 
 it of S(iekilinr 
 
 o 
 
 them into 
 
 wliose call 
 1 exceeding 
 iug the full 
 longing is 
 e any profit 
 ,^'^ined from 
 if we believe 
 rack. His 
 al, precious 
 3me unless 
 heir aceom- 
 iplishment 
 3 it reason- 
 creatures, 
 ived out of 
 trtakers of 
 , the mar- 
 foposes to 
 the ever- 
 fuim His 
 
 own word. In meditating, therefore, upon these 
 f utterances of Christ, containing as they do the very 
 
 I 
 
 I essence of His teaching, the very concentration of 
 I His love, let us, at the outset, put away all tendency 
 to doubt. Let us 7wt allow ourselves so much as to 
 question whether such erring disciples as we are can 
 be enabled to attain the holiness to ivhich we are called 
 through a close and intimate union with our Lord. 
 If there be any impossibility, any falling short of 
 the proposed blessedness, it will arise from the lack 
 of earnest desire on our part. There is no lack in 
 any respect on His part who puts forth the invita- 
 tion ; with God there can be no shortcoming in the 
 fulfilment of His promise.' — The Life of Felloivship ; 
 Meditations 07i John xv. 1-11, by A. M. James. 
 
 It is perhaps necessary to say, for tlie sake of 
 young or douljting Christians, that there is some- 
 thing more ne(.'(3ssary than the effort to exercise 
 faith in each separate promise that is brouglit under 
 our notice. What is of even greater importance is 
 the cultivation of a trustful disposition towards Cod, 
 the habit of always thinking of Him, of His wa} s 
 and His works, with bright confiding hopefulness. 
 In such soil alone can the individual promises strike 
 root and grow up. In a little work published by 
 the Tract Society, Eneouragements to Faith, by 
 James Kimball, there will be found many most 
 suggestive and helpful thoughts, all pleading for the 
 right God has to claim that He shall be trusted. 
 The Christian's Secret of a Haf]py Life is another 
 little work that has been a great help to many. Its 
 
 ^■ti 
 
 ^ 
 
 aA 
 
 y.'^ 
 
 -^ « 
 
 ill 
 
 'ill 
 
 'jm 
 
 I 
 
 \ \ 
 
 *l 
 
 
 -r 
 
 m. 
 
IS !l 
 
 ' ' ' 
 
 ! I 
 
 ■ '! 
 
 
 44 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 l>righc and buoyant tone, its loving and unceasing 
 repetition of the keynote, — we may indeed depend 
 on Jesus to do all He has said, and more than we 
 can think, — has breathed hope and joy into many ;| 
 a heart that was almost ready to despair of ever 
 getting on. In Frances HavergaVs Kej)t for the 
 Master's Use, there is the same healthful, hope- 
 inspiring tone. 
 
 i 
 
 ■.;{ 
 
 . J ; I I- 
 
 i 
 
 ;h-> 
 
 \'i- 
 
 < . t .■ 1 
 
l^ 
 
 GOD HIMSELF HAS UNITED YOU TO HIM. 
 
 45 
 
 ' '^!' 
 
 t \ 
 
 t < ' 
 
 Sixth Day. 
 ABIDE IN CHETST: ^= 
 
 (Rati ©imself ijas tmitctr pou to ©tm* 
 
 'Of God are te in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom 
 from God, both righteousri ess and sanctification, and redemption.' 
 —1 Cor. 1. 30 (R. V. marg.). 
 
 ' My Father is the Husbandman.' — John xv. 1. 
 
 Y^ 
 
 E are in Christ Jesus.' The believers at 
 Corinth were still feeble and carnal, only 
 1'abes in Christ. And yet Paul wants them, at the 
 outset of his teaching, to know distinctly that they 
 are in Christ Jesus. The whole Christian life 
 depends on the clear consciousness of our position 
 in Christ. Most essential to the abiding in Christ 
 is the daily renewal of our faith's assurance, * I am 
 in Christ Jesus.* All fruitful preaching to believers 
 must take this as its starting-point : ' Ye are in 
 Christ Jesus.' 
 
 But the apostle has an additional thought, of 
 almost greater importance : ' Of God are ye in 
 Christ Jesus.' He would have us not only re- 
 member our union to Christ, but specially that it is 
 not our own doing, but the work of God Himself. 
 As the Holy Spirit teaches us to realize this, we 
 shall see what a source of assurance and strength 
 
 
 ■18 
 
 
 ? ^1 
 
46 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 i I 
 
 i 1 
 
 it mnst hncome to us. Tf it is of God alone that T 
 am in Christ, then God Himself, the Infinite One, 
 becomes my security for all I can need or wish in 
 S(3eking to abide in Christ. 
 
 Let me try and understand what it means, this 
 wonderful * Of God in Christ.' In becoming par- 
 takers of the union with Christ, there is 'a work God 
 does and a work we have to do. God does His 
 work by moving us to do our work. The work of 
 God is hidden and silent ; what we do is something 
 distinct and tangible. Conversion and faith, prayer 
 and obedience, are conscious acts of which we can 
 give a clear account ; while the spiritual quickening 
 and strengthening that come from above are secret 
 and ])eyond the reach of human sight. And so it 
 comes that when the believer tries to say, ' I am in 
 C/hrist Jesus,' he looks more to the work he did, 
 than to that wondrous secret work of God by which 
 he was united to Christ. Nor can it well be other- 
 wise at the commencement of the Christian course. 
 ' I know that I have believed,' is a valid testimony. 
 But it is of great consequence that tl.j mind should 
 be led to see that at the back of our turning, and 
 believing, and accepting of Christ, there was God's 
 almighty power doing its work, — inspiring our will, 
 taking possession of us, and carrying out its own 
 purpose of love in planting us into Christ Jesus. 
 As the believer enters into this, the Divine side of 
 the work of salvation, he will learn to praise and to 
 worship with new exultation, and to rejoice more 
 than ever in the divineness of that salvation he has 
 
GOD HIMSELF HAS UNITED YOU TO HIM. 
 
 47 
 
 ")d alone that I 
 i Infinite One, 
 eed or wish in 
 
 it means, this 
 becoming par- 
 is 'a work God 
 God does His 
 The work of 
 o is somcthinu 
 d faith, prayer 
 which we can 
 ual quickonini; 
 )ove are secret 
 it. And so it 
 say, ' I am in 
 work he did, 
 God by which 
 well be other- 
 ristian conrse, 
 id testimony, 
 mind should 
 turning, and 
 re was God's 
 ring our will, 
 out its own 
 Christ Jesus. 
 )ivine side of 
 )raise and to 
 rejoice mor(3 
 ation he has 
 
 % 
 
 icn made partaker of. At each step he reviews, 
 
 e song will come, ' This is the Lord's doing,' — 
 
 livine Omnipotence working out what Eternal Love 
 
 d devised. ' Of God I am in Clirist Jesus.' 
 
 The words will lead him even fur! her and higher, 
 
 en to the depths of eternity. 'Whom He hath 
 
 edestinated, fJinn He also called.' The calling in 
 
 me is the manifestation of tlie purpose in eternity. 
 
 \ni the world was, God had fixed the eye of His 
 
 80V(>reign love on thee in the election of grace, and 
 
 clmsen thee in Christ. That thou knowest thyself 
 
 |d be in Christ, is the stepping-stone by which thou 
 
 ftsest to understand in its full meaning the word, 
 
 IOf God I am in Christ Jesus.' With the prophet, 
 
 y langiinge will l)e, 'The Lord hath appeared of 
 
 d unto me: yea, I have loved thee with an ever- 
 
 sting love, therefore with loving-kindness have I 
 
 bnvri thee.* And thou wilt recognise tliine own 
 
 Ivation as a part of that ' mystery of His will, 
 
 tccording to the good pleasure of His will which He 
 
 lurposed in Himself,' and join with the whole body 
 
 f believers in Christ as these say, ' Hi whoni we 
 
 llso have obtained an inhcritnnce, being predestinated 
 
 .ecording to the purpose of Him who worketh all 
 
 ihings after the counsel of His own will.' Nothing 
 
 ill more exalt free grace, and make man bow very 
 
 low before it, tlian this knowledge of the mystery 
 
 Of God in Christ.' 
 
 Tt is easy to see what a miglity influence it must 
 xert on the believer who seeks to abide in Christ, 
 hat a sure standing-ground it gives him, as ho 
 
 Pi 
 
48 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 rests his right to Christ and all His fulness on 
 nothing less than the Father's own purpose and 
 work ! We have thought of Clirist as the Vine, and 
 the heliever as the branch ; let us not forget that 
 other precious word, 'My Father is the Husbandman.' 
 The Saviour said, ' Every plant which my Heavenly 
 Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up;' but every 
 branch grafted by Him in the True Vine, sliall never 
 be plucked out of His hand. As it wns the Father 
 to whom Christ owed all He was, and in whom He 
 had all His strength and His life as the Vine, so 
 to the Father the believer owes his place and his 
 security in Christ. The same love and delight 
 with which the Father watched over the beloved 
 Son Himself, watches over every member of His 
 body, every one who is in Christ Jesus. 
 
 What confident trust this faith inspires, — not 
 only as to the being kept in safety to the end, but 
 specially as to the being able to fulfil in every point 
 the object for which I liave been united to Christ. 
 The branch is as much in tlie charge and keeping of 
 the husbandman as the vine ; his honour as much 
 concerned in the well-being and growth of the branch 
 as of the vine. Tlie God who chose Christ to be Vine 
 fitted Him thoroughly for the work He had as Vine 
 to perform. The God who has chosen me and 
 planted me in Clirist, has thereby engaged to secure, 
 if I will but let Him, by yielding myself to Him, 
 that I in every way be worthy of Jesus Christ. Oh 
 that I did but fully realize this! AVhat confidence and 
 urgency it would give to my prayer to the God and 
 
GOD IIIMSrLF IIA« UNITKD YOU TO IIIM. 
 
 40 
 
 Father of Jesus Christ ! IIow it w^-ihl quicken the 
 sense of dt-pendence, and make nie see tluit praying 
 witliout ceasing is indeed tlie one need of my life, — 
 an unceasing waiting, moment l)y moment, on the 
 (jod who hath united me to Christ, to perfect His 
 own Divine work, to work in me both to will and 
 to do of His good jileasure. 
 
 And what a motive this would be for the highest 
 activity in the maintenance of a fruitful branch-life ! 
 Motives are mighty powers ; it is of infinite import- 
 ance to have them high and clear. Here surely is 
 the highest : * You are God's workmanship, created 
 ill Christ Jesus unto good works :' grafted by Him 
 into Christ, unto the bringing forth of much fruit. 
 AVhatever God creates is exquisitely suited to its 
 end. He created the sun to give light : how per- 
 fectly it does its work ! He created the eye to see : 
 liow beautifully it fulfils its object! He created the 
 new man unto good works : how admirably it is 
 fitted for its purpose. 
 
 Of God I am in Christ : created anew, made a 
 branch of the Vine, fitted for fruit-bearing. Would 
 (lud that believers would cease looking most at 
 their old nature, and complaining of their weakness, 
 as if God called them to what they were unfitted 
 for ! Would that they would believingly and joy- 
 fully accept the wondrous revelation of how God, in 
 uniting them to Christ, has made Himself chargeable 
 for their spiritual growth and fruitfulness ! How all 
 sickly hesitancy and sloth would disappear, and under 
 the influence of this mi^ht^'' motive — the faith in 
 
 I 
 
 !ii\ 
 
 I 
 
 ■kK} 
 
to 
 
 AIIDK IN ClIIil.^T: 
 
 tlui faithfulness of Him of whom tliey are in Christ 
 — their whole nature would rise to accept and 
 fulfd their glorious destiny ! 
 
 O my soul! y'nAd thyself to the mighty influence 
 of this word : ' Ov God ye are in Clirist Jesus.' 
 It is the same God of whom Christ is made all 
 that He is for us, of whom we also are in Christ, 
 and will most surely he made what we must he to 
 Him. Take time to meditate and to worship, until 
 the light that comes from the throne of God hat'i 
 shone into thee, and thou hast seen thy union to 
 Christ as indeed the work of His almighty Father. 
 Take time, day after day, and let, in thy whole 
 religious life, with all it has of claims and duties, 
 of needs and wishes, God be everything. See 
 Jesus, as He speaks to thee, ' Abide in me,' pointing 
 upward and saying, ' My Father ts the Husband- 
 man. 0/ Him thou art in me, tJmmt/h Him thou 
 abidest in me, and to Him and to His glory shall be 
 the fruit thou bearest.' And let thy answer be, 
 ^Vmen, Lord ! So be it. From eternity Christ 
 and I were ordained for each other ; inseparably we 
 belong to each other: it is God's will; I shall 
 abide in Christ. It is of God I am in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 illLiiii. 
 
AS YUUli VVltiDOM. 
 
 51 
 
 
 lili 
 
 
 ! 
 
 
 •:^J: 
 
 ll;f;l 
 
 'fi 
 
 Seventh Day. 
 
 A IJ IDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^js pour OTistJonu 
 
 'Of Ood arc yo in Christ Jesus, who was motle nnto us wisdh.m 
 lioiii (<od, both righteousness and sanctilioation, and redemption.' 
 -1 Cou. i. 30 (R. V. marg.). 
 
 J 
 
 KSUS ^ 'RIST is not only Priest to purchase, 
 and J to secure, but also Prophet to reveal 
 to us the salvation wliich CJod liath prepared for 
 them that love Hii'i. Just as at the creation the 
 lii^'lit was first called into existence, that in it all 
 God's other works might have their life and beauty, 
 so in our text wisdom is mentioned first as the 
 treasury in which are to be found the three precious 
 fiifts that follow. The life is tlie light of man ; 
 it is in revealing to us, and making us behold the 
 glory of God in His own face, that Clirist makes us 
 partakers of eternal life. It was by the tree of 
 knowledge that sin came ; it is through the know- 
 ledge tliat Christ gives that salvation comes. He is 
 made of God unto us wisdom. In Him are hid 
 all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 
 
 And of God you are in Him, and have but to 
 abide in Him, to be made partaker of these treasures 
 
 
 i m 
 
 
 **- 
 
 ►i 4 '5' 
 
i 
 
 jl 
 
 
 i 
 
 ill Hi 
 
 ! I 
 
 i f 
 
 if 
 
 52 
 
 ABIDE IN CHUIST : 
 
 of wisdom. In Him you are, and in Him the 
 wisdom is ; dwelling in Him, you dwell in the very 
 fountain of all light; abiding in Him, you have 
 Christ the wisdom of God leading your whole 
 spiritual life, and ready to communicate, in the form 
 of knowledge, just as nmch as is needful for you to 
 know. Christ is made unto us wisdom : ye are in 
 Christ. 
 
 It is this connection between what Christ has 
 been made of God to us, and how we have it only 
 as also being in Him, that we must learn to under- 
 stand better. We shall thus see that the blessings 
 prepared for us in Christ cannot be obtained as 
 special gifts in answer to prayer apart from the 
 abiding in Him. The answer to each prayei' must 
 come in the closer union and the deeper abiding in 
 Him ; in Him, the unspeakable gift, all other gifts are 
 treasured up, the gift of wisdom and knowledge too. 
 
 How often have you longed for wisdom and 
 spiritual understanding that you might h^ow God 
 better, whom to know is life eternal ! Abide in 
 Jesus : your life in Him will lead you to that 
 fellowship with God in which the only true know- 
 ledge of God is to be had. His love. His power. 
 His infinite glory will, as you abide in Jesus, be so 
 revealed as it hath not entered into the heart of 
 man to conceive. You may not be able to grasp it 
 with the understanding, or to express it in words ; 
 but the knowledge which is deeper than thoughts or 
 words will be given, — the knowing of God which 
 comes of being known of Him. ' We preach Christ 
 
AS YOUR VnSDOM. 
 
 53 
 
 crucified unto them which are called, Christ the 
 power of God, and the wisdom of God.' 
 
 Or you would fain count all things but loss for 
 the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ your 
 Lord. Abide in Jesus, and be found in Him. You 
 sliall know Him in the power of His resurrection 
 and the fellowship of His sufferings. Following 
 Him, you shall not walk in darkness, but have the 
 liglit of life. It is only when God shines into the 
 heart, and Christ Jesus dwells there, that the light 
 of tlie knowledge of God in the face of Christ can 
 bo seen. 
 
 Or would you understand His blessed work, as He 
 wrought it on earth, or works it from heaven by His 
 Spirit ? Would tou know how Christ can become 
 our righteousness, and our sanctification, and re- 
 demption ? It is just as bringing, and revealing, 
 and communiccting these that He is made unto us 
 wisdom from God. There are a thousand questions 
 that at times come up, and the attempt to answer 
 them becomes a weariness and a burden. It is be- 
 cause you have forgotten you are in Christ, whom 
 God has made to be your wisdom. Let it be your 
 first care to abide in Him in undivided fervent 
 devotion of heart ; hen the heart and the life are 
 riglit, rooted in Christ, knowledge will come in such 
 measure as Christ's own wisdom sees meot. And 
 without s!ich abiding in Christ the knowledge does 
 not really profit, but is often most hurtful. The 
 soul satisfies itself with thoughts which are but the 
 forms and images of truth, without receiving the 
 
 ri: 
 
 
 1 
 
 
I ;i 
 
 ■ Ml 
 ' i.i 
 
 i;! 1^ 
 
 MB 'ii 
 
 ! i 
 
 ill :, ,:, 
 
 r = iii: 
 
 54 
 
 ABIDE IN CHKIST : 
 
 truth itself in its power. God's way is ever first to 
 give us, even though it be but as a seed, tlie thing 
 itself, the life and the power, and then the knowledge, 
 Man seeks the knowledge first, and often, alas ! never 
 gets beyond it. God gives us Christ, and in Hira 
 hid the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. O let 
 us be content to possess Christ, to dwell in Him, to 
 make Him our life, and only in a deeper searching 
 into Him, to se.arch and find the knowledge we 
 desire. Such knowledcre is life indeed. 
 
 Therefore, believer, abide in Jesus as your wisdom, 
 and expect from Him most confidently whatever 
 teaching you may need for a life to the glory of the 
 Father. In all that concerns your splritvAil life, 
 abide in Jesus as your wisdom. The life you have 
 in Christ is a thing of infinite sacredness, far too 
 high and holy for you to know how to act it out. 
 It is He alone who can guide you, as by a secret 
 spiritual instinct, to know what is becoming your 
 dignity as a child of God, what will help and 
 what will hinder your inner life, and specially 
 your abiding in Him. Do not think of it as a 
 mystery or a diificulty you must solve. Whatever 
 questions come up as to the possibility of abiding 
 perfectly and uninterruptedly in Him, and of really 
 obtaining all the blessing that comes from it, always 
 remember : He knows, all is jierfectly clear to Him, 
 and He is my wisdom. Just as much as you need 
 to know and are capable of apprehending, will be 
 communicated, if you only trust Him. Never think 
 of the riches of wisdom and knowledge hid in Jesus 
 
AS YOUR WISDOM. 
 
 65 
 
 as treasures witliout a key, or of your way as a path 
 williont a light. Jesus your wisdom is guiding you 
 ill the right way, even when you do not see it. 
 
 In all your intercourse with the blessed Word, 
 remember the same truth: abide in Jesus, your 
 wisdom. Study much to know the written Word ; 
 but study more to know the living Word, in whom 
 you are of God. Jesus, the wisdom of God, is only 
 known by a life of implicit confidence and obedience. 
 Tlie words He speaks are spirit and life to those 
 v'ho live in Him. Therefore, each time you read, or 
 h(Nir, or meditate upon the Word, be careful to take 
 u]) your true position, llealize first your oneness 
 w JLh Him who is the wisdom of God ; know 
 Yourself to be under His direct and special training ; 
 i;() to tlie Word abiding in Him, the very foun- 
 tain of Divine light, — in His light you shall see 
 h'ght. 
 
 In all your daily life, its ways and its work, abide 
 ill Jesus as your wisdom. Your body and your 
 daily life share in the great salvation : in Christ, 
 tlie wisdom of God, provision has been made for 
 their guidance too. Your body is His temple, 
 your daily life the sphere for glorifying Him : it is 
 to Him a matter of deep interest that all your 
 earthly concerns should be guided aright. Only 
 trust His sympathy, believe His love, and wait for 
 His guidance, — it will be given. Abiding in Him, 
 tlie mind will be calmed and freed from passion, the 
 judgment cleared and strengthened, the light of 
 heaven will shine on earthly things, and your 
 
,1 :-; 
 
 56 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 Mil 
 
 . I , 
 
 prayer for wisdom, like Solomon's, will be fulfilled 
 above what you ask or think. 
 
 And so, especially in any worh you do for God, 
 abide in Jesus as your wisdom. ' We are created ir 
 Christ Jesus unto good works, wliich God hath 
 before ordained that we should walk in them ; ' let 
 all fear or doubt lest we should not know exactly 
 what these works are, be put far away. In Christ 
 we are created for them : He will show us what 
 they are, and how to do them. Cultivate the habit 
 of rejoicing in the assurance that the Divine wisdom 
 is guiding you, even where you do not yet see 
 the way. 
 
 All that you can wish to know is perfectly clear 
 to Him. As Man, as Mediator, He has access to the 
 counsels of Deity, to the secrets of Providence, in 
 your interest, and on your behalf. If you will but 
 trust Him fully, and abide in Him entirely, you can 
 be confident of having unerring guidance. 
 
 Yes, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. Seek to 
 maintain the spirit of waiting and dependence, that 
 always seeks to learn, and will not move but as tlie 
 heavenly light leads on. Withdraw yourself from 
 all needless distraction, close your ears to the voices 
 of the world, and be as a docile learner, ever listen- 
 ing for the heavenly wisdom the Master has to 
 teach. Surrender all your own wisdom ; seek a deep 
 coaviction of the utter blindness of the natural 
 understanding in the things of God ; and both as to 
 what you have to believe ind have to do, wait for 
 Jesus to teach and to guide. Kemember that the 
 
AS YOUR WISDOM. 
 
 57 
 
 toaohing and guidance come not from without : it is 
 l)y His life in us that the Divine wisdom does His 
 work. Retire frequently with Him into the inner 
 chamber of the heart, where the gentle voice of the 
 Spirit is only heard if all be still. Hold fast with 
 uiisliaken confidence, even in the midst of darkness 
 and ai>parent desertion. His own assurance that He 
 is the liglit and the leader of His own. And live, 
 above all, day by day in the blessed truth that, as 
 He Himself, the living Christ Jesus, is your wisdom, 
 your first and last care must ever be this alone, — to 
 abide in Him. Abiding in Hnn, His wisdom will 
 (Mtnie to you as the spontaneous outflowing of a life 
 rooted in Him. I am, I abide in Christ, who was 
 made unto us wisdom from God; wisdom will be 
 given me. 
 
 I 
 

 m 
 
 
 
 'W 
 
 
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 ! 
 
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 It 
 
 ,il 
 
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 58 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST t 
 
 Eighth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ' Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who wns made unto us wisdom 
 from God, both uiaiiTKOUSNKss and sanctilication, and redomp- 
 tion.'— 1 Cou. i. 30 (R. V. marg.). 
 
 ^PHE first of tlie <:?reat blessings which Christ our 
 J- wisdiun reveals to us as prepared in Himself, 
 is — liighteousness. It is not ditiicult to see why 
 this must be first. 
 
 There can be no real prosperity or progress in a 
 nation, a home, or a soul, unless there be peace. As 
 not even a machine can do its work unless it be in 
 rest, secured on a good foundation, quietness and 
 assurance are indispensable to our moral and 
 spiritual well-being. Sin had disturbed all our re- 
 lations ; we were out of harmony with ourselves, 
 with men, and with God. The first requirement of 
 a salvation that should really bring blessedness to 
 us was peace. And peace can only come with 
 right. Where everything is as God would have it, 
 in God's order and in harmony with His will, there 
 alone can peace reign. Jesus Christ came to restore 
 peace on earth, and peace in the soul, by restoring 
 
AS YOUR IIIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 59 
 
 righteousness. Because He is Melchizedek, King 
 of Kighteousness, He reigns as King of Salem, King 
 of Peace (Heb. vii. 2). He so fulfils the promise 
 the prophets held out : * A King shall reign in 
 righteousness : and the work of righteousnpLJs shall 
 be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness 
 and assurance for ever' (Isa. xxxii. 1, 17). Christ 
 is made of God unto us righteousness ; of God we 
 are in Him as our righteousness ; we are made the 
 rigliteousness of God in Him. Let us try and 
 understand what this means. 
 
 When first the sinner is led to trust in Christ 
 for salvation, he, as a rule, looks more to His work 
 tlian His person. 
 
 As he looks at the Cross, and Christ suffering 
 tliere, the Righteous One /or the unrighteous, he sees 
 in that atoning death the only but sufficient founda- 
 tion for his faith in God's pardoning mercy. The 
 substitution, and the curse-bearing, and the atone- 
 ment of Christ dying in the stead of sinners, are 
 wliat give him peace. And as he understands how 
 the righteousness which Christ brings becomes his 
 very own, and how, in the strength of that, he is 
 counted righteous before God, he feels that he has 
 what he needs to restore him to God's favour: 
 ' Being justified by faith, we have peace with God.* 
 He seeks to wear this robe of righteousness in the 
 ever renewed faith in the glorious gift of righteous- 
 ness which has been bestowed upon him. 
 
 But as time goes on, and he seeks to grow in the 
 Christian life, new needs arise. He wants to under- 
 
 Bn 
 
60 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 stand more fully how it is that God can thus justify 
 the ungodly on the strength of the righteousness oi 
 another. He finds the answer in the wonderful 
 teaching of Scripture as to the true union of tho 
 lieliever with Christ as the second Adam. He sees 
 that it is because Christ liad made Himself one with 
 His people, and they were one with Him ; that it 
 was in perfect accordance with all law in the king- 
 dom of nature and of lieaven, that each member of 
 the body should have the full benefit of the doin^' 
 and the suffering as of the life of the head. Ami 
 so he is led to feel that it can only be in fully 
 realizing his personal union with Christ as the head, 
 that he can fully experience the power of His 
 righteousness to bring the soul into the full favour 
 and fellowship of the Holy One. The work of 
 Christ does not become less precious, but the person 
 of Christ more so ; the work leads up into the very 
 heart, the love and the life of the God-man. 
 
 And this experience sheds its light again upon 
 Scripture. It leads him to notice, what he had 
 scarce remarked before, how distinctly the righteous- 
 ness of God, as it becomes ours, is connected with 
 the person of the IJedeemer. ' This is His name 
 whereby He shall be called, Jkhovah our right i;- 
 ousNESs.' ' In Jehovah have I righteousness ami 
 strength.' * Of God is He made unto us righteous- 
 ness.' * That we might be made the righteousness 
 of God in Him.' ' That I may be found in Him, 
 having the righteousness of God.' He sees how 
 inseparable righteousness and life in Christ are from 
 
AS VOUll KIGIITEOUSNESS. 
 
 61 
 
 3acli other : ' The righteousness of one comes upon 
 
 ill unto justijimtion of life.' * They which receive 
 
 hu gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, 
 
 lesus Christ.' And he understands what deep 
 
 meaning there is in the key- word of the Epistle to 
 
 [the Itomans : * The righteous shall live by faith.' 
 
 hlu is not now content with only thinking of the 
 
 imputed righteousness as his robe ; but, putting on 
 
 jjesus Christ, and seeking to be wrapped up in, to be 
 
 Iclollictl upon with Himself and His life, he feels how 
 
 [(•(juipk'tely the righteousness of God is his, because 
 
 lllie Lord our righteousness is his. Before he under- 
 
 Lstuod this, he too often felt it difficult to wear his 
 
 white robe all the day : it was as if he specially had 
 
 to i»ut it on when he came into God's presence to 
 
 cdiifess his sins, and seek new grace. But now the 
 
 living Christ Himself is 'is righteousness, — that 
 
 Christ who watclies over, and keeps and loves us as 
 
 His own; it is no longer an impossibility to walk 
 
 lull the day enrobed in the loving presence with 
 
 which He covers His people. 
 
 Such an experience leads still further. The life 
 and the righteousness are inseparably linked, and 
 the believer becomes more conscious than before of 
 a righteous nature planted within him. The new 
 niiui created in Christ Jesus, is * created in righteous- 
 ness and true holiness.' * He that doeth righteous- 
 ness is righteous, even as He is righteous.' The 
 union to Jesus has effected a change not only in the 
 relation to God, but in the personal state before 
 God. And as the intimate fellowship to which the 
 
62 
 
 ABI1>E IN CIllUST : 
 
 union has opened up the way is maintained, th| 
 growing renewal of the whole being makes righteous 
 ness to be his very nature. 
 
 To a Christian who begins to see the deei 
 meaning of the truth, ' He is made to us righteous 
 ness,' it is hardly necessary to say, ' Abide in Himj 
 As long as he only thought of the righteousness of tlie 
 substitute, and our being counted judicially righteous 
 for His sake, the absolute necessity of abiding in HimiX 
 was not apparent. But as the glory of * Jehovalij 
 our righteousness' unfolds to the view, he sees thai 
 abiding in Him personally is the only way to standi 
 at all times, complete and accepted before God, as 
 it is the only way to realize how the new and 
 righteous nature can be strengthened from Jesus 
 our Head. To the penitent sinner the chief 
 thought was tlic righteousness which comes through 
 Jesus dying for sin ; to the intelligent and ad- 
 vancing believer, Jesus, the Living One, through 
 whom the righteousness comes, is everything,] 
 because having Him he has the righteousness too. 
 
 Believer, abide in Christ as your righteousness, I 
 You bear about with you a nature altogether 
 corrupt and vile, ever seeking to rise up andi 
 darken your sense of acceptance, and of access to 
 unbroken fellowship with the Father. Nothing can 
 enable you to dwell and walk in the light of God, 
 without even the shadow of a cloud between, but| 
 the habitual abiding in Christ as your righteousness. 
 To this you are called. Seek to walk worthy ofj 
 that calling. Yield yourself to the Holy Spirit to 
 
 rci 
 [III 
 1(1 
 
 roi 
 
 ii* 
 
AS YOUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 63 
 
 lintained, tb| 
 kes righteouE 
 
 lee the deei 
 
 us righteous 
 
 bide in Him] 
 
 msness of the 
 
 ally righteousj 
 
 nding in Him 
 
 of 'Jehovalj 
 
 , he sees that 
 
 way to stand, 
 
 3fore God, as 
 
 he new and 
 
 : from Jesus 
 
 jr the chief 
 
 mes through! 
 
 ent and ad- 
 
 )ne, through 
 
 everything, | 
 
 nsness too. 
 
 ghteousness. 
 
 altogether I 
 
 ISO up and i 
 
 of access to 
 
 Nothing can 
 
 ght of God, 
 
 )etween, but 
 
 hteousness. 
 
 : worthy of I 
 
 )ly Spirit to 
 
 h;voal to you the wonderful grace that permits you 
 
 (I draw nigh to God, clothed in a Divine righteous- 
 
 K'ss. Take time to realize that the King's own 
 
 [■olie has indeed been put on, and that in it you need 
 
 ot fear entering His presence. It is the token that 
 
 , ou are the man whom the King delights to honour. 
 
 [lake time to remendjer that as much as you need 
 
 it in the i)alace, no less do you require it when 
 
 lie sends you forth into the world, where you 
 
 IK! the King's messenger and representative. Live 
 
 roiir daily life in the full consciousness of being 
 
 ^iuliteous in God's sight, an object of delight and 
 
 hhasure in Christ. Connect every view you have 
 
 if (Jhrist in His other graces with this first one : 
 
 [M)f God He is made to you righteousness.' This 
 
 pvill keep you in perfect peace. Thus sliall you 
 
 (liter into, and dwell in, the rest of God. So 
 
 shall your inmost being be transformed into being 
 
 linhteous and doing righteousness. In your heart 
 
 and life it will become manifest where you dwell; 
 
 I abiding in Jesus Christ, the Eighteous One, you 
 
 will share His position, His character, and His 
 
 lilessedness : 'Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest 
 
 initiuity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed 
 
 lliee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' 
 
 •loy and gladness above measure will be your 
 
 jiurtion. 
 
 . i 119 
 
G4 
 
 ABIDE in CUlilbT : 
 
 j"' ' 
 
 Ninth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, , 
 
 ] ^s 20ur ^anctification* ,; 
 
 ' Of God nre ye in Christ Jt'sus, vho was made unto us wisdom 
 from Clod, Imtli ri^ditt'iiusiioss and kanctu-'ICATIuN, and redump- 
 tion.'-— 1 Colt. i. 30 (11. V. marij.). 
 
 ' T)AUL, unto the Church of God \vhich is at 
 J- Corinth, to tliciii that are sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus, called to he ,saiufs;' — thus the chapter opens 
 in whieli we are tauj^ht that Christ is our sanctifica- 
 tion. In the Old Testament, helievers were called 
 the righteous ; in the New Testament they are 
 called saints, the holy ones, sanctified in Christ 
 Jesus. Holy is higher than righteous.^ Holy in 
 God has reference to His inmost being ; righteous, 
 to His dealings with His creatures. In man, 
 righteousness is but a stepping-stone to holiness. 
 It is in this he can approach most near to the 
 perfection of God (comp. Matt. v. 48 ; 1 Pet. i. 16). 
 In the Old Testament righteousness was found, 
 while holiness was only typified ; in Jesus Christ, 
 
 * • Holiness may be called spiritual perfection, as righteousness is 
 legal completeness.' — Gud'n Way of Ilolincss, by H. liouar, D.D., 
 p. 148. 
 
AS YOUR SAMCTIFIOATION. 
 
 65 
 
 the Holy One, and in His people, His saints or 
 lioly ones, it is first realized. 
 
 As in Scripture, and in our text, so in personal 
 experience righteousness precedes holiness. When 
 first the believer finds Christ as his righteousness, 
 lie has such joy in the new-made discovery that 
 the study of holiness hardly has a place. But as 
 he grows, the desire for holiness makes itself felt, 
 and he seeks to know what provision his God 
 lias made for supplying that need. A superficial 
 ac(iuaintance with God's plan leads to the view 
 iliat while justification is God's work, by faith in 
 Clirist, sanctification is our work, to be performed 
 under the influence of the gratitude we feel for the 
 deliverance we have experienced, and by the aid of 
 the Holy Spirit. But the earnest Christian soon 
 finds how little gratitude can supply the power. 
 When he thinks that more prayer will bring it, he 
 finds that, indispensable as prayer is, it is not 
 enough. Often the believer struggles hopelessly 
 f(jr years, until he listens to the teaching of the 
 Spirit, as He glorifies Christ again, and reveals 
 Christ our sanctification, to be appropriated by 
 ^ iione. 
 
 _hrist is l ade of God unto us sanctification. 
 .. lincF^ is the very nature of God, and that alone 
 is huly which God takes possession of and Jills 
 vHth Himself. God's ai ^wer to the question. How 
 sinful man could become holy ? is, * Christ, the 
 Holy One of God.* In Him, whom the Father 
 sanctified and sent int the world, God's holiness 
 
 £ 
 
 ^:i!: 
 
 \"'t 
 
 ij 
 
 I ' 
 
G6 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 was revealed incarnate, and brought within reach 
 of man. ' I sanctify myself for them, that they 
 also may be sanctified in truth.' There is no other 
 way of our becoming holy, but by becoming 
 partakers of the holiness of Christ.^ And there is 
 no other way of this taking place than by our 
 personal spiritual union with Him, so that through 
 His Holy Spirit His holy life flows into us. Of 
 God are ye in Christ, who is made unto us 
 sanctification. Abiding by faith in Christ our 
 sauctification is the simple secret of a holy life. The 
 measure of sanctification will depend on the measure 
 of abiding in Him; as the soul learns wholly to 
 abide in Christ, the promise is increasingly fulfilled 
 * Thj very God of peace sanctify you wholly.' 
 
 To illustrate this relation between the measure 
 of the abiding and the measure of sanctification 
 experienced, let us think of tlie grafting a tree, 
 that instructive symbol of our union to Jesus. 
 The illustration is suggf3stcd by the Saviour's 
 words, 'Make the tree good, and his fruit good.' 
 I can graft a tree so that only a single branch 
 bears good fruit, while many of the natural branches 
 remain, and bear their old rruit, — a type of believers 
 in whom a small part of the life is sanctified, but 
 in whom, from ignorance or other reasons, the 
 carnal life still in many respects has full dominion. 
 I can graft a tree so that every branch is cut off, 
 and the whole tree becomes renewed to bear good 
 fruit; and yet, unless I watch over the tendency 
 
 ^ See note from Marsl.all On Sanctificalion. 
 
'* ■ifFv^ 
 
 AS YOUR SANCTIFICATION, 
 
 67 
 
 of the stems to give sprouts, they may again rise 
 and grow strong, and, robbing the new graft of the 
 strength it needs, make it weak. Such are Christians 
 who, when apparently powerfully converted, forsake 
 all to follow Christ, and yet after a time, through 
 unwatclifulness, allow old habits to regain their 
 power, and whose Christian life and fruit are but 
 feeble. But if I want a tree wholly made good, I 
 take it when young, and, cutting the stem clean off 
 on the ground, T graft it just where it emerges 
 from the soil. I watch over every bud which th(^ 
 old nature could possibly put forth, until the How 
 of sap from the old roots into the new stem is so 
 complete that the old life has, as it were, been 
 entirely conquered and covered of the new. Here 
 1 have a tree entirely renewed, — emblem of the 
 Christian who has learnt in entire consecration to 
 surrender everything for Christ, and in a whole- 
 hearted faith wholly to abide in Him. 
 
 If, in this last case, tlie old tree were a reasonable 
 being, tliat could co-operate witli the gard3ner, what 
 would liis language be to it ? Would it not be this: 
 ' Yield now thyself entirely to this new nature witli 
 which I have invested thee ; repress every tendency 
 of the old nature to give buds or sprouts; let all 
 thy sap and all thy life-powers rise up into this 
 unift from yonder beautiful tree, which I have put 
 on thee ; so shalt thou bring forth sweet and mucli 
 fruit.' And the language of the tree to the gardenci' 
 would be : ' When thou graftest me, O spare not a 
 f^ingle branch ; let everything of the old self, even 
 
 
 Ik 
 
 m \ 
 
 
 4 
 
iLBIDE IN CHRIST , 
 
 the smallest bud, be destroyed, that I may no 
 longer live in my own, but in that other life that 
 was cut off and brought and put upon me, that I 
 might be wholly new and good.' And, once again, 
 could you afterwards ask the renewed tree, as it 
 was bearing abundant fruit, what it could say of 
 itself, its answer would be this : * In me, that is, in 
 my roots, there dwelleth no good thing. I am ever 
 inclined to evil ; the sap I collect from the soil is 
 in its nature corrupt, and ready to show itself in 
 bearing evil fruit. But just where the sap rises 
 into the sunshine to ripen into fruit, the wise 
 gardener hath clothed me with a new life, through 
 wliich my sap is purified, and all my powers are 
 renewed to the bringing forth of good fruit. I have 
 only to abide in that which I have received. He 
 cares for the immediate repression and removal of 
 every bud which the old nature still would put 
 forth.' 
 
 Cliristian, fear not to claim God's promises to 
 make thee holy. Listen not to the suggestion 
 that the corruption of thy old nature would render 
 holiness an impossibility. In thy flesh dwelleth 
 no good thing, and that flesh, though crucified with 
 Christ, is not yet dead, but will continually seek 
 to rise and lead thee to evil. But the Father is the 
 Husbandman. He hath grafted the life of Christ 
 on thy life. That holy life is mightier tlian thy 
 evil life ; under the watchful care of the Husband- 
 man, that new life can keep down the workings of 
 the evil life within thee. The evil nature is there, 
 
■■ "'i 
 
 AS YOUR SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 69 
 
 with its unchanged tendency to rise up and show 
 itself. But the new nature is there too, — the living 
 Christ, thy sanctification, is there, — and through 
 Him all thy powers can be sanctified as they rise 
 into life, and be made to bear fruit to the glory of 
 the Father. 
 
 And now, if you would live a holy life, abide in 
 Christ your sanctification. Look upon Him as the 
 Holy One of God, made man that He might com- 
 municate to us the holiness of God. Listen when 
 Scri[)ture teaches that there is within you a new 
 nature, a new man, created in Christ Jesus in 
 ri^liteousness and true holiness. Eemember that 
 this holy nature which is in you is singularly fitted 
 for living a holy life, .and performing all holy duties, 
 as inueh so as the old nature is for doing evil. 
 Understand that this holy nature within you hath 
 its root and life in Christ in heaven, and can only 
 grow and become strong as the intercourse between 
 it and its source is uninterrupted. And above all, 
 believe most confidently that Jesus Christ H'inself 
 cleliL;hts in maintaining that new nature within you, 
 and imparting to it His ov/n strength and wisdom 
 for its work. Let that faith lead you daily to the 
 surrender of all self-confidence, and the confession 
 of the utter corruption of all there is in you by 
 nature. Let it fill you with a quiet and assured 
 confidence that you are indeed able to do what the 
 Father expects of you as His child, under the 
 covenant of His grace, because you have Christ 
 strengthening you. Let it teach you to lay yourself 
 
 
 11 ■ 
 
 fl 
 
 I 
 

 
 ABIDE IN CilUlST : 
 
 and your services on the altar as spiritual sacrifices, 
 lioly and accejitable in His siglit, a sweet-smellin<; 
 savour. Look not upon a life of holiness as a strain 
 and an effort, but as the natural outgrowth of the 
 life of Christ within you. And let ever again a 
 quiet, hopeful, gladsome faith hold itself assured 
 that all you need for a holy life will most assuredly 
 be given you out of the holiness of Jesus. Tlius will 
 you understand and prove what it is to abide in 
 Christ our sanctification. 
 
 Note. 
 
 The thought that in tlie personal holiness of our 
 Lord a new holy nature was formed to be communi- 
 cated to us, and that we make use of it by faith, is 
 the central idea of Marshall's invaluable work, Tlic 
 Gospel Mystery of Sanctification : — 
 
 ' One great mystery is, that the holy frame and 
 disposition whereby our souls are furnished and 
 enabled for immediate practice of the law, must be 
 obtained by receiving it out of Christ's fulness, as a 
 tiling already iwepared and hroiiyht to an existence 
 for us in Christ, and treasured up in Him ; and that, 
 as we are justified by a righteousness wrought out 
 iu Christ, and imputed to us, so we are sanctified 
 by such an holy frame and qualification as arc first 
 wrought out and completed in Christ for us, and then 
 imparted to us. As our natural corruption was pro- 
 duced originally in the first Adam, and propagated 
 
ilL 
 
 AS YOUR SANCTIFICATION. 
 
 from him to us, so our new nature and holiness is 
 Jirst produced in ChHst, and derived from Him to 
 m, or, as it were, propagated. So that we are not 
 at all to work together with Christ in making or 
 producing that holy frame in us, but only to take it 
 to ourselves, and use it in our holy practice, as made 
 ready to our hands. Thus we have fellowship with 
 Christ, in receiving that holy frame of spirit that 
 was originally in Him ; for fellowship is where 
 several persons have the same things in common. 
 Tliis mystery is so great, that notwithstanding all 
 the light of the Gospel, we connnonly think that we 
 must get an holy frame by producing it anew in 
 ourselves, aud by pursuing it and working it out of 
 our own heart ' (see chap, iii.).^ 
 
 ' I have felt so strongly that the teaching of Marshall is jnst 
 what the Church needs to bring out clearly what the Scripture path 
 of holiness is, that I have prepared an abridgment (all in the 
 author's own words) of his work. By leaving out what was not essen- 
 tial to his argunient, and shortening when he ajtpeared diJFuse, I 
 liopcil to bring his book within reach of many who might never read 
 the liirger work. It is published by Nisbet & Co. under the title, 
 The Hiyhivay of Holiness. I cannot too earnestly uigo every 
 Btudent of theology, and of Scripture, and of the art of holy living, 
 to make himself master of the teaching of Mnrsliall's third, fourth, 
 aud twelfth chapters. 
 
 
 ■ x/A-f 
 
 im 
 
 :;|fo-.>| 
 
 ■; 11 
 
 ■■ m 
 
 { ' xVfel 
 
72 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 '> , M 
 
 < « ;■ ■ 
 
 /*.r ■> 
 
 Tenth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 3[j5 pur Ectfemptiom 
 
 ' Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made imto us wisdotn 
 from God, both righteousness and sanctitication, and bedemi'- 
 TiON.' — 1 Cor. i. 30 (R. V. marg.). 
 
 HERE we have the top of the ladder, reaching 
 into heaven, — the blessed end to which Christ 
 and life in Him is to lead. The word redemption, 
 though sometimes applied to our deliverance from 
 the guilt of sin, here refers to our complete and final 
 deliverance from all its consequences, when the 
 Redeemer's work shall become fully manifest, even 
 to the redemption of the body itself (comp. Rom. viii. 
 21-23 ; Eph. i. 14, iv. 30). The expression points 
 us to the highest glory to be hoped for in the future, 
 and therefore also to the highest blessing to be 
 enjoyed in the present in Christ. We have seen 
 how, as a prophet, Christ is our wisdom, revealing 
 to us God and His love, with the nature and con- 
 ditions of the salvation that love has prepared. As 
 a priest. He is our righteousness, restoring us to 
 right relations to God, and securing us His favour 
 and friendship. As a king, He is our sanctification, 
 
AB TOUR BKDEMPTION, 
 
 73 
 
 forming and guiding us into the obedience to the 
 Father's holy will. As these three offices work out 
 God's one purpose, the grand consummation will be 
 reached, the complete deliverance from sin and all 
 its effects be accomplished, and ransomed humanity 
 recjain all that it had ever lost. 
 
 Christ is made of God unto us Redemption. The 
 word invites us to look upon Jesus, not only as He 
 Uved on earth, teaching us by word and example, 
 as He died, to reconcile us with God, as He lives 
 again, a victorious King, rising to receive His crown, 
 but as, sitting at the right hand of God, He takes 
 again the glory which He had with the Father, before 
 the world began, and holds it there for us. It 
 consists in this, that there His human nature, yea. 
 His human body, freed from all the consequences of 
 sin to which He once had been exposed, is now 
 admitted to share the Divine glory. As Son of 
 man, He dwells on the throne and in the bosom of 
 the Father : the deliverance from what He had to 
 suffer from sin is complete and eternal. The com- 
 plete redemption is found embodied in His own 
 person : what He as man is and has in heaven is 
 the complete redemption. He is made of God to 
 us redemption. . ? .o; f ^ j > .7 *.■ w--,^,.^ 
 
 We are in Him as such. And the more intelli- 
 gently and believingly we abide in Him as our 
 redemption, the more shall we experience, even 
 here, of ' the powers of the world to come.' As our 
 communion with Him becomes more intimate and 
 intense, and we let the Holy Spirit reveal Him to 
 
 
 
 'i i 
 
 ►.* '11 i 
 
 '•fv '" 
 
74 
 
 ABIDE IN ClllilST : 
 
 US ill His heavenly glory, the more we realize how 
 the life in us is the life of One who sits upon the 
 tlirone of heaven. We feel tlie power of an endless 
 life working in us. We taste the eternal life. We 
 have the foretaste of the eternal glory. 
 
 The blessings flowing from abiding in Christ as 
 our redemption, are great. The soul is delivered 
 from all fear of death. There was a time when 
 even the Saviour feared death. But now no longer. 
 He has triumphed over death ; even His body has 
 entered into the glory. The believer who abides in 
 Christ as his full redemption, realizes even now his 
 s}»iritual victory over ^^eath. It becomes to him the 
 servant that removes ihe last rai^s of the old carnal 
 vesture, ere he be clothed upon with the new body 
 of glory. It carries the body to the grave, to lie 
 there as the seed wlience the new body will arise 
 the worthy companion of the gloritied spirit. The 
 resurrection of the body is no longer a barren 
 doctrine, but a living expectation, and even an 
 incipient e\i)crience, because the Spirit of Hini that 
 raised rJesus from the dead, dwells in the body as 
 the pledge that even our mortal bodies shall be 
 quickened (Rom. viii. 11-23). This faith exercises 
 its sanctifying inlluence in the willing surrender of 
 the sinful members of the body to be mortified and 
 completely subjected to the dominion of the Spirit, 
 as preparation for the time when the frail bod} 
 shall be changed and fashioned like to His glorious 
 body. 
 
 This full redemption of Christ as extending to 
 
AS YOUK REDEMPTION. 
 
 75 
 
 •ist as 
 ivered 
 when 
 longer, 
 ly has 
 ides in 
 ow hi.s 
 lim the 
 carnal 
 V body 
 , to lie 
 arise 
 The 
 barren 
 ^en an 
 ni that 
 )ody as 
 lall he 
 ereises 
 nder of 
 d and 
 Spirit, 
 1 bod} 
 lorious 
 
 ding to 
 
 llie body, has a depth of meaning not easily ex- 
 pressed. It was of man as a whole, soul and body, 
 that it is said that he was made in the image and 
 likeness of God, In the angels, God had created 
 spirits without material bodies ; in the creation of 
 the world, tliere was matter vvitliout spirit. Man 
 was to be the highest specimen of Divine art : the 
 (onibination in one being, of matter and spirit in 
 perfect harmony, as type of the most perfect union 
 l)etween God and His own creation. Sin entered 
 ill, and appeared to thwart the Divine plan : the 
 material obtained a fearful supremacy over the 
 spiritual. The Word was made Jltsh, the Divine 
 fidness received an embodiment in the humanity of 
 Christ, that the redemption might be a conr lete 
 and perfect one ; that the whole creation, which now 
 ^roanetli and travaileth in pain together, might be 
 delivered from the bondage of corrni)tion into the 
 liberty of the glory of the children of God. God's 
 purpose will not be accomplished, and Christ's glory 
 will not be manifested fully, until the body, witli 
 that whole of nature of which it is part and head, has 
 l»ef;n transfigured by the power of th(; spiritual life, 
 and made the transparent vesture for showing forth 
 the glory of the Infinite Spirit. Then only shall 
 we understand : ' Christ Jesus is made unto us 
 (complete) redemption.' 
 
 j\Ieantime we are tanght to believe : Of God are 
 ye in Christ, as your redemption. This is not 
 meant as a revelation, to be left to the future ; for the 
 full developnient of the Christian life, our present 
 
 I'i 
 
 r 
 
11 
 
 78 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST 
 
 abiding in Christ must seek to enter into and appro- 
 priate it. We do this as we learn to triumph over 
 death. "We do it as we learn to look upon Christ 
 as the Lord of our body, claiming its entire con- 
 secration, securing even here, if faith will claim 
 it (Mark xvi. 17, 18), victory over the terrible 
 dominion sin hath had in the body. "We do this as 
 we learn to look on all nature as part of the king- 
 dom of Christ, destined, even though it be through a 
 baptism of fire, to partake in His redemption. We 
 do it as we allow the powers of the coming world 
 to possess us, and to lift us up into a life in the 
 heavenly places, to enlarge our hearts and our views, 
 to anticipate, even here, the things which have never 
 entered into the heart of man to conceive. 
 
 Believer, abide in Christ as thy redemption. Let 
 this be the crown of thy Christian life. Seek it not 
 first or only, apart from the knowledge of Christ in 
 His other relations. But seek it truly as that to 
 which they are meant to lead thee up. Abide in 
 Christ as thy redemption. Nothing will fit thee 
 for this but faithfulness in the previous steps of 
 the Christian life. Abide in Him as thy wisdom, 
 the perfect revelation of all that God is and has for 
 thee. Follow, in the daily ordering of the inner and 
 the outer life, with meek docility His teaching, and 
 thou shalt be counted worthy to have secrets re- 
 vealed to thee which to most disciples are a sealed 
 book. The wisdom will lead thee into the mysteries 
 of complete redemption. Abide in Him as thy right- 
 eousness, and dwell clothed upon with Him in that 
 
AS TOXnt RBDEMPnON. 
 
 77 
 
 inner sanctuary of the Father's favour and presence 
 to which His righteousness gives thee access. As 
 tliou rejoicest in thy reconciliation, thou shalt under- 
 stand how it includes all things, and how they too 
 wait the full redemption ; ' for it pleased the Father 
 by Hira to reconcile all things unto Himself; by 
 Him, I say, whether they be things on earth or 
 tliiiijg's in heaven.* And abide in Him as thy 
 sanctification ; the experience of His power to make 
 tliee holy, spirit and soul and body, will quicken 
 thy faith in a holiness that shall not cease its work 
 until the bells of the horses and every pot in Jeru- 
 salem shall be Holiness to the Lord. Abide in Him 
 as tliy redemption, and live, even here, as the heir 
 of the future glory. And as thou seekest to experi 
 ence in thyself to the full, the power of His saving 
 grace, tliy heart shall be enlarged to realize the 
 position man has been destined to occupy in the 
 universe, as having all things made subject to him, 
 and thou shalt for thy part be fitted to live worthy 
 of that high and heavenly calling. 
 
 ''rl * ^ 
 
 ' H ^ 
 
 ■ 1 1* 
 
W^mt 
 
 78 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST t 
 
 E'LEVENTH Day. 
 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 Elie CrurifieU ©ne. 
 
 * I am crucified with Christ : nevertheless I live ; yet not I, l>ut 
 Christ livoth in nic'— Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 ' We have been planted together in the likeness of His death.' — 
 KoM. vi. 5. 
 
 * T AM crucified with Christ : ' Thus the apostlo 
 -■- expresses his assurance of his fellowship with 
 Christ in His sufferings and death, and his full 
 participation in all the power and the blessing of 
 that death. And so really did he mean what he 
 said, and know that he was now indeed dead, that 
 he adds : * It is no longer I that live, but Christ 
 that liveth in me.' How blessed must be the ex- 
 perience of such a union with the Lord Jesus ! 
 To be able to look upon His death as mine, just as 
 really as it was His, — upon His perfect obedience to 
 God, His victory over sin, and complete deliverance 
 from its power, as mine ; and to realize that the 
 power of that death does by faith work daily with 
 a Divine energy in mortifying the flesh, and renew- 
 ing the whole life into the perfect conformity to 
 the resurrection life of Jesus ! Abiding in Jesus, 
 
THE CRUCIFIED ONE. 
 
 79 
 
 the Crucified One, is the secret of the growth of that 
 new life which is ever begotteu of the death of 
 nature. 
 
 Let us try to understand this. The suggestive 
 expression, ' Planted into tlie likeness of His death/ 
 will teach us what the abiding in the Crucified One 
 means. When a graft is united with the stuck on 
 which it is to grow, we know that it must be kept 
 fixed, it must abide in the place where the stock 
 has been cut, been wounded, to make an opening 
 to receive the graft. No graft without wounding, — 
 the laying bare and opening up of the inner life of 
 the tree to receive the stranger branch. It is only 
 througii such wounding that access can be obtained 
 
 10 tlie fellowship of the sap and the growth and the 
 life of the stronger stem. 'iVen so with Jesus and 
 the sinner. Only when we are planted into the 
 likeness of His death shall we also be in the like- 
 ness of His resurrection, partakers of the life and 
 the power there are in Him. In the death of the 
 (TOSS Christ was wounded, and in His opened wounds 
 
 11 place prepared where we might be grafted in. 
 And just as one miglit say to a graft, and does 
 [jractically say as it is fixed in its place, 'Abide 
 here in the wound of tlie stem, that is now Lo bear 
 thee ; * so to the believing soul the message comes, 
 ' Abide in the wounds of Jesus ; there is the place 
 of union, and life, and growth. There thou shalt 
 see how His heart was opened to receive thee ; how 
 His flesh was rent that the v,-^' might be opened 
 
 for thy 
 
 being 
 
 made one with ji, and having 
 
 111 
 
 lit: 
 
 mm I 
 
 1^1$,: V 
 
80 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 access to all the blessings flowing from His Divine 
 nature,' 
 
 You have also noticed how the graft has to be 
 torn away from the tree where it by nature grew, 
 and to be cut into conformity to the place prepared 
 for it in the wounded stem. Even so the believer 
 has to be made conformable to Christ's death, — to 
 be crucified and to die with Him. The wounded 
 stem and tlie v/ounded graft are cut to fit into each 
 otlier, into each other's likeness. There is a fellow- 
 sliip between Christ's sufferhigs and thy sufferings. 
 Hib experiences must become thine. The disposition 
 He manifested in choosing and bearing the cross 
 must be thine. Like ^liin, thou wilt have to give 
 full assent to the righteous judgment and curse of a 
 holy God against sin. Like Him, thou hast to con- 
 sent to yield thy life, as laden with siji and curse, to 
 death, and through it to pass to the new life. Like 
 Him, thou slialt experience that it is only through 
 the liclf-sacritice of Gethsemane and Calvary that the 
 path is to be f(»und to the joy and tlie fruit-bearing 
 of the resurrection life. The more clear the re- 
 sembhmce between the wounded stem and the 
 wounded graft, the more exactly their wounds fit 
 into each other, tlie surer and the easier, and the 
 more complete will be the union and the growth. 
 
 It is in Jesus, the Crucified One, I i)>ust al)ide. 
 I must learn to look u])()n the Cross as not only an 
 atonement to God, Init also a victory over the devil, 
 — not only a deliNcrance from the guilt, but also 
 from the power of sin. T nmst gaze on Him on the 
 Cross as wholly mine, ofl'ering Himself to receive 
 
THE CRUCIFIED ONE. 
 
 81 
 
 mt into the closest union and fellowship, and to 
 iiiiike me partaker of the full power of His death 
 to sin, and the new life of victory to which it is 
 hut the gateway. I must yield myself to Him in 
 ail undivided surrender, with much prayer and 
 strong desire, imploring to be admitted into the ever 
 closer fellowship and conformity of His death, of the 
 Spirit in which He died that death. 
 
 Let me try and understand why the Cross is 
 thus the place of union. On the Cross the Son of God 
 enters into the fullest union with man — enters into 
 tlie fullest experience of what it says to have become 
 a son of man, a member of a race mider tlie curse. 
 It is in death that the Prince of life conquers the 
 power of death ; it is in death alone that He can 
 make me partaker of that victory. The life He 
 imparts is a life from the dead ; each new experi- 
 ence of th(? power of that life depends upon the 
 fellowship of the death. The death and the life are 
 inseparable. All the grace which Jesus tlie Saving 
 One gives is given only in the path of fellowship 
 with Jesus the Crucified One. Christ came and 
 took my place ; I must put myself in His place, 
 and abide there. And there is but one place 
 whicli is both His and mine, — that place is the 
 Cross. His in virtue of His free choice ; mine 
 by reason of the curse of sin. He came there to 
 seek me ; there alone I can find Him. Wh.eii He 
 found me there, it v;as the place of cursing; this 
 He experienced, for 'cursed is every one tliat 
 haugclii on a tree.' He nuide it a place of blessing ; 
 
 I? 
 
82 
 
 ABIDE IN CilBIST : 
 
 this I experience, for Christ hath delivered us from 
 the curse, being made a curse for us. When Christ 
 comes in my place, He remains what He was, the 
 beloved of the Father; but in the fellowship witli 
 me He shares my curse and dies my death. When 
 I stand in His place, which is still always mine, I 
 am still wliat I was by nature, the accursed one, 
 who deserves to die ; but as united to Him, I share 
 His blessing, and receive His life. When He came 
 to be one with me He could not avoid the Cross, 
 for the curse always points to the Cross as its end 
 and fruit. And when I seek to be one with Him, 
 I cannot avoid the Cross either, for nowhere but 
 on the Cross are life and deliverance to be found. 
 As inevitably as my curse pointed Him to the 
 Cross as the only place where He could be fully 
 united to me, His blessing points me to the Cross 
 too as the only place where I can be united to 
 Him. He took my cross for His own ; I must 
 take His Cross as n.y own ; I must be crucified 
 with Him. It is as I abide daily, deeply in Jesus 
 the Crucified One, that I ''hall taste the sweetness of 
 His love, the power of His life, the completeness 
 of His salvation. 
 
 Beloved believer ! it is a deep mystery, this ( f 
 the Cross of Christ. I fear there are many Chris- 
 tians who are content to look upon the Cross, witli 
 Christ on it dying for their sins, who have little 
 heart for fellowship with the Crucified One. They 
 hardly know that He invites them to it. Or they 
 are content to consider the ordinary alilictions of 
 
 ^V 
 
 tlia 
 life 
 as ii 
 
THE CRUCIFIED ONE. 
 
 83 
 
 life, which the children of the world often have 
 as much as they, as their share of Christ's Cross. 
 Tliey have no conception of what it is to be crucified 
 with Christ, that bearing the cross means likeness 
 to Christ in the principles which animated Him in 
 His path of obedience. The entire surrender of 
 all self-will, < ' complete denial to the tlesh of its 
 every de.sirc and pleasure, the perfect separation 
 froiJi the world in all its ways of thinking and 
 acting, the losing aii^ hating of one's life, the giving 
 up of self and its inteiests for the sake of others, 
 — this is the disposition which marks him who 
 has taken up T^r.-ist's Cross, who seeks to say, ' I 
 am crucified .■ i li Christ; I abide in Christ, the 
 Crii(::ilied One.' 
 
 Wouldest thou in very deed please thy Lord, 
 and live in as close fellowship with Him as His 
 grace could maintain thee in, pray that His 
 spirit hiad thee into this blessed truth : this secret 
 of the Lord for them that fear Him. We know 
 how Peter knew and confessed Christ as the Son 
 of the living God while the Cross was still an 
 ollence (Mutt. xvi. 16, 17, 21, 23). The faith 
 tliat believes in the blood that pardons, and the 
 life that renews, can only reach its perfect growth 
 as it aliides beneath the (Jfoss, and in living fellow- 
 siiip with Him seeks for perfect conformity with 
 ..Tesus tlie Crucified. 
 
 Jesus, our crucified liedecmer, teach us 
 not only to believe on Thee, but to abide in Thee, 
 to take Thy Cross not only as the ground of our 
 
 ■■ r 
 
 
 '■' t 
 
 i i(| 
 
 !». 
 
84 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIKIST : 
 
 pardon, but also as the law of our life. teacli us 
 to love it not only because on it Thou didst bear 
 our curs(;, but because on it we enter into the 
 closest fellowship with Thyself, and are crucified 
 with Thee. And teach us, that as we yield our- 
 selves wholly to be possessed of the Spirit in wliich 
 Thou didst bear the Cross, we shall 1k' made par- 
 takers of the power and the blessing to which the 
 Cross alone gives access. 
 

 GOD HIMSELF WILL STABLISII YOU IN UIM. 85 
 
 Twelfth Day. 
 
 -0 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 CHotJ Jjimself bjill stablis!) ^m in Wm. 
 
 ' He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, is God. ' — 
 
 2 Cou. i. 21. 
 
 rpiTESE words of raiil teach us a mucli needed 
 "■- and most blessed truth, — that just as our first 
 hciiiLT united with Christ was the work of Divine 
 oiiinipotence, so we may look to the Father, too, for 
 licing kept and heing fixed more firmly in Him. 
 'The Lord will perfect that which coucerneth me ;' 
 — this expression of confidence should ever accom- 
 pany the prayer, 'Forsake not the work of Thine 
 own hands.' In all his longings and prayvrs to 
 attain to a deeper and more perfect abiding in Christ, 
 the believer must hold fast his conti<lence : * He 
 wliich hath begun a good work in you, will [» rform 
 it until the day of Jesus Christ.' There is nothing 
 tliat will so lu'l]) to root and -round him in Christ 
 as this faith : ' He which stablisheth us in Christ is 
 God.' 
 
 How many there are who can witness that this 
 faith is just what tluy need ! They continually 
 
86 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST ! 
 
 mourn over the variableness of their spiritual life. 
 Sometimes ther*^ are hours and days of deep earnest- 
 ness, and even o': blessed experience of the grace of 
 God. liut how little is needed to mar their peace, 
 to l)riiig a cloud over the soul ! And then, how 
 their faith is shaken ! All efforts to regain their 
 standing appear utterly fruitless ; and neitlier solemn 
 vows, nor watching and prayer, avail to restore to 
 them the peace tliey for a while had tasted. Could 
 they but understand how just their own efforts are 
 the cause of their failure, because it is God alone 
 who can estal)lisli us in Clirist Jesus. They would 
 see that just as in justification they liad to cease 
 from their own working, and to accept in faith the 
 promise that God would give tliem life in Christ, so 
 now, in the matter of tlieir sanctification, their first 
 need is to ccas^e from striving themf<r]ijes to establish 
 the connection with Christ more firmly, and to alloir 
 God to do it. * God is faitliful, by whom ye were 
 called unto the fellowsliip of His Son Jesus Christ.' 
 What they need is the sim])le faith that the stablish- 
 ing in Christ, day by day, is Gv>d's work, — a work 
 that He delights to do, in spite of all our weakness 
 and unfaitlifulness, if we will but trust Him for it. 
 To tlie blessedness of such a faith, and the experi- 
 ence it briTsgs, many can testify. What peace and 
 rest, to know tliat there is a Hu?" andman who cares 
 for the branch, to see that it grows stronger, and 
 that its utiion with the Vine Incomes more perfect, 
 who watches over every hindrance and danger, 
 •^ho supplies every needed aM ' What peace and 
 
GOD HIMSELF WILL STABLISH YOU IN HIM. 87 
 
 rest, fully and finally to give up our abiding into 
 the care of God, and never have a wish or thought, 
 never to offer a prayer or engage in an exercise 
 connected with it, without first having the glad 
 remembrance that what we do is only the manifesta- 
 tion oi vvhat God is doing in us ! The establishing in 
 Christ is His work : He accomplishes it by stirring 
 us to watch, and wait, and work. But this He can 
 do with power only as we cease interrupting Hira 
 liy our self- working, — as we accept in failh the 
 (Itpendent posture which honours Him and opens 
 tlie heart to let Him work. How such a faith frees 
 the soul from care and responsibility ! In the midst 
 of the rusli and bustle of the world's stirring life, 
 iimid the subtle and ceaseless temptations of sin, 
 amid all the daily cares and trials that so easily 
 distract and lead to failure, how blessed it would be 
 to be an established Christian — always abiding in 
 Christ ! How blessed even to have the faith that 
 • tiie can surely become it, — that the attainment is 
 within our reach ! 
 
 Dear believer, the Ijlessing is indeed within your 
 reach. He that stablisheth you with us in Christ 
 '/s God. What I want you to take in is this, — that 
 It'lieving this promise will not only give you com- 
 fort, but will be tlie means of your obtaining your 
 desire. You know how Scripture teaches us that 
 in all God's leadings of His people faith has every- 
 where beeu the one condition of the manifestation 
 f His power. Faith is the ceasing from all nature's 
 ttibrts, and all other dependence ; faith is confessed 
 
88 
 
 AUIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 helplessness casting itself upon CJcxVs promise, and 
 cliiiniing its fulfilment ; faith is the putting ourselves 
 quietly into Clod's hands for Ilim to do His work. 
 What you and I need now is to take time, until this 
 truth stands out before us in all its sjnritual l)right- 
 ness: It is God Almiglity, God the Faithful and 
 Gracious One, who has undertaken to stablisli me in 
 Christ Jesus. 
 
 Listen to wluit the Word teaches you : — * The 
 Lord shall estahlisk thee an holy people unto Him- 
 self ; ' '0 Lord God, staUish their heart unto 
 Thee;' 'Thy God loved Israel, to establish them for 
 ever ; ' ' Thou wilt estahlish the heart of the humble;' 
 * Now to Him that is of power to establish you, be 
 glory for ever ; ' ' To the end He may establish your 
 hearts unblavieable in holiness ; ' ' The Lord is faith- 
 ful, who shall stablish you and keep you from all 
 evil;' *Tlie God of all grace, who hath called us in 
 Christ Jesus, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, 
 settle you.' Can you take these words to lui^an 
 anything less than that you too — however fitful 
 your spiritual life has hitherto been, however un- 
 favourable your natural character or your circum- 
 stances may appear — can be established in Christ 
 Jesus, — can become an established Christian ? Let 
 us but take time to listen, in simple childlike teach- 
 ableness, to these words as the truth of God, and the 
 confidence will come : As surely as I am in Christ, 
 I shall also, day by day, be established in Him. 
 
 The lesson appears so simple ; and yet the most 
 of us take so long to learn it. The chief reason is, 
 
GOD HIMSELF WILL STABLISH YOU IN HIM. 89 
 
 tliiiL the grace the promise offers is so large, so God- 
 Hke, so beyond all our thoughts, that we do not 
 take it really to mean what it says. The believer 
 who has once come to see and accept what it 
 brings, can bear witness to the wonderful change 
 there comes over the spiritual life. Hitherto he had 
 taken charge of his own welfare ; now he has a God 
 t<» take charge of it. He now knows liimself to be 
 ill llie school of (l(»d, a tcaclier wlio plans the whole 
 course of study for each of His pu}»ils with infinite 
 wisdom, and delights to have them come daily for 
 the lessons He has to give. All he asks is to feel 
 liimself constantly in God's hands, and to follow His 
 uuidance, neither lagging behind nor going before, 
 liemembering that it is God who worketh both to 
 will and to do, he sees his only safety to be in yielding 
 himself to God's working. He lays aside all anxiety 
 about his inner life and its growth, because the 
 Father is the Husbandman under whose wise and 
 watchful care each plant is well secured. He knows 
 that there is the prosjiect of a most blessed life of 
 strength and fruitfulness to every one who will take 
 God alone and wholly as his hope. 
 
 Believer, you cannot but admit that such a life 
 of trust must be a most blessed one. You say, per- 
 haps, that tliere are times when you do, with your 
 whole heart, consent to this way of living, and do 
 wholly abandon the care of your inner life to your 
 Father. But somehow it does not last. You forget 
 again ; and instead of beginning each morning with 
 the joyous transference of all the needs and cares of 
 
 ! 
 
 1 J 
 
90 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIUIST: 
 
 your spiritual life to the Father's char^^'e, you again 
 feel anxious, and burdened, and helpless. Is it not, 
 perhaps, my brother, because you have not committed 
 to the Father's care this matter of daily rememljering 
 to renew your entire surrender ? Memory is one of 
 the highest powers in our nature. By it day is 
 linked to day, the unity of life tlirough all our years 
 is kept up, and we know that we are still ourselves. 
 In the spiritual life, recollection is of infinite value. 
 For the sanctifying of our memory, in the service 
 of our spiritual life, God has provided most beauti- 
 fully. The Holy Spirit is the remembrancer, 
 tlie Spirit of recollection. Jesus said, ' He shidl 
 bring all tilings to your remembrance.' * He which 
 stallisheth us with you in Christ is God, who hath 
 also sealed us, and (jivcn the earnest of the Spirit in 
 our hearts. It is just for the stablishing that the 
 Holv Eemembrancer has been given. God's blessed 
 promises, and your unceasing acts of faith and 
 surrender accepting of them, — He will enable you 
 to remember these each day. The Holy Spirit is — 
 blessed be God — the memory of the new man. 
 
 Apply this to the promise of the text : ' He that 
 stablisheth us in Christ is God.* As you now, at 
 this moment, abandon all anxiety about your growth 
 and progress to the God who has undertaken to 
 stablish you in the Vine, and feel what a joy it is to 
 know that God akne has charge, ask and trust Him 
 by the Holy Spirit ever to remind you of ihis your 
 blessed relation to Him. He will do it ; and with 
 each new morning your faith may grow stronger 
 
GOD HIMSELF WILL STABLISII YOU IN HIM. 91 
 
 and brighter : I have a God to see that each day I 
 become more firmly united to Christ. 
 
 And now, beloved fellow-believer, * the God of all 
 gnice, who hath called us in Christ Jesus, make you 
 Ihrfi'ct, stablish, strem/then, settle you* What more 
 can you desire ? Expect it confidently, ask it 
 fervently. Count on God to do His work. And 
 learn in faith to sing the song, the notes of which 
 each new experience will make deeper and sweeter : 
 ' Now to Him, that is of power to establish you, be 
 dory for ever. Amen.' Yes, glory to God, who 
 hiis undertaken to establish us in Christ 1 
 
 
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92 
 
 ▲BIDS IN ohbist: 
 
 Thirteenth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 if bets iHoment 
 
 ' In fhat day siug ye unto her, A yineyard of red wine. I the 
 Lord do keep it ; I vrill water it every moment : lest any hurt it, 
 I will keep it uight 'nd day.' — Isa. zxviL 2, 8. 
 
 rpHE vineyard waa tha symbol of the people of 
 •*- Israel, in whose midst the True Vine was to 
 stand. The branch is the symbol of the individual 
 believer, \; ho stands in the Vine. The song of the 
 vineyard is also the song of the Vine and its every 
 branch. The command still goes forth to the 
 watchers of the vineyard, — would that they obeyed 
 it, and sang till every feeble-hearted believer had 
 learned and joined the joyful strain, — ' Sing ye unto 
 her : I, Jehovah, do keep it ; I will water it every 
 moment : lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and 
 day.' 
 
 What an answer from the mouth of God Him- 
 self to the question so often asked : Is it possible 
 for the believer always to abide in Jesus ? Is a 
 life of unbroken fellowship with the Son of God 
 indeed attainable here in this earthly life ? Truly 
 not^ if the abiding is our work, to be done in our 
 
EVERY MOMENT. 
 
 93 
 
 strength. But the things that are impossible with 
 men are possible with God. If the Lord Himself 
 will keep the soul night and day, yea, will watch 
 and water it every moment, then surely the un- 
 inttrnipted communion with Jesub becomes a 
 ])k'.ssed possibility to those who can trust God to 
 mean and to do what He says. Then surely the 
 abiding of the branch of the vine day and night, 
 summer and winter, in a never-ceasing life-fellow- 
 ship, is nothing less than the simple but certain 
 promise of your abiding in your Lord. 
 
 In one sense, it is true, there is no believer who 
 does not always abide in Jesus ; without this there 
 could not be true life. ' If a man abide not in me, 
 he is cast forth.' But when the Saviour gives tlie 
 command, * Abide in me,* with the promise, ' He that 
 abiJeth in me bringeth forth much fruit,' He speaks 
 of that willing, intelligent, and whole-hearted sur- 
 render by which we accept His offer, and consent 
 to the abiding in Him as the only life we choose 
 or seek. The objections raised against our right to 
 expect that we shall always be able thus voluntarily 
 and consciously to abide in Jesus are chiefly two. 
 
 The one is derived from the nature of man. It 
 is said that our limited powers prevent our being 
 occupied with two things at the same moment. 
 God's providence places many Christians in busi- 
 ness, where for hours at a time the closest attention 
 is required to the work they have to do. How can 
 such a man, it is asked, with his whole mind in 
 the work he has to do, be at the same time occupied 
 
[P -^rilTT"™" 
 
 11 
 
 94 
 
 ABIDB m CHBIST : 
 
 with Christy and keeping up fellowship with Him f 
 The consciouaness of abiding in Jesus is regarded 
 as requiring such a strain, and such a direct occupa- 
 tion of the mind with heavenly thoughts, that to 
 enjoy the blessing would imply a withdrawing of 
 oneself from all the ordinary avocations of life. 
 This is the same error as drove the first monks into 
 the wilderness. 
 
 Blessed be Qod, there is no necessity for such a 
 going out of the world. Abiding in Jesus is not 
 a work that needs each moment the mind to be 
 engaged, or the affections to be directly and actively 
 occupied with it It is an entrusting of oneself 
 to the keeping of the Eternal Love, in the faith that 
 it will abide near us, and with its holy presence 
 watch over us and ward off the evil, even when we 
 have to be most intently occupied with other 
 things. And so the heart has rest and peace and 
 joy in the consciousness of being kept when it 
 cannot keep itself. 
 
 In ordinary life, we have abundant illustration of 
 the influence of a supreme affection reigning in and 
 guarding the soul, while the mind concentrates 
 itself on work that requires its whole attentioa 
 Think of the father of a family, separated for a 
 time from his home, that he may secure for his 
 loved ones what they need. He loves his wife and 
 children, and longs much to return to them. There 
 may be hours of intense occupation when he has 
 not a moment to think of them, and yet his love is 
 aa deep and real as when he can call up their 
 
EVERY MOMENT. 
 
 95 
 
 images; all the while his love and the hope of 
 making them happy urge him on, and fill him 
 with a secret joy in his work. Think of a king : 
 in the midst of work, and pleasure, and trial, he all 
 the wliile acts under the secret influence of the 
 consciousness of royalty, even while he does not 
 think of it. A loving wife and mother never for 
 one moment loses the sense of her relation to the 
 husband and children : the consciousness and the 
 love are there, amid all her engagements. And 
 shall it be thought impossible for the Everlasting 
 Love so to take and keep possession of our spirits, 
 that we too shall never for a moment loje the secret 
 consciousness : We are in Christ, kept in Him by 
 His almighty power. Oh, it is possible ; we can 
 be sure it is. Our abiding in Jesus is even more 
 than a fellowship of love, — it is a fellowship of life. 
 In work or in rest, the consciousness of life never 
 leaves us. And even so can the mighty power of 
 the Eternal Life maintain within us the consciousness 
 of its presence. Or rather, Christ, who is our life. 
 Himself dwells within us, and by His presence 
 maintains our consciousness that we are in Him. 
 
 The second objection has reference to our sinful- 
 ness. Christians are so accustomed to look upon 
 sinning daily as something absolutely inevitable, 
 that they regard it as a matter of course that no 
 one can keep up abiding fellowship with the 
 Saviour : we must sometimes be unfaithful and fail. 
 As if it was not just because we have a nature 
 which is naught but a very fountain of sin, that the 
 
aa 
 
 ABIDE IN GHBIST : 
 
 abiding in Christ has been ordained for us as our 
 only but our sufficient deliverance I As if it were 
 not the Heavenly Vino, the living, loving Christ, 
 in whom we have to abide, and whose almighty 
 power to hold us fast is to be the measure of oui- 
 expectations ! As if He would give us the command, 
 
 * Abide in me,' Nvithout securing the grace and the 
 power to enable us to perform it ! As if, above all, 
 we had not the Father as the Husbandman to keep 
 us from falling, and that not in a large and general 
 sense, but according to His own precious promise : 
 
 * Night and day, every moment ' ! Oh, if we will 
 but look . to our God as the Keeper of Israel, of 
 whom it is said, ' Jehovah shall keep thee from all 
 evil ; He shall keep thy soul,' we shall learn to 
 believe that conscious abiding in Christ every 
 moment, night and day, is indeed what God has 
 prepared for them that love Him. 
 
 My beloved fellow-Christians, let nothing less 
 than this be your aim. I know well that you may 
 not find it easy of attainment ; that there may 
 come more than one hour of weary struggle and 
 bitter failure. Were the Church of Christ what it 
 should be, — were older believers to younger con- 
 verts what they should be, witnesses to God's 
 faithfulness, like Caleb and Joshua, encouraging 
 thei'' brethren to go up and possess the land with 
 their, * We are well able to overcome ; if the Lord 
 delight in us, then He will bring us into this land,' 
 — were the atmosphere which the young believer 
 breathes as he enters the fellowship of the saints 
 
EVERY MOMENT. 
 
 9*7 
 
 that of a healthy, trustful, joyful consecration, 
 abiding in Christ would come as the natural out- 
 growth of being in Him. But in the sickly state 
 in which such a great part of the body is, souls 
 that are pressing after this blessing are sorely 
 hindered by the depressing influence of the thought 
 and the life around them. It is not to discourage 
 that I suy this, but to warn, and to urge to a more 
 entire casting of ourselves upon the word of God 
 Himself. There may come more than one hour in 
 which thou art ready to yield to despair; but be 
 of good courage. Only believe. He who has put 
 the blessing within thy reach will assuredly lead to 
 its possession. 
 
 The way in which souls enter into the possession 
 may differ. To some it maj'^ come as the gift of 
 a moment. In times of re/ivfil, in the fellowship 
 with other believers in whom the Spirit is working 
 effectually, under the leading of some servant of 
 CJod who can guide, and sometimes in solitude too, 
 it is as if all at once a new revelation comes upon 
 the soul. It sees, as in the light of heaven, the 
 strong Vine holding and bearing the feeble branches 
 so securely, that doubt becomes impossible. It 
 can only wonder how it ever could have understood 
 tlie words to mean aught else than this : To abide 
 unceasingly in Christ is the portion of every 
 believer. It sees it; and to believe, and rejoice, 
 and love, come as of itself. 
 
 To others it comes by a slower and more difficult 
 path. Day by day, amid discouragement and 
 
 G 
 
 ^■1 
 

 n 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 difficulty, the soul has to press forward. Be of 
 good cheer ; this way too leads to the rest. Seek 
 but to keep thy heart set upon the promise : ' I thb 
 Lord do keep it, night and day.' Take from His 
 own lips the watchword : * Every moment.* In that 
 thou hast the law of His love, and the law of thy 
 hope. Be content with nothing less. Think no 
 longer that the duties and the cares, that the 
 sorrows and the sins of this life must succeed in 
 hindering the abiding life of fellowship. Take 
 rather for the rule of thy daily experience the 
 language of faith : I am persuaded that neither 
 death with its fears, nor life with its cares, nor 
 things present with their pressing claims, nor 
 things to come with their dark shadows, nor height 
 of joy, nor depth of sorrow, nor any other creature, 
 shall be able, for one single moment, to separate us 
 from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord, and in which He is teaching me to abide. 
 If things look dark and faith would fail, sing again 
 the song of the vineyard : * I the Lord do keep it ; 
 I will water it every moment : lest any hurt it, I 
 will keep it night and day.' And be assured that, 
 if Jehovah keep the branch night and day, and 
 water it every moment, a life of continuous and 
 unbroken fellowship with Christ is indeed our 
 privilege. 
 
 lij 
 
DAY BY DAY. 
 
 99 
 
 Fourteenth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 Bag h^ lBas« 
 
 * And the people shall go ont and gather the portion of a day in 
 his day.' — Ex. xvi. 4 {marg.), 
 
 ^HE day's portion in Us day : Such was the rule 
 for God's giving and man's working in the 
 ingathering of the manna. It is still the law in all 
 the dealings of God's grace with His children. A 
 clear insight into the beauty and application of this 
 arrangement is a wonderful help in understanding 
 how one, who feels himself utterly weak, can 
 have the confidence and the perseverance to hold 
 on brightly through all the years of his earthly 
 course. A doctor was once asked by a patient who 
 had met with a serious accident : ' Doctor, how long 
 shall I have to lie here ? * The answer, ' Only a day 
 at a time,' taught the patient a precious lesson. 
 It was the same lesson God had recorded for His 
 people of all ages long before : The day's portion 
 in its day. 
 
 It was, without doubt, with a view to this, 
 and to meet man's weakness, that God graciously 
 
■ 
 
 1 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 1 
 
 li 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 100 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 appointed the change of day and night. If time 
 had been given to man in the form of one long 
 unbroken day, it would have exhausted and over- 
 whelmed him ; the change of day and night con- 
 tinually recruits and recreates his powers. As a 
 child, who easily makes himself master of a book, 
 when each day only the lesson for the day is given 
 him, would be utterly hopeless if the whole book 
 were given him at once ; so it would be with man, 
 if there were no divisions in time. Broken small 
 and divided into fragments, he can bear them ; only 
 the care and the work of each day have to be 
 undertaken, — the day's portion in its day. The rest 
 of the night fits him for making a fresh start with 
 each new morning ; the mistakes of the past can be 
 avoided, its lessons improved. And he has only 
 each day to be faithful for the one short day, and 
 long years and a long life take care of themselves, 
 without the sense of their length or their weight 
 ever being a burden. 
 
 Most sweet is the encouragement to be derived 
 from this truth in the life of grace. Many a soul 
 is disquieted with the thought as to how it will be 
 able to gather and to keep the manna needed for all 
 its years of travel through such a barren wilder- 
 ness. It has never learnt what unspeakable comfort 
 there is in the word : The day's portion for its day. 
 That word takes away all care for the morrow most 
 completely. Only to-day is thine; to-morrow is 
 the Father's. The question: What security thou 
 hast that during all the years in which thou hast to 
 
 n ! 
 
 ill 
 
DAY BY DAT. 
 
 101 
 
 contend with the coldness, or temptations, or trials 
 of the world, thou wilt always ahide in Jesus 1 is one 
 tliou needest, yea, thou may est not ask. Manna, as 
 thy food and strength, is given only by the day ; 
 faithfully to fill the present is thy cn»y security for 
 the future. Accept, and enjoy, and fulfil with thy 
 whole heart the part thou hast this day to perform. 
 His presence and grace enjoyed to-day will remove 
 uU doubt whether thou canst entrust the morrow to 
 Him too. 
 
 How great the value which this truth teaches us 
 to attach to each single day ! We are so easily led 
 to look at life as a great whole, and to neglect the 
 little to-day, to forget that the single days do 
 indeed make up the whole, and that the value of 
 each single day depends on its influence on the 
 whole. One day lost is a link broken in the chain, 
 which it often takes more than another day to 
 mend. One day lost influences the next, and 
 makes its keeping more difficult. Yea, one day 
 lost may be the loss of what months or years of 
 careful labour had secured. The experience of 
 many a believer could confirm this. 
 
 Believer! would you abide in Jesus, let it be 
 day by day. You have already heard the message. 
 Moment by moment ; the lesson of day by day has 
 something more to teach. Of the moments there 
 are many where there is no direct exercise of the 
 mind on your part; the abiding is in the deeper 
 recesses of the heart, kept by the Father, to whom 
 you entrusted yourself. But just this is the work 
 
 ni 
 
 
102 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIHIST: 
 
 II 
 
 Ui 
 
 that with each new day has to be renewed for the 
 day, — the distinct renewal of surrender and trust 
 for tlie life of moment by moment. God has 
 gathered up the moments and bound them up into 
 a bundle, for the very purpose that we might take 
 measure of them. As we look forward in the 
 morning, or look back in the evening, and weigh 
 the moments, we learn how to value and how to use 
 them rightly. And even as the Father, with each 
 new morning, meets you with the promise of just 
 sufficient manna for the day for yourself and those 
 who have to partake with you, meet Him with the 
 bright and loving renewal of your acceptance of the 
 position He has given you in His beloved Son. 
 Accustom yourself to look upon this as one of the 
 reasons for the appointment of day and night. God 
 thought of our weakness, and sought to provide for 
 it. Let each day have its value from your calling 
 to abide in Christ. As its light opens on your 
 waking eyes, accept it on these terms: A day, just 
 one day only, but still a day, given to abide and 
 grow up in Jesus Christ. Whether it be a day of 
 health or sickness, joy or sorrow, rest or work, of 
 struggle or victory, let the chief thought witli which 
 you receive it in the morning thanksgiving be this : 
 * A day that the Father gave ; in it I may, I must 
 become more closely united to Jesus.' As the 
 Father asks, ' Can you trust me just for this one 
 day to keep you abiding in Jesus, and Jesus to 
 keep you fruitful ? ' you cannot but give the joyful 
 response : ' I will trust and not be afraid.' 
 
DAY BY DAY. 
 
 103 
 
 The day's portion for its day was given to Israel 
 in the morning very early. The portion was for 
 use and nourishment during the whole day, but the 
 giving and the getting of it was the morning's work. 
 This suggests how greatly the power to spend a day 
 aright, to abide all the day in Jesus, depends on the 
 morning hour. If the first-fruits be holy, the lump 
 is holy. During the day there come hours of 
 intense occupation in the rush of business or the 
 throng of men, when only the Father's keeping can 
 maintain the connection with Jesus unbroken. The 
 morning manna fed all the day; it is only ' / len 
 the believer in the morning secures his quiet time 
 in secret to distinctly and eflectually renew loving 
 fellowship with his Saviour, that the abiding can be 
 kept up all the day. But what cause for thanks- 
 giving that it may he done ! In the morning, with 
 its freshness and quiet, the believer can look out 
 upon the day. He can consider its duties and its 
 temptations, and pass them through beforehand, as 
 it were, with his Saviour, throwing all upon Him 
 who has undertaken to be everything to him. 
 Christ is his manna, his nourishment, his strength, 
 his life : he can take the day's portion for the day, 
 Christ as his for all the needs the day may bring, 
 and go on in the assurance that the day will be one 
 of blessing and of growth. 
 
 And then, as the lesson of the value and the 
 work of the single day is being taken to heart, the 
 learner is all unconsciously being led on to get the 
 secret of 'day by day continually' (Ex. xxix. 38). 
 
liii 
 
 104 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 The blessed abiding grasped by faith for each day 
 apart is an unceasing and ever-increasing growth. 
 Each day of faithfulness brings a blessing for the 
 next ; makes both the trust and the surrender easier 
 and more blessed. And so the Christian life grows : 
 as we give our whole heart to the work of each day, 
 it becomes all the day, and from that every day. 
 And so each day separately, all the day continually, 
 day by day successively, we abide in Jesus. And 
 the days make up the life : what once appeared too 
 high and too great to attain, is given to the soul 
 that was content to take and use ' every day his 
 portion * (Ezra iii. 4), * as the duty of every day 
 required.* Even here on earth the voice is heard: 
 ' Well done, good and faithful servant, thou hast 
 been faithful over few, I will make thee ruler over 
 many : enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.' Our 
 daily life becomes a wonderful interchange of God's 
 daily grace and our daily praise : * Daily He loadeth 
 us with His benefits ; ' ' that I may daily perform 
 my vows.' We learn to understand God's reason 
 for daily giving, as He most certainly gives, only 
 enough, but also fully enough, for each day. And 
 we get into His way, the way of daily asking 
 and expecting only enough, but most certainly fully 
 enough, for the day. We begin to number our days 
 not from the sun's rising over the world, nor by the 
 work we do or the food we eat, but by the daily 
 renewal of the miracle of the manna, — the blessed- 
 ness of daily fellowship with him who is the Life 
 and the Light of the world. The heavenly life is 
 
DAY BY DAY. 
 
 105 
 
 as unbroken and continuous as the earthly ; the 
 abiding in Christ each day has for that day brought 
 its blessing ; we abide in Him every day, and all 
 the day. Lord, make this the portion of each one 
 of us. 
 
 > i \ 
 
 dri *' pf 
 
ip '.■■■.^■^Yr'' 
 
 106 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 Fifteenth Day. 
 
 •nnfMiiji 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 at tfjis JHoment 
 
 ' Behold, NOW is the accepted time ; behold, now is the day of 
 salvation.' — 2 Con. vi. 2. 
 
 rpHE thought of living moment by moment is 
 -*- of such central importance — looking at the 
 abiding in Christ from our side — that we want once 
 more to speak of it. And to all who desire to 
 icarn the blessed art of livmg only a moment at a 
 time, we want to say, The way to learn it is to 
 exercise yourself in living in the present moment. 
 Each time your attention is free to occupy itself 
 with the thought of Jesus, — whctlier it be with time 
 to think and pray, or only for a few passing seconds, 
 — let your first thought be to say. Now, at this 
 moment, I do abide in Jesus. Use such time, not 
 in vain regrets tliat you have not been abiding fully, 
 or still more hurtful fears that you will not be able 
 to abide, but just at once take the position the 
 Father has given you : ' I am in Christ ; this is the 
 place God has given me. I accept it ; here I rest ; 
 I do now abide in Jesus.* This is the way to learn 
 
AT THIS MOMENT. 
 
 107 
 
 to abide continually. You may be yet so feeble as 
 to fear to say of each day, ' I am abiding in Jesus ;' 
 but the feeblest can, each single moment, say, as he 
 consents to occupy his place as a branch in the 
 vine, * Yes, I do abide in Ohrist.* It is not a matter 
 of feeling, — it is not a question of growth or 
 strength in the Christian life, — it is the simple 
 question whether the will at the present moment 
 desires and consents to recognise the place you 
 have in your Lord, and to accept of it. If you 
 are a believer, you are in Christ. If you are 
 in Christ, and wish to stay there, it is your 
 duty to say, though it be but for a moment, ' Blessed 
 Saviour, I abide in Thee now ; Thou keepest me 
 now.' 
 
 It has been well said that in that little word 
 now lies one of the deepest secrets of the life of 
 faith. At the close of a conference on the spiritual 
 life, a minister of experience rose and spoke. He 
 did not know that he had learnt any truth he did 
 not know before, but he had learnt how to use 
 aright what he had known. He had learnt that it 
 was his privilege at each moment, whatever sur- 
 rounding circumstances might be, to say, 'Jesus 
 saves me now.' This is indeed the bjcret of rest and 
 victory. If I can say, * Jesus is to me at this moment 
 all that God gave Him to be, — life, and strength, and 
 peace,* — I have but as I say it to hold still, and rest, 
 and realize it, and for that moment I have what I 
 need. As my faith sees how of God I am in 
 Christ, and takes the place in Him my Father has 
 
 ,i f 
 
 I'' 
 
m 
 
 108 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 IP! 
 
 provided, my soul can peacefully settle down : Now 
 I abide in Christ. 
 
 Believer ! when striving to find the way to abide 
 in Christ from moment to moment, remember that the 
 gateway is : Abide in Him at this present moment. 
 Instead of wasting effort in trying to get into 
 a state that will last, just remember that it is 
 Christ Himself, the living, loving Lord, who alone 
 can keep you, and is waiting to do so. Begin at 
 once and act faith in Him for the present moment : 
 this is the only way to be kept the next. To 
 attain the life of permanent and perfect abiding is 
 not ordinarily given at once as a possession for 
 the future : it comes mostly step by step. Avail 
 thyself, therefore, of every opportunity of exercising 
 the trust of the present moment. Each time thou 
 bowest in prayer, let there first be an act of simple 
 devotion : * Father, I am in Christ ; I now abide in 
 Him.' Each time thou hast, amidst the bustle of 
 duty, the opportunity of self-recollection, let its 
 first involuntary act be : ' I am still in Christ, abiding 
 in Him now.' Even when overtaken by sin, and 
 the heart within is all disturbed and excited, 
 let thy first look upwards be with the word: 
 ' Father, I have sinned ; and yet I come — though I 
 blush to say it — as one who is in Christ. Father ! 
 here I am ; I can take no other place ; of God I 
 am in Christ ; I now abide in Christ.' Yes, Chris- 
 tian, in every possible circumstance, every moment 
 of the day, the voice is calling, Abide in me : do it 
 now. And even now, as thou art reading this, 
 
AT THIS MOMENT. 
 
 109 
 
 come at once, and enter upon the blessed life of 
 always abiding, by doing it at once : do it now. 
 
 In the life of David there is a beautiful passage 
 which may help to make this thought clearer 
 (2 Sam. iii 17, 18). David had been anointed 
 king in Judah. The other tribes still followed 
 Ish-bosheth, Saul's son. Abner, Saul's chief captain, 
 resolves to lead the tribes of Israel to submit to 
 David, the God-appointed king of the whole nation. 
 He speaks to the elders of Israel : ' Ye sought for 
 David in times past to be king over you ; now, then^ 
 do it, for Jehovah hath spoken of David, saying. By 
 tlu; hand of my servant David will I save my 
 jieople Israel out of the hand of the Philistines, and 
 out of the hand of all their enemies.* And they 
 did it, and anointed David a second time to be 
 l<iii^', now over all Israel, as at first only over 
 .hidah (2 Sam. v. 3), — a most instructive type of 
 tlie way in which a soul is led to the life of entire 
 surrender and undivided allegiance, to the full 
 abiding. 
 
 First you have the divided kingdom : Judah faith- 
 ful to the king of God's appointment ; Israel still 
 clinging to the king of its own choosing. As a 
 consequence, the nation divided against itself, and 
 no power to conquer tlie enemies. Picture of the 
 divided heart. Jesus accepted as King in Judah, 
 the place of the holy mount, in the inner chamber 
 of the soul ; but the surrounding territory, the every- 
 day life, not yet brought to subjection : more than 
 half the life still ruled by self-will and its hosts. 
 
 1 1 
 
 ' 1) 
 
 1 
 
 if-' t 
 
I I 
 
 ( i 
 
 no 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 j 
 
 i||i 
 
 ill 
 
 
 111 1 
 
 Mi \ 
 
 
 And so no real peace within and no power over the 
 enemies. 
 
 Then there is the longing desire for a better state : 
 ' Ye souglit for David in times past to be king over 
 you.* There was a time, when David had con- 
 quered the Philistines, that Israel believed in him ; 
 but they had been led astray. Abner appeals to 
 their own knowledge of God's will, that David must 
 rule over all. So the believer, when first brought 
 to Jesus, did indeed want Him to be Lord over all, 
 liad hoped that He alone would be king. But, 
 alas ! unbelief and self-will had come in, and Jesus 
 could not assert His power over the whole life 
 And yet the Christian is not content. How he 
 longs — sometimes without daring to hope that it 
 can be — for a better time. 
 
 Then follows God's promise. Abner says : * The 
 Lord hath spoken, By the hand of David I will 
 save my people from the hand of all their enemies.' 
 He appeals to God's promise : as David had con- 
 quered the Philistines, the nearest enemy in time 
 past, so he alone could conquer those farther oil'. 
 He should save Israel from the hand of all their 
 enemies. Beautiful type of the promise by which 
 the soul is now invited to trust Jesus for the 
 victory over every enemy, and a life of undisturbed 
 fellowship. ' The I^rd hath spoken,' — this is our 
 only hope. On that word rests the sure expecta- 
 tion (Luke i. 70-75): 'As He spake, That we 
 should be saved from the hand of all that hate us, 
 to perform the oath which He sware, that He 
 
AT THIS MOMENT. 
 
 Ill 
 
 •the 
 
 bate: 
 
 over 
 
 con- 
 
 him; 
 
 lis to 
 
 must 
 
 ought 
 
 would grant unto us that we, being delivered from 
 the hand of our enemies, should serve Him without 
 fear, in holiness and righteousness before Him, all 
 the days of our life.* David reigning over every 
 corner of the land, and leading a united and 
 obedient people on from victory to victory : this 
 is the promise of what Jesus can do for us, as soon 
 as in faith in God's promise all is surrendered to 
 Hun, and the whole life given up to be kept abid- 
 ing in Him. 
 
 ' Ye sought for David in times past to be king 
 over you,' spake Abner, and added, ' Then do it 
 now.' Do it nmv is the message that this story 
 brings to each one of us who longs to give Jesus 
 unreserved supremacy. Whatever the present 
 moment be, however unprepared the message finds 
 thee, however sad the divided and hopeless state 
 of the life may be, still I come and urge Christ's 
 claim to an immediate surrender — this very moment. 
 I know well that it will take time for the blessed 
 Lord to assert His power, and order all within thee 
 according to His will — to conquer the enemies and 
 train all thy powers for His service. This is not 
 the work of a moment. But there are things which 
 are the work of a moment — of this moment. 
 Tlie one is — thy surrender of all to Jesus ; thy sur- 
 render of thyself entirely to live only in Him. As 
 time goes on, and exercise has made faith stronger 
 and brighter, that surrender may become clearer and 
 more intelligent. But for this no one may wait. 
 The only way ever to attain to it is to begin at 
 
 » :5| 
 
 '' !« 
 
 I 
 
112 
 
 ABIDB IN CHRIST : 
 
 once. Do it now. Surrender thyself this very 
 moment to abide wholly, only, always in Jesus. 
 It is the work of a moment And just so, Christ's 
 renewed acceptance of thee is the work of a moment. 
 Be assured that He has thee and holds thee as His 
 own, and that each new ' Jesus, I do abide in Thee,* 
 meets with an immediate and most hearty response 
 from the Unseen One. No act of faith can be in 
 vain. He does indeed anew take hold on us and 
 draw us close to Himself. Therefore, as often as 
 the message comes, or the thought of it comes, 
 Jesus says. Abide in me : do it at once. Each 
 moment there is the whisper. Do it now. 
 
 Let any Christian begin, then, and he will speedily 
 experience how the blessing of the present moment 
 is passed on to the next. It is the unchanging 
 Jesus to whom he links himself ; it is the power of 
 a Divine life, in its unbroken continuity, that takes 
 possession of him. The do it now of the present 
 moment — a little thing though it seems — is nothing 
 less than the beginning of the ever-present now, 
 which is the mystery and the glory of Eternity. 
 Therefore, Christian, abide in Christ : do it now. 
 
FOBSAKING ALL JfOK UIX. 
 
 113 
 
 Sixteenth Day 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 iForsahing all tor Sim* 
 
 ' I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung^ 
 tl)at I may win Christ, and be found in Him.' — Phil. iii. 8, 9. 
 
 WHEREVER there is life, there is a continual 
 interchange of taking in and giving out, 
 receiving and restoring. The nourishment I take 
 is given out again in the work I do ; the impres- 
 sions I receive, in the thoughts and feelings I express. 
 The one depends on the other, — the giving out ever 
 increases the power of taking in. In the healthy 
 exercise of giving and taking is all the enjoyment 
 of life. 
 
 It is so in the spiritual life too. There are 
 Christians who look on its blessedness as consisting 
 all in the privilege of ever receiving ; they know not 
 liow the capacity for receiving is only kept up and 
 enlarged by continual giving up and giving out, — how 
 it is only in the emptiness that comes from the 
 parting with what we have, that the Divine fulness 
 can flow in. It was a truth our Saviour continually 
 insisted on. When He spoke of selling all to secure the 
 
 H 
 
 
 I 
 
 M 
 
 II 
 
II 
 
 
 114 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 treasure, of losing our life to find it, of the hundred- 
 fold to those who forsake all, He was expounding the 
 need of self-sacrifice as the law of the kingdom for 
 Himself as well as for His disciples. If we are 
 really to abide in Christ, and to be found in Him, — to 
 have our life always and wholly in Him, — we must 
 each in our measure say with Paul, * I count all 
 things hut loss for the excellency of the knowledge of 
 Christ Jesus my Lord, that I may win Christ, and 
 be FOUND IN Him.' 
 
 Let us try and see what there is to be forsaken 
 and given up. First of all, there is sin. There can 
 be no true conversion without the giving up of sin. 
 And yet, owing to the ignorance of the young convert 
 of what really is sin, of what the claims of God's 
 holiness are, and what the extent to which the power 
 of Jesus can enable us to conquer sin, the giving up 
 of sin is but partial and superficial. With the growth 
 of the Christian life there comes the want of a 
 deeper and more entire purging out of everything!; 
 that is unholy. And it is specially when the desire 
 to abide in Christ uninterruptedly, to be always 
 found in Him, becomes strong, that the soul is led 
 to see the need of a new act of surrender, in whicli 
 it afresh accepts and ratifies its death to sin in Christ , 
 and parts indeed with everything that is sin. Avail- 
 ing himself, in the strength of God's Spirit, of that 
 wonderful power of our nature by which the whole 
 of one's future life can be gathered up and disposed 
 of in one act of the will, the believer yields himself 
 to sin no more, — to be only and wholly a servant 
 
rORSAKINO ALL FOR MIM. 
 
 iir, 
 
 Ired- 
 gthe 
 n for 
 i are 
 ,— to 
 must 
 it all 
 Igeof 
 b, and 
 
 of righteousness. He does it in the joyful assurance 
 that every sin surrendered is gain indeed, — room for 
 the inflowing of the presence and the love of Christ. 
 
 Next to the parting with unrighteousness, is the 
 (,'iving up of self-righteousness. Though contending 
 most earnestly against our own works o.- merits, it 
 is often long before we come really to understand 
 what it is to refuse self the least place or right in 
 the service of God. Unconsciously we allow the 
 actings of our own mind and heart and will free 
 scope in God's presence. In prayer and worship, in 
 lUble reading and working for God, instead of 
 absolute dependence on the Holy Spirit's leading, 
 self is expected to do a work it never can do. We 
 are slow to learn the lesson, ' In me, that is, in my 
 llesh, dwelleth no good thing.* As it is learnt, and 
 we see how corruption extends to everything that is 
 of nature, we see that there can be no entire abiding 
 in Christ without the giving up of all that is of self 
 in religion, — without giving it up to the death, and 
 waiting for the breathings of the Holy Spirit as alone 
 able to work in us what is acceptable in God's sight. 
 
 Then, again, there is our whole natural life, with 
 all the powers and endowments bestowed upon us 
 by the Creator, with all the occupations and interests 
 with which Providence has surrounded us. It is 
 not enough that, when once you are truly converted, 
 you liave the earnest desire to have all these devoted 
 to the service of the Lord. The desire is good, but 
 can neither teach the way nor give the strength to 
 do it acceptably. Incalculable harm has been done 
 
 
 hi 
 

 ii 
 
 116 
 
 AVI ME IN CIIUIST : 
 
 to the deeper spirituality of the Church, by the idea 
 that when once we are God's children tlie using of 
 our gifts in His service follows as a matter of course. 
 No ; for tliis there is indeed needed very special 
 grace. And the way in which the grace comes is 
 again that of sacrifice and surrender. I must see 
 how all my gifts and powers are, even though I be 
 a cliild of God, still defiled by sin, and under the 
 power of the flesh. I must feel that I cannot at 
 once proceed to use them for God's glory. I must 
 first lay them at Christ's feet, to be accepted and 
 cleansed by Him. I must feel myself utterly powerless 
 to use them aright. I must see that they are most 
 dangerous to me, because through them the flesh, 
 the old nature, self, will so easily exert its power. 
 In this conviction I must part with them, giving 
 them entirely up to the Lord. When He has 
 accepted them, and set His stamp upon them, I 
 receive them back, to hold them as His property, to 
 wait on Him for the grace to daily use them aright, 
 and to have them act only under His influence. And 
 so experience proves it true here too, that the path of 
 entire consecration is the path of full salvation. 
 Not only is what is thus given up received back 
 again to become doubly our own, but the forsaking 
 all is followed by the receiving all. We abide in 
 Christ more fully as we forsake all and follow Him. 
 As I count all things loss for His sake, I am found 
 IN Him. 
 
 The same principle holds good of all the lawful 
 occupations and possessions with which we are 
 
FORSAKING ALL FOR IIIM. 
 
 117 
 
 entrusted of God. Such were the fish-nets on the 
 Sea of Galilee, and the household duties of Martlia 
 of Bethany, — the home and the friends of many a 
 one among Jesus' disciples. Jesus tauyht them in 
 viry dei'tl to forsake all for Him. It was no arbi- 
 trary command, hut the simple application of a law 
 ill nature to the kingdom of His grace, — that the 
 more perfectly the old occupant is cast out, the more 
 complete can he the possession of the new, and the 
 II lore entire the renewal of all within. 
 
 Tliis principle -. \ still deeper application. The 
 truly spiritual gifts which are the working of God's 
 own Holy Spirit within us, — these surely need not be 
 thus given up and surrendered ? They do indeed ; 
 tlie interchange of giving up and taking in is a 
 life process, and may not cease for a moment. No 
 sooner does the believer begin to rejoice in the pos- 
 session of what he has, than the inflow of uew grace 
 is retarded, and stagnation threatens. It is only 
 into the thirst of an empty soul that the streams of 
 living waters flow. Ever thirsting is the secret of 
 never thirsting. Each blessed experience we receive 
 as a gift of God, must at once be returned back to 
 Him from whom it came, in praise and love, in self- 
 sacrifice and service ; so only can it be restored to 
 us again, fresh and beautiful with the bloom of 
 lieaven. Is not this tlie wonderful lesson Isaac on 
 Moriah teaches us ? Was he not the son of promise, 
 tlie God-given life, the wonder-gift of the omnipotence 
 of Him who quickeneth the dead ? (liom. iv. 1 7.) And 
 yet even he had to be given up, and sacrificed, that 
 
 M 
 
 'I ' I 
 
 I IhH 
 
 
118 
 
 ABIDE IN CllKIST : 
 
 he might be received back again a thousandfold 
 more precious than before, — a type of the Only- 
 begotten of the Father, whose pure and holy life had 
 to be given up ere He could receive it again in 
 resurrection power, and make His people partakers 
 of it. A type, too, of what takes place in the life 
 of each believer, as, instead of resting content with 
 past experiences or present grace, he presses on, for- 
 getting and giving up all that is behind, and reaches 
 out to the fullest possible apprehension of Christ 
 His life. 
 
 And such surrender of all for Christ, is it a single 
 step, the act and experience of a moment, or is it a 
 course of daily renewed and progressive attainment ? 
 It is both. There may be a moment in the life of 
 a believer when he gets a first sight, or a deeper 
 insight, of this most blessed truth, and when, made 
 willing in the day of God's power, he does indeed, 
 in an act of the will, gather up the whole of life 
 yet before him into the decision of a moment, and 
 lay himself on the altar a living and an acceptable 
 sacrifice. Such moments have often been the blessed 
 transition from a life of wandering and failure to a 
 life of abiding and power Divine. But even then 
 his daily life becomes, what the life must be of each 
 one who has no such experience, the unceasing 
 prayer for more light on the meaning of entire sur- 
 render, the ever-renewed offering up of all he has 
 to God. 
 
 Believer, wouldost thou abide in Christ, see here 
 the blessed path. Nature shrinks back from such 
 
FOllSAKINO ALL FOB IIIH. 
 
 119 
 
 self-denial and crucifixion in its rigid application to 
 our life in its whole extent. But what nature does 
 not love and cannot perforin, grace will accomplish, 
 and make to thee a life of joy and glory. Do thou 
 hut yield up thyself to Christ thy Lord ; the con- 
 [uering power of His incoming presence will make 
 L joy to cast out all that before was most precious. 
 A huiidredfold in this life : ' this word of the 
 \Iaster comes true to all who, with whole-hearted 
 aithfulness, accept His commands to forsake all. 
 The blessed receiving soon makes the giving up 
 aiost blessed too. And the secret of a life of close 
 abiding will be seen to be simply this : As I give 
 myself wholly to Christ, I find the power to take 
 Him wholly for myself ; and as I lose myself and 
 all I have for Him, He takes me wholly for Himself, 
 and gives Himself wholly to me. 
 
 ■ M 
 
 ''V. 
 
 Ljif- 
 
 ' 'l 
 
 l!it<,' 
 
120 
 
 ABIDE IN cumsT : 
 
 m 
 
 1J -w.l'. 
 
 '• ti: ,'.'.''»: , 
 
 Seventeenth Day. 
 
 II'!'! 
 
 ;'i! 
 
 i! 
 
 ' ' ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ' The anointing which ye have received of Him, abideth in yon , 
 and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.' — 1 John 
 ii. 27. 
 
 HOW beautiful the thought of a life always 
 abiding in Christ ! The longer we think of 
 it, the more attractive it becomes. And yet how 
 often it is that the precious words, * Abide in me,' 
 are heard by the young disciple with a sigh ! It is 
 as if he understands so little what they really mean, 
 and can realize so little how this full enjoyment can 
 be attained. He longs for some one who could 
 make it perfectly clear, and continually again 
 remind him that the abiding is in very deed within 
 his reach. If such an one would but listen to the 
 word we have from John this day, what hope and 
 joy it would bring ! It gives us the Divine assur- 
 ance that we have the anointing of the Holy Spirit 
 to teach us all things, also to teach us how to abide 
 in Christ. 
 
 Alas ! some one answers, this word does not give 
 me comfort, it only depresses me more. For it tells 
 
THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 121 
 
 of another privilege I so little know to enjoy : I do 
 not understand how the teaching of the Spirit is 
 given, — where or how I can discern His voice. If 
 the Teacher is so unknown, no wonder that the 
 promise of His teaching about the abiding does not 
 help me much. 
 
 Tlioughts like these come from an error which 
 is very common among believers. They imagine 
 that the Spirit, in teaching them, must reveal 
 the mysteries of the spiritual life first to their 
 intellect, and afterwards in their experience. And 
 God's way is just the contrary of this. What 
 holds true of all spiritual truth is specially 
 true of the abiding in Christ: We mitst live and 
 i.iyperience truth in order to know it. Life-fellowship 
 with Jesus is the only school for the science of 
 heavenly things. ' What I do, thou knowest not 
 now, but thou shalt know hereafter,' is a law of the 
 kingdom, specially true of the daily cleansing of 
 which it first was spoken, and the daily keeping. 
 Receive what thou dost not comprehend, submit to 
 what thou canst not understand, accept and expect 
 what to reason appears a mystery, believe what 
 looks impossible, walk in a way which thou knowest 
 not, — such are the first lessons in the scliool of God. 
 ' If ye abide in my word, ye shall underhand the 
 truth : ' in these and other words of God we are 
 taught that there is a habit of mind and life which 
 precedes the understanding of the truth. True 
 discipleship consists in Jirst following, and then 
 knowing the Lord. The believing surrender to 
 Christ, and the submission to His word to expect 
 
 I 
 
 y ': 
 
TTUikinmim-aui 
 
 122 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 
 what appears most improbable, is the only way to 
 the full blessedness of knowing Him. 
 
 These principles hold specially good in regard to 
 the teaching of the Spirit. That teaching consists 
 in His guiding the spiritual life within us to that 
 which God has prepared for us, without our alivays 
 knowing how. On the strength of God's promise, 
 and trusting in His faithfulness, the believer yields 
 himself to the leading of the Holy Spirit, without 
 claiming to have it first made clear to the intellect 
 what He is to do, but consenting to let Him do His 
 work in the soul, and afterwards to know what He 
 has wrought there. Faith trusts the working of the 
 Spirit unseen in the deep recesses of the inner life. 
 And so the word of Christ and the gift of the Spirit 
 are to the believer sufficient guarantee that He will 
 be taught of the Spirit to abide in Christ. By 
 faith he rejoices in what he does not see or feel: 
 he knows, and is confident that the blessed Spirit 
 within is doing His work silently but surely, 
 guiding him into the life of full abiding and 
 unbroken communion. The Holy Spirit is the 
 Spirit of life in Christ Jesus ; it is His work, not 
 only to breathe, but ever to foster and strengthen, 
 and so to perfect the new life within. And just in 
 proportion as the believer yields himself in simple 
 trust to the unseen, but most certain law of the 
 Spirit of life working within him, his faith will pass 
 into knowledge. It will be rewarded by the Spirit's 
 light revealing in the Word what has already been 
 wrought by the Spirit's power in the life. 
 
THROUGH THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 123 
 
 ^ to 
 
 dto 
 sists 
 that 
 ivays 
 mise, 
 rields 
 thout 
 ellect 
 loHis 
 at He 
 of the 
 
 Apply this now to the promise of the Spirit's 
 teaching us to abide in Christ. The Holy Spirit is 
 indeed the mighty power of God. And He comes 
 to us from the heart of Christ, tlie bearer of Christ's 
 life, the revealer and communicator of Christ Him- 
 self within us. In the expression, ' the fellowship 
 of the Spirit,' we are taught what His highest work 
 is. He is the bond of fellowship between the 
 Father and the Son : by Him they are one. He is 
 the bond of fellowship between all believers: by 
 Him they are one. Above all, He is the bond of 
 fellowship between Christ «'^ 1 believers ; He is the 
 life-sap through which Vine and branch grow into 
 real and living oneness : by Him we are one. And 
 we can be assured of it, that if we do but believe 
 in His presence and working, if we do but watch 
 not to grieve Him, because we know that He is in 
 I's, if we wait and pray to be filled with Him, He 
 will teach us how to abide. First guiding our will 
 to a whole-hearted cleaving to Christ, then quicken- 
 ing our faith into ever larger confidence and expecta- 
 tion, then breathing into our hearts a peace and joy 
 tliat pass understanding, He teaches us to abide, we 
 scarce know how. Then coming through the heart 
 and life into the understanding, He makes us know 
 tlie truth, — not as mere thonght-trutli, but as the 
 truth which is in Christ Jesus, the reflection into 
 the mind of the light of what He has already made 
 a reality in the life. * The life was the light of men.' 
 
 In view of such teaching, it is clear how, if we 
 would have the Spirit to guide us into the abiding 
 
124 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 life, our first need is — quiet restful faith. Amid all 
 the questions and difficulties that may come up in 
 connection with our striving to aljide in Christ, 
 — amid all the longing we may sometimes feel to 
 have a Christian of experience to aid us, — amid the 
 frequent painful consciousness of failure, of ignor- 
 ance, of helplessness, — do let us hold fast the blessed 
 confidence : We have the unction of the Holy One to 
 teach us to abide in Him. 'The anointing which ye 
 have received of Him, abideth in you ; and even as 
 it hath taught you, ye shall abide in Him.' Make 
 this teaching of His in connection with the abiding 
 matter of special exercise of faith. Believe that as 
 surely as thou hast part in Christ, thou hast His 
 Spirit too. Believe that He will do His work with 
 power, if only thou dost not hinder Him. Believe 
 that He is working, even when thou canst not dis- 
 cern it. Believe that He will work mightily if thou 
 dost ask this from the Father. It is imj)ossihle to 
 live the life of full abiding without being full of the 
 Holy Spirit ; believe that the fulness of the Spirit 
 is indeed thy daily portion. Be sure and take time 
 in prayer to dwell at the footstool of the throne of 
 God and the Lamb, whence flows the river of the 
 water of life. It is tliere, and only there, that thou 
 canst be filled with the Spirit. Cultivate carefully 
 the habit of daily, yea, continually honouring Him 
 by the quiet, restful confidence that He is doing 
 
 His work within. Let faith in His indwelling make 
 thee jealous of whatever could grieve Him, — the 
 spirit of the world or the actings of self and the 
 
TTTROUGII THE HOLY SPIRIT. 
 
 125 
 
 flesh. Let that faith seek its nourishment in the 
 Word and all it says of the Spirit, His power, His 
 comfort, and His work. Above all, let that faith in 
 tlie Spirit's indwelling lead thee specially, to look 
 away to Jesus ; as we have received the anointing 
 of Him, it comes in ever stronger flow from Him as 
 we are occupied with Him alone. Christ is the 
 Anointed One. As we look up to Him, the holy 
 anointing comes, * the precious ointment upon the 
 head of Aaron, that went down to the skirts of his 
 garments.' It is faith in Jesus that brings the 
 anointing ; the anointing leads to Jesus, and to the 
 abiding in Him alone. 
 
 Believer, abide in Christ, in the power of the 
 Spirit. What think you, ought the abiding longer 
 to be a fear or a burden ? Surely not. Oh, if we 
 did but know the graciousness of our Holy Com- 
 forter, and the blessedness of wholly yielding our- 
 selves to His leading, we should indeed experience 
 the Divine comfort of having such a teacher to 
 secure our abiding in Christ. The Holy Spirit was 
 given for this one purpose, — that tlie glorious re- 
 demption and life in Christ might with Divine 
 power he conveyed and communicated to us. We 
 liave the Holy Spirit to make the living Christ, in 
 all His saving power, and in the completeness of 
 His victory over sin, ever present within us. It is 
 this that constitutes Him the Comforter : with Him 
 we need never mourn an absent Christ. Let us 
 therefore, as often as we read, or meditate, or pray in 
 coiniection with this abiding in Christ, reckon upon it 
 
'■ "" 
 
 
 1 i..: 
 
 126 
 
 ABIDE IN OUBIST : 
 
 as a settled thing that we have the Spirit of God 
 Himself within us, teaching, and guiding, and work- 
 ing. Let us rejoice in the confidence that we must 
 succeed in our desires, because the Holy Spirit is 
 working all the while with secret but Divine power 
 in the soul that does not binder Him by its un- 
 beUef. 
 
IN STILLNESS OF SOUL. 
 
 127 
 
 Eighteenth day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHEIST, 
 
 Sn Stillnesis of SouU 
 
 ' In retnming and rest shall ye be saved ; in qnietness and 
 confidence shall be your strength.' — IsA. xxx. 16. 
 
 'Be silent to the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.' — Ps. 
 Ixxvii. 7 {mcvrg.). 
 
 ' Truly my soul is silent unto God.' — Ps. Ix. 1 {marg.). 
 
 THEKE is a view of the Christian life that 
 regards it as a sort of partnership, in which 
 God and man have each to do their part. It 
 admits that it is hut little that man can do, and 
 that little defiled with sin ; still he must do his 
 utmost, — then only can he expect God to do His 
 part. To those who think thus, it is extremely 
 difficult to understand what Scripture means when 
 it speaks of our being still and doing nothing, of 
 our resting and waiting to see the salvation of God. 
 It appears to them a perfect contradiction, when we 
 speak of this quietness and ceasing from all effort 
 as the secret of the highest activity of man and 
 all his powers. And yet this is just what Scrip- 
 ture does teach. The explanation of the apparent 
 mystery is to be found in this, that when God 
 
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 1 
 
 1 
 
 128 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIKIST : 
 
 and man are s])oken of as working? toj^ether, there 
 is notliing of the idea of a partnership between two 
 partners who each contribute their share to a work. 
 The relation is a very different one. The true idea 
 is that of co-operation founded on subordination. 
 As Jesus was entirely dependent on the Father for 
 all His words and all His works, so the believer 
 can do nothing of himself. What he can do of 
 himself is altogether sinful. He must therefore 
 cease entirely from his own doing, and wait for the 
 working of God in him. As he ceased from self- 
 effort, faith assures him that God does what He has 
 undertaken, and works in him. And what God 
 does is to renew, to sanctify, and waken all his 
 energies to their higliest power. So that just in 
 proportion as he yields himself a truly passive in- 
 strument in the hand of God, will he be wielded 
 of God as the active instrument of His almiglity 
 power. The soul in which the wondrous combina- 
 tion of perfect passivity with the highest activity 
 is most completely realized, has the deepest ex- 
 perience of what the Christian life is. 
 , Among the lessons to be learnt of those who are 
 studying the blessed art of abiding in Christ, there 
 is none more needful and more profitable than this 
 one of stillness of soul. In it alone can we cultivate 
 that teachableness of spirit, to which the Lord will 
 reveal His secrets, — that meekness to which He 
 shows His ways. It is the spirit exhibited so 
 beautifully in all the three Marys : In her whose 
 only answer to the most wonderful revelation ever 
 
IN STILLNESS OF SOUL. 
 
 129 
 
 tieTO 
 
 two 
 
 rork. 
 
 idea 
 
 ition. 
 
 r for 
 
 liever 
 
 lo of 
 
 refore 
 
 ar the 
 
 1 self- 
 
 le bas 
 
 t God 
 
 all his 
 
 just in 
 
 live in- 
 
 vielded 
 
 mighty 
 
 mbina- 
 .ctivity 
 ist ex- 
 
 7ho are 
 there 
 in this 
 iltivate 
 l)rd will 
 ich He 
 ited so 
 whose 
 Ion ever 
 
 made to human being was, ' Behold the handmaid 
 of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy 
 word ; ' and of whom, as mysteries niulLi plied around 
 lier, it is written: 'Mary kept all these things and 
 pondered them in her heart.' And in her who * sat 
 at Jesus' feet, and heard His word,' and who showed, 
 in the anointing Him for His burial, how she had 
 entered more deeply into the mystery of His death 
 than even the beloved disciple. And in her, too, 
 who sought her Lord in the house of the Pharisee, 
 with tears that spake more than words. It is a 
 aoul silent unto God that is the best preparation for 
 knowing Jesus, and for holding fast the blessings 
 He bestows. It is when the soul is hushed in 
 silent awe and worship before the Holy Presence 
 tliat reveals itself within, that the still small voice 
 of the blessed Spirit will be heard. 
 
 Tiierefore, beloved Christian, as often as thou 
 seekest to understand better the blessed mystery 
 of abiding in Christ, let this be thy first thought 
 (Ps. Ixii. 5, marg.): * My soul, only be silent unto 
 (lod; for my expectation is from Him.* Dost 
 thou in very deed hope to realize the wondrous 
 union with the Heavenly Vine ? Know that flesh 
 and blood cannot reveal it unto thee, but only the 
 Father in heaven. * Cease from thine own wisdom.' 
 Tliou hast but to bow in the confession of thine 
 own ignorance and impotence; the Father will 
 delight to give thee the teaching of the Holy 
 Spirit. If but thine ear be open, and thy thoughts 
 brought into subjection, and thine heart prepared in 
 
 I 
 
 
. > ' 
 
 130 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 silence to wait upon Ood, and to hear what Ho 
 speaks, He will reveal to thee His secrets. And 
 one of the first secrets will be the deeper insight 
 into the truth, that as thou sinkest low before Him 
 in nothingness and helplessness, in a silence and a 
 stillness of soul that seeks to catch the faintest 
 whisper of His love, teachings will come to thee 
 which thou never hadst heard before for the rush 
 aiid noise of thine own thoughts and efforts. Thou 
 shalt learn how thy great work is to listen, and 
 hear, and believe what He promises ; to watch and 
 wait and see what He does ; and then, in faith, 
 and worship, and obedience, to yield thyself to His 
 working who worketh in thee mightily. 
 
 One would think that no message could be more 
 beautiful or welcome than this, that we may rest 
 and be quiet, and that our God will work for us 
 and in us. And yet how far this is from being 
 the case ! And how slow many are to learn that 
 quietness is blessedness, that quietness is strength, 
 that (juietness is the source of the highest activity, 
 — the secret of all true abiding in Christ ! Let us try 
 to learn it, and to watch agaifiht whatever inter leres 
 with it. The dangers that threaten the soul's rest 
 are not a few. 
 
 There is the dissipation of soul which comes from 
 entering needlessly and too deeply into the interests 
 of this world. Every one of us has his Divine 
 calling ; and within the circle pointed out by God 
 Himself, interest in our work and its surroundings 
 is a duty. But even here the Christian needs to 
 
Ho 
 
 And 
 sight 
 Him 
 ind a 
 intest 
 
 thee 
 
 « rush 
 
 Thou 
 
 1, and 
 
 >\\ and 
 
 faith, 
 to His 
 
 )e more 
 
 ^ay rest 
 for us 
 being 
 ,rii that 
 
 [trength, 
 Lctivity, 
 -X us try 
 literleres 
 iuVs rest 
 
 ties from 
 
 interests 
 
 Divine 
 
 by God 
 
 mndings 
 
 Ineeds to 
 
 
 
 
 IN STILLNKSS 
 
 OF SOUL. 
 
 
 131 
 
 exorcise 
 
 watch fuhiess 
 
 and 
 
 sobriety. 
 
 And 
 
 still 
 
 more 
 
 do 
 
 we 
 
 need a 
 
 holy 
 
 temperance 
 
 in regard 1 
 
 to tilings not absolutely inposed upon us by God. 
 If abiding in Christ really bo (mr first aim, let us 
 heware of all needless excitement. Let us watch 
 evan in lawful and necessary things against the 
 wondrous power these have to keep tho soul so 
 occupied, that there remains but little ])ower or zest 
 for fellowship with God. Then there is the rest 
 lessuess and worry that come of care and anxiety 
 about earthly things ; these eat away the life of 
 trust, and keep the soul like a troubled sea. There 
 the gentle whisjiers of the Holy Comforter cannot 
 be heard. 
 
 No less hurtful is the spirit of fear and distrust 
 in spiritual things ; with its ai)prehensions and its 
 efl'orts, it never comes really to hear what God has 
 to say. Above all, there is the utirest that comes 
 of seeking in our own way and in our own strength 
 the spiritual blessing which comes alone from above. 
 The heart occupied with its ovm plans and efforts for 
 doiny God's will, and securing the hlcsslnfj of ahidiny 
 in Jesus, must fail continually. God's work is 
 hindered by our interference. He can do His work 
 perfectly only when the soul ceases from its work. 
 He will do His work mightily in the soul that 
 honours Him by expecting Him to work both to 
 will and to do. 
 
 And, last of all, even when the soul seeks truly 
 to enter the way of faith, there is the impatience of 
 the tlesh, which forms its judgment of the life and 
 
132 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 I '! 
 
 .I.'ll 
 
 progress of the soul not after the Divine but the 
 human standard. 
 
 In deahng with all this, and so much more, 
 blessed the man who learns the lesson of stillness, 
 and fully accepts God's word: *In quietness and 
 confidence shall be your strength.' Each time 
 he listens to the word of the Father, or asks the 
 Father to listen to his words, he dares not begin 
 his Bible reading or prayer without first pausing 
 and waiting, until the soul be hushed in the pre- 
 sence of the Eternal Majesty. Under a sense of 
 the Divine nearness, the soul, feeling how self is 
 always ready to assert itself, and intrude even into 
 the holiest of all with its thoughts and efforts, yields 
 itself in a quiet act of self-surrender to the teaching 
 and working of the Divine Spirit. It is still and 
 waits in holy silence, until all is calm and ready to 
 receive the revelation of the Divine will and pre- 
 sence. Its reading and prayer then indeed become 
 a waiting on God with ear and heart opened and 
 purged to receive fully only what He says. 
 
 * Abide in Christ ! ' Let no one think that he 
 can do this if he has not daily his quiet time, his 
 seasons of meditation and waiting on God. In 
 these a habit of soul must be cultivated, in which 
 the believer goes out into the world and its dis- 
 tractions, the peace of God, that passeth all under- 
 standing, keeping the heart and mind. It is in 
 such a calm and restful soul that the life of faitli 
 can strike deep root, that the Holy Spirit can give 
 His blessed teaching, that the Holy Father can 
 
 ^ "i- 
 
 v, 
 
IN STILLNESS OF SOUL. 
 
 133 
 
 accomplish His glorious work. May each one of us 
 learn every day to say, ' Truly my soul is silent unto 
 God.' And may every feeling of the difficulty 
 of attaining this only lead us simply to look and 
 trust to Him whose presence makes even the storm 
 a calm. Cultivate the quietness as a means to the 
 abiding in Christ ; expect the ever deepening quiet- 
 ness and calm of heaven in the soul as the fruit of 
 abiding in Him. 
 
 m 
 
 ill 
 
r 
 
 134 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST 
 
 Nineteenth Day* 
 
 ABIDE IN CHPJST, 
 
 ' In ^Iffttction anl5 EriaX. 
 
 • Every branch that beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may 
 bring forth more fruit.' — John xv. 2. 
 
 IN the whole plant world there is not a tree to be 
 found so specially suited to be the image of 
 man in his relation to God, as the vine. There is 
 none of which the fruit and its juice are so full of 
 spirit, so quickening and stimulating. But there 
 is also none of which the natural tendency is so 
 entirely evil, — none where the growth is so ready to 
 run into wood that is utterly worthless except for 
 the fire. Of all plants, not one needs the pruning 
 knife so unsparingly and so unceasingly. None is 
 so dependent on cultivation and training, but with 
 this none yields a richer reward to the husbandman. 
 In His wonderful parable, the Saviour, with a single 
 word, refers to this need of pruning in the vine, and 
 the blessing it brings. But from that single word 
 what streams of light pour in upon this dark world, 
 so full of suffering and of sorrow to believers ! what 
 treasures of teaching and comfort to the bleeding 
 
IN AFFLICTION AND TRIAL. 
 
 135 
 
 branch in its hour of trial: 'Every branch that 
 beareth fruit, He purgeth it, that it may bring forth 
 more fruit.* And so He has prepared His people, 
 who are so ready when trial comes to be shaken in 
 their confidence, and to be moved from their abiding 
 in Christ, to hear in each affliction the voice of a 
 messenger that comes to call them to abide still 
 more closely. Yes, believer, most specially in times 
 of trial, abide in Christ. 
 
 Abide in Christ ! This is indeed the Father's 
 object in sending the trial. In the storm the tree 
 strikes deeper roots in the soil ; in the hurricane the 
 inhabitants of the house abide within, and rejoice in 
 its shelter. So by suffering the Father would lead 
 us to enter more deeply into the love of Christ. 
 Our hearts are continually prone to wander from 
 Him ; prosperity and enjoyment all too easily satisfy 
 us, dull our spiritual perception, and unfit us for full 
 communion with Himself. It is an unspeakable 
 mercy that the Father comes with His chastisement, 
 makes the world round us all dark and unattractive, 
 leads us to feel more deeply our sinfulness, and for 
 a time lose our joy in what was becoming so 
 tlangerous. He does it in the hope that, when we 
 liave found our rest in Christ in time of trouble, we 
 shall learn to choose abiding in Him as our only 
 portion ; and when the allliction is removed, have so 
 grown more firmly into Him, that in prosperity He 
 still shall be our only joy. So much has He set His 
 heart on this, that though He has indeed no pleasure 
 in afflicting us, He will not keep back even the 
 
 i 
 
 II 
 
! 
 
 t 
 1 
 
 136 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 ! 
 
 most painful chastisement if He can but thereby 
 guide His beloved child to come home and abide 
 iu the beloved Son. Christian ! pray for grace to 
 see in every trouble, small or great, the Father's 
 finger pointing to Jesus, and saying, Abide in 
 Him. 
 
 Abide in Christ : so wilt thou become partaker 
 of all the rich blessings God designed fw thee in 
 the affliction. The purposes of God's wisdom will 
 become clear to thee, thy assurance of the unchange- 
 able love become stronger, and the power of His 
 Spirit fulfil In thee the promise : * He chasteneth us 
 for our profit, that we might be partakers of His 
 holiness.* Abide in Christ : and thy cross becomes 
 the means of fellowship with His cross, and access 
 into its mysteries, — the mystery of the curse which 
 He bore for thee, of the death to sin in which thou 
 partakest with Him, of the love in which, as sym- 
 pathizing High Priest, He descended into all thy 
 sorrows. Abide in Christ : growing conformity to 
 thy blessed Lord in His sufferings, deeper experience 
 of the reality and the tenderness of His love will be 
 thine. Abide in Christ : in the fiery oven, one like 
 the Son of man will be seen as never before ; the 
 purging away of the dross and the refining of the 
 gold will be accomplished, and Christ's own like- 
 ness reflected in thee. O abide in Christ : the 
 power of the flesh will be mortified, the impatience 
 and self-will of the old nature be humbled, to make 
 place for the meekness and gentleness of Christ. A 
 believer may pass through much affliction, and 
 
IN AFFLIC5TI0N AND TKTAL. 
 
 137 
 
 yet secure but little blessing from it all. Abiding in 
 Christ is the secret of securing all that the Father 
 meant the chastisement to bring us. 
 
 Abide in Christ : in Him thou shalt find sure and 
 abundant consolation. With the afllicted comfort is 
 often first, and the profit of the affliction second. 
 Th Father loves us so, that with Him our real and 
 abiding profit is His first object, but He does not 
 forget to comfort too. When He comforts it is that 
 He may turn the bleeding heart to Himself to 
 receive the blessing in fellowship with Him ; when 
 He refuses comfort, His object is still the same. It 
 is in making us partakers of His holiness that true 
 comfort comes. The Holy Spirit is the Comforter, 
 not only because He can suggest comforting thoughts 
 of God's love, but far more, because He makes us 
 holy, and brings us into close union with Christ and 
 with God. He teaches us to abide in Christ ; and 
 because God is found there, the truest comfort will 
 come there too. In Christ the heart of the Father 
 is revealed, and higher comfort there cannot be than 
 to rest in the Father's bosom. In Him the fulness 
 of the Divine love is revealed, combined with the 
 tenderness of a mother's compassion, — and what can 
 comfort like this ? hi Him thou seest a thousand 
 times more given thee than thou hast lost ; seest 
 how God only took from thee that thou mightest 
 have room to take from Him what is so much 
 better. In Him suffering is consecrated, and be- 
 comes the foretaste of eternal glory ; in suffering it 
 is that the Spirit of God and of glory rests on us 
 
I ! 
 
 138 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 I > 
 
 ■i ] 
 
 ^ 1 
 
 ■ 
 
 
 
 ; ; 
 
 1 
 
 ' i 
 
 Believer ! wouldesfc thou have comfort in affliction ? 
 — Abide in Christ. 
 
 Abide in Christ : so wilt thou hear mtich fruit. 
 Not a vine is planted but the owner thinks of the 
 fruit, and the fruit only. Other trees may be 
 planted for ornament, for the shade, for the wood, — 
 the vine (y/ily for the fruit. And of each vine the 
 husbandman is continually asking how it can bring 
 forth more fruit, much fruit. Believer ! abide in 
 Christ in time* of affliction, and thou shalt bring 
 forth moro Lr^rA. The deeper experience of Christ's 
 tenderness and the Father's love will urge thee to 
 live to His gl( 'V. '""1 3 surrender of self and self- 
 will in suffering will prepare thee to sympathize 
 with the misery of others, while the softening that 
 comes of chastisement will fit thee for becoming, as 
 Jesus was, the servant of all. The thought of the 
 Father's desire for fruit in the pruning will lead 
 thee to yield thyself afresh, and more than ever, to 
 Him, and to say that now thou hast but one object 
 in life, — making known and conveying His wonderful 
 love to fellow-men. Thou shalt learn the blessed art 
 of forgetting self, and, eve.i in afHiction, availing 
 thyself of thy separation from ordinary life to 
 plead for the welfare of others. Dear Christian, 
 in affliction abide in Christ. When thou seest it 
 coming, meet it in Christ ; when it is come, feel 
 that thou art more in Christ than in it, for He is 
 nearer thee than affliction ever can be ; when it is 
 passing, still abide in Him. And let the one 
 thought of the Saviour, as He speaks of the pruning, 
 
IN AFFLICTION AND TRIAL. 
 
 139 
 
 and the one desire of the Father, as He does the 
 pruning, ha thine too : ' Every branch that beareth 
 fruit, He purgeth, that it may bring forth more 
 fruit' 
 
 So shall thy times of affliction become thy times 
 of choicest blessing, — preparation for richest fruit- 
 fulness. Led into closer fellowship with the Son of 
 God, and deeper experience of Hid love and grace, — 
 established in the blessed confidence that He and 
 thou entirely belong to each other, — more completely 
 satisfied with Him and more wholly given up to 
 Him than ever before, — with thine own will crucified 
 afresh, and the heart brought into deeper harmony 
 with God's will, — thou shalt be a vessel cleansed, 
 meet for the Master's use, prepared for every good 
 work. True believer ! try and learn the blessed 
 truth, that in affliction thy first, thy only, thy 
 blessed calling is to abide in Christ. Be much 
 with Him alone. Beware of the comfort and the 
 distractions that friends so often bring. Let Jesus 
 Christ Himself be thy chief companion and com- 
 furter. Delight thyself in the assurance that closer 
 union with Him, and more abundant fruit through 
 Him, are sure to be the results of trial, because it 
 is the Husbandman Himself who is pruning, and 
 will ensure the fulfilment of the desire of the soul 
 that yields itself lovingly to His work. 
 
 
fa 
 
 140 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIKIST: 
 
 Twentieth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHKIST, 
 
 Cfjat 20U mag bear mudj JFruit 
 
 ' He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth 
 mtich fruit. Herein is my Father glorihed, that ye bear much 
 fruit.' — John xv. 5, 8. 
 
 WE all know what fruit is. The produce of 
 the branch, by which men are refreshed and 
 nourished. The fruit is i.ot for the branch, but for 
 those who come to carry it away. As soon as the 
 fruit is ripe, the branch gives it off, to commence 
 afresh its work of beneficence, and anew prepare its 
 fruit for another season. A fruit-bearing tree lives 
 not for itself, but wholly for those to whom its fruit 
 brings refreshment and life. And so the branch 
 exists only and entirely for the sake of the fruit. 
 To make glad the heart of the husbandman is its 
 object, its safety, and its glory. 
 
 Beautiful image of the believer abiding in Christ ! 
 He not only grows in strength, the union with the 
 Vine becoming ever surer and firmer, he also bears 
 fruit, yea, much fruit. He has the power to offer 
 that to others of which they can eat and live. 
 Amid aU who surround him he becomes like a tree 
 
 Jt^'eii 
 
THA.T YOU MAY BEAR MUCH FRUIT. 
 
 141 
 
 of life, of which they can taste and be refreshed. 
 He is in his circle a centre of life and of blessing, 
 and that simply because he abides in Christ, and 
 receives from Him the Spirit and the life of which 
 lie can impart to others. Learn thus, if thou 
 wouldest bless others, to abide in Christ, and that 
 if thou dost abide, thou shalt surely bless. As 
 surely as the branch abiding in a fruitful vine 
 licars fruit, so surely, yea, much more surely, will a 
 soul abiding in Christ with His fulness of blessing 
 be made a blessing. 
 
 The reason of this is easily understood. If Christ, 
 tlie heavenly Vine, has taken the believer as a branch, 
 then He has pledged Himself, in the very nature of 
 tilings, to supply the sap and spirit and nourish- 
 ment to make it bring forth fruit. * From Me is 
 thy fruit found,: ' these words derive new meaning 
 from our parable. The soul need but have one care, 
 — to abide closely, fully, wholly. He will give the 
 fruit. He works all that is needed to make the 
 believer a blessing. 
 
 Abiding in Him, you receive of Him His Spirit 
 of love and compassion towards sinners, making you 
 desirous to seek their good. By nature the heart 
 is full of selfishness. Even in the believer, his own 
 salvation and happiness are often too much his 
 only object. But abiding in Jesus, you come into 
 contact with His infinite love; its fire begins to 
 burn within your heart ; you see the beauty of love ; 
 you learn to look upon loving and serving and 
 saving your fellow -men as the highest privi- 
 lege a disciple of Jesus can have. Abiding in 
 
 III 
 
' ' 
 
 I ; 
 
 142 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 I ''! 
 
 ■ . !r 
 
 
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 'i ; 
 
 ■ J 
 
 -ill 
 
 Christ, your heart learns to feel the wretchedness 
 of the sinner still in darkness, and the fearfulness 
 of the dishonour done to your God. With Christ 
 you begin to bear the burden of souls, the burden 
 of sins not your own. As you are more closely 
 united to Him, somewhat of that passion for souls 
 which urged Him to Calvary begins to breathe 
 within you, and you are ready to follow His foot- 
 steps, to forsake the heaven of your own happiness, 
 and devote your life to win the souls Christ has 
 taught you to love. The very spirit of the Vine is 
 love ; the spirit of love streams into the branch that 
 abides in Him. 
 
 The desire to be a blessing is but the beginning. 
 As you undertake to work, you speedily become 
 conscious of your own weakness and the difficulties 
 in your way. Souls are not saved at your bidding. 
 You are ready to be discouraged, and to relax your 
 effort. But abiding in Christ, you receive ncvj 
 courage and strength for the work. Believing what 
 Christ teaches, that it is He who through you will 
 give His blessing to the world, you understand that 
 you are but the feeble instrument through which 
 the hidden power of Christ does its work, that His 
 strengtli may be perfected and made glorious in 
 your weakness. It is a great step when the believer 
 fully consents to his own weakness, and the abiding 
 consciousness of it, and so works faithfully on, fully 
 assured that his Lord is working through him. He 
 rejoices that the excellence of the power is of God, 
 and not of us. Realizing his oneness with his Lord, 
 
THAT YOU M/.Y BEAR MUCH FRUIT. 
 
 143 
 
 ness 
 ness 
 lirist 
 rden 
 [)sely 
 souls 
 Bathe 
 foot- 
 iness, 
 it has 
 ine is 
 hthat 
 
 nning. 
 
 )ecome 
 
 culties 
 
 idding. 
 
 X your 
 
 e 7it"?/; 
 what 
 m will 
 
 lid that 
 which 
 at His 
 tous iu 
 (eliever 
 ihiding 
 
 [n, fully 
 He 
 
 .f God, 
 s Lord, 
 
 lie considers no longer his own weakness, but counts 
 on the power o** Him of whose hidden working 
 within he is assured. It is this secret assurance 
 that gives a brightness to his look, and a gentle 
 firmness to his tone, and a perseverance to all his 
 efforts, which of themselves are great means of in- 
 liuencing those he is seeking to win. He goes forth 
 in the spirit of one to whom victory is assured ; for 
 this is the victory that overcometh, even our faith. 
 He no longer counts it humility to say that God 
 cannot bless his unworthy efforts. He claims and 
 expects a blessing, because it is not he, but Christ 
 in him, that worketh. The great secret of abiding 
 in Christ is the deep conviction that we are nothing, 
 and He is everything. As this is learnt, it no longer 
 seems strange to believe that our weakness need be 
 no hindrance to His saving power. The believer 
 who yields himself wholly up to Christ for service 
 in the spirit of a simple, childlike trust, will 
 assuredly bring forth much fruit. He will not fear 
 even to claim his share in the wonderful promise : 
 * He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall 
 he do also ; and greater works than these shall he do, 
 because I go to the Father.' He no longer thinks 
 tliat He cannot have a blessing, and must be kept 
 unfruitful, that he may be kept humble. He sees 
 that the most heavily laden branches bow the lowest 
 down. Abiding in Christ, he has yielded assent to 
 the blessed agreement between the Vine and the 
 branches, that of the fruit all the glory shall be to 
 the Husbandman, the blessed Father. 
 
 
 .' \i 'J '5 
 
144 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 Let US learn two lessons. If we arc abiding in 
 Jesus, let us begin to work. Let us first seek to 
 intluence those around us in daily life. Let us 
 accept distinctly and joyfully our holy calling, that 
 we are even now to live as the servants of the love 
 of Jesus to our fellow-men. Our daily life must havo 
 for its object the making of an impression favourable 
 to Jesus. When you look at the brancli, you see at 
 once the likeness to the Vine. We must live so 
 that somewhat of the holiness and tlie gentleness of 
 Jesus may shine out in us. We nnist livR to repre- 
 sent Him. As was the case with Him when on 
 earth, the life must prepare the way for the teaching. 
 What the Church and the world both need is this : 
 men and women full of the Holy Ghost and of love, 
 who, as the living embodiments of the grace and 
 power of Christ, witness for Him, and for His power 
 on behalf of those who believe in Him. Living so, 
 with our hearts longing to have Jesus glorified in the 
 souls He is seeking after, let us offer ourselves to 
 Him for direct work. There is work in our own 
 home. There is work among the sick, the poor, 
 and the outcast. There is work in a hundred dif- 
 ferent paths which the Spirit of Christ opens up 
 through those who allow themselves to be led by 
 Him. There is work perhaps for us in ways that 
 have not yet been opened up by others. Abiding 
 in Christ, let us work. Let us work, not like 
 those who are content if they now follow the 
 fashion, and take some share in religious work. 
 No ; let us work as those who are growing liker to 
 
THAT YOU MAY BEAR MUCH FRUIT. 
 
 M.-. 
 
 M 
 
 g in 
 k to 
 t us 
 that 
 love 
 have 
 irable 
 see at 
 ive so 
 less of 
 repre- 
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 iching. 
 ts this : 
 of love, 
 |Ce and 
 } power 
 ang so, 
 i in the 
 jlves to 
 ur own 
 poor, 
 red dif- 
 )ens up 
 led by 
 i,ys that 
 Abiding 
 Lot lil^e 
 low the 
 Is work, 
 liker to 
 
 Christ, because they are abiding in Him, and who, 
 Hke Him, count the work of winning souls to the 
 Father the very joy and glory of heaven begun 
 on earth. 
 
 And the second lesson is : If you work, abide in 
 Christ. This is one of the blessings of work il' 
 ilone in the right spirit, — it will deepen your union 
 with your blessed Lord. It will discover your weak- 
 ness, and throw you back on His strength. It will 
 stir you to much prayer ; and in prayer for others is 
 the time when the soul, forgetful of itself, uncon- 
 sciously grows deeper into Christ. It will make 
 clearer to you the true nature of braiKli-lif\i; its 
 absolute dependence, and at the same time its 
 glorious sufficiency, — independent of all else, because 
 dependent on Jesus. If you work, abide in Christ. 
 There are temptations and dangers. Work for Christ 
 lias t'lmetimes drawn away from Christ, and taken 
 the plave of fellowship with Him. Work can some- 
 times give a form of godliness without the power. 
 As you work, abide in Christ. Let a living faith 
 in Christ working in you be the secret spring of all 
 your work ; this will inspire at once humility and 
 courage. Let the Holy Spirit of Jesus dwell in 
 you as the Spirit of His tender compassion and 
 His Divine power. Abide in Christ, and offer 
 every facuky of your nature freely and unre- 
 servedly to Him, to sanctify it for Himself. If 
 Jesus Christ is really to work through us, it needs 
 an entire consecration of ourselves to Him, daily 
 renewed. But we understand now, just this is 
 
 K 
 
i' ! 
 
 146 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST 
 
 abiding in Him; just this it is that constitutes 
 our highest privilege and happiness. To be a 
 branch bearing much fruit,— nothing less, nothing 
 more, — be this our only joy. 
 
 m 
 
so WILL YOU HAVE XOWER IN PRAYER. 
 
 147 
 
 a 
 
 Twenty-First Day, 
 
 ABIDE IN CHEIST, 
 
 ^ So to ill SOU fjabe ^^obier in ^^rager* 
 
 ' I f ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what 
 ye will, and it shall be done unto you.' — John xv. 7. 
 
 PRAYEE is both one of the means and one of 
 the fruits of union to Christ. As a means it 
 is of unspeakable importance. All the actings of 
 faith, all the pleadings of desire, all the yearnings 
 iifter a fuller surrender, all the confessions of short- 
 coming and of sin, all the exercises in which the 
 soul gives up self and clings to Christ, find their 
 utterance in prayer. In each meditation on Abiding 
 iu Christ, as some new feature of what Scripture 
 teaches concerning this blessed life is tipprehended, 
 the first impulse of the believer is at once to look 
 un to the Father and pour out the heart into His, 
 ana ask from Him the full understanding and the 
 full possession of what he has been shown in the 
 Word. And it is the believer, who is not content 
 with this spontaneous expression of his hope, but 
 who takes time in secret prayer to wait until he has 
 received and laid hold of what he has seen, who will 
 
, --^ 
 
 i !:| 
 
 148 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 ! i 
 
 really grow strong in Christ. However feeble the 
 soul's first abiding, its prayer will be heard, and it 
 will find prayer one of the great means of abiding 
 more abundantly. 
 
 But it is not so much as a means, but as a fruit 
 of the abiding, that the Saviour mentions it in tl»e 
 Parable of the Vine. He does not think so much 
 of prayer — as we, alas ! too exclusively do — as a 
 means of getting blessing for ourselves, but as one 
 of the chief channels of influence by which, through 
 us as fellow-workers with God, the blessings of 
 Christ's redemption are to be dispensed to the 
 world. He sets before Himself and us the glory of 
 the Father, in the extension of His kingdom, as the 
 object for which we have been made branches ; and 
 He assures us that if we but abide in Him, we shall 
 be Israels, having power with God and man. Ours 
 shall be the effectual, fervent prayer of the righteous 
 man, availing much, like Elijah's for ungodly Israel. 
 Such prayer will be the fruit of our abiding in 
 Him, and the means of bringing forth much fruit. 
 
 To the Christian who is not abiding wholly in 
 Jesus, the difficulties connected with prayer are 
 often so great as to rob him of the comfort and the 
 strength it could bring. Under the guise of humility, 
 he asks how one so unworthy could expect to have 
 influence with the Holy One. He thinks of God's 
 sovereignty. His perfect wisdom and love, and 
 cannot see how his prayer can really have any dis- 
 tinct effect. He prays, but it is more because he 
 cannot rest without prayer, than from a loving faith 
 
 
so WILL YOU HAVE POWER IN PRAYER. 
 
 149 
 
 that the prayer will be heard. But what a blessed 
 release from such questions and perplexities is givc^n 
 to the soul who is truly abiding in Christ ! lie 
 realizes increasingly how it is in tlie real spiritual 
 unity with Christ that we are accepted and heard. 
 The union with the Son of God is a life union : we 
 are in very deed one with Hiui, — our prayer ascends 
 as His prayer. It is because we abitle in Him 
 that we can ask what we will, and It is given 
 to us. 
 
 There are many reasons why this must be so. 
 One is, that abiding in Christ, and having His words 
 abiding in us, teach us to pray in accordance vnth 
 the will of God. With the abiding in Christ our 
 self-will is kept down, the thoughts and wishes of 
 nature are brought into captivity to the thoughts and 
 wishes of Christ ; like-mindedness to Clirist grows 
 upon us, — all our working and willing become trans- 
 formed into harmony with His. There is deep and 
 oft-renewed heart-searching to see whether the 
 surrender has indeed been entire ; fervent prayer to 
 the heart-searching Spirit that nothing may be kept 
 back. Everything is yielded to the power of His 
 life in us, that it may exercise its sanctifying in- 
 fluence even on ordinary wishes and desires. His 
 Holy Spirit breathes through our whole being ; and 
 without our being conscious how, our desires, as the 
 breathings of the Divine life, are in conformity with 
 the Divine will, and are fulfilled. Abiding in Christ 
 renews and sanctifies the will : we ask what we luill, 
 and it is given to us. 
 
m 
 
 150 
 
 ABII>K IN CHlilST : 
 
 1 ■ 1 
 
 In close connection with this is the thought, that 
 the abiding in Christ teaclies the believer in prayer 
 only to seek the glory of God. In promising to answer 
 prayer, Christ's one thought (see John xiv. 13) is 
 this, * that the Fatlier may he glorified in tha Son.' In 
 His intercession on earth (John xvii.), this was His 
 one desire and plea ; in His intercession in heaven, 
 it is still His great object. As the believer abides 
 in Christ, the Saviour breathes this desire into him. 
 The thought. Only the glory of God, becomes more 
 and more the keynote of the life hid in Christ. At 
 first this subdues, and quiets, and makes the soul 
 almost afraid to dare entertain a wish, lest it should 
 not be to the Father's glory. But when once its 
 supremacy has been accepted, and everything yielded 
 to it, it comes with mighty power to elevate and 
 enlarge the heart, and open it to the vast field open 
 to the glory of God. Abiding in Christ, the soul 
 learns not only to desire, but spiritually to discern 
 what will be for God's glory ; and one of the first 
 conditions of acceptable prayer is fulfilled in it 
 when, as the fruit of its union with Christ, the whole 
 mind is brought into harmony with that of the Son 
 as He said : ' Father, glorify Thy name.' 
 
 Once more : Abiding in Christ, we can fully avaU 
 ourselves of tJie name of Christ. Asking in the name 
 of another means that that other authorized me and 
 sent me to ask, and wants to be considered as ask- 
 ing himself : he wants the favour done to him. 
 Believers often try to think of the name of Jesus 
 and His merits, and to argue themselves into the 
 
 ■i!t ■ 
 
so WILL YOU HAVE POWEll IN PRAYER. 
 
 161 
 
 that 
 
 rayer 
 
 iswer 
 
 .3) is 
 In 
 
 s His 
 
 3aveii, 
 
 ibides 
 
 3 hini. 
 
 3 more 
 
 t. At 
 
 le soul 
 
 should 
 
 Qce its 
 
 yielded 
 
 ^te and 
 
 id open 
 
 16 soul 
 
 discern 
 
 he first 
 in it 
 whole 
 ,he Son 
 
 ly avail 
 le name 
 me and 
 
 as ask- 
 
 him. 
 
 |f Jesus 
 
 tto the 
 
 faith that they will be heard, while they painfully 
 feel how Httle they have of the faith of His name. 
 They are not living wholly in Jesus' name ; it is only 
 when they begin to pray that they want to take up 
 that name and use it. This cannot be. The promise 
 ' Whatsoever ye ask in my name,' may not be severed 
 from the command, * Whatsoever ye do, do all in 
 the name of the Lord Jesus.' If the name of 
 Christ is to be wholly at my disposal, so that I may 
 have the full command of it for all I will, it must be 
 because I first put myself wholly at His disposal, so 
 that He has free and full command of me. It is 
 the abiding in Christ that gives the right and power 
 to use His name with confidence. To Christ the 
 Father refuses nothing. Abiding in Christ, I come 
 to the Father as one with Him. His righteousness 
 is in me. His Spirit is in me ; the Father sees the 
 Son in me, and gives me my petition. It is not — 
 as so many think — by a sort of imputation that 
 the Father looks upon us as if we were in Christ, 
 though we are not in Him. No ; the Father wants 
 to see us living in Him : thus shall our prayer 
 really have power to prevail. Abiding in Christ 
 not only renews the will to pray aright, but secures 
 the full power of His merits to us. 
 
 Again : Abiding in Christ also works in us the 
 faith that alone can obtain an answer. * According 
 to your faith be it unto you : ' this is one of the 
 laws of the kingdom. ' Believe that ye receive, and 
 ye shall have.' This faith rests upon, and is rooted 
 in the Word; but is something infinitely higher 
 
 •3 ' 
 
nl I ' 
 
 ipii 
 
 pi- 
 
 i i 
 
 ! I : 
 
 • 
 
 152 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 than the mere logical conclusion : God has promised, 
 I shall obtain. No ; faith, as a spiritual act, depends 
 upon the words abiding in us as living powers, and 
 so upon the state of the whole inner life. Without 
 fasting and prayer (Mark ix. 29), without humility 
 jind a spiritual mind (John v. 44), without a whole- 
 hearted obedience (1 John iii. 22), there cannot be 
 tliis living faith. But as the soul abides in Christ, 
 and grows into tlie consciousness of its union with 
 Him, and sees how entirely it is He who makes it 
 and its petition acceptable, it dares to claim an 
 answer because it knows itself one with Him. It 
 was by faith it learnt to abide in Him ; as the fruit 
 of that faith, it rises to a larger faith in all that 
 God has promised to be and to do. It learns to 
 breathe its prayers in the deep, quiet, confident 
 assurance : We know we have the petition we ask 
 of Him. 
 
 Abiding in Christ, further, keeps us in the place 
 where tJie aiisiver can he bestowed. Some believers 
 pray earnestly for blessing; but when God comes 
 and looks for them to bless them, they are not to be 
 found. They never thought that the blessing must 
 not only be asked, but waited for, and received in 
 prayer. Abiding in Christ is the place for receiving 
 answers. Out of Him the answer would be danger- 
 ous, — we should consume it on our lusts (Jas. iv. 3). 
 Many of the richest answers — say for spiritual 
 grace, or for power to work and to bless — can only 
 come in the shape of a larger experience of what 
 God makes Christ to us. The fulness is IN Him : 
 
 1 
 
ised, 
 ends 
 , ami 
 ihout 
 aility 
 hole- 
 ot be 
 Jhrist, 
 with 
 kes it 
 m an 
 tt. It 
 e fruit 
 LI that 
 irns to 
 ttfident 
 we ask 
 
 so WILL YOU HAVE POWER IN PRAYER. 
 
 153 
 
 abiding in Him is the condition of power in prayer, 
 because the answer is treasured up and bestowed in 
 Him. 
 
 Believer, abide in Christ, for there is the school of 
 prayer, — mighty, effectual, aiiSwer-bringing prayer. 
 Abide in Him, and thou shalt learn what to so 
 many is a mystery : That the secret of the prayer of 
 faith is the life of faith, — the life that abides in 
 Clirist alone. 
 
 i\i it 
 
! ( 
 
 14 
 
 i 
 1 
 
 A' ^ 
 
 
 ■ t-'Mti'M m 
 
 i 
 
 ^fipi 
 
 !':■ 
 
 154 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST i 
 
 Twenty-Second Day. 
 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^nti in Wi» ILobe. 
 
 * As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you : abide ye in 
 my love.' — John xv. 9. ^ 
 
 BLESSED Lord, enlighten our eyes to see aright 
 the glory of this wondrous word. Open to 
 our meditation the secret chamber of Thy love, that 
 our souls may enter in, and find there their everlast- 
 ing dwelling-place. How else shall we know aught 
 of a love that passeth knowledge ? 
 
 Before the Saviour speaks the word that invites 
 us to abide in His love, He first tells us what that 
 love is. What He says of it must give force to His 
 invitation, and make the thought of not accepting it 
 an impossibility: 'As the Father hath loved me, 
 80 I have loved you ! ' 
 
 * As the Father hath loved me.* How shall we 
 
 * It is difficult to understand why in our English Bible one 
 Greek word should in the first sixteen verses of John xv. have had 
 three different translations : abide in ver. 4, continue in ver. 9, 
 and remain in vers. 11 and 16. The Eevised Version has of course 
 kept the one word, abide. 
 
 m 
 
AND IN HIS LOVE. 
 
 155 
 
 be able to form right conceptions of this love ? Lord, 
 teach us. God is love. Love is His very being. 
 Love is not an attribute, but the very essence of His 
 nature, the centre round whicli all His glorious 
 attributes gather. It was because He was love that 
 He was the Father, and that there was a Son. Love 
 needs an object to whom it can give itself away, in 
 whom it can lose itself, with whom it can make 
 itself one. Because God is love, there must be a 
 Father and a Son. The love of the Father to the 
 Son is that Divine passion with which He delights 
 in the Son, and speaks, * My beloved Son, in whom 
 I am well pleased.* The IJivine love is as a burning 
 fire ; in all its intensity and infinity it has but one 
 object and but one joy, and that is the only- 
 begotten Son. When we gather together all the 
 attributes of God, — His infinity, His perfection, His 
 immensity, His majesty. His omnipotence, — and con- 
 sider them hut as the rays of the glory of His love, 
 we still fail in forming any conception of what that 
 love must be. It is a love that passeth knowledge. 
 And yet this love of God to His Son must serve, 
 my soul, as the glass in which thou art to learn 
 how Jesus loves thee. As one of His redeemed 
 ones, thou art His delight, and all His desire is to 
 thee, with the longing of a love which is stronger 
 than death, and which many waters cannot quench. 
 His heart yearns after thee, seeking thy fellowship 
 and thy love. Were it needed, He could die again 
 to possess thee. As the Father loved the Son, and 
 could not live without Him, could not be God the 
 
 iS', ! 
 
 ; i: 
 
 iiJili 
 
'■ -rntl 
 ' I mm 
 
 il 
 
 ,1 
 
 156 
 
 ABIDE IN CHULST : 
 
 blessed without Him, — so Jesus loves thee. His 
 life is bound up in thine ; thou art to Him inex- 
 pressibly more indispensable and precious than thou 
 ever canst know. Thou art one with Himself. * As 
 the Father hath loved me, so have 1 loved you.' 
 "What a love ! 
 
 It is an eternal love. From before the founda- 
 tion of the world — God's Word teaches us this — 
 the purpose had been formed that Christ should be 
 the Head of His Church, that He should have a 
 body in which His glory could be set forth. In 
 that eternity He loved and longed for those who had 
 been given Him by the Father ; and when He came 
 and told His disciples that He loved them, it was 
 indeed not with a love of earth and of time, but 
 with the love of eternity. And it is with that same 
 infinite love that His eye still rests upon each of us 
 here seeking to abide in Him, and in each breathing 
 of that love there is indeed the power of eternity. 
 * I have loved thee with an everlasting love.' 
 
 It is a perfect love. It gives all, and holds 
 nothing back. * The Father loveth the Son, and 
 hath given all things into His hand.' And just so 
 Jesus loves His own : all He has is theirs. When 
 it was needed, He sacrificed His throne and crown 
 for thee : He did not count His own life and blood 
 too dear to give for thee. His righteousness. His 
 Spirit, His glory, even His throne, all are thine. 
 This love holds nothing, nothing back, but, in a 
 manner which no human mind can fathom, makes 
 thee one with itself. wondrous love ! to love 
 
AND IN HIS LOVE. 
 
 157 
 
 US even as the Father loved Him, and to offer us 
 tliis love as our everyday dwelling. 
 
 It is a gentle and most tender love. As wo 
 think of the love of the Father to the Son, we see 
 ill the Son every tiling so infinitely worthy of that 
 luve. When we think of Christ's love to us, there 
 is nothing but sin and unworthiness to meet the eye. 
 And the question comes, How can that love within 
 the hosom of the Divine life and its perfections be 
 compared to the love that rests on sinners ? Can 
 it indeed be the same love ? lUessed be God, we 
 know it is so. The nature of love is always one, 
 however different the objects. Christ knows of 
 no other law of love but that with which His 
 Father loved Him. Our wretchedness only serves 
 to call out more distinctly the beauty of love, 
 such as could not be seen even in Heaven. With 
 the tenderest compassion He bows to our weakness, 
 with patience inconceivable He bears with our slow- 
 ness, with the gentlest loving-kindness He meets 
 our fears and our follies. It is the love of the 
 Father to the Son, beautified, j^iorified, in its con- 
 descension, in its exquisite adaptation to our needs. 
 
 And it is an unchangeable love. * Having loved 
 His own which were in the w^orld. He loved them 
 to the end.' * The mountains shall depart, and the 
 hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart 
 from thee.' The promise with which it begins its 
 work in the soul is this : * I shall not leave thee, 
 until I have done that which I have spoken to thee 
 of.' And just as our wretchedness was what first 
 drew it to us, so the sin, with which it is so often 
 
 i :|l 
 
 mM 
 
 
 III' 
 
158 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 '^ i 
 
 grieved, and which may well cause us to fear and 
 doubt, is but a new motive for it to hold to us nil 
 the more. And why ? We can give no reason but 
 this : * As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved 
 you.* 
 
 And now, does not this love suggest the motive, 
 the measure, and the means of that surrender by 
 which we yield ourselves wholly to abide in Him ? 
 
 This love surely supplies a motive. Only look 
 and see how this love stands and pleads and prays. 
 Gaze, gaze on the Divine form, tlie eternal glory, 
 the heavenly beauty, the tenderly pleading gentle- 
 ness of the crucified love, as it stretches out its 
 pierced hands and says, * Oh, wilt thou not abide 
 with me? wilt thou not come and abide in me?* It 
 points thee up to the eternity of love whence it 
 came to seek thee. It points thee to the Cross, and 
 all it has borne to prove the reality of its affection, 
 and to win thee for itself. It reminds thee of all it 
 has promised to do for thee, if thou wilt but throw 
 thyself unreservedly into its arms. It asks tlieti 
 whether, so far as thou hast come to dwell with it 
 and taste its blessedness, it hath not done well by 
 thee. And with a Divine authority, mingled witli 
 such an inexpressible tenderness that one miglit 
 almost think he heard the tone of reproach in 
 it says, * Soul, as the Father hath loved me, 
 have loved you : abide in my love.* Surely thuH' 
 can be but one answer to such pleading : Lord Jesus 
 Christ ! here I am. Henceforth Thy love shall be the 
 only home of my soul : in Thy love alone will I abide. 
 
AND IN HIS LOVE. 
 
 159 
 
 That love is not only the motive, but also the 
 measure, of our surrender to abide in it. I^ve gives 
 iill, but asks all. It does so, not because it grudges 
 us aught, but because without this it cannot get 
 possession of us to till us with itself. In the love 
 of the Father and the Son, it was so. In the love 
 of Jesus to us, it was so. In our entering into His 
 love to abide there, it must be so too ; our surrender 
 to it must have no other measure than its surrender 
 to us. that we understood how the love that 
 calls us has infinite riches and fulness of joy for us, 
 and that what we give up for its sake will be re- 
 warded a hundredfold in this life ! Or rather, would 
 that we understood that it is a love with a heiglit 
 and a depth and a length and a breadth that passes 
 knowledge ! How all thought of sacrifice or surrender 
 would pass away, and our souls be filled with wonder 
 at the unspeakable privilege of being loved with 
 such a love, of being allowed to come and abide in 
 it for ever. 
 
 And if doubt again suggest the question: But is it 
 possible, can I always abide in His love ? listen how 
 that love itself supplies the only means for the abiding 
 in Him : It is faith in that love which will enable 
 ris to abide in it. If this love be indeed so Divine, 
 such an intense and burning passion, then surely I 
 < n depend on it to keep me and to hold me fast. 
 Then surely all my unworthiness and feebleness can 
 lie no hindrance. If this love be indeed so Divine, 
 with infini • power at its command, I surely have a 
 ii{^ht to trust that it is stronger than my weakness ; 
 
 iiiP 
 
 'si- it 
 
 il':li 
 
i% 
 
 160 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST I 
 
 and that with its almighty arm it will clasp me to 
 its bosom, and suffer me to go out no more. I see 
 how this is the one thing my God requires of me. 
 Treating me as a reasonable being endowed with the 
 wondrous power of willing and choosing, He can- 
 not force all this blessedness on me, but waits till I 
 give the willing consent of the heart. And the 
 token of this consent He has in His great kindness 
 ordered faith to be, — that faith by which utter sin- 
 fulness casts itself into the arms of love to be saved, 
 and utter weakness to be kept and made strong. 
 
 Infinite Love ! Love with which the Father 
 loved the Son I Love with which the Son loves us ! 
 
 1 can trust thee, I do trust thee, keep me 
 abiding in Thyself. 
 
 '>>;H t.if. 
 
 luiir dim ifn. 
 
 -• {..; ■'■•■■■> 
 
AS CHRIST IN TH£ fAIHfifi. 
 
 ICi 
 
 Twenty-Third Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHKIST, 
 
 ^g Cfjrist in tije JFatijer* 
 
 ' As the Father hath loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my 
 love, even as I abide in my Father's lo"e,* — John xv. 9, 10. 
 
 CHRIST had taught His disciples that to abide 
 in Him was to abide in His love. The hour 
 of His sufifering is nigh, and He cannot speak much 
 more to them. They would doubtless have mauy 
 questions to ask as to what that abiding in H'm 
 and His love is. He anticipates and meets th3ir 
 wishes, and gives them His own life as the best 
 exposition of His command. As example and rule 
 for their abiding in His love, they have to look to 
 His abiding in the Father's love. In the light of 
 His union with the Father, their union with Him 
 will become clear. His life in the Father is the law 
 of their life in Him. 
 
 The thought is so high that we can hardly take 
 it in, and is yet so clearly revealed, that we dare 
 iii)t neglect it. Do we not read in Jobn vi. (ver. 57), 
 ' As I live by the Father, even so he that eateth me, 
 he shall live by me ' ? And the Saviour praya so 
 
 ilip 
 
 -.1 
 
 ^1 
 
 '■■' in 
 
 h-h 
 
 
 'M 
 
! : I 
 
 102 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 1 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 : 
 
 ,i'( 
 
 
 ! ( 
 
 distinctly (John xvii. 22), 'that they maybe one 
 even as Wb are one : I in them, and Thou in me.* 
 The blessed union of Christ with the Father and 
 His life in Him is the only rule of our thoughts 
 and expectations in regard to our living and abiding 
 in Him. 
 
 Think first of the origin of that life of Christ in 
 the Father. They were one — one in life and one in 
 love. In this His abiding in the Father had its 
 root. Though dwelling here on earth, He knew 
 that He was One with the Father ; that the Father's 
 life was in Him, and His love on Him. Without 
 this knowledge, abiding in the Father and His love 
 would have been utterly impossible. And it is 
 thus only that thou canst abidf in Christ and His 
 love. Know that thou art one with Him — one in 
 the unity of nature. By His birth He !jecame man, 
 and took thy nature that He might be one with 
 thee. By thy new birth thou becomest one with 
 Him, and art made partaker of His Divine nature. 
 The link that binds thee to Him is as real and close 
 as bound Him to the Father — the link of a Divine 
 life. Thy claim on Him is as sure and always 
 availing as was His on the Father. Thy union 
 with Him is as close. 
 
 And as it is the union of a Divine life, it is one 
 of an infinite love. In His life of humiliation on 
 eetrth He tasted the blessedness and strength of 
 knowing Himself the object of an infinite love, and 
 of dwelling in it all the day ; from His own 
 example He invites thee to learn that herein lies 
 
\ one 
 me.* 
 • and 
 ughts 
 aiding 
 
 rist in 
 one in 
 lad its 
 
 knew 
 'atber's 
 Without 
 lis love 
 d it is 
 md His 
 -one in 
 
 le man, 
 Ine witli 
 [ne witb 
 
 nature. 
 
 Ind close 
 
 Divine 
 
 always 
 
 union 
 
 \i is one 
 ition oil 
 
 Ingth of 
 3ve, and 
 [is own 
 
 Irein lies 
 
 AS CHRIST JN THE FATHER. 
 
 163 
 
 the secret of rest and joy. Thou art one with 
 Him : yield thyself now to be loved by Him ; let 
 thine eyes and heart open to the love that shines 
 and presses in on thee on every side. Abide in 
 His love. 
 
 Think then too of the mode of that abiding in the 
 Father and His love which is to be the law of thy 
 life. * I kept my Father's commandments and abide 
 in His love.' His was a life of subjection and 
 dependence, and yet most blessed. To our proud 
 self-seeking nature the thought of dependence and 
 subjection suggests the idea of humiliation and 
 servitude; in the life of love which the Son of Cod 
 lived, and to which He invites us, they are the 
 secret of blessedness. The Son is not afraid of 
 losing aught by giving up all to the Father, for He 
 knows that the Father loves Him, and can have no 
 interest apart from that of the beloved Son. He 
 knows that as complete as is the dependence on His 
 part is the communication on the part of the Father 
 of all He possesses. Hence \hen He had said, 
 ' The Son can do nothing of Himself, except He 
 see the Father do it,' He adds at once, ' Whatsoever 
 things the Father doeth, them also doeth the Son 
 likewise : for the Father loveth the Son, and showeth 
 Him all things that Himself doeth.' The believer 
 who studies this life of Christ as the pattern and the 
 piomise of what his may be, learns to understand 
 how the * Without me ye can do nothing,' is but the 
 forerunner of ' I can do all things through Christ 
 who strengtheneth me.' We learn to glory in 
 
 I 
 
 . ■■a 
 
 m n 
 
 .! 1^ 
 
 I. !1| 
 
11 
 
 
 164 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 infirmities, to take pleasure in necessities and dis- 
 tresses for Christ's sake ; for * when I am weak, then 
 am I strong.* He rises above the ordinary tone in 
 which so many Christians speak of their weakness, 
 while they are content to abide there, because he has 
 learnt from Christ that in the life of Divine love 
 the emptying of self and the sacrifice of our will is 
 the surest way to have all we can wish or will. 
 Dependence, subjection, self-sacrifice, are for the 
 Christian as for Christ the blessed path of life. 
 Like as Christ lived through and in the Father, even 
 so the believer through and in Christ. 
 
 Think of the glory of this life of Christ in the 
 Father's love. Because He gave Himself wholly to 
 the Father's will and glory, the Father crowned Him 
 with glory and honour. He acknowledged Him as 
 His only representative ; He made Him partaker of 
 His power and authority ; He exalted Him to share 
 His throne as God. And even so will it be with 
 him who abides in Christ's love. If Christ finds us 
 willing to trust ourselves and our interests to His 
 love, if in that trust we give up all care for our own 
 will and honour, if we make it our glory to exercise 
 and confess absolute dependence on Him in all thin^i^s, 
 if we are content to have no life but in Him, He will 
 do for us what the Father did for Him. He will lay 
 of His glory on us : As the name of our Lord Jesus 
 is glorified in us, we are glorified in Him (2 Thess. i. 
 12). He acknowledges us as His true and worthy 
 representatives ; He entrusts us with His power ; He 
 admits us to His counsels, as He allows our interces- 
 
: dis- 
 
 , then 
 ►ne in 
 kness, 
 aehas 
 3 love 
 will is 
 r will. 
 )r the 
 oi life. 
 ir, even 
 
 in the 
 loUy to 
 ed Him 
 Him as 
 ,aker of 
 Ito share 
 |be with 
 finds us 
 to His 
 »ur own 
 lexercise 
 ll things, 
 He wiU 
 will lay 
 •d Jesus 
 Thess. i. 
 worthy 
 ^^er; He 
 linterces- 
 
 AS CHRIST IN THE FATHER, 
 
 16 
 
 i) 
 
 sion to influence His rule of His Church and the 
 world ; He makes us the vehicles of His authority 
 and His influence over men. His Spirit knows no 
 other dweUing than such, and seeks no other instru- 
 ments for His Divine work. Blessed life of love for 
 the soul that abides in Christ's love, even as He in 
 the Father's ! 
 
 Believer ! abide in the love of Christ. Take and 
 study His relation to the Father as pledge of what 
 tliine own can become. As blessed, as mighty, as 
 glorious as was His life in the Father, can thine be 
 in Him. Let this truth, accepted under the teach- 
 ing of the Spirit in faith, remove every vestige of 
 fear, as if abiding in Christ were a burden and a 
 work. In the light of His life in the Father, let it 
 henceforth be to thee a blessed rest in the union 
 with Him, an overflowim>; fountain of joy and 
 strength. To abide in His love, His mighty, saving, 
 keeping, satisfying love, even as He abode in the 
 Father's love, — surely the very greatness of our call- 
 ing teaches us that it never can be a work we have 
 to perform ; it must be with us as with Him, the 
 result of the spontaneous outflowing uf a life from 
 within, and the mighty inworking of the love from 
 above. "What we only need is this: to take time 
 and study the Divine image of this life of love set 
 before us in Christ. We need to have our souls 
 still unto God, gazing upon that life of Christ in 
 the Father until the light from heaven falls on it, 
 and we hear the living voice of our Beloved 
 whispering gently to us personally the teaching He 
 
 I' 
 
 II! 
 
 ' 
 
 1. ji 
 
 J: 1-' 
 
LC6 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIIJIST: 
 
 
 1i 
 
 ! i 
 
 > j 
 
 gave to the disciples. Soul, be still and listen ; 
 let every thought be hushed until the word has 
 entered thy heart too : * Child ! I love thee, even 
 as the Father loved me. Abide in my love, even 
 as I abide in the Father's love. Thy life on eartli 
 in me is to be the perfect counterpart of mine in 
 the Father.' 
 
 And if tlie thought will sometimes come : Surely 
 this is too high for us ; can it be really true ? only 
 remember that the greatness of the privilege is 
 justified by the greatness of the object He has in 
 view. Christ icas the revelation of the Father on 
 earth. He could not be this if there were not the 
 most perfect unity, the most complete communica- 
 tion of all the Father had to the Son. He could 
 be it because the Father loved Him, and He abode 
 in that love. Believers are the revelation of Christ 
 on earth. They cannot be this unless there be 
 perfect unity, so that the world can know that Ho 
 loves them and has sent them. But they can be it 
 if Christ loves them with the infinite love that 
 gives itself and all it has, and if they abide in that 
 love. 
 
 Lord, show us Thy love. Make us with all the 
 saints to know the love that passeth knowledge. 
 Lord> show us in Thine own blessed life what it is 
 to abide in Thy love. And the sight shall so win 
 us, that it will be impossible for us one single hour 
 to seek any other life than the life of abiding in 
 Thy love. 
 
 ill 
 
 'W 
 
OBEYLNG HIS COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 167 
 
 Twenty- Fourth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ©be^inis ©is Commantiments* 
 
 * If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my Jove ; even 
 as I kept my Father's commandments, and abide in His love.'— 
 John xv. 10. 
 
 TTOW clearly we are taught here the plax;e 
 -'-■- which good works are to occupy in the life 
 of the believer! Christ as the beloved Son was 
 in the Father's love. He k'^pt His commandments, 
 and so He abode in the love. So the believer, 
 without works, receives Christ and is in Him ; he 
 keeps the commandments, and so abides in the love. 
 When the sinner, in coining to Christ, seeks to pre- 
 pare himself by works, the voice of the Gospel 
 sounds, * Not of ivorks.' When once in Christ, lest 
 the flesh should abuse the word, * Not of works,' the 
 Gospel lifts its voice as loud : * Created in Christ 
 Jesus unto good works' (see Eph. ii. 9, 10). To 
 the sinner out of Christ, works may be liis greatest 
 hindrance, keeping him from the union with the 
 Saviour. To tlie believer in Christ, works are 
 strength and blessing, for by them faith is made 
 perfect (Jas. ii 22), the union with Christ is 
 
 '' n 
 
 \ 
 
 mu 
 
 i 
 
 I'M 
 
 iill 
 
im 
 
 168 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 ^i i 
 
 • 'PI 
 
 cemented, and the soul established and more deeply 
 rooted in the love of God. * If a man love me, he 
 will keep my words, and my Father will love him.' ' If 
 ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love.' 
 
 The connection between this keeping the com- 
 mandments and the abiding in Christ's love is 
 easily understood. Our union with Jesus Christ is 
 not a thing of the intellect or sentiment, but a real 
 vital union in heart and life. The holy life of 
 Jesus, with His feelings and disposition, is breathed 
 into us by the Holy Spirit. The believer's calling 
 is to think and feel and will just what Jesus 
 thought and felt and willed. He desires to be 
 partaker i >t only of the grace but also of the holi- 
 ness of His Lord ; or rather, he sees that holiness 
 is the chief beauty of grace. To live the life of 
 Christ means to him to be delivered from the life 
 of self ; the will of Christ is to him the only path 
 of liberty from the slavery of his own evil self-will. 
 
 To the ignorant or slothful believer there is a great 
 diiference between the promises and commands of 
 Scripture. The former he counts his comfort and 
 his food ; but to him who is really seeking to abide 
 in Christ's love, the commands become no less 
 precious. As much as the promises they are the 
 revelation of the Divine love, guides into the 
 deeper experience of the Divine life, blessed helpers 
 in the path to a closer union with the Lord. He 
 sees how the harmony of our will with His will is 
 one of the chief elements of our fellowship with Hira. 
 The will is the central faculty iu the Divine as in 
 
 ! ( 
 
' I 
 
 (ve is 
 •ist is 
 I real 
 ife of 
 jathed 
 sailing 
 Jesus 
 to 1)6 
 i holi- 
 oliness 
 life of 
 .e life 
 path 
 i-will. 
 great 
 ds of 
 frt and 
 abide 
 lo less 
 xe the 
 the 
 elpers 
 He 
 
 [will is 
 Him. 
 as in 
 
 OBEYING HIS COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 160 
 
 the human being. The will of God is the power 
 that rules the whole moral as well as the natural 
 world. How could there be fellowship with Hun 
 without delight in His will ? It is only as long as 
 salvation is to the sinner nothing but a personal 
 safety, that he can be careless or afraid of the doing 
 of God's will. No sooner is it to him what Scripture 
 and the Holy Spirit reveal it to be, — the restoration 
 to communion with God and conformity to Him, — 
 than he feels that there is no law more natural or 
 more beautiful than this : Keeping Christ's com- 
 mandments the way to abide in Christ's love. His 
 inmost soul approves when he hears the beloved 
 Lord make the larger measure of the Spirit, with the 
 manifestation of the Father and the Son in the 
 believer, entirely dependent upon the keeping of 
 His commandments (John xiv. 15, 16, 21, 23). 
 
 There is another thing that opens to him a 
 deex^er insight and secures a still more cordial 
 acceptance of this truth. It is this, that in no other 
 way did Christ Himself abide in the Father's love. 
 In the life which Christ led upon earth, obedience 
 was a solemn reality. The dark and awful power 
 that led man to revolt from liis God, came upon 
 Him too, to tempt Him. To Him as man its offers 
 of self-gratification were not matters of indifference ; 
 to refuse them, He had to fast and pray. He 
 suffered, being tempted. He spoke very distinctly 
 of not seeking to do His own will, as a surrender 
 He had continually to make. He made the keeping 
 of the Father's commandments the distinct object 
 
 i \ 
 
 hi 
 
 i , 
 
'Ill 
 
 170 
 
 ABIDK IN CHRIST : 
 
 of His life, and so abode in His love. Docs He not tell 
 us, • I do nothing of myself, but as the Father taught 
 me, I speak these things. And He that sent me is 
 with nie ; He hath not left me alone ; f<jr I do always 
 the tilings tliat are pleasing to Him.' He thus 
 opened to us the only path to the blessedness of a 
 life on earth in the love of heaven ; and whenj as 
 from our vine, His Sj)irit Hows in the branches, 
 this keeping the commands is one of the surest and 
 highest elements of the life He inspires. 
 
 lieliever ! wouldest thou abide in Jesus, be very 
 careful to keep His connnandments. Keep them in 
 the love of thine heart. Be not content to have thtaii 
 in tlie Bible for reference, but have them transferred 
 by careful study, by meditation and by prayer, by a 
 loving acceptance, by the Spirit's teaching, to the 
 fleshy tables of the heart, lie not content with the 
 knowledge of some of the commands, those most 
 conmionly received among Christians, while others lie 
 nnknown and neglected. Surely, with thy New 
 Covenant privileges, thou wouldest not be behind the 
 Old Testament saints who spake so fervently : ' I 
 esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be 
 right.' Be assured that tliere is still much of thy 
 Lord's will that thou dost not yet understand. Make 
 Paul's prayer for the Colossians thine for thyself 
 and all believers, * that you might be filled with the 
 knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual 
 understanding ; ' and that of \ rastling Epaphras, 
 * that you may stand perfect and complete in all the 
 will of God.* llemember that this is one of the 
 
 
 "Si* 
 
OBEYING Ills COMMANDMENTS. 
 
 171 
 
 ot tell 
 aught 
 me is 
 ilways 
 ; thus 
 i of a 
 lenj as 
 luches, 
 st and 
 
 great elements of spiritual growth — a deeper insiglit 
 into the will of God concerning you. Imagine not 
 tliat entire consecration is tlie end— it is only the 
 beginning — of the truly holy life. See how Paul, 
 after having (liom. xii. 1) taught believers to lay 
 tliemselves upon the altar, whole and holy burnt- 
 offerings to their God, at once proceeds (ver. 2) to 
 tell them what the true altar-life is : being ever more 
 and more * renewed in their mind to prove what is 
 the good and perfect and acceptable will of God.' 
 The progressive renewal of the Holy Spirit leads to 
 growing like-mindedness to Christ ; then comes a 
 delicate power of spiritual perception, — a holy 
 instinct, — by which the soul ' (piick of understanding 
 (marg. quick of scent) in the fear of the Lord.' knows 
 to recognise the meaning and the application of the 
 Lord's commands to daily life in a way that remains 
 hidden to the ordinary Christian. Keep them dwell- 
 ing richly within thee, hide them within thy heart, 
 and thou shalt taste the blessedness of the man 
 whose 'delight is in the law of the Lord, and in 
 His law doth he meditate day and night.' Love will 
 assimilate into thy inmost being the commands as 
 food from heaven. They will no longer come to thee 
 as a law standing outside and against thee, but as 
 the living power which has transformed thy will into 
 perfect harmony with all thy Lord doth require. 
 
 And keep them in the obedience of thy life. It 
 has been thy solemn vow — has it not ? — no longer 
 to tolerate even a single sin : * I have sworn, and 
 I will perform it, that J will keep Thy righteous 
 
 1 
 
 1 1 
 

 172 
 
 AlilDE IN CIIKIST : 
 
 
 jud<,'nients.' Labour earnestly in prayer to stand 
 perfect and complete in all the will of God. Ask 
 earnestly for the discovery of every secret sin — of 
 unytliing that is not in perfect harmony with the 
 will of God. Walk up to the light thou hast faith- 
 fully and tenderly, yielding thyself in an unreserved 
 surrender to obey all that the Lord hath spoken. 
 When Israel took that vow (Ex. xix. 8, xxiv. 7), 
 it was only to break it all too soon. The New 
 Covenant gives the grace to make the vow and to 
 keep it too (Jer. xxxi.). Be careful of disobedience 
 even in little things. Disobedience dulls the con- 
 science, darkens the soul, deadens our spiritual 
 energies, — therefore keep the commandments of 
 Christ with implicit obedience. Be a soldier that 
 asks for nothing but the orders of the commander. 
 
 And if even for a moment the commandments 
 appear grievous, just remember whose they are. 
 They are the commandments of Him who loves 
 thee. They are all love, they come from His 
 love, they lead to His love. Each new surrender 
 to keep the commandments, each new sacrifice in 
 keeping them, leads to deeper union with the 
 will, the spirit, and the love of the Saviour. The 
 double recompense of reward shall be thine, — a 
 fuller entrance into the mystery of His love, — a 
 fuller conformity to His own blessed life. And 
 thou shalt learn to prize these words as among thy 
 choicest treasures : * If ye keep my commandments, 
 ye shall abide in my love, even as I have kept my 
 Eather's commandments and abide in His love.' 
 
THAT YOUK JOX MAY M FULL. 
 
 173 
 
 Twenty-Fifth Day. 
 
 If 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^fiat pour 3o2 map le ML 
 
 'These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might abide in 
 you, and that your joy might bo full.* — John xv. 11. 
 
 ABIDING fully in Christ is a life of exquisite 
 and overflowing liappiness. As Christ gets 
 more complete possession of the soul, it enters into 
 the joy of its Lord. His own joy, the joy of heaven, 
 becomes its own, and that in full measure, and as 
 an ever-abiding portion. Just as joy on earth is 
 everywhere connected with the vine and its fruit, so 
 joy is an essential characteristic of the life of the 
 believer who fully abides in Christ, the heavenly 
 Vine. 
 
 We all know the value of joy. It alone is the 
 proof that what we have really satisfies the heart. 
 As long as duty, or self-interest, or other motives 
 influence me, men cannot know what the object of 
 my pursuit or possession is really worth to me. 
 But when it gives me joy, and they see me delight 
 in it, they know that to me at least it is a treasure. 
 Hence there i? ' othing so attractive as joy, no 
 
 11, 
 
 !fl' 
 
\w 
 
 .1- - ; m 
 
 n 
 
 174 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 ■ 1 ' 
 
 il 
 
 /I ! 
 
 
 preaching so persuasive as the sight of hearts made 
 glad. Just this makes glatl'^ess such a mighty 
 element in the Christian character: there is no 
 proof of the reality of God's love and the blessing 
 He bestows, which men so soon feel the force of, as 
 when the joy of God overcomas all the trials of life. 
 And for the Christian's own welfare, joy is no less 
 indispensable : the joy of the I-orJ is his strength ; 
 confidence, and courage, and patience find their 
 inspiration in joy. With a heart full of joy no work 
 can weary, and no burden can depress ; God Him- 
 self is strength and song. 
 
 Let us hear what the Saviour says of the joy of 
 abiding in Him. He promises us His own joy : 
 
 * My joy.' As the whole parable refers to the life 
 His disciples should have in Him when ascended to 
 heaven, the joy is that of His resurrection life. This 
 is clear from those other words of His (John xvi. 22): 
 
 * I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, 
 and your joy shall no man take from you.' It was 
 only with the resurrection and its glory that the 
 power of the never-changing life began, and only in it 
 that the never-ceasing joy could have its rise. With 
 it was fulfilled the word : * Therefore thy God hath 
 anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy 
 fellows.' The day of His crowning was the day of 
 the gladness of His heart.. That joy of His wa« the 
 joy of a work fully and for ever completed, the joy 
 of the Father's bosom regained, and the joy of souls 
 redeemed. These are the elements of His joy ; of 
 them the abiding in Him makes us partakers. The 
 
 * 
 
THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL. 
 
 175 
 
 nade 
 
 s no 
 :ssiiig 
 3f, as 
 f life. 
 
 less 
 ngth ; 
 
 their 
 
 1 work 
 Him- 
 
 joy of 
 
 n joy : 
 he life 
 ded to 
 This 
 22): 
 rejoice, 
 lit was 
 [at the 
 y in it 
 With 
 Id hath 
 te thy 
 |day of 
 ras the 
 jhe joy 
 If souls 
 
 heliever shares so fully His victory and His perfect 
 redemption, that his faith can without ceasing sing 
 the conqueror's song : * Thanks be to God, who 
 always causeth me to triumph.' As the fruit of this, 
 there is the joy of the undisturbed dwelling in the 
 light of the Father's love, — not a cloud to intervene 
 if the abiding be unbroken. And then, with this 
 joy in the love of the Father, as a love received, the 
 joy of the love of souls, as love going out and 
 rejoicing over the lost. Abiding in Christ, pene- 
 trating into the very depths of His life and heart, 
 seeking for the most perfect oneness, these the three 
 streams of His joy How into our hearts. Whether 
 we look backward and see the work He has done, 
 or upward and see the reward He has in the Father's 
 love that passeth knowledge, or forward in the con- 
 tinual accessions of joy as sinners are l)rought home, 
 His joy is ours. With our feet on Calvary, our eyes 
 on the Father's countenance, and our hjuuls helping 
 sinners home, we have His joy as our own. 
 
 And then He speaks of this joy as (thidhig, — a 
 joy that is never to cease or to be interrupted 
 for a moment: * That my joy might abide in you.' 
 * Your joy no man taketh from you.' This is what 
 many Christians cannot understand. Tlieir view of 
 the Christian life is that it is a succession of changes, 
 now joy and now sorrow. And they apjjeal to tlie 
 experiences of a man like tlie Apostle Paul, as a 
 proof of how much there mny be of weeping, and 
 sorrow, and suffering. They have not noticed how 
 just l*aul gives the strongest evidence as to this 
 
 ! 
 
 
 
 ■ 
 
176 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 unceasing joy. He understood the paradox of the 
 Christian life as the combination at one and the 
 same moment of all the bitterness of earth and 
 all the joy of heaven. * As sorrowful, yet always 
 rcjoiciTig : ' these precious golden words teach us 
 how the joy of Christ can overrule the sorrow of the 
 world, can make us sing while we weep, and can 
 maintain in the heart, even when cast down by 
 disappointment or difficulties, a deep consciousness 
 of a joy that is unspeakable and full of glory. 
 There is buo one condition : * / will see you ayain, 
 and yuar heart shall rejoice, and your joy shall no 
 man take from you.' The presence of Jesus, dis- 
 tinctly manifested, cannot but give joy. Abiding in 
 Him consciously, how can the soul but rejoice and be 
 glad ? Even when weeping for the sins and the souls 
 of others, there is the fountain of gladness springing 
 up in the faith of His power and love to save. 
 
 Ard this His own joy abiding with us. He wants 
 to be full. Of the full joy our Saviour spoke thrice 
 on the last night. Once here in the Parable of the 
 Vine : * 2'hese things have I spoken unto you that your 
 joy might he full ; ' and every deeper insight into the 
 wonderful blessedness of being the branch of such 
 a Vine confirms His Word. Then He connecliS it 
 (John xvi. 24) with our prayers being answered: 'Af'k 
 and ye shall receive, that your joy may he full* To 
 the spiritual mind, answered prayer is not only a 
 means of obtxilhing certain blessings, but something 
 infinitely higher. It is a token of our fellowship 
 with the Father and the Sou in heaven, of their 
 
THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL. 
 
 IT? 
 
 cHs- 
 
 wants 
 
 lirice 
 
 of the 
 
 your 
 
 to the 
 
 such 
 
 BCoS it 
 
 Mk 
 To 
 only a 
 ctbing 
 
 delight in us, and our having been admitted and 
 having had a voice in that wondrous interchange of 
 love in which the Father and the Son hold counsel, 
 and decide the daily guidance of the children on 
 earth. To a soul abiding in Christ, that longs for 
 manifestations of His love, and that understands to 
 take an answer to prayer in its true spiritual value, 
 as a response from the throne to all its utterances 
 ' *" ^')ve and trust, the joy which it brings is truly 
 unutterable. The word is found true : ' Ask and ye 
 shall receive, and your joy shall be full.' And then 
 •he Saviour says, in His high-priestly prayer to the 
 i^'ather (John xvii. 13), ' These things I speak, that 
 they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.' It 
 is the sight of the great High Priest entering the 
 Father's presence for us, ever living to pray and 
 carry on His blessed work in the power of an end- 
 less life, that removes every possible cause of fear 
 or doubt, and gives us the assurance and experience 
 of a perfect salvation. Let the believer who seeks, 
 according to the teaching of John xv., to possess 
 the full joy of abiding in Christ, and according to 
 Jolm xvi., the full joy of prevailing prayer, press 
 forward to John xvii. Let him there listen to those 
 wondrous words of intercession spoken, that his joy 
 might be full. Let him, as he listens to those words, 
 learn the love that even now pleads for him in heaven 
 without ceasing, the glorious objects for which it is 
 pleading, and which through its all-prevailing plead- 
 ing are hourly being realized, and Christ's joy will 
 be fulfilled in him. 
 
 lit 
 
 
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warn 
 
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 178 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 i 
 
 Christ's own joy, abiding joy, fulness of joy, — 
 such is the portion of the believer who abides in 
 Christ. Why, why is it that this joy has so 
 little power to attract ? The reason simply is : Men, 
 yea, even God's children, do not believe in it. 
 Instead of the abiding in Christ being looked upon 
 as the happiest life that ever can be led, it is 
 regarded as a life of self-denial and of sadness. 
 They forget that the self-denial and the sadness 
 are owing to the not abiding, and that to those who 
 once yield themselves unreservedly to abide in 
 Christ as a bright and blessed life, their faith comes 
 true, — the joy of the Lord is theirs. The difficulties 
 all arise from the want of the full surrender to a 
 full abiding. 
 
 Child of God, who seekest to abide in Christ, 
 remember what the Lord says. At the close of the 
 Parable of the Vine He adds these precious words : 
 * These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy 
 might abide in you, and that your joy might be 
 full.' Claim the joy as part of the branch life, — not 
 the first or chief part, but as the blessed proof of the 
 sufficiency of Christ to satisfy every need of the 
 soul. Be happy. Cultivate gladness. If there are 
 times when it comes of itself, and the heart feels the 
 unutterable joy of the Saviour's presence, pmise God 
 for it, and seek to maintain it. If at other times 
 feelings are dull, and the experience of the joy not 
 such as thou couldest wish it, still praise God for 
 the life of unutterable hlessed7iess to which thou 
 hast been redeemed. In this, too, the word holds 
 
THAT YOUR JOY MAY BE FULL. 
 
 179 
 
 fg^^-- 
 
 good : ' According to your faith be it unto you/ 
 As thou claimest all the other gifts in Jesus, ever 
 claim this one too, — not for thine own sake, but 
 for His and the Father's glory. ' My Joy in you ; ' 
 * that my Joy may abide in you ; * * 7ny Joy fulfilled 
 in themselves,' — these are Jesus' own words. 
 It is impossible to take Hiru wholly and heartily, 
 and not to ^et His joy too. Therefore, * Ilejoice in 
 the Lord alway i and again I say, Rejoice.* 
 
 fl 
 
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 3hrist, 1 
 
 
 
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 180 
 
 ABIDK m chbist: 
 
 Twenty-Sixth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 ^tttr in ^obe to tfje Bretjren^ 
 
 * This is my comLnandment, That ye love one another, as I have 
 loved yo I.'— John xv. 12. 
 
 • T IKE AS the Father loved me, even so I have 
 J-^ loved you ; like as I have loved you, even 
 so love ye one another.' God became man ; 
 Divine love begaa to run in the channel of a 
 human heart ; it becomes the love of man to man. 
 The love that fills heaven and eternity is ever 
 to be daily seen here in the life of earth and of 
 time. 
 
 ' This is my commandment,' the Saviour says, 
 ' That ye love one another, as I have loved you.' 
 He sometimes s)3ok« of commandments, but the 
 love, which is the fulfilling of the law, is the all- 
 including one, and therefore is called llis command- 
 ment — the new commandment. It is to be the great 
 evidence of the reality of the New Covenant, of the 
 power of the new life revealed in Jesus Christ. It 
 is to be the one convincing and indisputable token 
 of discipleship : ' Hcrchy shall all men know that yc 
 
mr--^. 
 
 AND IN LOVE TO THE BRETHKEN. 
 
 181 
 
 o£ 
 
 says 
 
 lyou. 
 
 f the 
 
 are my disciples ; ' * That they may be one in us, 
 that the world may believe ; ' * That they may be made 
 perfect in one, that the world may know that Thou 
 hast Ic- ed them, as Thou hast loved me.' To the 
 believer seeking perfect fellowship with Christ, the 
 keeping of this commandment is at once the blessed 
 proof that he is abiding in Him, and the path to a 
 fuller and more perfect union. 
 
 Let us try and understand how this is so. We 
 know that God is love, and that Christ came to 
 reveal this, not as a doctrine but as a life. His 
 life, in its wonderful self-abasement and self- 
 sacrifice, was, above everything, the embodiment of 
 Divine love, the showing forth to men, in such 
 human manifestations as they could understand, 
 how God loves. In His love to the unworthy and 
 the ungrateful, in His humbling Himself to walk 
 among men as a servant, in His giving Himself up 
 to death, He simply lived and acted out the life of 
 the Divine love which was in the heart of God. 
 He lived and died to show us the love of the 
 Father. 
 
 And now, just as Christ was to show forth God's 
 love, believers are to show forth to the world the 
 love of Christ. They are to prove to men that 
 Christ loves them, and in loving iills them with a 
 love that is not of eurth. Tliey, hy livimj and by 
 loving j I'M as He did, are to be perpetual witnesses 
 to the love that gave itself to die. He loved so 
 that even the Jews cried out, as at Bethany, 
 ' Behold liovv He loved ! * Christians are to live so 
 
 i 
 
 i: 
 
 ;li 
 
 
I i 1 : 
 
 N 
 
 182 
 
 ABIDE IN CHiaST : 
 
 that men are compelled to say, ' See how these Chris- 
 tians love one another.' In their daily intercourse 
 with each other, Christians are made a spectacle to 
 God, and to angels, and to men ; and in the Christ- 
 likeness of their love to each other, are to prove what 
 manner of spirit they are of. Amid all diversity of 
 character or of creed, of language or of station, they 
 are to prove that love has made them members of one 
 body, and of each other, and has taught them each 
 to forget and sacrifice self for the sake of the other. 
 Their life of love is the chief evidence of Christianity, 
 the proof to the world that God sent Christ, and that 
 He has shed abroad in them the same love with which 
 He loved Him. Of all the evidences of Christianity, 
 this is the mightiest and most convincing. 
 ."- This love of Christ's disciples to each other 
 occupies a central position between their love to 
 God and to all men. Of their love to God, whom 
 they cannot see, it is the test. The love to one 
 unseen may so easily be a mere sentiment, or even 
 an imagination ; in the intercourse with God's 
 children, love to God is really called into exercise, 
 and shows itself in deeds that the Father accepts 
 as done to Himself. So alone can it be proved to 
 be true. The love to the brethren is the flower 
 and fruit of the root, unseen in the heart, of love 
 to God. And this fruit again becomes the seed of 
 love to all men : intercourse with each other is 
 the school in which believers are trained and 
 strengthened to love their fellow-men, who are yet 
 out of Christ, not simply with the liking that rests 
 
AND IN LOVE TO THE BRETHREN. 
 
 183 
 
 on points of agreement, but with the holy love that 
 takes hold of the unworthiest, and bears with the 
 most disagreeable for Jesus' sake. It is love to 
 each other as disciples that is ever put in the fore- 
 ground as the link between love to God alone and 
 to men in general. 
 
 In Christ's intercourse with His disciples this 
 brotherly love finds the law of its conduct. As it 
 studies His forgiveness and forbearance towards His 
 friends, with the seven times seven as its only 
 measure, — as it looks to His unwearied patience and 
 His infinite humility, — as it sees the meekness and 
 lowliness with which He seeks to win for Himself 
 a place as their servant, wholly devoted to their 
 interests, — it accepts with gladness His command, 
 *Ye should do as I have done* (John xiii. 15). 
 Following His example, each lives not for Himself 
 but for the other. The law of kindness is on 
 tho tongue, for love has vowed that never shall 
 one unkind word cross its lips. It refuses not only 
 to speak, but even to hear or to think evil ; of the 
 name and character of th^ fellow- Christian it is 
 more jealous than of its own. My own good name 
 I may leave to the Father ; my brother's my 
 Father has entrusted to me. In gentleness and 
 loving-kindness, in courtesy and generosity, in self- 
 sacrifice and beneficence, in its life of blessing and 
 of beauty, the Divine love, which has been shed 
 abroad in the believer's heart, shines out as it shone 
 in the life of Jesus. 
 
 Christian 1 what say you of this your glorious 
 
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184 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 calling to love like Clirist ? Does not your heart 
 bound at the thought of the unspeakable privilege 
 of thus showing forth the likeness of the Eternnl 
 Iwove ? Or are you rather ready to sigh at the 
 thought of the injiccessihle heiglit of perfection to 
 which you are thus called to climb ? Brother, 
 sigli not at what is in very deed the highest token 
 of the Father's love, that He has called us to 
 be like Christ in our love, just as He was like 
 the Father in His love. Understand that He who 
 gave the command in such close connection with 
 His teaching about the Vine and the abiding in 
 Him, gave us in that the assurance that we have 
 only to abide in Him to be able to love like Him. 
 Accept the command as a new motive to a more 
 full abiding in Christ. Eegard the abiding in Him 
 more than ever as an abiding in His love ; rooted 
 and grounded daily in a love that passeth know- 
 ledge, you receive of its fulness, and learn to love. 
 "With Christ abiding in you, the Holy Spirit sheds 
 abroad the love of God in your heart, and you love 
 the brethren, the most trying and unloveable, with a 
 love that is not your own, but the love of Christ in 
 you. And the command about your love to the 
 brethren is changed from a burden into a joy, if you 
 but keep it linked, as Jesus linked it, to the com- 
 mand about His love to you : ' Abide in my love ; 
 love one another, as I have loved you.' 
 
 ' This is my commandment, That ye love one 
 another, as I have loved you.' Is not this now 
 some of the much fruit that Jesus has promised we 
 
■»« 
 
 AND IN LOVE TO THE BUETIIREN. 
 
 186 
 
 shall bear, — in very deed a cluster of the grapes 
 of Eslicol, witli which we can prove to others tliat 
 the land of promise is indeed a good land ? Let us 
 try in all simplicity and lioncsty to go out to our 
 home to translate the language of liigh faith and 
 heaveidy enthusiasm into the plain prose of daily 
 conduct, so that all men can und(^rstand it. Let 
 our temper be under the rule of tlie love of Jesus : 
 He can not alone curl) it, — He can make us gentle 
 and patient. Let the vow, that not an unkind 
 word of others shall ever be heard from our lips, 
 ]>e laid trustingly at His feet. Let the gentleness 
 that refuses to take ofK'ence, that is always ready 
 to excuse, to think and hope the best, mark our 
 intercourse with all. Let the love that seeketh not 
 itself, but ever is ready to wash others' feet, or even 
 to give its life for them, be our aim as we abide in 
 Jesus. Let our life be one of self-sacrifice, always 
 studying the welfare of others, finding our highest 
 joy in blessing others. And let us, in studying the 
 Divine art of doing good, yield ourselves as obedient 
 learners to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. By 
 His grace, the most commonplace life can be 
 transfigured with the brightness of a heavenly 
 beauty, as the infinite love of the Divine nature 
 shines out through our frail humanity. Fellow- 
 Christian, let us praise God ! We are called to 
 love as Jesus loves, as God loves. 
 
 Abide in my love, and love as I have loved. 
 Bless God, it is possible. The new holy nature we 
 have, and which grows ever stronger as it abides in 
 
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 ABIDE IN CHRIST 
 
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 Christ the Vine, can love as He did. Every 
 discovery of the evil of the old nature, every 
 longing dssire to obey the command of our Lord, 
 every experience of the power and the blessedness 
 of loving with Jesus* love, will urge us to accept 
 with fresh faith the blessed injunctions : * Abide in 
 me, and I in you;' 'Abide in my love.' 
 
 N 
 
THAT TOU MAY NOT SIN. 
 
 187 
 
 'i ' 
 
 Twenty-Seventh Day. 
 
 '.'■ >i 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 Ctjat SOU mag not $in. 
 
 * In Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinnetb not* — 
 
 1 John iii. 5, 6. 
 
 ' "VTE know/ the apostle had said, * that He was 
 J- manifested to take away our sin/ and had 
 thus indicated salvation from sin as the great object 
 for which the Son was made man. The connection 
 shows clearly that the taking away has reference 
 not only to the atonement and freedom from guilt, 
 but to deliverance from the power of sin, so that 
 the believer no longer does it. It is Christ's per- 
 sonal holiness that constitutes His power to effect 
 this purpose. He admits sinners into life union 
 with Himself ; the result is, that their life becomes 
 like His. * In Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth 
 in Him sinneth not.* As long as he abides, and as 
 far as he abides, the believer does not sin. Our 
 holiness of life has its root in the personal holiness 
 of Jesus. * If the root be holy, so also are the 
 branches/ ' 
 
 The question at once arises : How is this con- 
 
 1 
 
188 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 : ] I 
 
 li I' i 
 
 m 
 
 '!i 
 
 sistent with what the Bible teaches of the abiding 
 corruption of our human nature, or with what John 
 himself tells us of the utter falsehood of our profes- 
 sion, if we say that we have no sin, that we have not 
 sinned ? (see 1 John i. 8, 10). It is jnst this passaj,'(' 
 which, if we look carefully at it, will teach us to 
 understand our text aright. Note the difference in 
 the two statements (ver. 8), * If we say that ivc have 
 no sin,' and (ver. 10), 'If we say that we have nut 
 sinned.* The two expressions cannot be equivalent ; 
 the second would then be an unmeaning repetition 
 of the first. Having sin in ver. 8 is not the same 
 as doim/ sin in ver. 10. B'aving sin is having a 
 sinful nature. The holiest believer must each 
 moment confess that he has sin within him, — tlu^ 
 flesh, namely, in which dwelleth no good thing. 
 Sinning or doing sin is something very different : it is 
 yielding to indwelling sinful nature, and falling into 
 actual transgression. And so we have two admis- 
 sions that every true believer must make. The one is 
 that he has still sin within him (ver. 8) ; the second, 
 that that sin has in former times broken out into 
 sinful actions (ver. 10). No believer can say either, 
 * I have no sin in me,' or * I have in time past 
 never sinne.!.' If we say we have no sin at present, 
 or that we have not sinned in the past, we deceive 
 ourselves. But no confession, though we have sin. 
 in the present, is demanded that we are doing sin 
 in the present too ; the confession of actual sinning 
 refers to the past. It may, as appears from chap. 
 ii 2, bo in the present also, but is expected not to 
 
THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN. 
 
 189 
 
 John 
 rofes- 
 
 be. And so we see how the deepest confession of 
 sin in thi; past (as Paul's of his having been a per- 
 secutor), and the deepest consciousness of having 
 still a vile and corrupt nature in the present, may 
 consist with humble but joyful praise to Him who 
 Iceeps from stumbling. 
 
 But how is it possible that a believer, having 
 sin in him, — sin of such intense vitality, and such 
 terrible power as we know the flesh to have, — that 
 a believer having sin sliould yet not he doing sin ? 
 The answer is : ' In Him is no sin. He that abideth 
 in Him sinneth not.' When the abiding in Chrst 
 becomes close and unbroken, so that the soul lives 
 from moment to moment in the perfect union with 
 the Lord its keeper, He does, indeed, keep down the 
 power of the old nature, so that it does not regain 
 dominion over the soul. We have seen that there 
 are degrees in the abiding. With most Christians 
 the abiding is so feeble and intermittent, that sin 
 continually obtains the ascendency, and brings the 
 soul into subjection. The Divine promise given to 
 faith is : * Sin sliall not have dominion over you.' 
 But with the promise is the command : * Let not 
 sin reign in your mortal body.' The believer who 
 claims the promise in full faith has the power to 
 obey the command, and sin is kept from asserting 
 its supremacy. Ignorance of the promise, or un- 
 l)elief, or unwatchfulnesr;, opens the door for sin to 
 reign. And so the life of many believers is a 
 course of continual stumbling and sinning. But 
 when the believer seeks full admission into, and 
 
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100 
 
 ABIDE IN CIII^IST : 
 
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 V .hi I 
 
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 a penrianent abode in Jesus, the Sinless One, then 
 the life of Christ keeps from actual transgression. 
 ' In Him is no sin. He that abideth in Him sinuoth 
 not.' Jesus does indeed save him from his sin, — 
 not by the removal of his sinful nature, but by 
 keeping him from yielding to it. 
 
 I have read of a young lion whom nothing could 
 awe or keep down but the eye of his keeper. With 
 the keeper you could come near him, and he would 
 crouch, his savage nature all unchanged, and thirst- 
 ing for blood, — trembling at the keeper's feet. You 
 might put your foot on his neck, as long as the 
 keeper was with you. To approach him without 
 the keeper would be instant death. And so it is 
 that the believer can have sin and yet not do sin. 
 The evil nature, the flesh, is unchanged in its enmity 
 against God, but the abiding presence of Jesus 
 keeps it down. In faith the believer entrusts him- 
 self to the keeping, to the indwelling, of the Son of 
 God ; he abides in Him, and counts on Jesus to 
 abide in Him too. The union and fellowship is the 
 secret of a holy life : * In Him is no sin ; he that 
 abideth in Him sinneth not* 
 
 And now another question will arise : Admitted 
 that the complete abiding in the Sinless One will 
 keep from sinning, is such abiding possible ? May 
 we hope to be able so to abide in Christ, say, even 
 for one day, that we may be kept from actual 
 transgressions ? The question has only to be fairly 
 stated and considered, — it will suggest its own 
 answer. When Christ commanded us to abide in 
 
 M 
 
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THAT YOU MAY NOT SIN. 
 
 191 
 
 tlien 
 
 ssion. 
 Qiioth 
 ;in, — 
 ut by 
 
 could 
 
 With 
 
 would 
 
 thirst- 
 
 You 
 
 as the 
 
 jvithout 
 
 so it is 
 
 : do sin, 
 
 enmity 
 
 Jesus 
 its him- 
 Son of 
 lesus to 
 
 is the 
 
 le that 
 
 Imitted 
 ine will 
 May 
 even 
 actual 
 fairly 
 own 
 )ide in 
 
 Him, and promised us such rich fruit-bearing to 
 the glory of the Father, and such mighty power in 
 our intercessions, can He have meant anything but 
 the healthy, vigorous, complete union of the branch 
 with the vine ? When He promised that as we 
 ahiCi in Him He would abide in us, could He 
 mean anything but that His dwelling in us would 
 be a reality of Divine power and love ? Is not 
 this way of saving from sin just that which will 
 glorify Him ? — keeping us daily humble and help- 
 less in the consciousness of the evil nature, watchful 
 and active in the knowledge of its terrible power, 
 dependent and trustful in the remembrance that 
 only His presence can keep the lion down. 
 let us believe that when Jesus said, * Abide in me, 
 and I in you,* He did indeed mean that, while we 
 were not to be freed from the world and its tribula- 
 tion, from the sinful nature and its temptations, we 
 were at least to have this blessing fully secured to 
 us, — ^grace to abide wholly, only, ever in our Lord. 
 The abiding in Jesus makes it possible to keep 
 from actual sinning ; and Jesus Himself makes it 
 possible to abide in Him. 
 
 Beloved Christian ! I do not wonder if the pro- 
 mise of the text appears almost too high. Do not, 
 I pray, let your attention be diverted by the ques- 
 tion as to whether it would be possible to be kept 
 for your whole life, or for so many years, without 
 sinning. Faith has ever only to deal with the 
 present moment. Ask this : Can Jesus at the pre- 
 sent moment, as I abide in Him, keep me from 
 
 !!•' ii 
 
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 192 
 
 ABIDE IN CllUlST;,.'? 
 
 those actual transgressions which have been the 
 stain and tlic weariness of my daily life ? Thou 
 canst not but say, Surely He can. Take Him then 
 at this present moment, and say, 'Jesus keeps me 
 now, Jesus saves me now.' Yield yourself to Him 
 in the earnest and believing prayer to be kept 
 abiding, by His own abiding in you, — and go into 
 the next moment, and the succeeding hours, with 
 this trust continually renewed. As often as the 
 opportunity occurs in the moments between your 
 occupations, renew your faith in an act of devotion : 
 Jesus keeps im now, Jesus saves me now. Let 
 failure and sin, instead of discouraging you, only 
 urge you still more to seek your safety in abiding 
 in tlie Sinless One. Abiding is a grace in which 
 you can grow wonderfully, if you will but make at 
 once the complete surrender, and then persevere 
 >vith ever larger expectations. Begard it as His 
 work to kiicp you abiding in Him, and His work 
 to keep you from sinning. It is indeed your work 
 to abicle in Him; but it is that, only because it is 
 His work as Vine to bear and hold the branch. 
 Gaze upon His holy human nature as what He pre- 
 pared for you to he partaker of vnth Himself and you 
 will see that tliere is something even higher and 
 better than being kept from sin, — that is but the 
 restraining from evil : there is the positive and larger 
 blessing of being now a vessel purified and cleansed, 
 of being filled with His fulness, and made the 
 channel of showing forth His power, His blessing, 
 ftud Hisi glory. 
 
'^AT YOU MAV NOT 
 
 BIN, 
 
 193 
 
 Note, 
 
 fe DAav SWNINO AK JNEVrp.n. 
 
 , *Whyisitthat,wh«„rn "'""''^''^' 
 '».ve and power are rfin^tot'"'' "^ «''^''»'' ''-.e 
 w;th fear and despondency ? W "" '" "''«" fi""-! 
 ;««»* w our minds, beclL „ *, "^ ""'»««<» "-d 
 '-«% unto Jesus, tie autl. . . ""' '"""^ '^■ 
 ^Jho .s set down at the £, V''^ J^^'/t^er of faith. 
 H™ whose omuipotence 21"^' «'«'.— «to 
 earthy who is strong and n^^ht^ „ * 'T^''" '"«' 
 While we rememh»r„ ''^ "'^ 'eeble saints 
 all-sufficient power w"" ""^•^'"'«^. '^e foi^et H^' 
 apart fj.« ci!:,st':e erjoM^^'^'-'-te' £ 
 '0 the height or depth of Ph ? '"* "^^ do not rise 
 
 me. While we trust in fhrjj''''\''''''''»'''«''et'" 
 •f^sus to cancel the guilt o^ T'" °' "■« ''^ath of 
 a ^hant and appropCt „^^h 7 '? °<" ««-.se 
 
 Chnst worketh in us „St,f "• , \- ^oiget that 
 
 ««», we possess sire„„a:,^^' "'"' """• ""^ '«VA 
 
 '^»»i.to.b«. WearepteSr/""—-.; 
 
 "ess, and imagine that in ^ " '°'«'^' o'"' "othin,/ 
 
 -'thout sin. that the ^fesIdf'V""' "" -» 1 - 
 
 I'fe can be performed a, d h! ' "' ""^ «^'-"0'<iay 
 
 a-d fo &.i, us frou the rf"l i T '" «'«»««. 
 
 '/i; 
 
! I 
 
 inl 
 
 194 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 which we are apt to imagine an inevitable necessity. 
 If we really depended in all things and at all times on 
 Christ, we would in all things and at all times gain 
 the victory, through Him whose power is infinite, 
 and who is appointed by the Father to be the Cap- 
 tain of our salvation. Then all our deeds would 
 be wrought, not merely before, but in God. We 
 would then do all things to the glory of the Father, 
 in the all-powerful name of Jesus, who is our sancti- 
 fication. Remember that unto Him all power is 
 given in heaven and on earth, and live by tlie con- 
 stant eoce/ixise of faith in His power. Let us most 
 fully believe that we have and are nothing, that witli 
 man it is impossible, that in ourselves we have no 
 life which can bring forth fruit ; but that Christ is 
 all, — that abiding in Him, and His word dwelling in 
 us, we can bring fw'th fruit to the glory of the Father.' 
 — From Christ and the Church. Sermons by Adolpli 
 Saphir, p. 60. The italics are not in the original. 
 
 1^ i ! 
 
^ ^OVH STllKtiGTU. 
 
 i9S 
 
 TWEN 
 
 'V 
 
 ^^-E'OHTH 0>,v. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST. 
 
 ®« sour SttensOi. ' 
 
 
 ;«>^,^ 
 
 among earnest Oh • .°^® 8:eneraJJy admin^A 
 pleasure in infirmih^ '"''■'"" ^ say ' if, 
 
 "jy -fixities.. X 4""? «'"'"^ -'■" r ,„''",'" 
 
 im. '^'' 's our wpiI-».^ , ^'' ^^ strenrjth 
 
 Divtaireit; r " *-'^ ''^"o". 'Tt? '""*-'^ «• vl bt' 
 
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 196 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIKIST: 
 
 and continually realized, that gives us our claim 
 and access to the strength of Him who has said, 
 * Ml/ strength is made perfect in weakness' 
 
 When our Lord was about to take Ilis seat upon 
 the throne, one of His last words was : * All power 
 is given unto me in heaven and on earth.* Just as 
 His taking His place at the right hand of the power 
 of God was something new and true, — a real advance 
 in the history of the God-man, — so was tliis clothing 
 with all power. Omnipotence was now entrusted 
 to the man Christ Jesus, that from henceforth through 
 the channels of human nature it might put forth its 
 mighty energies. Hence He connected with this 
 revelation of whai He was to receive, the promise 
 of the share that His disciples would have in it : 
 When 1 am ascended, ye shall receive power from on 
 high (Luke xxiv. 49 ; Acts i. 8). It is in the power 
 of the omnipotent Saviour that the believer must find 
 his strength for life and for work. 
 
 It was thus with the disciples. During ten days 
 they worshipped and waited at the footstool of His 
 throne. They gave expression to their faith in Him 
 as their Saviour, to their adoration of Him as their 
 Lord, to their love to Him as their Friend, to tlicir 
 devotion and readiness to work for Him as their 
 Master. Jesus Christ was the one object of thought, 
 of love, of delight. In such worship of faith and 
 devotion their souls grew up into intensest com- 
 munion with Him upon the throne, and when they 
 were prepared, the baptism of power came. It was 
 power within and power around. 
 
 I 
 
AS YOUJi STKKNOTir. ^^^ 
 
 ""!' «ord to tl,eir uu.Z{Z ^lf^^"'« ^y "f« 
 
 '»« the heaven and ti.e c£ "/ " '"'^' "'"•'^^^''l- 
 1''0 pouereameto set „,.',,"'," "'""» '' """'o. 
 ° «>ve tl,e„, the vieto v ""'"'" ^'''''■'" """". 
 
 ''«'" ''y living o.,,eS to fv "'"' ^«"' ^'^ S 
 J-^«^on the throne, to lake . {• '^ ""^ i'«"«'' '>' 
 «» .«ai'Us. Others were tn '"" '" "^ «o'W 
 
 """rely to the .speakin'Tn H °""' "'«'"''''v«s .„ 
 f needed anu al^l r-e've tS'"? "' •^--- ^'^ 't 
 "'« -.V Jesus had reedved ^t " " !""'"'- '« P""' 
 ».a">er, all power i„ h^vel „ ' '""*'"'™'' «f "-e 
 «'v«" to Him, and by ffl^ ;,"" ri"' ""^ indeed 
 
 J'-' «» *ey needed '^t,:hetZT'"", "*^ I'^'^P'^ 
 effeetn-e service. »«; «Sj i"' ".'"'^ >ife or 
 to prove to the world Omt 1 1 i ,«''' "^ P»^«"-. 
 .«I"ch they professed to bon^ "«''"'" "' ^< to 
 'n power. Ky ,,„,; " '^JS; vas not in word but 
 
 ""'hout and around ^The n "' """^ '""I P«>^or 
 «;«n by those who wouW n^r'^n ' ^'°'' ""^ ''''t 
 " (Acts a 43. iv. 13 V i-i ' ^"^'^ the„,3elves to 
 
 . And what Jesus v;as to t,V « 
 « to us too. Our wWe 1 fe t ^ n ' ''^^'P'"^' "« 
 find their origin a„d their t" !"""?« »^ '''^'^iples 
 All power is given to Te f bT ' '" "" ''""'' = 
 Y''"' He does in and tbrn ^ '"' ""'^ "» ^arth.' 
 »'»• gl.ty power. Wh,t He f' "'' »" "°«» with 
 works Himself by thaf ! '"" <"■ ""eniands He 
 
 Ho Siv.3 ^ith poC ^-; P-- AH He glvi 
 *- Ji.'ery blessing He bestows, 
 
 (iff: 
 
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 198 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 every promise He fulfils, every grace He wc rks, — all, 
 all iiB to ])Q with power. Everything that comes 
 from this Jesus on the throne of power is to bear 
 the stamp of power. The weakest believer may 
 be confident that in asking to be kept from sin, 
 to grow in holiness, to bring forth much fruit, he 
 may count upon these his petitions being fulfilled 
 with Divine power. The power is in Jesus ; Jesus is 
 ' ours with all His fulness ; it is in us His members 
 •thftt the power is to work and be made manifest. 
 *''^'' And if we want to know how the power is be- 
 stowed, the answer is simple: Christ gives His 
 'power in us by giving His life in us. He does not, 
 as so many believers imagine, take the feeble life 
 " He finds in them, and impart a little strength to 
 aid them in their feeble efforts. No ; it is in giving 
 \His own life in us that He gives us His power. 
 •■ The Holy Spirit came down to the disciples direct 
 ' from the heart of their exalted Lord, bringing down 
 ^ into them the glorious life of heaven into which He 
 * had entered. And so His people are still tauglit 
 to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His 
 ^ might. When He strengthens them, it is not by 
 ^'taking away the sense of feebleness, and giving in 
 " its place the feeling of strength. By no means. But 
 in a very wonderful way leaving and even increasing 
 ' the sense of utter impotence. He gives them along 
 with it the consciousness of «treugth in Him. ' We 
 have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excel- 
 lency of the power may be of God and not of us.' 
 The feebleness and the strength are side by side ; as 
 
AS yoiTB STRBNGTH. jgg 
 
 •nay rest on me.' ' "' ""* ?««'«'• of ul.rigt 
 
 studies that life in t i„« v '^'«'''' <« his Jife. He 
 
 ■ng m a glorified ,„L A„V ^ *''"""' "'^« d'^ell- 
 7" inner life. andlJZ !„•" '' ""'"'« "' W« 
 pleasing unto God or for ! '"''""'««•'« live vvell- 
 '^ork. he looks ud anH •'^ **' '" ''<' ">e Father's 
 
 We. he eonfid:nt?r::L7r:'',.*'"" ^''"'' " "fa 
 ^htily in um III h t r'"/''^' ''•'« -iU work 
 "nngs great, in the bei^„\ ? ''""8» '""e ,n,,a 
 
 «7ent to moment for ^iieh'h """ '■" '""» 
 look, or in the strugWe wirh '"" '^"'ed to 
 
 or temptation. ^^J, ^J'^J ^ome special diificnlty 
 « h.s expectation. "^I If '^ ^ 'he measni 
 We«d life, not beeause he !»'„ T" J"''^<"« «"1 
 hecanse. being utterly helpW ""^' '**"«• ■"" 
 e'tpects to have the m.ChtvT ' ''""'^'^ and 
 ,.^ The lessons these Tl^u,!??""' ""f '" ''"»• 
 I'fe are simple, but ver^ pil? C P'^""'"' 
 aU our sh^ngth is in ChrisTS' ^'"^ '''•^' '«■ 'hat 
 
 for us, r«,dy to flow in '"'",'?' '''e. which is in Him 
 '^hich il finds the chinn! '"» '^ "'« '"«a««>^ in 
 
 flowis st«>ngorf:e£.":i:P- ""'' '^"''"- '•'« 
 
 he. there it is in Christ am ^-^Perience of it 
 
200 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 :i I 
 
 our runds filled with the thought : That Jesus might 
 be to. us a perfect Saviour, the Father gave Him all 
 power. That is the qualification that fits Him for 
 our needs: All the power of heaven over all the 
 powers of earth, over every power of earth in our 
 heart and life too. 
 
 The second lesson is : This power flows into us 
 as we abide in close union with Him. When the 
 union is feeble, little valued or cultivated, the inflow 
 of strength will be feeble. When the union with 
 Christ is rejoiced in as our highest good, and every- 
 thing sacrificed for the sake of maintaining it, the 
 power will work : * His strength will be made per- 
 fect in our weakness.' Our one care must there- 
 fore be to abide in Christ as our strength. Our one 
 duty is to be strong in the Lord, and in the power 
 of His might. Let our faith cultivate large and 
 clear apprehensions of the exceeding greatness of God's 
 power in them that believe, even that power of the 
 risen and exalted Christ by which He triumphed over 
 every enemy (Eph. i. 1 9-21). Let our faith consent 
 to God's wonderful and most blessed arrangement : 
 nothing but feebleness in us as our own, all the power 
 in Christ, and yet within our reach as surely as if 
 it were in us. Let our faith daily go out of self 
 and its life into the life of Christ, placing our whole 
 being at His disposal for Him to work in us. Let 
 our faith, above all, confidently rejoice in the assur- 
 ance that He will in very deed, with His almighty 
 power, perfect His work in us. As we thus abide 
 in Christ, the Jloly Spirit, the Spirit of His power, 
 
AS YOUR STRENGTH. 
 
 Will work mmhtilv in ^^^ 
 
 /^Hov.H i« '!:^'',Z2 Z' "^ *^ «^a" Sin. 
 I havp ri«i,<. '''''^ngtti and son?- iw t„ ^' 
 
 ,ae' ^ through Christ, which o. ^ f ^ ^<> 
 "^®- ' ^^^^ strengtheiieth 
 
 ,'UO:, 
 
 Joi i):^..u:.:i-j: 
 
 ■ -.'/I 
 
 , . :'f ^ 
 
 
 .-.xn-i-r 
 
 • '> 'i 
 
 ■"'''"J;; 
 
 
 Mi 
 
 // 
 
 oq 
 

 m 
 
 202 
 
 ABIDE IN CHUIST : 
 
 i: 
 
 
 . ■ i 
 
 
 
 V 
 
 1 
 
 l'; 
 
 I, 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 M, 
 
 Twenty-Ninth Day. 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 Snti not in Self. 
 
 *In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing.' — 
 
 Rom. vii. 18. 
 
 TO have life in Himself is the prerogative of God 
 alone, and of the Son, to whom the Father 
 hath also given it. To seek life, not in itself, but 
 in God, is the highest honour of the creature. To 
 live in and to himself is the folly and guilt of sinful 
 man ; to live to God in Christ, the blessedness of 
 the believer. To deny, to hate, to forsake, to lose 
 his own life, such is the secret of the life of faith. 
 * I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me ; ' ' Not 
 I, but the grace of God which is with me : ' this is 
 the testimony of each one who has found out what 
 it is to give up his own life, and to reneive instead 
 the blessed life of Christ within us. There is no 
 path to true life, to abiding in Christ, than that 
 which our Lord went before us — through death. 
 
 At the first commencement of the Christian life, 
 but few see this. In the joy of pardon, they feel 
 constrained to live for Christ, and trust with the 
 
-^D NOT IN SELF. 
 
 203 
 
 ^-bject to the law otoT I" t''" "^"^^^^ '» ^^^ 
 "Oft;"? but death, the absolu^r """ ""' ^'^ "'"^ 
 °f "11 that is of mature wU t« "T"""'' '" <'«»"' 
 '« 'o be manifested in ^h^^ ^ th""' " "'« ^^ <>' «od 
 «r„ence of fail„„ ^^ Z^ ^T' ^'" '''»'«' 
 fi<='»cy of what they have V '? """" *« ">»'>f- 
 Power to save, and deep W^, ' '^:"""'" <>' Christ's 
 to >-..ow Hiffl better. He wT""" "' ''^'"'■^'"^d 
 H;« C^ss. He tells ttm tl !f ^ P°'^« *em to 
 fajth of His death a, T^ . "' ""'w, in the 
 'heir title to M^iV^r^^^'^}^- ">«^ '""nd 
 M'er experience too. He all'" ^-ter into its 
 "■deed willing to drink of M ''""' " ^^^ «« 
 drank-tobecrueifid and tl!,""P.°^ which He 
 teaches them that in Him V„ ' "'* «""• »« 
 erucified and d.,ad.Ia1l " l.f "' ''"^««<' ^'-^dy 
 «'ey became part, kers 0?^ T°' "' '""version 
 they need now is tlZe[ Ml T^' ^' ^^at 
 fent to what they received or T^ '"'""'>»t eon- 
 ^y a» act of their ow 1 ni """^ '"'derstood it 
 Christ. "^" <='w>ee to will to die with 
 
 This demand of ChrS^f ■ 
 solemnity. Many a bj^^vl' ',1°"', °' ""'PeakaWe 
 He can hardly „nder,,ta„d 1 7\ '''^'^ f™"> 't. 
 aeeustomedtoalowlifeofcnt- ? ''''' ''^•^''■"e so 
 he hardly desires, and sHl 1"' ''"'""'"S. "'at 
 HoI'-ness.perfectconIr„ " tr "'"'="''■ '^•""■''^^"ee. 
 -P -«' H. love, eanl^aIt?:r:tri:Sr 
 
 
204 
 
 ABIDE IN CIIHIST: 
 
 . k 
 
 articles of bis creed. Where there is not intense 
 longing to be kept to the utmost from sinning, and 
 to be brought into the closest possible .union with 
 the Saviour, the thought of being crucified with 
 Him can find no entrance. The only impression 
 it makes is that of suffering and shame : such a one 
 is content that Jesus bore the cross, and so won for 
 him the crown he hopes to wear. How different 
 the light in which the believer who is really seek- 
 ing to abide fully in Christ looks upon it. Bitter 
 experience has taught him how, both in the matter 
 of entire surrender and simple trust, his greatest 
 enemy in the abiding life, is self. Now it refuses 
 to give up its will ; then again, by its working, it 
 hinders God's work. Unless this life of self, with 
 its willing and working, be displaced by the life of 
 Christ, with His willing and working, to abide in 
 Him will be impossible. And then comes the 
 solemn question from Him who died on the cross : 
 * Are you ready to give up self to the death ? ' You 
 yourself, the living person born of God, are already 
 in me dead to sin and alive to God ; but are you 
 ready now, in the power of this death, to mortify 
 your members, to give up self entirely to its death 
 of the cross, to be kept there until it be wholly 
 destroyed ? The question is a heart- searching one. 
 Am I prepared to say that the old self shall no 
 longer have a word to say ; that it shall not be 
 allowed to have a single thought, however natural, 
 —not a single feeling, however gratifying, — not a 
 single wish or woyk, however right ? 
 
^^ NOT m SELF. 
 
 205 
 
 natural powers be sancMed t' w ""^ ""' <>« 
 "'"^ and ™„st indeed 'fit, '" ?" ''^'^•='' ^ ^hey 
 yet Been ho,, the only way 1^^^°" ''"^^ «ot 
 timt they be taken Lrul;^ ?» "« »-«tified is 
 «"f brought under thr^owe" of T ^^^ °' ^"■ 
 ,T'"nk not that this is „ ! "'* '''* "' Christ 
 b;eause you earnes y U^^f '^"^ ^ou ean dc^' 
 °f His redeen,ed ones Ck' "'"* ""^ "'^^d one 
 »!'« of conseeration but thr K '.' "" ^"^ "> *« 
 y'«lded youreelf a loT^ °"^^ ''««"'• As you 
 f ve fron. the ,LtS: W J^'^- «"" - -" 
 PO'ver of your nature-lla". ^ ; ""^ ^>' «° ««<"» 
 that ,s really to be holine" t^Tf'' ^'"^^'o". 
 separated from the poweT' 1 *^^«'<^-nust be 
 
 »n «|e altar to be eo^s^ed ,! " ""f '^''- '"»'' '"'d 
 burning there. It f,"^f, ^^ "'e fire that is ever 
 
 '"« f -If, that the V° dtf„r"'^"°"' "'^ «% 
 God has fitted you to Tve H n ^""'T *'"" ^'"eh 
 f complete surrender to Go/', "'"' "* '<" ^^e for 
 I- aecepted, and sanet Ld a^d"' T'^ '» »'"> to 
 »« long as you are in T'nf T'^' ^'"l though 
 « being able to say "h.t l^ ' f *'''' '^ "" "'ou^ht 
 We of Christ is alf„w d t!" ^ '*'■ ^"^^ '^ben The 
 «"> be so kept in its el « '"^' "" l»««es,,ion. self 
 -f nee of death. thaTf ^h", """' ''""' "■"^- "" 
 °veryou.ao,notf„rasin!lem" ""^ "" """"n-on 
 bec^omes your seeond self" """"'• Je«»« Christ 
 
 part for ever from self, 
 
 I 
 

 200 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 I!, 
 
 ! I 
 1 
 
 ^YV 
 
 and not to allow it, even for a single moment, to 
 have aught to say in thy inner life. If thou art 
 willing to come entirely away out of self, and to 
 allow Jesus Christ to become thy life within thee, 
 inspiring all thy thinking, feeling, acting, in things 
 temporal and spiritual. He is ready to undertake 
 the charge. In the fullest and widest sense the 
 word life ever can have, He will be thy life, extend- 
 ing His interest and influence to each one, even the 
 minutest, of the thousand things that make up thy 
 daily life. To do this He asks but one thing: 
 Come away out of self and its life, abide in Christ 
 and the Christ life, and Christ will be thy life. 
 The power of His holy presence will cast out the 
 old life. 
 
 To this end give up self at once and for ever. 
 If thou hast never yet dared to do it, for fear thou 
 mightest fail of thy engagement, do it now, in view 
 of the promise Christ gives thee that His life will 
 take the place of the old life. Try and realize that 
 though self is not dead, thou art indeed dead to self. 
 Self is still strong and living, but it has no power over 
 thee. Thou, thy renewed nature — thou, thy new 
 self, begotten again in Jesus Christ from the dead 
 — art indeed dead to sin and alive to God. Thy 
 death in Christ has freed thee completely from the 
 control of self : it has no power over thee, except as 
 thou, in ignorance, or unwatchfulness, or unbelief, 
 consentest to yield to its usurped authority. Come 
 and accept by faith simply and heartily the glorious 
 position thou hast in Christ. As one who, in Christ, 
 
 ""J 
 
^^ NOT IN SBLF. 
 
 207 
 
 has a life dead t 
 
 'he dominion of seirl'V"' ''''° " '««> trom 
 We to take the place of ^e'rtT'''" «« *Wne 
 ^-d-nspiringprii;^; /* «lUo be the animating 
 
 Ijan the foot upon the netVft.; .^«"''"- ""''"/^ 
 «nd tl-y Lord's. Be of „Zl J ' ^""""^ "^ tW„e 
 f«« »ot to take the iney^uCT'''' "'"'>' »'e«eve 
 houha,t once for all ^ ,n ^f' '" ^''^ "'«' 
 
 * f to the eross, and to fi 1 it^ f""*^ ^"^ *« hold 
 
 "onaecration; dail/ae eot^T' k^"''^ «''e'v thy' 
 «««omed from th/tyCfL ^'' "'^ P-'^'tion Z 
 conquer,, W,oS, "i"r '" ""^ «adet 
 «e f. str«ggli„„ to get free fro "f,'" "" "^e enemy 
 allure thee into givin.» r. ."'* "««». seeking ^I' 
 ^eady to deceive tClyCL''''' '"'^«>'- - ei 1 
 ^ev' to do service to CW '^ r^""" "^ *ill".gneL 
 .'"8 to serve God is more da„ """""-"•' *'f S 
 wg obedience T^ 7 '''^"Serons than self ,T 
 
 ^bide thus in Him; afh^ "'""" '^ "^ safety 
 thee. He will teach thee to K""'""^ ^ "Wde in 
 '^^ He wili teach thee tl b;.^""''^ "»'' *atch- 
 Bnng every interest of thv lif "^'''^ ""'' '""^tful 
 nature all the unceasLgtw ^^ T'' »' 'hy 
 aiKl feehng, that makes un Hf *°"^'"' ""d will 
 "-^^ 'he place that sel? Zt.T '""'' »''» ^ 
 
 «nee filled so easily and so 
 
 i 
 
 
 ■1 
 
 ■ 1 
 
 : j 
 
 '1 
 
 ! 
 
i 
 
 
 208 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 naturally. Jesus Christ will indeed take possession 
 of thee and dwell in thee ; and in the restfulness 
 and peace and grace of the new life thou slmlt Iiave 
 unceasing joy at the wondrous exchange that has 
 been made, — the coming out of self to abide in 
 Christ alona 
 
 Note. 
 
 1 '■ 
 
 In his work on Sanctifi cation, Marshall, in the 
 twelfth chapter, on ' Holiness through faith alone,' 
 puts with great force the danger in which the Chris- 
 tian is of seeking sanctification in the power of the 
 flesh, with the help of Christ, instead of looking for 
 it to Christ alone, and receiving it from Him by 
 faith. He reminds us how there are two natures in 
 tlie believer, and so two ways of seeking holiness, 
 according as we allow the principles of the one or other 
 nature to guide us. The one is the carnal way, iii 
 which we put forth our utmost efforts and resolu- 
 tions, trusting Christ to help us in doing so. The other 
 the spiritual way, in which, as those who have died, 
 and can do nothing, our one care is to receive 
 Christ day by day, and at every step to let Him live 
 and work in us. 
 
 , * Despair of purging the flesh or natural man of 
 its sinful lusts and inclinations, and of practising 
 holiness hy your willing and resolving to do the best 
 that lieth in your own power, and tnisting on the grace 
 of God and Christ to help you in such resolutions and 
 
 ! 
 
Am NOT W SElir, 
 
 ^f^eavours. Ratlin ' ^^ 
 
 putting it J ""f^ perfect in «,. fllT^ ""'"' "« 
 
 of ChS''^'' resolutions anT . "'"'' O""" wifl 
 
 '"«'" that the7a're ;:r '"■" f^'''' 3d t^ ^ 
 ^"^w in vain/. ' """""S- '>nd that the^ 1'^^ 
 
I 
 
 ii I 
 
 210 
 
 ABIDE IN CURI8T: 
 
 Thirtieth Day. 
 
 I, 
 
 E - 
 
 ■ i' 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 SijS ti)e burets of tije Cobrnant« 
 
 'Jesus was made a surety of a better testament.' — Heb. vii. 22. 
 
 OF the Old Covenant Scripture speaks as not being 
 faultless, and God complains that Israel had 
 not continued in it ; and so He regarded them not 
 (Heb. viii. 7-9). It had not secured its apparent 
 object, in uniting Israel and God : Israel had for- 
 saken Him, and He had not regarded Israel. 
 Therefore God promises to make a New Covenant, 
 free from the faults of the first, and effectual to 
 realize its purpose. If it were to accomplish its 
 end, it would need to secure God's faithfulness to 
 His people, and His people's faithfulness to God. 
 And the terms of the New Covenant expressly 
 declare that these two objects shall be attained. 'I 
 will put my laws into their mind : ' thus God pro- 
 poses to secure their unchanging faithfulness to 
 Him. * Their sins I will remember no more * (see 
 Heb. viii. 10-12): thus He assures His unchanging 
 faithfulness to them. A pardoning God and an 
 obedient people : these are the two parties who are 
 
AS THE SURETY OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 211 
 
 to meet and to be eternally united in the New 
 Covenant. 
 
 The most beautiful provision of this New Covenant 
 is that of the surety in whom its fulHlnient on 1)oth 
 parts is guaranteed. Jesus was ihade the surety 
 of the better covenant. To man He became surety 
 that God would faitiifully fulfil His ])art, so that 
 man could confidently depend upon God to i)ardon, 
 and accept, r.nd never more forsake. And to God 
 Ha likewi 'j>came surety that man Would faith- 
 fully fulfil iiis part, so that God could l)e.stow on 
 him the blessing of the covenant. And the way in 
 which He fulfils His suretyship is this : As one Mfitl|i 
 God, and having the fulness of God dwelling in His 
 human nature, He is piersonally security to men that 
 God will do what He has engaged. All that God 
 has is secured to us in Him as man. And then, as 
 one with us, and having taken us up as members 
 into His own body. He is security to God that His 
 interests ishall be cared for. All that nian must be 
 and do is secured in Him. It is the glory of the 
 New Covenant that it has in the person of the God- 
 man its living surety, its everlasting security. 
 And it can easily be understood how, in proportion 
 as we abide in Him as the surety of the cove-* 
 nant, its objects and its blessings will be realized 
 in us. ; < 
 
 We shall understand this best if we consider it 
 in the light of one of the promises of the New 
 Covenant. Take that in Jer. xxxii. 40: 'I will 
 make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will 
 
212 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 not turn aioay from them, to do them good ; but I 
 will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not 
 depart from me! 
 
 With what wonderful condescension the infinite 
 God here bows Himself to our weakness ! He is the 
 Faithful and Unchanging One, whose word is truth ; 
 and yet more abundantly to show to the heirs of 
 the promise the immutability of His counsel, He 
 binds Himself in the covenant that He will never 
 change : ' I will make an everlasting covenant, that 
 I will not turn away from them.* Blessed the 
 man who has thoroughly appropriated this, and finds 
 his rest in the everlasting co/enant of the Faithful 
 One! 
 
 But in a covenant there are two parties. And 
 what if man becomes unfaithful and breaks the 
 covenant ? Provision must be made, if the covenant 
 is to be well ordered in all things and sure, that 
 this cannot be, and that man too remain faithful. 
 Man never can undertake to give such an assurance. 
 And see, here God comes to provide for this too. 
 He not only undertakes in the covenant that He 
 will never turn from His people, but also to put 
 His fear in their heart, that they do not depart from 
 Him. In addition to His own obligations as one of 
 the covenanting parties, He imdertakes for the other 
 party too : * I will cause you to walk in my statutes, 
 and ye shall keep my judgments and do them * 
 (Ezek. XXX vi. 7). Blessed the man who under- 
 stands this half of the covenant too ! He sees that 
 his security is not in the covenant which he makes 
 
AS THE SURETY OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 213 
 
 iful. 
 Ince. 
 [too. 
 He 
 [put 
 [•om 
 of 
 [her 
 Ites, 
 U' 
 ier- 
 hat 
 ces 
 
 with his God, and which he would but continually 
 brer" again. He finds that a covenant has been 
 made, in which God stands good, not only for Him- 
 self, but for man too. He grasps the blessed truth 
 that his part m the covenant is to accept what 
 God has promised to do, and to expect the sure fulfil- 
 ment of the Divine engaiiement to secure the faith- 
 fulness of His people to their God : * I will put 
 my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart 
 from me.* 
 
 It is just here that the blessed work comes in of 
 the surety of the covenant, appointed of the Father 
 to Sbo to its maintenance and perfect fulfilment. To 
 Him the Father hath said, ' I have given thee for 
 a covenant of the people.' And the Holy Spirit 
 testifies, ' All the promises of God m Him are yea, 
 and in Him are Amen, to the glory of God by us.' 
 The believer who abides in Him hath a Divine 
 assurance for the fulfilment of every promise the 
 covenant ever gave. 
 
 Christ was made surety of a better testament. It 
 is as our Melchisedec that Christ is surety (see 
 Heb. vii.). Aaron and his sons passed away ; of 
 Christ it is witnessed that He Iwdh. He is priest 
 in the power of an endless life. Because He con- 
 tinueth ever. He hath an unchangeable priesthood. 
 And because He ever liveth to make intercessioii, He 
 can save to the uttermost, He can save completely. 
 It is because Christ is the Ever-living One that His 
 suretyship of the covenant is so effectual. He liveth 
 ever to make intercession, and can therefore save 
 
h : 
 
 ! 
 
 i.\ 
 
 214 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST: 
 
 completely. Every "moment there rise up from 
 His holy presence to the Father, the unceasing 
 pleadings which secure to Ills people the powers 
 and the blessings of the heavenly life. And every 
 itioment there go out from Him downward to His 
 people, the mighty inftuences of His unceasing 
 intercession; conveying to them uninterruptedly the 
 power of the heavenly life. As surety with us for 
 the Father's favnour, He never ceases to pray and 
 ffi'esent us before Him; as surety with th« Father 
 f6r us. He never ceases to work, and reveal the 
 Father within us. 
 
 ''•' The niystery of the Mclchisedec priesthood, which 
 the Hebrews Were not able to receive (Heb. v. 1 0- 14), 
 "is the niystery of the resurrection life. It is in this 
 that bhe glory of Christ as surety of the covenant 
 consists : He ever liveth. He performs His work 
 in heaven in the power of a Pi vine, an omnipotent 
 life. He ever liveth to pray ; not a moment that as 
 •surety His prayers do not rise God ward to secure 
 'the Father's fulfilment to us of the covenant. He 
 ■performs His work on earth in the power of that 
 same life'; not a moment that His answered prayers 
 — the powers of the heavenly world — do not flow 
 downward to secure for His Father our fulfilment of 
 the covenant. In the eternal life there are no breaks, 
 —never a moment's interruption ; eacli moment has 
 the power of eternity in it. Ho ever, every moment, 
 liveth to ptay. He ever, every moment, liveth to 
 bless. He can save to the uttermost, completely 
 and perfectly, because He ever liveth to pray. 
 
1 
 
 
 AS THE SURETY OF THE COVENANT. 
 
 216 
 
 as 
 ire 
 
 irs 
 
 )W 
 
 of 
 
 i'dS 
 
 to 
 
 Believer ! come and see here how the possibility 
 of abiding in Jesus every moment is secured by the 
 very nature of this ever-living priesthood of thy 
 surety. Moment by moment, as His intercession 
 rises up, its efficacy descends. And because Jesus 
 stands good for the fulfilment of the covenant, — ' I 
 will put my fear in their heart, and they shall not 
 depart from me,' — He cannot afford to leave theo 
 one single moment to thyself. He dare not do so, 
 or He fails of His undertaking. Thy unbelief may 
 fail of realizing the blessing ; He cannot be unfaith- 
 ful. If thou wilt but consider Him» and the power 
 of that endless life after which He was made and 
 is a High Priest, thy faith will rise to believe that 
 an endless, ever-continuing, unchangeable life of 
 abiding in Jesus, is nothing less than what is wait- 
 ing thee. 
 
 It is as we see what Jesus is, and is to us, that 
 the abiding in Him will become the natural and 
 spontaneous result of our knowledge of Him. If 
 His life unceashigly, moment by moment, rises to 
 the Father for us, and descends to us from the 
 Father, then to abide moment by moment is easy 
 and simple. Each moment of conscious intercourse 
 with Him we simply say, ' Jesus, surety, keeper, 
 ever-living Saviour, in whose life I dwell, I abide in 
 Thee.' Each moment of need, or darkness, or fear, 
 we still say, * ,thou great High Priest, in the power 
 of an endless, unchangeable life, I abide in Thee.' 
 And for the monients when direct and distinct com- 
 munion with Him must give place to needful 
 
fi'; 
 
 m 
 
 216 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 occupations, we can trust His suretyship, His un- 
 ceasing priesthood, in its Divine efficacy, and the 
 power with which He saves to the uttermost, still 
 to keep us abiding in Him. 
 
 \\ 
 
 ii 
 
THE GLORIFIED ONE, 
 
 217 
 
 n- 
 ill 
 
 Thirty-First Day. 
 
 [* 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST, 
 
 E\it Bloxiticis (Bnt. 
 
 ' Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our 
 life, shall appear, then shull ye also appear with Him in glory.' — 
 Col. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 HE that abides in Christ the Crucified One, 
 learns to know what it is to be crucified 
 with Him, and in Him to be indeed dead unto 
 sin. He that abides in Christ the Eisen and 
 (jrlorified One, becomes in the same way partaker of 
 His resurrection life, and of the glory with which 
 He has now been crowned in heaven. Unspeak- 
 able are the blessings which flow to the soul from 
 the union with Jesus in His glorified life. 
 
 This life is a life of perfect victory and rest. 
 Before His death, the Son of God had to suffer and 
 to struggle, could be tempted and troubled by sin 
 and its assaults : as the llisen One, He has triumphed 
 over sin ; and, as the Glorified One, His humanity 
 has entered into participation of the glory of Deity. 
 The believer who abides in Him as such, is led to 
 see how the power of sin and the flesh are indeed 
 destroyed : the consciousness of complete and ever- 
 
218 
 
 AniDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 mi 1 
 
 ii 
 
 lasting deliverance becomes increasingly clear, and 
 the blessed rest and peace, the fruit of such a convic- 
 tion tliat victory and deliverance are an accomplished 
 fact, take possession of the life. Abiding in Jesus, 
 in whom he has been raised and set in the heavenly 
 places, he receives of that glorious life streaming 
 from the head through every member of the body. 
 
 This life is a life in the full fellowship of the 
 Father's love and holiness. Jesus often gave pro- 
 minence to this thought with His disciples. His 
 death was a going to the Father. He prayed : 
 * Glorify me, Father, with Thyself, with the glory 
 which I had with TheeJ As the believer, abiding 
 in Christ the Glorified One, seeks to realize and 
 experience what His union with Jesus on the 
 throne implies, he apprehends how the unclouded 
 light of the Father's presence is His highest glory 
 and blessedness, and in Him the believer's portion 
 too. He learns the sacred art of always, in fellow- 
 ship with His exalted Head, dwelling in the secret 
 of the Father's presence. Farther, when Jesus was 
 on earth, temptation could still reach Him : in 
 glory, everything is holy, and in perfect harmony 
 with the will of God. And so the believer who 
 abides in Him experiences that in this high fellow- 
 ship his spirit is sanctified into growing harmony 
 with the Father's will. The heavenly life of Jesus 
 is the power that casts out sin. 
 
 This life is a life of loving hcnejicence and activity. 
 Seated on His throne. He dispenses His gifts, 
 Afiitows His Spirit, and never ceases in love to 
 
THE GLORIFIBD ONE. 
 
 219 
 
 ho 
 
 IS 
 
 to 
 
 watch and to work for those who are His. Th6 
 believer cannot abide in Jesus the Glorified One, 
 without feeling himself stirred and strengthened to 
 work : the Spirit and the love of Jesus breathe the 
 will and the power to be a blessing to others. 
 Jesus went to heaven with the very object of 
 obtaining power there to bless abundantly. He 
 does this as the heavenly Vine only through the 
 medium of His people as His branches. Whoevei, 
 therefore, abides in Him, the Glorified One, bears 
 much fruit, for he receives of the Spirit and the 
 power of the eternal life of his exalted Lord, and 
 becomes the channel through which the fulness 
 of Jesus, who hath been exalted to be a Prince 
 and a Saviour, flows out to bless those around 
 
 him. . »r:>*i;js;-. .fUffini •Jxa.-liT.f 
 
 V There is one more thought in regard to this life 
 of the Glorified One, and ours in Him. It is a life 
 of wondrous expectation and hope. It is so with 
 Christ. He sits at the right hand of G:Qdiy cxpedinhg 
 till all His enemies be made His footstool, looking 
 forward to the time when He shall receive His full 
 reward, when His glory shall be made manifest, 
 and His beloved people be ever with Him in that 
 glory. The hope of Christ is the hope of .His 
 redeemed : ' I will come again and take you to 
 myself, that where I am there ye may be also.' 
 This promise is as precious to Christ as it ever 
 can be to us. The joy of meeting is surely no less 
 for the coming Bridegroom than for the waiting 
 bride. The life of Christ in glory is one of longing 
 
220 
 
 ABIDE IN CHRIST : 
 
 I; 
 
 M 
 
 
 
 expectation : the full glory only comes when His 
 beloved are with Him. 
 
 The believer who abides closely in Christ will 
 share with Him in this spirit of expectation. Not 
 so much for the increase of personal happiness, but 
 from the spirit of enthusiastic allegiance to his 
 King, he longs to see Him come in His glory, 
 reigning over every enemy, the full revelation of 
 God's everlasting love. 'Till He come,' is the 
 watchword of every true-hearted believer. ' Christ 
 shall appear, and we shall appear with Him in 
 glory.' 
 
 There may be very serious differences in the 
 exposition of the promises of His coming. To one 
 it is plain as day that He is coming very speedily 
 in person to reign on earth, and that speedy coming 
 is his hope and his stay. To another, loving his 
 Bible and his Saviour not less, the coming can 
 mean nothing but the judgment day, — the solemn 
 transition from time to eternity, the close of his- 
 tory on earth, the beginning of heaven ; and the 
 thought of that manifestation of his Saviour's glory 
 is no less his joy and his strength. It is Jesus, 
 Jesus coming again, Jesus taking us to Himself, 
 Jesus adored as Lord of all, that is to the whole 
 Church the sum and the centre of its hope. 
 
 It is by abiding in Christ the Glorified One that 
 the believer will be quickened to that truly spiritual 
 looking for His coming, which alone brings true 
 blessing to the soul. There is an interest in the 
 study of the things which are to be, in which the 
 
 i. 
 
 - i 
 
THE GLORIFIED ONE. 
 
 221 
 
 it 
 ll 
 
 Le 
 ie 
 le 
 
 discipleship of a school is often more marked than 
 the discipleship of Christ the meek ; in which con- 
 tendings for opinions and condemnation of brethren 
 are more striking than any signs of the coming 
 glory. It is only the humility that is willing to 
 learn from those who may have other gifts and 
 deeper revelations of the truth than we, and the 
 love that always speaks gently and tenderly of 
 those who see not as we do, and tlie heavenliness 
 that shows that the Coming One is indeed already 
 our life, that will persuade either the Church or 
 the world that this our faith is not in the wisdom 
 of men, but in the power of God. To testify of the 
 Saviour as the Coming One, we must be abiding in 
 and bearing the image of Him as the Glorified One. 
 Not the correctness of the views we hold, nor the 
 earnestness with which we advocate them, will 
 prepare us for meeting Him, but only the abiding 
 in Him. Then only can our being manifested in 
 glory with Him be what it is meant to be, — a 
 transfiguration, a breaking out and shining forth of 
 the indwelling glory that had been waiting for the 
 day of revelation. 
 
 Blessed life ! * the life hid with Christ in God,' 
 ' set in the heavenlies in Christ,' abiding in Christ 
 the glorified ! Once again the question comes : 
 Can a feeble child of dust really dwell in fellowship 
 with the King of glory ? And again the blessed 
 answer has to be given : To maintain that union is 
 the very work for which Christ has all power in 
 heaven and earth at His disposal. The blessing 
 
222 
 
 ABIDE IK CHRIST : 
 
 will be given to him who will trust his Lord for it, 
 who in faith and confident expectation ceases not 
 to yield himself to be wholly one with Him. It 
 was an act of wondrous thougli simple faith, in 
 which the soul yielded itself at first to the Saviour. 
 That faith grows up to clearer insight and faster 
 hold of God's truth that we are one witli Him 
 in His glory. In that same wondrous faith, 
 wondrously simple, but wondrously mighty, the 
 soul learns to abandon itself entirely to the keeping 
 of Christ's almighty power, and the actings of His 
 Eternal Life. Because it knows that it has the 
 Spirit of God dwelling within to communicate all 
 that Christ is, it no longer looks upon it as a 
 burden or a work, but allows the Divine life to 
 have its way, to do its work ; its faith is the in- 
 creasing abandonment of self, the expectation and 
 acceptance of all that the love and the power of 
 the Glorified One can perform. In that faith un- 
 broken fellowship is maintained, and growing con- 
 formity realized. As with Moses, the fellowship 
 makes partakers of the glory, and the life begins to 
 shine with a brightness not of this world. 
 
 Blessed life ! it is ours, for Jesus is ours. 
 Blessed life ! we have the possession within us in 
 its hidden power, and we have the prospect before 
 us in its fullest glory. May our daily lives be the 
 bright and blessed proof that the hidden power 
 dwells within, preparing us for the glory to be 
 revealed. May our abiding in Christ the Glorified 
 One be our power to live to the glory of the 
 
THE GLORIFIED ONE. 
 
 223 
 
 Father, our fitnesa to share in the glory of the 
 
 i 
 
 AND NOW, 
 LITTLE CHILDREN, 
 
 ABIDE IN HIM, 
 
 THAT, WHEN HE SIJALL APPEAR, WE MAY HAVE 
 
 CONFIDENCE, AND NOT BE ASHAMED 
 
 BEFORE urn AT HIS COMING. 
 
 THK KNi,.