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THe( n'OV 10 1961 
 
 NEW LIFET 
 
 IDorts of (Bob for goung IDisnpks of d^riat 
 
 BY y 
 
 Rev. ANDREW MURRAY, 
 
 AUTHOR OF " ABIDE IN CHRIST," " LIKE CHRIST," ETC 
 
 " They go from strength to strength: 
 Every one of them appear eth before God in ZionJ*^ 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 HURST & COMPANY 
 
 PUBLISHERS. 
 
TRANSLATOR'S NOTE. 
 
 A GLANCE at the pages of this little work will 
 show that it is more elementary than the other 
 writings of its honored author. The reason is that it 
 is specially designed for young disciples who have 
 but recently chosen the better part, and consequently 
 need nothing so much as just to sit at the feet of Jesus 
 and hear His word. Every minister of a congrega- 
 tion in which young people have been brought to the 
 Lord, will remember the keen feeling of anxiety that 
 swept over his heart as he contemplated their entrance 
 on the duties ana responsibilities of a public Christian 
 confession. The supreme question at such a time is ; 
 How shall these young converts be built up in the 
 knowledge of the truth ? How shall they be best 
 taught the real nature of the new life they have re- 
 ceived, the dangers by which it is beset, and the di- 
 rections in which its energy may safely go forth ? 
 
 The desire to give a fitting answer to these ques- 
 tions has given rise to many excellent manuals. In 
 connection with every time of revival, especially, new 
 books for this circle of readers always make their 
 appearance. As Mr. Murray indicates in the Preface, 
 it was in the midst of such a happy period that the 
 following chapters were written. The volume came 
 under my notice whilst I was recently travelling in 
 Holland. A brief inspection showed me that it was 
 one of the most simple, comprehensive, and suggest- 
 ive of its class. It is now translated into English 
 3 
 
Translator's Note. 
 
 from the latest Dutch edition, that the many thousands 
 who have profited by Mr. Murray's other admirable 
 works may have a suitable book to give or recommend 
 to those who are setting their faces towards an earnest 
 and fruitful Christian life. 
 
 That it will be very helpful to this end I cannot 
 doubt ; especially if the directions the author himself 
 has given are faithfully adhered to. It will be noticed 
 that the chapters are comparatively short ; but every 
 one of them has a considerable number of Biblical 
 references. Let no reader be content to read what is 
 written here without turning up and examining the 
 texts marked. This practice, if persistently carried 
 out, cannot fail to yield much recompense. There are 
 just as many chapters in the book as Sabbaths in the 
 year. What an additional blessing it would bring, if the 
 members of a family who have had access to the book 
 during the week, were to hear a chapter read aloud 
 every Sabbath evening, and were encouraged to quote 
 the texts in each that may have struck them most. 
 
 I have only to add that the volume is now translated 
 and issued with Mr. Murray's cordial sanction. It has 
 been to me a very pleasant task to put it into an Eng- 
 lish dress for my younger brethren throughout the 
 country. Beyond this point, of course, my responsi- 
 bility does not go. Should the book prove useful in 
 guiding the feet of those who have come to the Lord 
 yet further into the way of peace and holiness, it will 
 be, both for author and translator, the answer to 
 many a fervent prayer. 
 
 J. P. L. 
 
 Arbroath, September ^ 1891. 
 
 4 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 IN intercourse with young converts, I have very 
 frequently longed for a suitable book in which 
 the most important truths that they have need of for 
 the New Life should be briefly and simply set forth. 
 I could not find anything that entirely corresponded 
 to what I desired. During the services in which, since 
 Whitsuntide, 1884, 1 have been permitted to take part, 
 and in which I have been enabled to speak with so 
 many who professed to have found the Lord, and who 
 were, nevertheless, still very weak in knowledge and 
 faith, this want was felt by me still more keenly. In 
 the course of my journey, I felt myself pressed to 
 take the pen in hand. Under a vivid impression of 
 the infirmities and the perverted thoughts concerning 
 the New Life, with which, as was manifest to me from 
 conversations I had with them, almost all young 
 Christians have to wrestle, I wished, in some words 
 of instruction and encouragement, to let them see 
 what a glorious life of power and joy is prepared for 
 them in their Lord Jesus, and how simple the way is 
 to enjoy all this blessing. 
 
 5 
 
Pre face. 
 
 I have confined myself in these reflections to some 
 of the most important topics. The first is the Word 
 of God as the glorious and sure guide, even for the 
 simplest souls that will only surrender themselves to 
 it. Then, as the chief element in the word, there is 
 the Son, the giftoftht Father, to do all for us. There- 
 upon follows what the Scriptures teach concerning 
 Sin, as the only thing that we have to bring to Jesus, 
 as that which we must give to Him, and from which 
 He will set us free. Further, there is Faith, the great 
 word in which is expressed our inability to bring or 
 to do anything, and that teaches us that all our salva- 
 tion must be received every day of our life as a gift 
 from above. With the Holy Spirit also must the 
 young Christian make acquaintance, as the Person 
 through whom the word and Jesus, with all His work, 
 and faith in Him, can become power and truth. Then 
 there is the Holy Life of obedience and of f ruitf ulness, 
 in which the Spirit teaches us to walk. It is to these 
 six leading thoughts of the New Life that I have con- 
 fined myself, with the ceaseless prayer that God may 
 use what I have written to make His young children 
 understand what a glorious and mighty life it is that 
 they have received from their Father. It was often 
 very unwillingly that I took leave of the young con- 
 verts who had to go back to lonely places, where they 
 
Preface. 
 
 could have little counsel or help, and seldom mingle 
 in the preaching of the word. It is my sure and con- 
 fident expectation that what the Lord has given me to 
 write shall prove a blessing to many of these young 
 confessors. 
 
 [I have, in some instances, attached the names of 
 the places where the diflferent portions of this manual 
 were written ; in others, the names of the towns where 
 the substance of them was spoken, as a remembrance 
 to the friends with whom I had intercourse.] 
 
 While writing this book, I have had a second wish 
 abiding with me. I have thought what I could possi- 
 bly do to secure that my little book should not draw 
 away attention from the word of God, but rather help 
 to make the word more precious. I resolved to fur- 
 nish the work with notes, so that, on every point that 
 was treated of, the reader might be stirred up still to 
 listen to the Word itself, to God Himself. 
 
 I am hopeful that this arrangement will yield a double 
 benefit. Many a one does not know, and has nobody 
 to teach him, how to examine the Scriptures properly. 
 This book may help him in his loneliness. If he will 
 only meditate on one and another point, and then look 
 up the texts that are quoted, he will get into the way 
 of consulting God's word itself on that which he wishes 
 to understand. But it may j ust as readily be of service 
 7 
 
Preface. 
 
 in prayer-meetings or social gatherings for the study 
 df the word. Let each one read the portion fixed on 
 at home and review those texts that seem to him the 
 most important. Let the president of the meeting 
 read the portion aloud once. Let him then request 
 that each one who pleases should announce one and 
 another text on that point which has struck him most. 
 We have found in my congregation that the benefit 
 of such meetings for bringing and reading aloud texts 
 on a point previously announced, is very great. This 
 practice leads to the searching of God's word, as even 
 preaching does not. It stirs up the members of the 
 congregation, especially the young people, to inde- 
 pendent dealing with the word. It leads to a more 
 living fellowship amongst the members of Christ's 
 body, and helps also their upbuilding in love. It pre- 
 pares the way for a social recognition of the word as 
 the living communication of the thoughts of God, 
 which with Divine power shall work in us what is 
 pleasing to God. I am persuaded that there is many 
 a believing man and woman that asks what they can 
 accomplish for the Lord, who along this pathway 
 could become the channels of great blessing. Let 
 them once a week bring together some of their neigh- 
 bors or friends (sometimes two or three households 
 live on one farm) to hear read out texts for which all 
 8 
 
Preface. 
 
 have been previously searching : the Lord shall' cer- 
 taiiily give His blessing there. 
 
 With respect to the use of this book in retirement, 
 I would fain request one thing more. I hope that no 
 one will think it strange. Let every portion be read 
 over at least three times. The great bane of all our 
 converse with Divine things is superficiality. When 
 ■we read anything and understand it somewhat, we 
 think that this is enough. No : we must give time^ 
 that it may make an impression and wield its own in- 
 'fluence upon us. Read every portion the first time 
 with consideration, to understand the good that is in 
 it, and then see if you receive benefit from the thoughts 
 that are there expressed. Read it the secotid time to 
 see if it is really in accordance with God's word : take 
 some, if not all, of the texts that are adduced on each 
 point, and ponder them in order to come under the 
 full force of what God has said on the point. Let 
 your God, through His word, teach you what you 
 must think and believe concerning Him and His will. 
 Read it then the third time to find out the correspond- 
 ing places, not in the Bible, but in your own life, in 
 order to know if your life has been in harmony with 
 the New Life, and to direct your life for the future 
 entirely according to God's word. I am fully per- 
 suaded that the time and pains spent on such converse 
 9 
 
Preface. 
 
 with the word of God under the teaching of this or 
 some book that helps you in deahng with it, will be 
 rewarded tenfold. 
 
 I conclude with a cordial brotherly greeting to all 
 with whom I have been permitted to mingle during 
 the past year, in speaking about the precious Saviour 
 and His glorious salvation ; also to all in other con- 
 gregations, who in this last season have learned to 
 know the beloved Lord Jesus as their Redeemer. 
 With a heart full of peace and love, I think of you all, 
 and I pray that the Lord may confirm His work in 
 you. I have not become weary of crying to you : the 
 blessedness and the power of the New Life that is in 
 you are greater than you know, are wonderfully great ; 
 only learn to know aright and trust in Jesus, the gift 
 of God and the Scriptures, the word of God. Only 
 give Him time to hold converse with you and to work 
 in you, and your heart shall overflow with the blessed- 
 ness of God. 
 
 Now to Him who is able to do more than exceed- 
 ingly above all that we can ask or think, to Him be 
 glory in the Church to all eternity. 
 
 Andrew Murray* 
 
 Wkluxgton, /2/A ^«!f «»/, iBBs. 
 ID 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. THE NEW LIFE I3 
 
 II. THE MILK OF THE WORD 17 
 
 IIL god's word in our heart 22 
 
 IV. FAITH 26 
 
 V. THE power of GOD'S WORD .... 3I 
 
 VL god's GIFT OF HIS SON 36 
 
 VII. JESUS' SURRENDER OF HIMSELF ... 40 
 
 VIIL CHILDREN OF GOD 44 
 
 IX. OUR SURRENDER TO JESUS 48 
 
 X. A SAVIOUR FROM SIN 52 
 
 XI. THE CONFESSION OF SIN 5^ 
 
 XII. THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS 60 
 
 XIII. THE CLEANSING OF SIN 64 
 
 XIV. HOLINESS 68 
 
 XV. RIGHTEOUSNESS 73 
 
 XVI. LOVE 77 
 
 XVII. HUMILITY 82 
 
 XVIII. STUMBLINGS 87 
 
 XIX. JESUS THE KEEPER 9^ 
 
 XX. POWER IN WEAKNESS 95 
 
 XXI. THE LIFE OF FEELING 99 
 
 XXII. THE HOLV GHOST IO3 
 
 XXIII. THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT .... I08 
 II 
 
Contents. 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XXIV. GRIEVING THE SPIRIT II3 
 
 XXV. FLESH AND SPIRIT I18 
 
 XXVI. THE LIFE OF FAITH I24 
 
 XXVII. THE MIGHT OF SATAN I28 
 
 XXVIII. THE CONFLICT OF THE CHRISTIAN . . I33 
 
 XXIX. BE A BLESSING I38 
 
 XXX. PERSONAL WORK 142 
 
 XXXI. MISSIONARY WORK 147 
 
 XXXII. LIGHT AND JOYFULNESS I53 
 
 XXXIII. CHASTISEMENT I57 
 
 XXXIV. PRAYER 162 
 
 XXXV. THE PRAYER-MEETING 167 
 
 XXXVI. THE FEAR OF THE LORD 172 
 
 XXXVII UNDIVIDED CONSECRATION 176 
 
 XXXVIII. ASSURANCE OF FAITH ,...».... 181 
 
 XXXIX. CONFORMITY TO JESUS 185 
 
 XL. CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD .... I9C 
 
 XLI. THE lord's DAY I95 
 
 XLII. HOLY BAPTISM 20I 
 
 XLIII. THE lord's SUPPER 2o6 
 
 XLIV. OBEDIENCE 211 
 
 XLV. THE WILL OF GOD 215 
 
 XLVI. SELF-DENIAL 220 
 
 XLVII. DISCRETION 226 
 
 XLVIII. MONEY 231 
 
 XLIX. THE FREEDOM OF THE CHRISTIAN . . 236 
 
 L. GROWTH 241 
 
 LI. SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES 246 
 
 LII. THE LORD THE PERFECTER 252 
 
 12 
 
1. 
 
 THE NEW LIFE. 
 
 " For God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but 
 lia.ve eternal life.'' — John iii. i6. 
 
 " For ye died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. Christ 
 is our h/e.'' — Col. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 " We declare unto you the life, the eternal life, which was with 
 the Father, and was manifested unto us. God gave uuto us 
 eternal life ; and this life is in His Son. He that hath the 
 Son hath the life." — i John i. 2, v. ii, 12. 
 
 HOW glorious, then, is the blessing which every- 
 one receives that believes in the Lord Jesus. 
 Not only does there come a change in his disposition 
 and manner of life ; he also receives from God out of 
 heaven an entirely new life. He is born anew, bom 
 of God : he has passed from death into life.^ 
 
 This new life is nothing less than Eternal Life.' 
 This does not mean, as many suppose, that our life 
 shall now no more die, but shall endure into eternity. 
 No : eternal life is nothing else than the very life of 
 God, the life that He has had in Himself from eter- 
 nity and that has been visibly revealed in Christ. 
 This life is now the portion of every child of God.^ 
 
 1 John i. 12, 13, iii. 5, 7, v. 24 ; i John iii. 14, v i. 
 
 2 John iii. 15, 16, 36, vi. 40, 51, xi. 25, 26 ; Rom. vi. 11, 23, wii. 2; 
 I John V. 12, 13. 
 
 3i John i. 3, iii. i, v. 11. '' 
 
 13 
 
The New Life. 
 
 This life is a life of inconceivable power. When- 
 ever God gives life to a young plant or animal, that 
 life has in itself the power of growth, whereby the 
 plant or animal as of itself becomes large. Life is 
 power. In the new life, that is, in your heart, there 
 is the power of eternity.^ More certain than the 
 healthful growth of any tree or animal is the growth 
 and increase of the child of God, who in reality 
 surrenders himself to the working of the new life. 
 
 What hinders this power and the reception of the 
 new spiritual life is chiefly two things. The one is 
 ignorance of its nature, its laws and workings. Man, 
 even the Christian, has of himself not the least con- 
 ception of the new life that comes from God : it sur- 
 passes all his thoughts. His own perverted thoughts of 
 the way to serve and to please God, namely, by what 
 he does and is, are so deeply rooted in him, that, 
 although he thinks that he understands and receives 
 God's word, he yet thinks humanly and carnally on 
 Divine things.^ Not only must God give salvation 
 and life ; He must also give the Spirit to make us 
 know what He gives. Not only must He point out 
 the land of Canaan, and the way thither; we must 
 also, like the blind, be led every day by Himself. 
 The young Christian must try to cherish a deep con- 
 viction of his ignorance concerning the new life, and 
 of his inability to form right thoughts about it. This 
 will bring him to the meekness and to the child-like 
 
 1 John X. 10, 28 ; Heb. vii. 16, 29, xi. 25, 26 ; 2 Cor. xii. 9, xiii, 
 4 ; Col. iii. 3, 4 ; Phil. iv. 13. 
 * Jos. iii. 4 ; Isa. Iv. 8, 9 ; Matt. xvi. 23. 
 
 14 
 
The New Life. 
 
 spirit of docility, to which the Lord shall make His 
 secret known, i 
 
 There is a second hindrance in the way of faith. 
 In the life of every plant and every animal and every 
 child there lies sufficient power by which it can be- 
 come big. In the new life, God has made the most 
 glorious provision of a sufficient power whereby His 
 child can grow and become all that he must be. 
 Christ Himself is his life and his power of life.^ Yet, 
 because this mighty life is not visible or cannot be 
 felt, but works in the midst of human weakness, the 
 young Christian often becomes of doubtful mind. 
 He then fails to believe that he shall grow with Divine 
 power and certainty. He does not understand that 
 the believing life is a life of faith whereby he reckons 
 on the life that is in Christ for him, although he 
 neither sees, feels, nor experiences anything.' 
 
 Let every one, then, that has received this new life, 
 cultivate this great conviction : it is eternal life that 
 works in me : it works with Divine power : I can and 
 afid shall become what God will have me be : Christ 
 Himself is my life : I have to receive Him every day 
 as my life given by God to me, and He shall be my 
 life in full power. 
 
 O my Father, who hast given me Thy Son that I 
 may have life in Him, I thank Thee for the glorious 
 
 1 Ps. XXV. 5, 8, 9, cxliii. 8 ; Isa. xlii. i6, Ixiv. 4 ; Matt. xi. 25 ; i. 
 Cor. i, 18, 19, ii. 7, 10, 12 ; Heb. xi. 8. 
 
 'Ps. xviii. 2, xxvii. i, xxxviii. 3, Ixxxiv. 8 ; John xiv. 19 ; Gal. 
 ii. 20 ; Col. iii. 3, 4. 
 
 »Hab. ii. 4; Matt. vi. 27 ; Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11 ; Heb. x. 38. 
 
 15 
 
The New Life. 
 
 new life that is now in me. I pr? / Thee, teach me 
 to know aright this new life. I wih acknowledge my 
 ignorance and the perverte' joughts which are in 
 in me, concerning thy service. I will believe in the 
 heavenly power of the new life that is in me : I will 
 believe that my lyord Jesus, who Himself is my life, 
 will by His Spirit teach me to know how I can walk 
 in that life. Amen. 
 
 ' Try now to apprehend and appropriate the following lessons, 
 in your heart : — 
 
 1. It is eternal life, the very life of God, that you have now re- 
 ceived through faith. 
 
 2. This new life is in Christ, and the Holy Spirit is in you 
 to bring over to you all that is in Christ. Christ lives in you 
 through the Holy Spirit. 
 
 3. This ife is a life of wonderful power. However weak you 
 may feel, you must believe in the Divine power of the life that 
 is in you. 
 
 4. This life has need of time to grow in you and to take poS' 
 session of you. Give it time : it shall surely increase. 
 
 5. Forget not that all the laws and rules of this new life are in 
 conflict with all human thoughts of the way to please God. Be 
 very much in dread of your own thoughts, and let Christ, who 
 is your life and also your wisdom, teach you all things. 
 
 16 
 
II. 
 
 THE MILK OF THE WORD. 
 
 " As new-bom babes, long for the spiritual milk that is with- 
 out guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation." — i Pet. 
 ii. 2. 
 
 BELOVED young Christians, hear what your 
 Father has to say in this word. You have just re- 
 cently given yourself to the Lord, and have believed 
 that He has received you. You have thus received 
 the new life from God, You are now as new-born 
 infants: He would teach you in this word what is 
 necessary that you may grow and wax strong. 
 
 The first point is : you must know that you are GocTs' 
 children. Hear how distinctly Peter says this to 
 those just converted : ^ " You have been born again, ' ' ' 
 ''you are new-born infants," "you are now con- 
 verted" "you are now the people of God." A Chris- 
 tian, however young and weak he is, must know that 
 he is God's child. Then only can he have the cour- 
 age to believe that he shall make progress, and the 
 boldness to use the food of the children provided in 
 the word. All Scripture teaches us that we must 
 know and can know that we are children of God.'^ 
 
 ' I Pet. i. 23, ii. 2, 10. 25. 
 
 2 Rom. viii. 16 ; i Cor. iii. 1, 16 ; Gal. iv. 6, 7 ; i John iii. 2, 14, 
 24, iv. I j, V. 10, 13. 
 
 2 17 
 
The New Life. 
 
 The assurance of faith is indispensable to a healthy, 
 powerful growth in the Lord.i 
 
 The second point which this word teaches you is : 
 you are still very weak— weak, as new-born children. 
 The joy and the love which a young convert some- 
 times experiences do indeed make him think that he 
 is very strong. He runs the risk of exalting himself, 
 and of trusting in what he experiences. He must 
 nevertheless learn much of how he must become 
 strong in his I,ord Jesus. Endeavor to feel deeply 
 that you are still young and weak.'^ Out of this sense 
 of weakness comes the humility which has nothing* 
 in itself, and therefore expects all from its Lord.* 
 
 The third lesson is : l/ie young- Christian 7nust 
 not reniaift weak; he must grow and increase in 
 grace; he must make progress and become strong. 
 God lays it upon us as a command. His word gives 
 Tis, concerning this point, the most glorious promises. 
 It lies in the nature of the thing : a child of God must 
 and can make progress. The new life is a life that is 
 healthy and strong : when a disciple surrenders him- 
 self to it, the growth certainly comes.* 
 
 The fourth and principal lesson — the lesson which 
 young disciples of Christ have most need of— is : it is 
 through the milk of the word that God's 7iew-born in- 
 fants can grow. The new life from the Spirit of God 
 
 lEph. V. 8 ; Col. ii. 6 ; i Pet. i. 14, 19. 
 'i Cor. iii. i, 13 ; Heb. v. 13, 14. 
 
 'Matt. V. 3 ; Rom. xii. 3, 10 ; Eph. iv. 2 ; Phil. ii. 3, 4 ; Col. iii. 12. 
 *Matt. viii. 8, 15, 27, 28. 
 
 * Judg. V. 31 ; Ps. Ixxxiv. 8, xcii. 13, 14 ; Prov. iv. 18 ; Isa. xl 
 31 ; Epli. iv. 14 ; I Thess. iv. i ; 2 Pet iii. 18. 
 
 *i8 
 
The Milk of the Word. 
 
 can be sustained only by the word from the mouth of 
 God. Your life, my young brother, will largely de- 
 pend on whether you learn to deal wisely and well 
 with God's word, or whether you learn to use the 
 word from the beginning as your milk.^ 
 
 See what a charming parable the Lord has given 
 us here in the mother's milk. Out of her own life 
 does the mother yield food and life to her child. The 
 feeding of the child is the work of the tenderest love, 
 in which the child is pressed to the breast, and is held 
 in the closest fellowship with the mother. And the 
 milk is just what the weak child requires — food gen- 
 tle and yet strong. 
 
 Even so is there in the word of God the very life 
 and power of God.^ His tender love will, through 
 the word, receive us into the gentlest and most inti- 
 mate fellowship with Himself.^ His love will give 
 us out of the word what is, like warm, soft milk, just 
 fitted for our weakness. Let no one suppose that the 
 word is too high or too hard for him. For the disci- 
 ple who receives the word, and trustfully relies on 
 Jesus to teach him by the Spirit, the word of God 
 shall practically prove to be gentle, sweet milk for 
 new-born infants.* 
 
 Dear young Christians, would you continue stand- 
 ing, would you become strong, would you always live 
 for the Lord ? Then hear this day the voice of your 
 
 1 Ps. xix. 8, II, cxix. 97, loo ; Isa. Iv. 2 3 ; i Cor. xii. n. 
 
 2 John vi. 63 ; i Thess. ii. 13 ; Heb. iv. 12. 
 
 3 John X. 4. 
 
 *Ps. cxix. 18 ; John xiv. 26 ; Kph. i. 17, iG. 
 
 19 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Father: "As new-born babes, long for the spiritual 
 milk that is without guile." Receive this word into 
 your heart and hold it fast as the voice of your 
 Father : on your use of the word of God will your 
 spiritual life depend. Let the word of God be precious 
 to you above everything.^ 
 
 Above all forget not this: the word is the milk; 
 the sucking or drinking on the part of the little child 
 is the inner, living, blessed fellowship with the 
 mother's love. Through the Holy Spirit your use of 
 the milk of the word can become warm, living fellow- 
 ship with the Living Love of your God. O long then 
 very eagerly for the milk. Do not take the word as 
 something that is hard and troublesome to under- 
 stand : in that way you lose all delight in it. Receive 
 it with trust in the love of the living God. With a 
 tender, motherly love will the Spirit of God teach 
 and help you in your weakness. Believe always that 
 the Spirit will make the word in you life and joy, a 
 blessed fellowship with your God. 
 
 Precious Saviour, Thou hast taught me to believe 
 Thy word, and Thou hast made me by that faith a 
 child of God. Through that word, as the milk of the 
 new-born babes, wilt Thou also feed me. Lord, for 
 this milk shall I be very eager : every day will I long 
 after it. Teach me, through the Holy Spirit and the 
 word, to walk and hold converse every day in living 
 fellowship with the love of the Father. Teach me 
 
 1 Ps. cxix. 14, 47, 48, III, 127. 
 20 
 
The Milk of the Word. 
 
 always to believe that the Spirit has been given me 
 with the word. Amen. 
 
 1. What texts do you consider the best for proving that the 
 Scriptures teach us that we must know we are children of God ? 
 
 2. What are the three points in which the sucking child is to 
 us a type of the young child in Christ in his dealing with the 
 word? 
 
 3. What must a young Christian do when he has little bless- 
 ing in the reading of God's word ? He must set himself through 
 faith in fellowship with Jesus Himself: he must reckon that 
 Jesus will teach him through the Spirit, and so trustfully con- 
 tinue in the reading. 
 
 4. One verse chosen to meet our needs, read ten times and 
 and then laid up in the heart, is better than ten verses read 
 once. Only so much of the word as I actually receive and in- 
 wardly appropriate for myself, is food for my soul. 
 
 5. Choose out for yourselves what you consider one of the 
 most glorious promises about making progress and becoming 
 strong ; learn it by heart, and repeat it continually as the lan- 
 guage of your positive expectation. 
 
 6. Have you learned well to understand what the great means 
 for growth in grace is ? 
 
 21 
 
III. 
 GOD'S WORD IN OUR HEART. 
 
 " Therefore shall ye lay up these My words in your heart and 
 in your soul."— Deut. xi. i8. 
 
 " Son of man, all My words that I shall speak unto thee, 
 receive in thine heart."— Ezek. iii. lo. 
 
 " Thy word have I laid up iu mine heart, that I might not sin 
 against Thee."— Ps. cxix. ii. 
 
 LONG for the milk that ye may grow thereby. 
 This charming word taught every young Chris- 
 tian that, if he would grow, he must receive the word 
 as milk, as the living participation of the life and the 
 love of God. On this account is it of so great im- 
 portance to know well how we must deal with the 
 word. The Lord says that we must receive it and lay 
 it up in our heart. ^ The word must possess and fill 
 the heart. What does that mean ? 
 
 The heart is the temple of God. In the temple 
 there was an outer court and an inner sanctuary. So 
 also is it in the heart. The gate of the court is the 
 understanding; what I do not understand cannot 
 enter into the heart. Through the outer gate of the 
 understanding, the word comes into the court.' 
 
 1 Deut. XXX. 14 ; Ps. i. 2, cxix. 34, 36 ; Is. li. 7 ; John v. 38, viiL 
 31, XV. 7 ; Rom. x. 8, 9 ; Col. iii. 16. 
 > Ps. cxix. 34 ; Matt. xiii. 19 ; Acts viii; 30. . 
 22 
 
God's Word in Our Heart. 
 
 There it is kept by memory and reflection.^ Still it 
 is not yet properly in ^he heart. From the court 
 there is an entrance into the innermost sanctuary; 
 the entrance of the door is faith. "What I believe 
 that I receive into my heart ^ Here it then becomes 
 held fast in love and in the surrender of the will. 
 Where this takes place, there the heart becomes the 
 sanctuary of God. His law is there, as in the ark, 
 and the soul cries out: "Thy law is within my 
 heart."' 
 
 Young Christian, God has asked your heart, your 
 love, your whole self. You have given yourself to 
 Him. He has received you, and would have you and 
 your heart entirely for Himself. He will make that 
 heart full of His word. What is in the heart one 
 holds dear, becaus*^ one thinks continually on that 
 which gives joy. God would have the word in the 
 heart. Where His word is, there is He Himself and 
 His might. He considers Himself bound to fulfil 
 His word ; when you have the word, you have God 
 Himself to work in you.* He wills that you should 
 receive and lay up His words in your heart : then 
 will He greatly bless you.^ 
 
 How I wish that I could bring all young Christians 
 to receive simply that word of their Father, " Lay up 
 My words in your heart," and to give their whole 
 
 1 Ps. cxix. 15, 16. 
 
 2 John V. 38 ; Acts viii. 37 ; Rom. x. 10, 17. 
 '^x. XXV. 16 ; Ps. xxxvii. 31, xl. 9 ; Col. iii. 16. 
 < Gen. xxi. i ; Josh, xxiii. 14. 
 
 6 Deut. xi. 10, xxviii. 1, 2 ; Ps. i. 2, 3, cxix. 14, 45, 98, 165 ; John 
 xvii. 6, 8, 17. 
 
 23 
 
The New Life. 
 
 heart to become full of God's word. Resolve then to 
 do this. Take pains to understand what you read. 
 When you understand it, take then always one or 
 another word to keep in remembrance and ponder. 
 Learn words of God by heart ; repeat them to your- 
 self in the course of the day. The word is seed ; the 
 seed must have time, must be kept in the ground : so 
 must the word be carried in the heart. Gi\ns the 
 best powers of your heart, your love, your desire, the 
 willing and joyful activity of your will, to Gods 
 word. "Blessed is the man whose delight is in the 
 law of the Lord ; and in His law doth he meditate 
 day and night. ' ' Let the heart be a temple, not for 
 the world and its thoughts, but for God and His 
 thoughts.' He that, every day, faithfully opens his 
 heart to God's voice to hear what God says, and 
 keeps and carries about that word, shall see how 
 faithfully God also shall open His heart to our voice, 
 to hear what we say to Him in prayer. 
 
 Dear Christian, pray read yet once again the words 
 at the head of this section. Receive them as God's 
 word to you — the word of the Father who has re- 
 ceived you as a child, of Jesus who has made you 
 God's child. God asks of you, as His child, that you 
 give your heart to become filled with His word. Will 
 you do this ? What say you ? The Lord Jesus would 
 complete His holy work in you with power along 
 this way.'^ Let your answer be distinct and continu- 
 ous : " I have hid Thy word in my heart ; " " How 
 
 * Ps. cxix. 69 ; John xv. 3, 7, x^-ii. 6, 8, 17. 
 ' John xiv. 21, 23 ; i John ii. 14, 24 ; Rev. iii. 8, xo, 
 24 
 
God's Word in Our Heart. 
 
 love I Thy law: it is my meditation all the day." 
 Even if it appears difficult for you to understand the 
 word, read it only the more. The Father has prom- 
 ised to make it a blessing in your heart. But you 
 must first take it into your heart. Believe then that 
 God will by the Holy Spirit make it living and pow- 
 erful in you. 
 
 O my Father, who hast said to me : "My son, give 
 Me thine heart," I have given Thee mine heart. 
 Now that Thou chargest me to lay up and to keep 
 Thy word in that heart, I answer: " I keep Thy com- 
 mands with my whole heart." Father, teach me 
 every day so to receive Thy word in my heart that it 
 can exercise there its blessed influence. Strengthen 
 me in the deep conviction that even though I do not 
 actually apprehend its meaning and power, I can still 
 reckon on Thee to make the word living and power- 
 ful in me. Amen. 
 
 1. What is the difference between the reading of the word to 
 increase knowledge and the receiving of it in faith ? 
 
 2. The word is as a seed. Seed requires time ere it springs up. 
 During this time it must be kept silently and constantly in the 
 earth. I must not only read God's word, but ponder it and re- 
 flect upon it : then shall it work in me. The word must be in 
 me the whole day, must abide in me, must dwell in me. 
 
 3. What are the reasons that the word of God sometimes has so 
 little power in those that read it and really long for blessing ? One 
 of the principal reasons is surely that they do not give the seed 
 time to grow, that they do not keep it and reflect upon it, in the 
 believing assurance that the word itself shall have its working. 
 
 4. What is the token of His disciples that Jesus mentions first 
 in the high-priestly prayer? (John xvii.) 
 
 5. What are the blessings of a heart filled with the word of God ? 
 
 25 
 
IV. 
 
 FAITH. 
 
 " Blessed is she that believed ; for there shall be a fulfilment 
 of the things which have been spoken to her from the lyOrd."— 
 IvUKK i. 45. 
 
 "I believe God, that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken 
 unto me." — Acts xxvii. 25. 
 
 " Abraham waxed strong through faith, being fully assured 
 that what He had promised, he was able also to perform."— 
 Rom. iv. 21. 
 
 GOD has asked you to take and lay up His words 
 in your heart. P'aith is the proper avenue 
 whereby the word is taken and received into the 
 innermost depths of the heart. Let the young Chris- 
 tian then take pains always to understand better what 
 faith is : he will thereby gain an insight into the rea- 
 sons why such great things arc bound up with faith. 
 He will yield his perfect assent to the view that full 
 salvation is made every day dependent on faith .^ 
 
 Let me now ask my reader to read over once again 
 the three texts which stand above, and to find out 
 what is the principal thought that they teach about 
 faith. Pray, read nothing actually beyond them, but 
 read first these words of God, and ask yourself what 
 they teach you about faith. 
 
 They make us see that faith always attaches itself 
 
 1 1 Chron. xx. 20 ; Mark. ix. 23 ; Heb. xi. 33, 35 ; i John v. 4, 5. 
 26 
 
Faith. 
 
 to what God has said or promised. Wheu an honor- 
 able man says anything, he also does it : on the back 
 of the saying follows the doing. So also is it with 
 God : when He would do anything, He says so first 
 through His word. When the man of God becomes 
 possessed with this conviction and established in it, 
 God always does for Him what He has said. With 
 God, speaking and doing always go together: the 
 deed follows the word : " Shall He say it and not do 
 it?" 1 When I have a word of God in which He 
 promises to do something, I can always remain sure 
 that He will do it. I have simply to take and hold 
 fast the word, and therewith wait upon God : God 
 will take care that He fulfils His word to me. Before 
 I ever feel or experience anything, I hold fast the 
 promise, and I know by faith that God will make it 
 good to me.* 
 
 What, now, is faith? Nothing other than the cer- 
 titude that what God says is true. When God says 
 that something subsists or is, then does faith rejoice, 
 although it sees nothing of it.' When God says that 
 He has given me something, that something in heaven 
 is mine, I know by faith with entire certitude that it 
 is mine.* When God says that something shall come 
 to pass, or that He will do something for me, this is 
 
 1 Gen. xxi. i, xxxii. 12 ; Num. xiv. 17, 18, 20, xxiii. 19 ; Josh. 
 xxi. 45, xxiii. 14 ; 2 Sam. vii. 25, 29 ; i Chron. viii. 15, 24 ; Ps. 
 odx. 49. 
 
 2 lyuke i. 38, 45 ; John iii. 33, iv. 50, xi. 40, xx. 29 ; Heb. a. 
 XX. x8. 
 
 3 Rom. L 17, iv. 5, V. I ; Gal. iii. 27; Eph. i. 19, iii. 17. 
 * John iiL 16, 17, 36 ; i John v. 12, 13. 
 
 27 
 
The New Life. 
 
 for faith just as good as if I had seen it.i Things 
 that are, but that I have not seen, and things that 
 are not yet, but shall come, are for faith entirely sure. 
 * ' Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the 
 proving of things not seen." ^ Faith always asks 
 only for what God has said, and then relies on His 
 faithfulness and power to fulfil His word. 
 
 Let us now review again the words of Scripture. 
 Of Mary we read : " Blessed is she that believed ; for 
 there shall be a fulfilment of the things which have 
 been spoken to her from the Lord." All things that 
 have been spoken in the word shall be fulfilled for 
 me : so I believe them. 
 
 Of Abraham it is reported that he was fully assured 
 that that which had been promised, God was also able 
 to fulfil. This is assurance of faith : to be assured 
 that God will do what He has promised. 
 
 Exactly thus is it in the word of Paul : " I believe 
 God that it shall be even so as it hath been spoken 
 unto me." It stood fixed with him that God would 
 do what He had spoken. 
 
 Young disciples in Christ, the new, the eternal life 
 that is in you is a life of faith. And do you not see 
 how simple and how blessed that life of faith is ? I 
 go every day to the word and hear there what God 
 has said that He has done and will do.^ I take time 
 to lodge in my heart the word in which God says 
 that, and I hold it fast, entirely assured that what 
 
 1 Rom. viii. 38 ; PhU. iii. 21 ; i Thess. v. 24 ; i Pet. i. 4, 5. 
 s Heb. xi. I. 
 « Gal. ii. 20, iii. 2, 5, v. 5, 6 ; Heb. x. 35 ; i Pet. i. 8. 
 
Faith. 
 
 God has promised, He is able to perform. And then 
 in a childlike spirit I await the fulfilment of all the 
 glorious promises of His word. And my soul experi- 
 ences : Blessed is she that believed ; for the things 
 that have been spoken to her from the Lord shall be 
 fulfilled. God promises — I believe — God fulfils: that 
 is the secret of the new life. 
 
 O my Father, Thy child thanks Thee for this 
 blessed life of faith in which we have to walk. I 
 can do nothing, but Thou canst do all. All that Thou 
 canst do hast Thou spoken in Thy word. And every 
 word that I take and trustfully bring to Thee, Thou 
 fulfiUest. Father, in this life of faith, so simple, so 
 glorious, will I walk with Thee. Amen. 
 
 1. The Christian must read and search the Scriptures to in- 
 crease his knowledge. For this purpose he daily reads one or 
 more principal portions. But he reads the Scriptures also to 
 strengthen his faith. And to this end he must take one or two 
 verses to make them the subject of special reflection, and to 
 appropriate them trustfully for himself 
 
 [The Prayer and Bible Union has been established in order to 
 be a help towards the regular reading of the Bible. Kvery year 
 is issued an Almanac with a chapter from the Old Testament 
 for the morning, and half a chapter out of the New for the 
 evening. And for the morning there is also given a verse for 
 reflection. Make application to your minister or to the secre- 
 tary, Dr. J. J. Maquard, of Bethulie.] 
 
 2. Pray, do not suffer yourselves to be led astray by those who 
 speak as if faith were something great and unintelligfible. Faith 
 is nothiiig other than the certitude that God speaks truth. Take 
 some promises of God and say to Him : I know for certain that 
 this promise is truth, and that Thou wilt fulfil it. He will do it. 
 
 3. Never mourn over unbelief as if it were only a weakness 
 
 29 
 
The New Life. 
 
 which you cannot help. As God's child, however weak yotl 
 may be, you have the power to believe, for the Spirit of God is 
 in you. You have only to keep in mind this : no one apprehends 
 anji^hing before that he has the power to believe ; he must simply 
 begrin and continue with saying to the I^ord that he js sure that 
 His word is truth. He must hold fast the promise and rely upon 
 God for the fulfilment. 
 
 30 
 
V. 
 THE POWER OF GOD'S WORD. 
 
 " Faith Cometh of hearing, and hearing by the the word of 
 Christ."— Rom. x. 17. 
 
 " Receive with meekness the im^planted word, which is able 
 to save your souls." — J as. i. 21. 
 
 " We also thank God without ceasing, that, when ye received 
 from us the word of the message, even the word of God, ye ac- 
 cepted it not as the word of men, but, as it is in truth, the word 
 of God, which also worketh in you that believe."— 1 Thess. ii. 13. 
 
 " For the word of God is living and active."— Heb. iv. 12. 
 
 THE new life of a child of God depends so much 
 on the right use of God's word, 4liat--i~shall-" 
 once again speak of it with tny-yx>»»g' brothers and 
 Ms^^rft-in the Lord. 
 
 It is a great thing when the Christian discerns that 
 he can receive and accomplish all only through faith. 
 He has only to believe ; God will look to the fulfill- 
 ing of what is promised. He has every morning to 
 trust in Jesus, and the new life as given in Jesus and 
 working in himself; Jesus will see to it that the new 
 life works in him. 
 
 But now he runs the risk of another error. He 
 thinks that the faith that does such great things 
 must be something great, and that he must have a 
 gfreat power in order to exercise such a great taith.^ 
 
 1 Ivuke XA'ii. 5, 6 ; Rom. x. 6, 7, 8. 
 31 
 
The New Life. 
 
 And, because he does not feel this power, he thinks 
 that he cannot believe as he ought. This error may- 
 prove a loss to him his life long. 
 
 Come and hear, then, how perverted this thought 
 is. You must not bring this mighty faith to get the 
 word fulfilled, but the word comes and brings you 
 this faith which you must have. "The word is 
 living and powerful." The word works faith in you. 
 The Scripture says, " Faith is by the word." ^ 
 
 Think on what we have said of the heart as a tem- 
 ple, and of its two divisions. There is the outer 
 court, with the understanding as its gate or entrance. 
 There is the innermost sanctuary, with the faith of 
 the heart as its entrance. There is a natural faith ■ 
 the historic faith - which every man has ; with this 
 must I first receive the word into my keeping and 
 consideration. I must say to myself, " The word of 
 God is certainly true. I can make a stand upon it." 
 Thus I bring the word into the outer court, and from 
 within the heart desire reaches out to it, seeking to 
 receive it into the heart. The word now exercises its 
 divine power of life ; it begins to grow and shoot out 
 roots. As a seed which I place in the earth sends 
 forth roots and presses still deeper into the soil, the 
 word presses inwardly into the holy place. The 
 word thus works true saving faith. ^ 
 
 Young Christian, pray understand this. The word 
 is living and powerful ; through the word you are 
 bom again. The word works faith in you; through 
 
 *Rom. X. 17; Heb. iv. 12. 
 
 'x Thess. ii. 13 ; Jas. i. 21 ; i Pet. i. 23. 
 
 3a 
 
The Power of God's Word. 
 
 the word comes faith. Receive the word simply 
 with the thought that it will work in you. Keep 
 yourselves occupied with the word, and give it time. 
 The word has a divine life in i^^self ; carry it in your 
 inmost parts, and it will work life in you. It will 
 work in you a faith strong and able for anything. 
 
 O be resolved then, pray, never to say, I cannot 
 believe. You can believe. You have the Spirit of 
 God in you. Even the natural man can say, This 
 word of God is certainly true or certainly not true. 
 And when he with a desire of the soul says, "It is 
 true; I will believe it," the living Spirit, through 
 whom the word is living and powerful, works this 
 living faith. Besides, the Spirit is not only in the 
 word, but also in you. Although you do not feel as 
 if you were believing, know for certain you can be- 
 lieve.^ Begin actually to receive the word; it will 
 work a mighty faith in you. Rely upon it, that 
 when you have to do with God's word, you have to 
 do with a word that can be surely trusted that it of 
 itself works faith in you. 
 
 And not only the promises, but a' so the commands 
 have this living power. When I first receive a com- 
 mand from God, it is as if I felt no power to accom- 
 plish it. But if I then simply receive the word as 
 God's word, which works in those that believe, — if I 
 trust in the word to have its working, and in the 
 living God which g^ves it its operation, — that com- 
 mandment will work in me the desire and the power 
 for obedience. When I weigh and hold fast the com- 
 1 Deut. zxxii. 46, 47 ; Josh. i. 7, 9. 
 
 3 33 
 
The New Life. 
 
 mand, it works the desire and the will to obey; it 
 urges me strongly towards the conviction that I can 
 certainly do what my Father says. The word works 
 both faith and obedience. The obedience of the 
 Christian is the obedience of faith. I must believe 
 that through the Spirit I have the power to do what 
 God wills, for in the word the power of God works 
 in me. The word, as the command of the living 
 God who loves me, is my power.' 
 pTherefore, young disciples in Christ, learn to receive 
 hod's word trustfully. Although you do not at first 
 /understand it, continue to meditate upon it. It has 
 fa living power in it ; it will glorify itself. Although 
 you feel no power to believe or to obey, the word is 
 .living and powerful. Take it, and hold it fast; it 
 i will accomplish its work with divine power. The 
 t word rouses and strengthens for faith and obedience. 
 
 Lord God, I begin to conceive how Thou art in 
 Thy word with Thy life and Thy power, and how 
 that word itself works faith and obedience in the 
 heart that receives and keeps it. Lord, teach me to 
 carry Thy every word as a living seed in my heart, 
 in the assurance that it shall work in me all Thy 
 good pleasure. 
 
 I. Forget not that it is one and the same to believe in the 
 word, or in the person that speaks the word, or in the thing 
 which is promised in the word. The very same faith that re- 
 , ceives the promises receives also the Father who promises, and 
 
 1 Rom. i. 3, xvi. 6 ; Gal. vi, 6 ; i Thess. i. 3 ; Jas. i. 21. 
 
 34 
 
The Power of God's Word. 
 
 the Son with the salvation which is given in the promises. Pray 
 see to it that you never separate the word and the living God 
 from each other. 
 
 2. See to it also that you apprehend thoroughly the distinction 
 betwixt the reception of the word " as the word of man " and 
 " as the word of God, which works in you that believe." 
 
 3. I think that you now know what is necessary to become 
 strong in faith. Exercise as much faith as you have. Take a 
 promise of God. Say to yourself that it is certainl}' true. Go 
 to God and say to Him that you rely on Him for the fulfilment. 
 Ponder the promise, and cleave to it in converse with God. 
 Rely upon Him to do for you what He says. He will surely do it. 
 
 4. The Spirit and the word always go together. I can be sure 
 concerning all of which the word says that I must do it, that I 
 also can do it through the Spirit. I must receive the word and 
 also the command in the confidence that it is the living word of 
 the living God which also works in us who believe. 
 
 35 
 
VI. 
 GOD'S GIFT OF HIS SON. 
 
 " For God so loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten 
 Son, that whosoever beUeveth on Him should not perish, but 
 have eternal life."— John iii. i6. 
 
 " Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift."— 2 Cor. ix. 15. 
 
 THUS dear did God hold the world. How dear? 
 That He gave His only-begotten Son for every 
 one in the world who will trust in Him. And how 
 did He give? He gave Him, in His birth as man, in 
 order to be for ever one with us. He gave Him, in 
 His death on the cross as Surety, in order to take our 
 sin and curse upon Himself. He gave Him on the 
 throne of heaven, in order to arrange for our welfare, 
 as our Representative and Intercessor over all the 
 powers of heaven. He gave Him in the outpouring 
 of the Spirit, in order to dwell in us, to be entirely 
 and altogether our own.i Yes; that is the love of 
 God, that He gave His Son to us, for us, in us. 
 
 Nothing less than His Son Himself. This is the 
 love of God ; not that He give us something, but that 
 He gives us some one — a living person — not one or 
 another blessing, but Him in whom is all life and 
 blessing— Jesus Himself. Not simply forgiveness, or 
 
 1 John i. 14. 16, xiv. 23 ; Rom. v. 8, viii. 32, 34 ; ^ph. i. 22, iii. 17; 
 Col. ii. 9, 10 ; Heb. vii. 24, 26 ; i John iv. 9, 10. 
 36 
 
God's Gift of His Son. 
 
 revival, or sanctification, or glory does He give us; 
 but Jesus, His own Son. The Lord Jesus is the be- 
 loved, the equal, the bosom-friend, the eternal blessed- 
 ness of the Father. And it is the will of the Father 
 that we should have Jesus as ours, even as He has 
 Him.^ For this end He gave Him to us. The whole 
 of salvation consists in this : to have, to possess, to 
 enjoy Jesus. God has given His Son, given Him 
 wholly to become ours.^ 
 
 What have we, then, to do? To take Him, to 
 receive and to appropriate to ourselves the gift, to 
 enjoy Jesus as our own. This is eternal life. ** He 
 that hath the Son hath life." ^ 
 
 How I do wish, then, that all young Christians 
 may understand this. The one great work of God's 
 love for us is, He gives us His Son. In Him we have 
 all. Hence the one great work of our heart must be 
 to receive this Jesus who has been given to us, to 
 consider Him and use Him as ours. I must begin 
 every day anew with the thought, I have Jesus to do 
 all for me.* In all weakness or darkness or danger, 
 in the case of every desire or need, let your first 
 thought always be, I have Jesus to make everything 
 right for me, for God has given Him to me. Whether 
 your need be forgiveness or consolation or confirma- 
 tion, whether you have fallen, or are tempted to fall, 
 into danger, whether you know not what the will of 
 
 iMatt. xi. 27 ; John xvii. 23, 25 ; Rom. viii. 38, 39 ; Heb. ii. 11. 
 
 2 Ps. Ixxiii. 25, cxlii. 6 ; John xx. 28 ; Heb. iii. 14. 
 
 3 John i. 12 ; 2 Cor. iii. 13, 5 ; Col. ii. 6 ; John v. 12. 
 
 * John XV. 5 ; Rom. viii. 37 ; i Cor. i. 30 ; Eph. i. 3, ii. 10 ; Phil, 
 iv. 13 ; 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 37 
 
The New Life. 
 
 God is in one or another matter, or know that you 
 have not the courage and the strength to do this will, 
 let this always be your first thought, the Father has 
 given me Jesus to care for me. 
 
 For this purpose, reckon upon this gift of God 
 every day as yours. It has been presented to you in 
 the word. Appropriate the Son in faith on the word. 
 Take Him anew every day. Through faith you have 
 the Son.^ The love of God has given the Son. 
 Take Him, and hold Him fast in the love of your 
 heart.* It is to bring life, eternal life, to you that 
 God has given Jesus. Take Him up into your life ; 
 let heart and tongue and whole walk be under the 
 might and guidance of Jesus.^ Young Christian, so 
 weak and so sinful, listen, pray, to that word. God 
 has given you Jesus. He is yours. Taking is noth- 
 ing else but the fruit of faith. The gift is for me. 
 He will do all for you. 
 
 O my Lord Jesus, to-day anew, and every day, I 
 take Thee. In all Thy fulness, in all Thy relations, 
 without ceasing, I take Thee for myself. Thee, who 
 art my Wisdom, my Light, my Leader, I take as my 
 Prophet. Thee, who dost perfectly reconcile me, 
 and bring me near to God, who dost purify and sanc- 
 tify me and pray for me, I take as my Priest. Thee, 
 who dost guide and keep and bless me, I take as my 
 
 1 John i. 12 ; 1 John v. 9, 13. 
 2 1 John iv. 4, 19. 
 3 2 Cor. V. IS ; PhU. iii. 8. 
 38 
 
God^sGiftofHis Son. 
 
 King. Thou, Lord, art All, and Thou art wholly mine. 
 Thanks be to God for His unspeakable gift. • Amen. 
 
 1. Ponder much the word Give. God gives in a wonderful 
 way : from the heart, completely for nothing, to the unworthy. 
 And He gives effectually. What He gives He will really make 
 entirely our possession, and inwardly appropriate for us. Be- 
 lieve this, and you shall have the certitude that Jesus will, to 
 the full, come into your possession, with all that He brings. 
 
 2. Ponder much also that other word Take. To take Jesus, 
 and to hold Him fast and use Him when received, is our great 
 work. And that taking is nothing but trusting. He is mine 
 with all that He has. Take Jesus— the full Jesus— every day as 
 yours. This is the secret of the life of faith. 
 
 3. Then weigh well also the word Have. " He that hath the 
 Son hath light." What I have is mine, for my use aud service. 
 I can dispose of it, and can have the full enjoyment of it. " He 
 that hath the Son hath life.'' 
 
 4. Mark especially that what God gives, and what you take, 
 and what you now have, is nothing less than the living Son of 
 God. 
 
 Do you receive this? 
 
 39 
 
VII. 
 JESUS' SURRENDER OF HIMSEI.F. 
 
 " Christ also loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it ; 
 that He might sanctify it ; that He might present the Church 
 to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle ; but 
 that it should be holy and without blemish."— E)ph. v. 25-27. 
 
 SO great and wonderful was the work that Jesus 
 had to do for the sinner, that nothing less was 
 necessary than that He should give Himself to do 
 that work. So great and wonderful was the love of 
 Jesus towards us, that He actually gave Himself for 
 us and to us. So great and wonderful is the sur- 
 render of Jesus, that all that same thing for which 
 He gave Himself can actually and completely come 
 to pass in us. For Jesus, the Holy, the Almighty, 
 has taken it upon Himself to do it : He gave Him- 
 self for us.i And now the one thing that is neces- 
 sary is that we should rightly understand and firmly 
 believe this His surrender for us. 
 
 To what end, then, was it that He gave Himself for 
 the Church? Hear what God says. In order that 
 He might sanctify it, in order that it might be with- 
 out blemish.' This is the aim of Jesus. This His 
 aim He will reach in the soul according as the soul 
 
 1 Gal. i. 4, ii. 20 ; Eph. v. 2, 25 ; i Tim. ii. 6 ; Titus ii. 14. 
 * Eph. i 4, v. 27 ; Col. i. 22 ; i Thess. ii. 10, iii. 13, v. 23, 24. 
 40 
 
Jesus' Surrender of Himself. 
 
 falls in with it so as to make this also its highest por- 
 tion, and then relies upon Jesus' surrender of Him- 
 self to do it. 
 
 Hear still a word of God : ' * Who gave Himself for 
 us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and 
 purify unto Himself a people for His own possession, 
 zealous of good works." ^ Yes: it is to prepare for 
 Himself a /»z^r<? people, a people of His ow7i, a zeal- 
 ous people, that Jesus gives Himself. When I receive 
 Him, when I believe that He gave Himself to do this 
 for me, I shall certainly experience it. I shall be 
 purified through Him, shall be held fast as His pos- 
 session, and be filled with zeal and joy to work for 
 Him. 
 
 And mark, further, how the operation of this sur- 
 render of Himself will especially be that He shall then 
 have us entirely for Himself: ''that He might pre- 
 sent us to Himself," "that He might purify us to 
 Himself, a people of His own." The more I under- 
 stand and contemplate Jesus' surrender of Himself 
 for me, the more do I give myself again to Him. 
 The surrender is a mutual one : the love comes from 
 both sides. His giving of Himself makes such an im- 
 pression on my heart that my heart with the self-same 
 love and joy becomes entirely His. Through giving 
 Himself to me, He of Himself takes possession of me; 
 He becomes mine and I His. I know that I have Jesus 
 •wholly for me, and that He has me wholly for Him.^ 
 
 1 Titus ii. 14. 
 
 2 Ex. xix. 4, 5 ; Deut. xxvi. 17, 18 ; Isa. xli. 9, 10 ; i Cor. vi. 19, 
 80 ; I Pet. ii. 10. 
 
 41 
 
The New Life. 
 
 And liow come I then to the full enjojonent of this 
 blessed life? "I live in faith, the faith which is in 
 the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself up 
 for me." ^ Through faith I reflect upon and contem- 
 plate His surrender to me as sure and glorious. 
 Through faith I appropriate it. Through faith I 
 trust in Jesus to confirm this surrender, to communi- 
 cate Himself to me and reveal Himself within me. 
 Through faith I await with certainty the full experi- 
 ence of salvation which arises from having Jesus as 
 mine, to do all — all for me. Through faith I live in 
 this Jesus who loved me and gave Himself for me. 
 And I say, "No longer do I live, but Christ liveth in 
 me." Christian, pray believe it with your whole 
 heart : Jesus gives Himself for you : He is wholly 
 yours: He will do all for you.* 
 
 my Lord Jesus, what wonderful grace is this, 
 that Thou gavest Thyself for me. In Thee is eternal 
 life. Thou Thyself art the life and Thou givest Thy- 
 self to be in my life all that I need. Thou purifiest 
 me and sanctifiest me, and makest me zealous in 
 good works. Thou takest me wholly for Thyself, 
 and givest Thyself wholly for me. Yes, my Lord, in 
 all Thou art my life. O make me rightly understand 
 this. Amen. 
 
 1 John vi. 29, 35, vii. 38, x. 10, 38 ; Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 2 Matt. viii. 10, ix. 2, 22 ; Mark xi. 24 ; I^uke vii. 50, viii. 48, xvil; 
 19, xviii. 42 ; Rom. iv. 16, ai, v. 2, xi. 20 ; Gal. iii. 25, 26 ; Eph. i 
 19, iii. 17. 
 
 42 
 
Jesus* Surrender of Himself. 
 
 1. It was in His great love that the Father gave the Son. It 
 was out of love that Jesus gave Himself. (Rom. iii. i6 ; Eph. v. 
 26.) The taking, the having of Jesus, is the entrance to a life in 
 the love of God : this is the highest life. (John xiv. 21, 23, xvii. 
 23, 26 ; Kph. iii. 17, 18.) Through faith we must press into love, 
 and dwell there, (i John iv. 16-18.) 
 
 2. Do you think that you have now learned all the lesson, to 
 begfin every day with the child-like trust : I take Jesus this day 
 to be my life, and to do all for me. 
 
 3. Understand that to take and to have Jesus, presupposes a 
 personal dealing with Himself. To have pleasure in Him, to 
 hold converse gladly with him, to rejoice in Him as my friend 
 and in His love — to this leads the faith that truly takes Him. 
 
 43 
 
VIII. 
 CHILDREN OF GOD. 
 
 " As many as received Him, to thein gave He the right to 
 become children of God, even to them that believe on his name." 
 — John i. 12. 
 
 WHAT is given must be received, otherwise it 
 does not profit. If the first great deed of 
 God's love is the gift of His Son, the first work of 
 man must be to receive this Son. And if all the 
 blessings of God's love come to us only in the ever- 
 new, ever-living Son of the Father, all these blessings 
 enter into us from day to day through the always- 
 new, always-continuing reception of the Son. 
 
 What is necessary for this reception, 3'ou, beloved 
 young Christians, know, for you have already received 
 the Lord Jesus. But all that this reception involves 
 must become clearer and stronger, the unceasing 
 living action of your faith. ^ Herein especially con- 
 sists the increase of faith. Your first receiving of 
 Jesus rested on the certitude which the word gave 
 you, that He was for you. Through the word must 
 your soul be still further filled with the assurance 
 that all that is in Him is literally and really for you, 
 given by the Father in Him to be your life. 
 
 The impulse to your first receiving was found io 
 1 2 Cor. X. 15 ; I Thess. i. 8, iii. 10 ; 2 Thess. i. 3. 
 44 
 
Children of God. 
 
 your want and necessity. Through the Spirit you 
 become still poorer in spirit, and you see still more 
 how you have need of Jesus for everything everj- 
 moment : this leads to a ceaseless, ever-active taking 
 of Him as your all ^ 
 
 Your first receiving consisted in nothing but the 
 appropriation by faith of what you could not yet see 
 or feel. The same faith must be continually exer- 
 cised in saying : all that I see in Jesus is for me : I 
 take it as mine, although I do not yet experience it. 
 The love of God is a communicating, a ceaseless out- 
 streaming of His light of life over the soul, a very 
 powerful and veritable giving of Jesus: our life is 
 nothing but a continuous blessed apprehension and 
 reception of Him.^ 
 
 And this is the way to live as children of God : as 
 many as receive Him, to them gives He the power to 
 become children of God. This holds true, not only 
 of conversion and regeneration, but of every day of 
 my life. If to walk in all things as a child of God, 
 and to exhibit the image of my Father, is indispensa- 
 ble, I must take Jesus the only-begotten Son : it is 
 He that makes me a child of God. To have Jesus 
 Himself, to have the heart and life full of Him, is 
 the way to live as a child of God. I go to the word 
 and learn there all the characteristics of a child of 
 God ; ^ and after each one of them I write : this Jesus 
 
 ^Matt. V. 3 ; 2 Cor. iii. lo, 13, 16, vi. 10; Eph. iv. 14, 15; Col. 
 ii. 6. 
 
 2 John i. 16 ; Col. ii. 9, 10, iii. 3. 
 
 3 1 Matt. V. 9, 16, 44, 45 ; Rom. viii. 14 ; Eph. i. 4, 5, v. i, 2 ; Phil- 
 ii. 15 ; Heb. ii. 10 ; i Pet. i. 14, 17 ; i John iii. i, 10, v. i, 3. 
 
 45 
 
The New Life. 
 
 shall work in me : I have Him to make me to be a 
 child of God. 
 
 Beloved young Christian learn, I beseech you, to 
 understand the simplicity and the glory of being a 
 true Christian. It is to receive Jesus, to receive Him 
 in all His fulness, to receive Him in all the glorious 
 relations in which the Father gives Him to you. 
 Take Him as your Prophet, as your Wisdom, your 
 Light, your Guide. Take Him as your Priest, who 
 renews you, purifies you, sanctifies you, brings you 
 near to God, takes you and forms you wholly for His 
 service. Take Him as your King who governs you, 
 protects you and blesses you. Take him as your 
 Head, your Exemplar, your Brother, your Life, your 
 All. The giving of God is a divine, an ever-progres- 
 sive and effectual communication to your soul. Let 
 your taking be the child-like, cheerful, continuous 
 opening of mouth and heart for what God gives, the 
 full Jesus and all His grace. To every prayer the 
 answer of God is : Jesus, all is in Him, all in Him is 
 for you. Let your response always be: Jesus, in Him 
 I have all. You are, you live in all things as " child- 
 ren of God, through faith in Jesus Christ." 
 
 O my Father, open the eyes of my heart to under- 
 stand what it is to be a child of God : to live always 
 as a child through always believing in Jesus, Thine 
 only Son. O let every breath of my soul be, faith in 
 Jesus, a confidence in Him, a resting in Him, a sur- 
 render to Him, to work all in me. 
 46 
 
Children of God. 
 
 If by the grace of God you now know that you have received 
 fesus and are God's child, you must now take pains to make 
 His salvation known. There is many a one who longs to know 
 and cannot find out how he can become a child of God. 
 
 Endeavor to make two things plain to him. First, that the 
 ■new birth is something so high and holy that he can do nothing 
 in it. He must receive eternal life from God through the Spirit: 
 lie must be born from above. This Jesus teaches. (John iii. i-8.) 
 Then make plain to him how low God has descended to us with 
 this new life, and how near He brings it to us. In Jesus there 
 is life for every one who believes in Him. This Jesus teaches. 
 <John iii. 14-18.) And this Jesus and the life are in the word. 
 Tell the sinner that, when he takes the word, he then has 
 Jesus, and life in the word. (Rom. x. 8.) O do, pray, take pains 
 to tell forth the glad tidings that we become children of God 
 only through faith in Jesus, 
 
 47 
 
IX. 
 OUR SURRENDER TO JESUS. 
 
 ** They gave their own selves to the Lord." — 2 Cor. viii. 5. 
 
 IN the surrender of Jesus for me, I have the chief 
 element of what He has done and always does for 
 me. In my surrender to Him I have the chief ele- 
 ment of what He would have me to do. For young 
 Christians who have given themselves to Jesus, it is 
 a matter of great moment always to hold fast, to con- 
 firm and renew this surrender. This is the special 
 life of faith, to say anew every day : I have given 
 myself to Him, to follow Him and to serve Him : * 
 He has taken me : I am His, and entirely at His ser- 
 vice.' 
 
 Young Christian, hold firm your surrender, and 
 make it always firmer. When there recurs a stum- 
 bling or a sin after j^ou have surrendered yourself, 
 think not the surrender was not sincere. No : the 
 surrender to Jesus does not make us perfect at once. 
 You have sinned, because you were not thoroughly or 
 firmly enough in His arms. Adhere to this, although 
 it be with shame : Lord, Thou knowest it, I have 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 22, X. 24, 25, 37, 38 ; I,uke xviii. 22 ; John xii. 25, 26, 
 2 Cor. V. 15. 
 
 ' Matt, xxviii. 20. 
 
 48 
 
Our Surrender to Jesus. 
 
 given myself to Thee : I am Thine. ^ Confirm this 
 surrender anew. Say to Him that you now begin to 
 see better how complete the surrender to Him must 
 be, and renew every day the voluntary, entire, and 
 undivided offering up of yourselves to Him.'^ 
 
 The longer we continue Christians, the deeper will 
 be our insight into that word : surrender to Jesus. 
 We shall always see more clearly that we do not yet 
 fully understand or contemplate it. The surrender 
 must become, especially, more undivided and trustful. 
 The language which Ahab once used must be ours : 
 " According to thy saying, my lord, O king, I am 
 thine, and all that I have " (i Kings xx. 4). This is 
 the language of undivided dedication : I am thine, 
 and all that I have. Keep nothing back. Keep back 
 no single sin that you do not confess and leave off. 
 Without conversion there can be no surrender.' Keep 
 back no single power. Let your head with all its 
 thinking, your mouth with all its speaking, your 
 heart with all its feeling, your hand with all its work- 
 ing — let your time, your name, your influence, your 
 property, let all be laid upon the altar.* Jesus has a 
 right to all : He demands the whole. Give yourself, 
 with all that you have, to be guided, and used and 
 kept, sanctified and blessed. "According to Thy 
 word, my I/ord, O King, I am Thine, and all that I 
 have. ' ' 
 
 1 John xxi. 17 ; Gal. vi. i ; i Thess. v. 24 ; a Tim. ii. 13 ; i John 
 V. 16. 
 
 2 Luke xviii. 28 ; Phil. iii. 7, 8. 
 
 3 Matt. viL 21, 27 ; John iii. 20, 21 ; 2 Tim. ii. 19, 21. 
 
 * Rom. vi. 13, 22, xii. i ; 2 Cor. v. 15 ; Heb. xiii, 15 ; i Pet. ii. 5. 
 
 4 49 
 
The New Life. 
 
 That is the language of trustful dedication. It is 
 on the word of the Lord, which calls upon you to 
 surrender yourself, that you have done this. That 
 word is your warrant that He will take and guide and 
 keep you. As surely as you give yourself, does He 
 take you ; and what He takes He can keep. Only, 
 we must not take it again out of His hand. Let it 
 remain fixed with you that your surrender is in the 
 highest degree pleasing to Him: be certain of it, 
 your oflfering is a sweet-smelling savor. Not on what 
 you are, or what you experience or discover in your- 
 selves, do you say this, but on His word. According 
 to His word, you are able to take a stand on this: 
 what you give, that He takes ; and what He takes, 
 that He keeps. ^ Therefore every day anew, let this 
 be the childlike joyful activity of your life of faith : 
 you surrender yourselves without ceasing to Jesus, 
 and you are safe in the certitude that He in His love 
 takes and holds you fast, and that His answer to your 
 giving is the renewed and always deeper surrender of 
 Himself to you. 
 
 According to Thy word, my Lord and King, I am 
 Thine, and all that I have. Every day, this day, will 
 I confirm it, that I am not mine own, but am my 
 Lord's. Fervently do I beseech Thee to take full 
 possession of Thy property, so that no one may doubt 
 whose I am. Amen. 
 
 I. Ponder now once again the words giving and taking and 
 having. What I g^ive to Jesus, He takes with a divine taking. 
 
 1 John X. 28 ; 2 Thess. iii. 3 ; 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 50 
 
Our Surrender to Jesus. 
 
 And what He takes, He has and thereafter cares for. Now it is 
 absolutely no longer mine. I must not take thought for it ; I 
 may not dispose of it. O pray, let your faith find expression in 
 adoration : Jesus takes me : Jesus has me. 
 
 2. Should there overtake you a time of doubting or darkness 
 whereby your assurance that the I,ord has received you has 
 come to be lost, suffer not yourself thereby to be dispirited. 
 Come simply as a sinner, confess your sins : believe in His prom- 
 ises that He will by no means cast out those that come to Him 
 and begin simply on the ground of the promises to say : I know 
 that He has received me. 
 
 3. Forget not what the chief element in surrender is : it is a 
 surrender to Jesus and to His love. Fix your eye, not upon your 
 activity in surrender, but upon Jesus, who calls you, who takes 
 you, who can do all for you. This it is that makes faith strong. 
 
 4. Faith is always a surrender. Faith is the eye for seeing the 
 invisible. When I look at something, I surrender myself to the 
 impression which it makes upon me. Faith is the ear that 
 hearkens to the voice of God. When I believe a message, I sur- 
 render myself to the influence, cheering or saddening, which 
 the tidings exercises upon me. When I believe in Jesus, I sur- 
 render myself to Him, in reflection, in desire, in expectation, in 
 order that He may be in me and do that for which He has been 
 given to me by God. 
 
 51 
 
A SAVIOUR FROM SIN. 
 
 " Thou shalt call His name Jesus ; for it is He that shall save 
 His people from their sins." — Matt. i. 21. 
 
 " Ye know that He was manifested to take away sins ; and in 
 Him is no sin. Whosoever abideth in Him sinneth not." — i 
 John iii. 5, 6. 
 
 IT is sin that is the cause of our misery. It is sin 
 that provoked God, and brought His curse upon 
 man. He hates sin with a perfect hatred, and will 
 do everything to root it out. ^ It is to take away sin 
 that God gave His Son, that Jesus gave Himself ^ It 
 belongs to God to set us free, not only from punish- 
 ment and curse, from disquietude and terror, but 
 from sin itself.^ You know that He was manifested 
 that He might take away our sins. Let us receive 
 the thought deep into our hearts ; it is for God to 
 take away our sins from us. The better we appre- 
 hend this, the more blessed shall our life be. 
 
 All do* not receive this. They seek chiefly to be 
 freed from the consequences of sin, from fear and 
 darkness, and the punishment that sin brings.* Just 
 
 1 Deut. xxvii. 26 ; Isa. lix. 1,2; Jer. xliv. 4 ; Rom. i. 18. 
 
 2 Gal. ii. 4 ; Kph v. 25, 27 ; i Pet. ii. 24 ; i John iii. 8. 
 
 3 Jer. xxvii. 9 ; i Pet. i. 2, 15, 16, ii. 14 ; i John iii. 8. 
 
 4 Gen. xxvii. 34 ; Isa. Iviii. 5, 6 ; John vi. 26 ; Jas. iv. 3. 
 
 52 
 
A Saviour from Sin. 
 
 on this account they do not come to the true rest of 
 salvation. They do not understand that to save is to 
 free from sin. Let us hold it fast. Jesus saves through 
 taking away sin. Then we shall learn two things. 
 
 The first is to come to Jesus with every sin.^ The 
 sin that still attacks and overmasters you, after that 
 you have given yourself over to the Lord, must not 
 make you lose heart. There must also be no en- 
 deavor merely in your own strength to take away and 
 overcome sin. Bring every sin to Jesus. He has 
 been ordained by God to take away sin. He has 
 already brought it to nought upon the cross, and 
 broken its power.^ It is His work, it is His desire to 
 set you free from it. O learn then always to come to 
 Jesus with every sin. Sin is your deadly foe : if you 
 confess it to Jesus, and surrender it to Him, you shall 
 certainly overcome it.' 
 
 Learn to believe this firmly : this is the second 
 point. Understand that Jesus, Jesus Himself, is the 
 Saviour from sin. It is not you that must overcome 
 sin with the help of Jesus, but Jesus Himself : Jesus 
 in you.* If you would thus become free from sin, if 
 you would enjoy full salvation, let it be the one en- 
 deavor of your life to stand always in full fellowship 
 with Jesus. Wait not till you enter into temptation 
 ere you have recourse to Jesus. But let your life be- 
 Torehand be always through Jesus. Let His nearness 
 
 1 Ps. xxxii. 5 ; L,uke vii. 38, xix. 7, 8, 10 ; John viii. 11, xxxiv. 36. 
 
 SHeb. ix, 26. 
 
 ' Rom. vii. 4, 9, viii. 2 ; 2 Cor. xii. 9 ; 2 Thess. ii. 3. 
 
 *Deut. viii. 17, 18; Ps. xliv. 4, 8 ; John xvi. 33 ; i John v. 4, 5. 
 
 5o 
 
The New Life. 
 
 be your one desire ; Jesus saves from sin ; to have 
 Jesus is salvation from sin.^ O that we could indeed 
 rightly understand this ! Jesus will not merely save 
 from sin as a work that He will from time to time do 
 in us, but He will give it as a blessing through Him- 
 self to us and in us.'^ When Jesus fills me, when 
 Jesus is all for me, sin has no hold on me : " He that 
 abideth in Him sinneth not." 
 
 Yes : sin is driven out and kept out only through 
 the presence of Jesus. It is Jesus, Jesus Himself, 
 that, through His giving Himself to me and His 
 living in me, is salvation from sin. 
 
 Precious Lord, let Thy light stream over me, and 
 let it become still clearer to my soul, that Thou, 
 Thou Thyself, art my salvation. To have Thee, 
 Thee, with me, in me — this keeps sin out. Teach me 
 to bring every sin to Thee ; let every sin drive me 
 into a closer alliance with Thee. Then shall Thy 
 Jesus-name become truly my salvation from sin. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. See of what moment it is that the Christian should always 
 grow in the knowledge of sin. The sin that I do not know, I 
 cannot bring to Jesus. The sin that I do not bring to Him is 
 not taken out of me. 
 
 2. To know sin better there are required : 
 
 The constant prayer, "Examine me:" make kno^n to me 
 my transgression and my sin (Job xiii. 23 ; Ps. cxxxix. 23, 24), 
 
 A tender conscience that is willing to be convinced of sin 
 through the Spirit, as He also uses the conscience for this end ; 
 
 » I Cor. XV. 10 ; Gal. ii. 20 -, Phil. iv. 13 ; Col. iii. 3-5. 
 
 ' Ex. xxix 43 ; John xv. 4, 5 ; Rom. -nii. 10 ; Eph. iii. 17, 18. 
 
 54 
 
A Saviour from Sin. 
 
 The very humble surrender to the word, to think concerning 
 sin only as God thinks. 
 
 3, The deeper knowledge of sin will be found in these results : 
 That we shall see to be sin things which previously we did 
 
 not regard in this light ; 
 
 That we shall perceive more the exceedingly sinful, the de- 
 testable character of sin (Rom. vii. 13); 
 
 That with the overcoming of external sins we become all the 
 more encouraged over the deep sinfulness of our nature, of the 
 enmity of our flesh against God. Then we give up hope of being 
 or of doing anything good, and we are turned wholly to live in 
 faith through the Spirit. 
 
 4. O let us thank God very heartily that Jesus is a Saviour 
 from sin. The power that sin has had over us, Jesus now has. 
 The place that sin has taken in the heart, Jesus will now take. 
 " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made us fre« 
 from the law of sin and death." 
 
 55 
 
XI. 
 THE CONFESSION OF SIN. 
 
 " If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to for* 
 give us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."— 
 X John i. 9. 
 
 THE one thing that God hates, that grieves Him, 
 that He is provoked by, and that He will 
 destroy, is sin, The one thing that makes man un- 
 happy, is sin.^ The one thing for which Jesus had 
 to give His blood was sin. In all the intercourse be- 
 twixt the sinner and God, this is thus the first thing 
 that the sinner must bring to his God— sin. * 
 
 When you came to Jesus at first, you perceived this 
 in some measure. But you should learn to under- 
 stand this lesson more deeply. The one counsel con- 
 cerning sin is, to bring it daily to the only One who 
 can take it away — God Himself. You should learn 
 that one of the greatest privileges of a child of God 
 is — the confession of sin. It is only the holiness of 
 God that can consume sin ; through confession I 
 must hand over my sin to God, lay it down in God, 
 get quit of it to God, cast it into the fiery oven of 
 God's holy love which burns against sin like a fire, 
 
 iQen. vi. 5, 6 ; Isa. xliii. 24 ; E)zek. xxxiii. 6 : Rev. vi. 16, 17. 
 sjudg. X. 10, 15, 16 ; 2 Chron. xvii. 14; Ezra ix. 6 ; Neh. ii. 33, 
 i*' 2, 33 ; Jer. ilL 21, 25 ; Dan. ix. 4, s. 20. 
 
 56 
 
The Confession of Sin. 
 
 God, yes, God Himself, and He alone, takes away 
 sin.i 
 
 This the Christian does not always understand. He 
 has an inborn tendency to desire to cover sin, or to 
 make it less, or to root it out only when he purposes 
 drawing near to God. He thinks to cover sin with 
 his repentance and self-blame, with scorn of the 
 temptation that came to him, or otherwise with what 
 he has done or still hopes to do.'' Young Christian, 
 if you would enjoy the gladness of a complete for- 
 giveness and a divine cleansing of sin, see to it that 
 you use aright the confession of sin. In the true con- 
 fession of sin you have one of the most blessed priv- 
 ileges of a child of God, one of the deepest roots of a 
 powerful spiritual life. 
 
 For this end, let your confession be a definite one.' 
 The continued indeterminate confession of sin does 
 more harm than good. It is much better to say to 
 God that you have nothing to confess, than to con- 
 fess you know not what. Begin with one sin. Let 
 it come to a complete harmony betwixt God and you 
 concerning this one sin. Let it be fixed with you 
 that this sin is through confession placed in God's 
 hands. You shall experience that in such confession 
 there are both power and blessing. 
 
 Let the confession be an upright one.* By it 
 
 * I/CV. vi. ai ; Num. v. 7 ; 2 Sam. xii. 13 ; Ps. xxxii. 5, xxxviii. 
 19, IL 5, 19. 
 
 2 Gen. iii. 12; Kx xxxii. 22, 24 ; Isa. i. 11, 15 ; I^uke xiii. 26. 
 
 *Nu«!i. x>\ II- acxi. 7 ,- 2 Sam. xxiv. 10, 17 ; Isa. lix. 12, 13 ; I^uke 
 kxUi. 41 ; Acis xix. 18, 19, xxii. 19, 20 ; i Tim. i. 13, 15. 
 
 ■'Prove »xviiL ^3 Lev. xzvi. 40, 41 ; Jer. xxxi. 18, 19. 
 
 57 
 
The New Life. 
 
 deliver up the sinful deed to be laid aside. By it 
 deliver up the sinful feeling with a view to trusting 
 in God. Confession implies renunciation, the put- 
 ting off of sin. Give up sin to God, to forgive it to 
 you, and to cleanse you from it. Do not confess, if 
 you are not prepared, if you do not heartily desire to 
 to be freed from it. Confession has value only as it 
 is a giving up of sin to God. 
 
 Let the confession be trustful.^ Reckon firmly 
 upon God actually to forgive you, and also to cleanse 
 you from sin. Continue in confession, in casting the 
 sin of which you desire to be rid into the fire of God's 
 holiness until your soul has the firm confidence that 
 God takes it on His own account to forgive and to 
 cleanse away. It is this faith that really overcomes 
 the world and sin : the faith that God in Jesus really 
 emancipates from sin. ^ 
 
 Brother, do you understand it now? "What must 
 you do with sin — with every sin ? To bring it in con- 
 fession to God, to give it to God ; God alone takes 
 away sin. 
 
 Lord God, what thanks shall I express for this 
 unspeakable blessing, that I may come to Thee with 
 sin ? It is known to Thee, Lord, how sin before Thy 
 holiness causes terror and flight. It is known to 
 Thee how it is our deepest thought, first to have sin 
 covered, and then to come to Thee with our desire 
 and endeavor for good. Lord, teach me to come to 
 
 1 2 Sam. xii. 13 ; Ps. xxxii. 5 ; Isa. Iv. 7. 
 
 2 1 John V. 5, ii. 12. 
 
 58 
 
The Confession of Sin. 
 
 Thee with sin, every sin, and in confession to lay it 
 down before Thee and give it up to Thee. Amen. 
 
 1. What is the distinction betwixt the covering of sin by God 
 and by man ? How does man do it ? How does God do it? 
 
 2. What are the great hindrances in the way of the confession, 
 of sin? 
 
 Ignorance about sin. 
 Fear to come with sin to the holy God. 
 The endeavor to come to God with something good. 
 Unbelief in the power of the blood and in the riches 
 of grace. 
 
 3. Must I immediately confess an oath or a lie or a wrong 
 word, or wait until my feeling has first cooled and become 
 rightly disposed ? O pray confess it immediately ; come in full 
 sinfulness to God, without first desiring to make it less ! 
 
 4. Is it also necessary or good to confess before man ? It is 
 indispensable, if our sfn has been against man. And, besides, 
 it is often good ; it is often easier to acknowledge before God 
 than before man that I have done something. (Jas. v. 16.) 
 
 59 
 
XII. 
 THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. 
 
 *' Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is 
 covered." — Ps. xxxii. i. 
 
 " Bless the lyord, O my soul .... who forgiveth all thine 
 iniquities." — Ps. ciii. 2, 3. 
 
 IN connection with surrender to the Lord, it was 
 said that the first great blessing of the grace of 
 God was this — the free, complete, everlasting for- 
 giveness of all your sins. For the young Christian 
 it is of great moment that he should stand fast in this 
 forgiveness of his sins, and always carry the cer- 
 titude of it about with him. To this end, he must 
 especially consider the following truths. 
 
 The forgiveness of our sin is a complete forgive- 
 ness.' God does not forgive by halves. Even with 
 man, we reckon a half forgiveness no true forgiveness. 
 The love of God is so great, and the atonement in 
 the blood of Jesus so complete and powerful, that 
 God always forgives completely. Take time with 
 God's word to come under the full impression that 
 your guilt has been blotted out wholly and altogether. 
 God thinks absolutely no more of your sins. "I 
 
 ^ Ps. ciii. 12 ; Isa. xxxviii. 17, Iv. 7 ; Micah vii. 18, 19 ; Heb. x. 
 16-18. 
 
 60 
 
The Forgiveness of Sins. 
 
 will forgive their iniquity, and their sin will I re- 
 member no more." ^ 
 
 The forgiveness of our sin restores us entirely again 
 to the love of God.^ Not only does God not impute 
 sin any more, — that is but one-half, — but He reckons 
 to us the righteovsness of Jesus also, so that for His 
 sake we are as dear to God as He is. Not only is 
 wrath turned away from us but the fulness of love now 
 rests upon us. "I will love them freely, for Mine anger 
 is turned away from him. ' ' Forgiveness is access to all 
 the love of God. On this account forgiveness is also 
 introduction to all the other blessings of redemption. 
 
 Live in the full assurance of forgiveness, and let 
 the Spirit fill your heart with the certitude and the 
 blessedness of it, and you shall have great confidence 
 in expecting all from God. Ivcarn from the word of 
 God, through the Spirit, to know God aright, and to 
 trust Him as the ever-forgiving God. That is His 
 name and His glory. To one to whom much, yea, 
 all is forgiven, He will also give much. He will give 
 all.^ Let it therefore be every day your joyful 
 thanksgiving. " Bless the Lord, O my soul, who for- 
 giveth all mine iniquities." Then forgiveness be- 
 comes the power of a new life : " He who is forgiven 
 much loves much. ' ' The forgiveness of sins, received 
 anew in living faith every day, is a bond that binds 
 anew to Jesus and His service.* 
 
 ^ Jer. xxxi. 34 ; Heb. viii. 12, x. 17. 
 
 2Hos. xiv. 5 ; lyuke xv. 22 ; Acts xxvi. 18 ; Rom. v. i, 5. 
 'Ps. ciii. 3 ; Isa. xii. i, 3 ; Rom. v. 10, viii. 32; Eph. i. 7, iii. 5. 
 * John xiii. 14, 15 ; Rom. xii. i ; i Cor. vi. 20 ; Eph. v. 2$, 26 ; 
 Tit. a, 14 ; I Pet. i. 17, 18. 
 
 61 
 
The New I^ife. 
 
 Then tlie forgiveness of former sins always gives 
 courage to go immediately anew with every new sin 
 and trustfully to take forgiveness.^ l/ook, however, 
 to one thing: the certitude of forgiveness must not 
 be a matter of memory or understanding, but the 
 fruit of life — living converse with the forgiving 
 Father, with Jesus in whom we have forgiveness.^ 
 It is not enough to know that I once received for- 
 giveness : my life in the love of God, my living 
 intercourse with Jesus by faith — this makes the for- 
 giveness of sin again always new and powerful — the 
 joy and the life of my soul. 
 
 Lord God, this is the wonder of Thy grace, that 
 Thou art a forgiving God. Teach me every day to 
 know in this anew the glory of Thy love. I^et the 
 Holy Spirit every day seal forgiveness to me as a 
 blessing, everlasting, ever-fresh, living and powerful. 
 And let my life be as a song of thanksgiving. 
 " Bless the Ivord, O my soul, who forgiveth all thine 
 iniquities." Amen. 
 
 1. At bottom, forgiveness is one with justification. Forgive- 
 ness is the word that looks more to the relation of God as 
 Father. Justification looks more to His acquittal as Judge. 
 Forgiveness is a word that is more easily understood by the 
 young Christian. But he must also endeavor to understand the 
 word justification, and to obtain part in all that the Scripture 
 teaches about it. 
 
 1 Fx. xxxiv. 6, 7 ; Matt, xviii. 21 ; I^uke i. 77, 78. 
 2Fph. ii. 13, 18 ; Phil. iii. 9 ; Col. i. 21, 22. 
 62 
 
The Forgiveness of Sins. 
 
 ». About justification we must understand — 
 
 That man in himself is wholly unrighteous. 
 That he cannot be justified by works — that is, pro- 
 nounced righteous before the judgment-seat of God. 
 That Jesus Christ has brought in a righteousness in our 
 
 place. His obedience in our righteousness. 
 That we through faith receive Him, are united with 
 Him, and then are pronounced righteous before 
 God. 
 That we through faith have the certitude of this, and, 
 
 as justified, draw near before God. 
 That union with Jesus is a life by which we are not 
 only pronounced righteous, but are really righteous 
 and act righteously. 
 3. I^et the certitude of your part in justification, in the full 
 forgiveness of your sins, and in full restoration to the love of 
 God, be every day your confidence in drawing near to God. 
 63 
 
XIII. 
 THE CI.KANSING OF SIN. 
 
 " If we walk in the light, t-ae blood of Jesus His Son cleanseth 
 us from all sin. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and right- 
 eous to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unright- 
 eousness." — I John i. 7, 9. 
 
 THE same God that forgives sin also cleanses from 
 it. Not less than forgiveness is cleansing a 
 promise of God, and therefore a matter of faith. As 
 it is indispensable, as it is impossible for man, so is 
 cleansing as well as forgiveness certain to be obtained 
 from God. 
 
 And what now is this cleansing ? The word comes 
 from the Old Testament. While forgiveness was a 
 sentence of acquittal passed on the sinner, cleansing 
 was something that happened to him and in him. 
 Forgiveness came to him through the word : in the 
 case of cleansing, something was done to him that 
 he could experience.^ Consequently with us also 
 cleansing is the inner revelation of the power of God 
 whereby we are liberated from unrighteousness, from 
 the pollution and the working of sin. Through 
 cleansing we obtain the blessing of a pure heart ; a 
 
 1 lyCv. xiii. 13, xiv. 7, 8 ; Num. xix. 12, xxxi. 23, 24 ; 2 Sam xxii. 
 21, 25 ; 2 Chron. v. 10 ; Neh. xiii. 30, xviii. 21, 25 ; Ps. xxL 4 ; MaL 
 iii. 3- 
 
 64 
 
The Cleansing of Sin. 
 
 heart in -which the Spirit can complete His opera* 
 tions with a view to sanctifying us, and revealing God 
 within us.^ 
 
 Cleansing is through the blood. Forgiveness and 
 cleansing are both through the blood. The blood 
 breaks the power that sin has in heaven to condemn 
 ns. The blood thereby also breaks the power of sin 
 in the heart to hold us captive. The blood has a 
 ceaseless operation in heaven from moment to mo- 
 ment. The blood has likewise a ceaseless operation 
 in our heart, to purify, to keep pure the heart into 
 which sin always seeks to penetrate from the flesh. 
 The blood cleanses the conscience from dead works, 
 to serve the living God. The marvelous power that 
 the blood has in heaven, it has also in the heart.' 
 
 Cleansing is also through the word, for the word 
 testifies of the blood and of the power of God.' 
 Hence also cleansing is through faith. It is a divine 
 and effectual cleansing, but it must also be received 
 in faith ere it can be experienced and felt. I believe 
 that I am cleansed with a divine cleansing, even 
 while I still perceive sin in the flesh ; through faith 
 in this blessing, cleansing itself shall be my daily 
 experience. 
 
 Cleansing is ascribed sometimes to God or the 
 I/ord Jesus; sometimes to man.* That is because 
 
 1 Ps. li. 12, Ixxiii. 1 ; Matt. v. 8 ; i Tim. i. 5 ; 2 Tim. ii. 22 ; 1 Pet. 
 i. 22. 
 
 3 John xiii. 10, 11 ; Heb. ix. 14, x. 22 ; i John i. 7. 
 
 8 John xiv. 3. 
 
 * Ps. li. 3 ; Ezek. xxx. 25 ; John xiii. 2 ; 2 Cor. vii. i ; i Tim. v. 
 •a ; 2 Tim. ii. 21 ; Jas. iv. 8 ; i John iii. 3. 
 
 5 65 
 
The New Life. 
 
 God cleanses us by making us active in our own 
 cleansing. Through the blood the lust that leads to 
 sin is mortified, the certitude of power against it is 
 awakened, and the desire and the will are thus made 
 alive. Happy is he that understands this. He is 
 protected against useless endeavors after self-purifi- 
 cation in his own strength, for he knows God alone 
 can do it. He is protected against discouragement, 
 for he knows God will certainly do it. 
 
 What we have now accordingly to lay the chief 
 stress upon is found in two things, the desire and the 
 reception of cleansing. The desire must be strong 
 for a real purification. Forgiveness must be only 
 the gateway or beginning of a holy life. I have 
 several times remarked that the secret of progress in 
 the service of God is a strong yearning to become 
 free from every sin, a hunger and thirst after right- 
 eousness.^ Blessed are such as thus yearn. They 
 shall understand and receive the promise of a cleans- 
 ing through God. 
 
 They learn also what it is to do this in faith. 
 Through faith they know that an unseen, spiritual, 
 heavenly, but very real cleansing through the blood 
 is wrought in them by God Himself. 
 
 Beloved child of God, you remember how we have 
 seen that it was to cleanse us that Jesus gave Him- 
 self.* Let Him, let God the Lord, cleanse you. 
 Having these promises of a divine cleansing, cleanse 
 yourselves. Believe that every sin, when it is fo«:- 
 
 1 Ps. xix. 13 ; Matt. v. 6. 
 
 2 Eph. V. 26 ; Tit. ii. 14. 
 
 66 
 
The Cleansing of Sin. 
 
 given you, is also cleansed away. It sliall be to you 
 according to your faith. Let your faith in God, in 
 the word, in the blood, in your Jesus increase con- 
 tinually: "God is faithful and righteous to cleanse 
 us from all unrighteousness." 
 
 Lord God, I thank Thee for these promises. Thou 
 givest not only forgiveness, but also cleansing. As 
 surely as forgiveness comes first, does cleansing fol- 
 low for every one that desires it and believes. Lord, 
 let Thy word penetrate my heart, and let a divine 
 cleansing from every sin that is forgiven me be the 
 stable expectation of my soul. 
 
 Beloved Saviour, let the glorious, ceaseless cleans- 
 ing of Thy blood through Thy Spirit in me be made 
 known to me and shared by me every moment. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. What is the connection between cleansing by God and 
 cleansing by man himself? 
 
 2. What, according to i John i. 9, are the two things that 
 must precede cleansing ? 
 
 3. Is cleansing, as well as forgiveness, the work of God in us? 
 If this is the case, of what inexpressible importance is it to trust 
 God for it. To believe that God gives me a divine cleansing iu 
 the blood when He forgives me, is the way to become partaker 
 of it. 
 
 4. What, according to Scripture, are the evidences of a pure 
 heart? 
 
 5. What are "clean hands?" (Ps. xxiv.) 
 
 67 
 
XIV. 
 HOLINESS. 
 
 ** I<ike as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also 
 holy in all manner of living : because it is written, Ye shall be 
 holy ; for I am. holy." — i Pet. i. 15, 16. 
 
 " But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us 
 from God, sanctification." — i Cor. i. 30. 
 
 " God chose you from the beginning unto salvation in sancti- 
 fication of the Spirit and belief of the truth." — 2 Thess. ii. 13. 
 
 NOT only salvation, but holiness — salvation in 
 holiness : for this end has God chosen and 
 called us. Not only safe in Christ, but holy in Christ, 
 must the goal of the young Christian be. Safety and 
 salvation are in the long run found only in holiness. 
 The Christian who thinks that his salvation consists 
 merely in safety and not in holiness, will find him- 
 self deceived. Young Christian, listen to the word 
 of God : Be holy. 
 
 And wherefore must I be holy? Because He who 
 called you is holy, and summons you to fellowship 
 and conformity with Himself How should any one 
 be saved in God, when he has not the same disposi- 
 tion as God ? 1 
 
 God's holiness is His highest glory. In His holi- 
 ness His righteousness and love are united. His holi- 
 ness is the flaming fire of His zeal against all that is 
 1 Ex. xix. 6 ; Lev. xi. 44, xix. a, xx. 6, 7. 
 
 68 
 
Holiness. 
 
 sin, -whereby He keeps Himself free from sin, and 
 in love makes others also free from it. It is as 
 the Holy One of Israel that He is the Redeemer, and 
 that He dwells in the midst of His people.^ Redemp- 
 tion is given to bring us to Himself and to the fel- 
 lowship of His holiness. We cannot possibly have 
 part in the love and salvation of God if we are not 
 holy as He is holy.'^ Young Christians, be holy. 
 
 And what is this holiness that I must have ? An- 
 swer : Of God are ye in Christ who of God is made 
 unto you sanctification. Christ is your sanctification ; 
 the life of Christ in you is your holiness.* In Christ 
 you are sanctified ; you are holy. In Christ you must 
 still be sanctified; the glory of Christ must pene- 
 trate your whole life. 
 
 Holiness is more than purity. In Scripture we see 
 that cleansing precedes holiness.* Cleansing is the 
 taking away of that which is wrong ; liberation from 
 sin. Holiness is the filling with that which is good, 
 divine, with the disposition of Jesus. Conformity to 
 Him — this is holiness : separation from the spirit of 
 the world; the being filled with the presence of the 
 Holy God — this is holiness. The tabernacle was 
 holy because God dwelt there ; we are holy, as God's 
 temple, after we have the indwelling of God. Christ's 
 life in us is our holiness.* 
 
 And how do we become holy ? By the sanctification 
 
 1 Ex. XV. II ; Isa. xii. 6, xli. 14, xliii, 15, xlix. 7, IviL 15. Hos. 
 xi.9. 
 
 2 Isa. X. 17 ; Heb. xiii. 14. ' i Cor. i. 2 ; Eph. v. sf. 
 <2 Cor. vii. I ; Eph. v. 26, 27; 2 Tim. ii. 21. 
 
 6 Ex. xxiz. 43, 45 ; I Cor. i. 2, iii. 16, 17, vi. 19. 
 69 
 
The New Life. 
 
 of the Spirit. The Spirit of God is named the Holy 
 Spirit, because He makes us holy. He reveals and 
 glorifies Christ in us. Through Him Christ dwells 
 in us, and His holy power works in us. Through 
 this Holy Spirit the workings of the flesh are morti- 
 fied, and God works in us both the will and the ac- 
 complishment.^ 
 
 And what is now the work that we have to do to 
 receive this holiness of Christ through the Holy 
 Spirit? *' God chose you to salvation, in sanctifica- 
 tion of the Spirit and belief of the truth.' ^^ The 
 holiness of Christ becomes ours through faith. There 
 must naturally first be the desire to become holy. 
 We must cleanse ourselves from all pollutions of 
 flesh and spirit by confessing them, giving them up 
 to God, and having them cleansed away in the blood. 
 Then, first, can we perfect holiness.' Then, in belief 
 of the truth that Christ Himself is our sanctification, 
 we have to take and receive from Him what is pre- 
 pared in His fulness for us* We must be deeply con- 
 vinced that Christ is wholly and alone our sanctifica- 
 tion as He is our justification, and that He will actu- 
 ally and powerfully work in us that which is well- 
 pleasing to God. In this faith we must know that 
 we have suflBicient power for holiness, and that our 
 work is to receive this power from Him by faith 
 every day.^ He gives His Spirit, the Holy Spirit ia 
 us ; the Spirit communicates the holy life of Jesus to ue. 
 
 iRom. i. 4, viii. 2, 13 ; i Pet. i. 2. 
 
 Sa Thess. ii. 13. ^2 Cor. vii. i. 
 
 ♦John i. 14, 16 , 1 Cor. ii. 9, 10. 
 
 5 Gal. ii, 21 ; Eph. ii. 10 ; Phil. ii. 13, iv. ij. 
 
 70 
 
Holiness. 
 
 Young Christian, the Three-One God is the Thrice- 
 Holy.^ And this Three-One God is the God that 
 sanctifies you : the Father, by giving Jesus to you, 
 and confirming you in Jesus; the Son, by Himself 
 becoming your sanctification and giving you the 
 Spirit ; the Spirit, by revealing the Son in you, pre- 
 paring you as a temple for the indwelling of God, 
 and making the Son dwell in you. O, be holy, for 
 God is holy. 
 
 Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, what thanks 
 shall I render to Thee for the gift of Thy Son as my 
 sanctification, and that I am sanctified in Him ? And 
 what thanks for the Spirit of sanctification to dwell 
 in me, and transplant the holiness of Jesus into me ? 
 Lord, give me to understand this aright, and to long 
 for the experience of it. Amen. 
 
 1. What is the distinction betwixt forgiveness and cleansing, 
 and betwixt cleansing and holiness ? 
 
 2. What made the temple a sanctuary? The indwelling of 
 God. What makes us holy ? Nothing less than this : the in 
 dwelling of God in Christ by the Holy Spirit. Obedience and 
 purity are the way to holiness ; holiness itself is something 
 higher. 
 
 3. In Isa. Ivii. 17, there is a description of the man who will 
 become holy. It is he who, in poverty of spirit, acknowledges 
 that, even when he is living as a righteous man, he has nothing, 
 and looks to God to come and dwell in him. 
 
 4. No one is holy but the Lord. You have as much of holi- 
 ness as you have of God in you. 
 
 5. The word " holy " is one of the deepest words in the Bible, 
 the deepest mystery of the Godhead. Do you desire to under^ 
 
 ^ Isa. vi. 3 ; Rev. iv. 8, xv. 3, 4. 
 
 71 
 
The New Ivife. 
 
 stand something- of it, and to obtain part in it? Then take these 
 two thoughts, "I am holy," "Be ye holy," and carry them in 
 your heart as a seed of God that has life. 
 
 6. What is the connection betwixt the perseverance of the 
 saints and perseverance in holiness? 
 
 72 
 
• XV. 
 
 RIGHTEOUSNESS. 
 
 " He hath showed thee, O man, what is good ; and what doth 
 the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and 
 to walk humbly with thy God? " — Micah vi. 8. 
 
 " Present yourselves unto God, as alive from the dead, and 
 your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. Being 
 made free from sin, ye became servants of righteousness. Even 
 so now present your members as servants to righteousness unto 
 sanctification." — Rom. vi. 13, 18, 19. 
 
 THE word of Micah teaches us that the fruit of the 
 salvation of God is seen chiefly in three things. 
 The new life must be characterized, in my relation to 
 God and His will, by righteousnesss and doing right ; 
 in my relation to my neighbor, by love and benefi- 
 cence ; in relation to myself, by humility and lowli- 
 ness. For the present we meditate on righteousness. 
 Scripture teaches us that no man is righteous be- 
 fore God, or has any righteousness that can stand 
 before God ; ^ that man receives the rightness or 
 righteousness of Christ for nothing ; and that by this 
 righteousness, which is received in fa' .h, he is then 
 justified before God,^ he is right wit 1 God, This 
 righteous sentence of God is something eflfectual, 
 
 1 Ps. xiv. 3, cxliii. 2 ; Rom. iii. 10, 20. 
 
 *Rom. iii. 2j, 24, X. 3, 10 ; i Cor. i. 30; 2 Cor. ▼. 2X ; Gal. iL i6,* 
 Phil, iii 9. 
 
 73 
 
The New Life. 
 
 •whereby the life of righteousness is implanted in 
 man, and he learns to live as a righteous man, and to 
 do righteousness.' Being right with God is followed 
 by doing right. "The righteous shall live by faith " 
 a righteous life. 
 
 It is to be feared that this is not always understood. 
 One thinks sometimes more of justification than of 
 righteousness in life and walk. To understand the 
 will and the thoughts of God here, let us trace what 
 Scripture teaches us on this point. "We shall be per- 
 suaded that the man who is clothed with a divine 
 righteousness before God must also walk before God 
 and man in a divine righteousness. 
 
 Consider how, in the word, the servants of God are 
 praised as righteous ; ^ how the favor and blessing of 
 God are pronounced upon the righteous ; ' how the 
 righteous are called to confidence, to joy.* See this 
 especially in the Book of Psalms. See how in Pro- 
 verbs, although you should take but one chapter only, 
 all blessing is pronounced upon the righteous.* See 
 how everywhere men are divided into two classes, the 
 righteous and the godless.® See how, in the New 
 Testament, the Lord Jesus demands this righteous- 
 
 iRom. V. 17, 18, vi. 13, 18, 19, viii. 3 ; Tit. i. 8, ii, 12 ; i John ii. 
 89, iii. 9, 10. 
 
 2 Gen. vi. 9, vii. i ; Matt. i. 19 ; lyUke i. 6, ii. 25 ; 2 Pet. ii. 7. 
 
 3Ps. i. 6, V. 13, xiv 5, xxxiv. 16, 20, xxxvii. 17, 39, xcii. 13, xcvii. 
 II, cxlvi. 8. 
 
 *Ps. xxxii. II, xxxiii. 1, Iviii. 11, Ixiv. 11, Ixviii. 4, xcvii. 12. 
 
 sprov. X. 3, 6, 7, II, 16, 20, 21, 24, 25, 28, 30, 31, 32. 
 
 *Eccles, iii. 17 ; Isa. iii. 10 ; Ezek. iii. 18, 20, xviii. 21, 23, xxxiii 
 » ; Mai. iii. 18 ; Matt. v. 45, xii. 49, xxv. 46. 
 
 74 
 
Righteousness. 
 
 ness ; ^ how Paul, who announces most the doctrine 
 of justification by faith alone, insists that this is the 
 aim of justification, to form righteous men, who do 
 right. 2 See how John names righteousness along 
 with love as the two indispensable marks of the child- 
 ren of God. ^ When you put all these facts together, 
 it must be very evident to you that a true Christian 
 is a man who does righteousness in all things, even 
 as God is righteous. 
 
 And what this righteousness is, Scripture will also 
 teach you. It is a life in accordance with the com- 
 mands of God, in all their breadth and height. The 
 righteous man does what is right in the eyes of the 
 Ivord.* He takes not the rules of human action ; he 
 asks not what man considers lawful. As a man who 
 stands right with God, who walks uprightly with 
 God, he dreads above all things even the least un- 
 righteousness. He is afraid, above all, of being par- 
 tial to himself, of doing any wrong to his neighbor 
 for the sake of his own advantage. In g^eat and 
 little things alike, he takes the Scriptures as his 
 measure and line. As the ally of God, he knows that 
 the way of righteousness is the way of blessing, and 
 life, and joy. 
 
 Consider, further, the promises of blessing and joy 
 which God has for the righteous, and then live as one 
 who, in friendship with God, and clothed with the 
 
 ^ Matt. V. 6, 20, vi. 33. 
 
 2 Rom. iii. 31, vi. 13, 22, vii. 4, 6, viiL 4 ; a Cor. ix. 9, 10 ; Phil. L 
 n ; I Tim. vi. 11. 
 
 3 I John ii. 4, II, ag, iii. 10, v. 2. 
 
 • Ps. cxix. 166, 168 ; Luke i. 6, 75 ; i Thess. ii. 10. 
 
 75 
 
The New Ivife. 
 
 righteousness of His Son through faith, has no alte]> 
 native but to do righteousness. 
 
 O Lord, who hast said, ' ' There is no God else be- 
 side Me : a just God and a Saviour," Thou art my God. 
 It is as a righteous God that Thou art my Saviour, 
 and hast redeemed me in Thy Son. As a righteous 
 God Thou makest me also righteous, and sayest to 
 me that the righteous shall live by faith. O Lord, 
 let the new life in me be the life of faith, the life of a 
 righteous man. Amen. 
 
 1. Observe the connection between the doing of righteousness 
 and sanctification in Rom. vi. 19, 22 : " Present yourmembers as 
 servants to righteousness unto sanctification." "Having be- 
 come servants to God, ye have your fruit unto sanctification." 
 The doing of righteousness — righteousness in conduct and ac- 
 tion — is the way to holiness. Obedience is the way to become 
 filled with the Holy Ghost. And the indwelling of God through 
 the Spirit — this is holiness. 
 
 2. " Suffer it now : for thus it becometh us to fulfill all right- 
 eousness." It was when the I^ord Jesus had spoken that word 
 that He was baptized with the Spirit. Let us set aside every 
 temptation not to walk in full obedience towards God, even as 
 He did, and we too shall be filled with the Spirit. " Blessed are 
 they that hunger and thirst after righteousness." 
 
 3. Take pains to set before yourselves the image of a man 
 whoso walks that the name of "righteous" is involuntarily 
 given to him. Think of his uprightness, his conscientious care 
 to cause no one to suffer the least injury, his holy fear and care- 
 fulness to transgress none of the commands of the I,ord— right- 
 eous, and walking in all the commandments and ordinances of 
 the I^ord blameless ; and then say to the Lord that you should 
 so live. 
 
 4- You understand now the great word, " The righteous shall 
 live by faith. By faith the godless is justified, and becomes a 
 righteous man ; by faith he lives as a righteous man. 
 76 
 
XVI. 
 
 LOVE. 
 
 ** A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one 
 another ; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one an- 
 other. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if 
 ye have love one to another." — John xiii. 34, 35. 
 
 "Loveworketh no ill to his neighbor: love therefore is the 
 fulfillingof the law." — Rom. xiii. 10. 
 
 " Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one an- 
 other. If we love one another, God abideth in us, and His love 
 is perfected in us." — i John iv. 11, 12. 
 
 IN the word of Micah, in the previous section, 
 righteousness was the first thing, to love mercy 
 the second, that God demands. Righteousness stood 
 more in the foreground in the Old Testament : it is 
 in the New Testament that it is first seen that love is 
 supreme. Utterances to this effect are not difficult 
 to find. It is in the advent of Jesus that the love of 
 God is first revealed ; that the new, the eternal life, 
 is first given ; that we become children of the Father, 
 and brethren of one another. On this ground the 
 Lord can then, for the first time, speak of the New 
 Commandment — the commandment of brotherly love. 
 Righteousness is required not less in the New Testa- 
 ment than in the Old.^ Yet the burden of the New 
 
 1 Matt. V. 6, 17, 20, vi. 33. 
 77 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Testament is, that power has been given us for a love 
 that in early days was impossible." ^ 
 
 Let every Christian take it deeply to heart, that in 
 the first and the great commandment, the new com- 
 mandment given by Jesus at His departure, the pecu- 
 liar characteristic of a disciple of Jesus is brotherly 
 ( iove. And let him with his whole heart yield him- 
 self to Him, to obey that command. For the right 
 exercise of this brotherly love, one must take heed to 
 more than one thing. 
 
 / Love to the brethren arises from the love of the 
 Father. By the Holy Spirit, the love of God is shed 
 abroad in our hearts, the wonderful love of the 
 Father is unveiled to us, so that His love becomes 
 the life and the joy of our soul. Out of this foun- 
 tain of the love of God to us springs our love to Him.' 
 And our love to Him works naturally love to the 
 brethren.' Do not attempt, then, to fulfill the com- 
 mandment of brotherly love of yourselves : you are 
 not in a position to do this. But believe that the 
 ; Holy Spirit, who is in you to make known the love 
 of God to you, also ceilainly enables you to yield 
 this love. Never say : I feel no love ; I do not feel as 
 if I can forgive this man. Feeling is not the rule of 
 your duty but the command, and the faith that God 
 gives power to obey the command. In obedience to 
 the Father, with the choice of your will, and in faith 
 that the Holy Spirit gives you power, begin to say : 
 
 1 Rom. V 5 ; Gal. v. 22 ; i Thess. iv. 9 ; i John iv. 11, xiii. 34. 
 
 2 Rom. V. 5 ; I John iv. 19. 
 
 3 Eph. iv. 2, 6, V. I, 2 ; i John iii. i, iv. 7, 20, v. x. 
 
 78 
 
Love. 
 
 I will love him ; I do love him. The feeling will 
 follow the faith. Grace gives power for all that the 
 Father asks of you.* 
 
 Brotherly love has its measure and rule in the love 
 of Jesus. " This is my commandment, that ye love 
 one another, as I have loved you." ' The eternal life 
 that works in us is the life of Jesus ; it knows no 
 ■other law than what we see in Him ; it works with 
 power in us what it wrought in Him. • Jesus Himself 
 lives in us and loves in and through us : we must be- 
 lieve in the power of this love in us, and in that faith 
 love as He loved. O, do believe that this is true sal- 
 vation, to love even as Jesus loves. 
 
 Brotherly love must be in deed and in truth,' It 
 is not mere feeling : faith working by love is what 
 has power in Christ. It manifests itself in all the 
 dispositions that are enumerated in the word of God. 
 Contemplate its glorious image in i Cor. xiii. 4-7. 
 Mark all the glorious encouragements to gentleness, 
 to long-suffering, to mercy.* In all your conduct, let 
 it be seen that the love of Christ dwells in you. Let 
 your love be a helpful, self-sacrificing love, like that 
 of Jesus. Hold all children of God, however sinful 
 or perverse they may be, fervently dear. Let love to 
 them teach you to love all men.^ Let your household 
 
 * Matt. V. 44, 45 ; Gal. ii. 20; i Thess, iii. 12, 13, v. 24 ; Phil, iv. 
 13; I Pet i. 22. 
 
 ^Luke xxii. 26, 27 ; John xiii. 14, 15, 34; Col. ii. 13. 
 
 3 Matt, xii, 50, XXV. 40 ; Rom. xiii. 10; 1 Cor. vii. 19 ; Gal. v. 6; 
 Jas. ii. 15, 16 ; i John iii. 16, 17, 18. 
 
 *Gal. V, 22 ; Eph, iv. 2, 32 ; Phil, ii. *, 3 ; Col. iii. 12 ; 2 Thess. i. 3. 
 
 ^I^uke vi. 32, 35 ; I Pet. i. 23; 2 Pet. i. 7. 
 
 79 
 
The New Life. 
 
 and the Church, and the world, see in you one with 
 whom * ' love is greatest ; ' ' one in whom the love of God 
 has a full dwelling, a free working. 
 / Christian, God is love. Jesus is the gift of this 
 love, to bring love to you, to transplant you into that 
 life of God-like love. ( Live in that faith, and you 
 shall not complain that you have no power to love : 
 the love of the Spirit shall be your power and your 
 life. 
 
 Beloved Saviour, I discern more clearly that the 
 whole of the new life is a life in love. Thou Thyself 
 art the Son of God's love, the gift of His love, come 
 to introduce us into His love, and give us a dwelling 
 there. And the Holy Spirit is given to shed abroad 
 the love of God in our hearts, to open a spring out of 
 which shall stream love to Thee, and to the brethren, 
 and to all mankind. Lord, here am I, one redeemed 
 by love, to live for it, and in its might to love all. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. Those who reject the word of God sometimes say that it is of 
 no moment what we believe, if we but have love, and so they are 
 lor making love the one condition of salvation. In their zeal 
 against this view, the orthodox party have sometimes presented 
 faith in justification, as if love were not of so much importance. 
 This is likely to be very dangerous. God is love. His Son is 
 the gift, the bringer, of His love to us. The Spirit sheds abroad 
 the love of God in the heart. The New I,ife is a life in love. 
 Love is the greatest thing. I^et it be the chief element in our 
 life : true love, that, namely, which is known in the keeping of 
 God's commandments. (See i John iii. lo, 23, 24, v. 2) 
 
 2. Do not wonder that I have said to you that you must love, 
 although you do not feel the least love. Not the feeling, but the 
 
 twill is your jMiwer : it is not in your feeling, but in faith, that 
 80 
 
Love. 
 
 the Spirit in you is the power of your will to work in you all 
 that the Father bids you, Therefore, although you feel abso- 
 lutely no love to your enemy, say in the obedience of faith : 
 Father, I love him ; in faith in the hidden working of the Spirit 
 in my heart, I do love him. 
 
 3. Pray, think not that this is love, if you wish no evil to any 
 one, or if you should be willing to help, if he were in need. No: 
 love is much more : love is love. Love is the disposition with 
 which God addressed you when you were His enemy, and after- 
 wards ran to you with tender longing to bless you. 
 
 6 Si 
 
XVII. 
 HUMIUTY. 
 
 •• And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, 
 and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"— 
 MiCAH vi. 8. 
 
 " Learn of me that * I am meek and lowly in heart : and ye 
 shall find rest unto your souls." — Matt. xi. 29. 
 
 ONE of the most dangerous enemies against 
 which the young Christian must watch, is 
 pride or self-exaltation. There is no sin that works 
 more cunningly and more hiddenly. It knows how 
 to penetrate into everything, even into our service for 
 God, our prayers — yea, even into our humility : 
 there is nothing so small in the earthly life, nothing 
 so holy in the spiritual life, that self-exaltation does 
 not know to extract its nutriment out of.^ The 
 Christian must therefore be on his guard against it, 
 must listen to what Scripture teaches about it, and 
 about the lowliness whereby it is driven out. 
 
 Man was created to have part in the glory of God. 
 He obtains this by surrendering himself to the glori- 
 fication of God. The more he seeks that the glory 
 of God only shall be seen in him, the more does this 
 
 1 2 Chron. xxvi. 5, 16, xxxii. 26, 31 ; Isa. Ixv. 5 ; Jer. vii. 4 ; 2 
 Cor. xii. 7. 
 
 * So the Dutch version here renders the particle (otc), which 
 with us is translated " because " or " for." — Tr. 
 82 
 
Humility. 
 
 glory rest upon himself.* The more he forgets and 
 loses himself, desiring to be nothing, that God may be 
 all and be alone glorified, the more happy shall he be. 
 
 By sin this design has been thwarted ; man seeks 
 himself and his own will.^ Grace has come to restore 
 what sin has corrupted, and to bring man to glory by 
 the pathway of dying unto himself and living solely 
 for the glory of God. This is the humility or lowli- 
 ness of which Jesus is the exemplar : He took no 
 thought for Himself, He gave Himself over wholly to 
 glorify the Father.^ 
 
 He who would be freed from self-exaltation must 
 not think to obtain this by striving against its mere 
 workings. No : pride must be driven out and kept 
 out by humility. The Spirit of life in Christ, the 
 Spirit of His lowliness, will work in us true lowliness.* 
 
 The means that He will chiefly use for this end is 
 the word. It is by the word that we are cleansed 
 from sin ; it is by the word that we are sanctified and 
 filled with the love of God. 
 
 Observe what the word says about this point. It 
 speaks of God's aversion to pride, and the punish- 
 ment that comes upon it.^ It gives the most glorious 
 promises to the lowly.* In well-nigh every Epistle, 
 
 1 Isa. xliii. 7, 21 ; John xii. 28, xiii. 31, 32, xvii. i, 4> 5 5 1 Cor. x. 
 31 ; 2 Thess. i. 11, 12. 
 
 2 Rora. i. 21, 23. 3 John viii. 50 ; Phil. ii. 7. 
 * Rom. viii. 2 ; Phil. ii. 5. 
 
 5 Ps. xxxi. 24 ; Prov. xvi. 5 ; Matt, xxiii. 12 ; I^uke i. 51 ; Jas. 
 iv. 6 ; I Pet. v. 5. 
 
 6 Ps. xxxiv. 19 ; Prov. xi. 2.; Isa. Ivii. 15 ; I^uke ix. 48, xiv. 11, 
 xviiL 14, 
 
 83 
 
The New lyife. 
 
 tumility is commended to Christians as one of the 
 first virtues. 1 It is the feature in the image of Jesus 
 which He seeks chiefly to impress on His disciples. 
 His whole incarnation and redemption has its roots 
 in His humiliation.^ 
 
 Take singly some of these words of God from time 
 to time and lay them up in your heart. The tree of 
 life yields many different kinds of seed — the seed also 
 of the heavenly plant, lowliness. The seeds are the 
 words of God. Carry them in your heart : they shall 
 shoot up and yield fruit. ^ 
 
 Consider, moreover, how lovely, how becoming, 
 how well-pleasing to God, lowliness is. As man, 
 created for the honor of God, you find it befitting 
 you.* As a sinner, deeply unworthy, you have noth- 
 ing more to urge against it.^ As a redeemed soul, 
 who knows that only through the death of the natural 
 / does the way to the new life lie, you find it indis- 
 pensable."' As a child of the Father, overwhelmed 
 with His love, you must consider it above all else.'^ 
 
 But here, as everywhere in the life of grace, let 
 faith be the chief thing. Believe in the power of the 
 eternal life that works in you. Believe in the power 
 of Jesus, who is your life. Believe in the power of 
 
 1 Rom. xii. 3, i6 ; i Cor. xiii. 4 ; Gal. v. 22, 26 ; Kph. iv. 2 ; Phil, 
 ii. 3 ; Col. ii. 13. 
 
 2 Matt. XX. 26, 28 ; I,uke xxii. 27 ; John xiii. 14, 15 ; Phil. ii. 7, 8. 
 
 3 I Thess. ii. 13 ; Heb. iv. 12 ; Jas. i. 21. 
 * Gen. i. 27 ; 1 Cor. xi. 7. 
 
 5 Job. xi. 6 ; Isa. vi. 5 ; Luke v. 8. 
 
 « Rom. vii. 18 ; i Cor. xv. 9, 10 ; Gal. II. 20. 
 
 7 Gen. xxxii. 10 ; 2 Sam. vii. 18 ; i Pet v. 11. 
 
 84 
 
Humility. 
 
 the Holy Spirit who dwells in you. Attempt not to 
 hide your pride, or to forget it, or to root it out your 
 self. Confess this sin, with every working of it that 
 you trace, in the sure confidence that the blood 
 cleanses, that the Spirit sanctifies. Learn of Jesus 
 that He is meek and lowly in heart. Consider that 
 He is your life, with all that He has. Believe that 
 He gives His humility to you. The word : " Do it to 
 the Ivord Jesus, ' ' means, ' ' Be clothed with the Lord 
 Jesus." Be clothed with humility, in order that you 
 may be clothed with Jesus. It is Christ in you that 
 shall fill you with humility. 
 
 Blessed Lord Jesus, there never was any one amongst 
 the children of men so high, so holy, so glorious as 
 Thou. And never was there any one who was so 
 lowly and ready to deny himself as the servant of all. 
 O Lord, when shall we learn that lowliness is the 
 grace by which man can be most closely confirmed to 
 the divine glory ? O teach me this. Amen. 
 
 I. Take heed that you do nothing to feed pride on the part of 
 others. Take heed that you do not sufifer others to feed your 
 pride. Take heed, above all, that you do nothing yourself to 
 feed your pride. Let God alone always and in all things obtain 
 the honor. Endeavor to observe all that is good in His chil- 
 dren, and to thank Him heartily for it. Thank Him for all that 
 helps you to hold yourself in small esteem, whether it be sent 
 through friend or foe. Resolve, especially, never on any account 
 to be eagerly bent on your own honor, when this is not accorded 
 to you as it ought to be. Commit this to the Father : take heed 
 only to His honor. 
 
 3. By no means suppose that faint-heartedness or doubting is 
 
 8S 
 
The New Ufe. 
 
 lowliness. Deep humility and strong faith go together. The 
 centurion who said : " I am not worthy that Thou shouldst come 
 under my roof," and the woman who said: "Yea, Lord, yet 
 even the dogs eat of the crumbs "—these two were the most 
 humble and the most trustful that the Lord found (see Matt, 
 viii. lo, XV. 28). The reason is this : the nearer we are to God, 
 the less we are in ourselves, but the stronger we are in Him. 
 The more I see of God, the less I become, the deeper is my con* 
 fidence in Him. To become lowly, let God fill eye and heart. 
 Where God is all, there is no time or place for man. 
 86 
 
XVIII. 
 STUMBI^INGS. 
 
 •• In many things we all stumble."— J as. iiL a. 
 
 THIS word of God by James is the description of 
 what man is, even the Christian, when he is not 
 kept by grace. It serves to take away from us all 
 hope in ourselves.* " Now unto Him that is able to 
 guard you from stumbling ... be glory, maj- 
 esty, dominion and power . . . for evermore" 
 (Jude 24, 25). This word of God by Jude points to 
 Him who can keep from falling, and stirs up the soul 
 to ascribe to Him the honor and the power. It 
 serves to confirm our hope in God.^ " Brethren, give 
 the more diligence to make your calling and election 
 sure : for if ye do these things, ye shall never stum- 
 ble" (2 Pet. i. 10), This word of God by Peter 
 teaches us the way in which we can become partakers 
 of the keeping of the Almighty : the confirmation of 
 our election by God in a godlike walk (see vers. 4, 8, 
 II ). It serves to lead us into diligence and conscien- 
 tious watchfulness.' 
 
 For the young Christian, it is often a diflScult ques- 
 tion what he ought to think of his stumblings. On 
 
 1 Rom. vii. 14, 23; GaL vi x. 
 
 3 3 Cor. i. 9 ; X Thess. v. 24 ; a Thess. ii. x6, 17, iii 3. 
 
 ' Matt xzvi 41 ; I«uke xiL 35 ; x Pet. L X3, v. &-10. 
 
 87 
 
The New Life. 
 
 this point, he ought especially to be on his guard 
 against two errors. Some become dispirited when 
 they stumble: they think that their surrender was 
 not sincere, and lose their confidence towards God.i 
 Others again take it too lightly. They think that it 
 cannot be otherwise : they concern themselves little 
 with stumblings, and continue to live in them.^ Let 
 us take these words of God to teach us what we ought 
 to think of our stumblings. There are three lessons. 
 
 Let not stumblings discourage you. You are called 
 to perfectness : yet this comes not at once : time and 
 patience are needful for it. Therefore James says : 
 * ' Let patience have its perfect work that ye may be 
 perfect and entire."^* Think not that your sur- 
 render was not sincere ; acknowledge only how weak 
 you still are. Think not also that you must only con- 
 tinue stumbling : acknowledge only how strong your 
 Saviour is. 
 
 Let stumbling rouse you to faith in the tnighty 
 keeper. It is because you have not relied on Him 
 ^ith a sufficient faith that you have stumbled.* Let 
 stumbling drive you to Him. The first thing that 
 you must do with a stumbling is : go with it to your 
 Jesus. Tell it out to Him.^ Confess it, and receive 
 forgiveness. Confess it, and commit yourself with 
 
 * Heb. iii. 6, 14, x. 35. 
 
 2 Rom. vi. I ; Gal ii. 18, iii. 3. 
 
 ^ Matt. V. 48 ; 2 Tim. iii. 17 ; Heb. xiii. 20, 21 ; Jas. i. 4 ; i Pet. v. 10. 
 
 < Matt. xiv. 31, xvii. 20. 
 
 * Ps. xxxviii. 18, Ixix. 6 ; i John i. 9, ii. 1. 
 
 * The Dutch version has it : " Let endurance have a perfect 
 work, that ye may be perfect and wholly sincere."— Tr. 
 
 88 
 
Stumblings. 
 
 your weakness to Him, and reckon on Him to keep 
 you. Sing continually the song : "To Him that is 
 mighty to keep you, be the glory." 
 
 And then, let stumbling make you very prudent?- 
 By faith you shall strive and overcome. In the power 
 of your keeper and the joy and security of His help, 
 you shall have courage to watch. The firmer you 
 make your election, the stronger the certitude that 
 He has chosen you, and will not let you go, the more 
 conscientious shall you become, to live in all things 
 only for Him, in Him, through Him.^ Doing this, 
 the word of God says, you shall never stumble. 
 
 I/ord Jesus, a sinner who is ready to stumble every 
 moment would give honor to Thee, who art mighty 
 to keep from stumbling : Thine is the might and the 
 power : I take Thee as my keeper. I look to Thy 
 love which has chosen me, and wait for the fulfilment 
 of Thy word : *' Ye shall never stumble." Amen. 
 
 1. Let your thoughts about what the grace of God can do for 
 you, be taken only from the word of God. Our natural expec- 
 tations—that we must just always be stumbling— are wrong. 
 They are strengthened by more than one thing. There is secret 
 unwillingness to surrender everything. There is the example 
 of so many sluggish Christians. There is the unbelief that can- 
 not quite understand that God will really keep us. There is the 
 experience of so many disappointments, when we have striven 
 in our own power. 
 
 2. Let no stumbling be tolerated, for the reason that it is tri- 
 fling. 
 
 1 Prov. xxviii. 14 ; Phil. ii. 12 ; i Pet. i. 17, i8. 
 ' 2 Chron. xx. 15 ; Ps. xviii. 30, 37, xliv. 5, 9 ; John v. 4, 5 ; Rom. 
 xi. 20 ; 2 Cor. i. 24 ; i Phil. ii. 13. 
 89 
 
XIX 
 JESUS THE KEEPER. 
 
 ** The Lord is Thy keeper : . . . The Lord shall keep thee 
 from all evil ; ... He shall keep thy soul."— Ps. cxxi. 4, 7. 
 
 "I know Him whom I have believed, and I am persuaded 
 that He is able to guard that which I have committed unto 
 Him* against that day."— 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 FOR young disciples of Christ who are still weak, 
 there is no lesson that is more necessary than 
 this, that the Lord has not only received them, but 
 that He will also keep them.^ The lovely name, 
 **the Lord Thy keeper," must for this end be carried 
 in the heart, until the assurance of an Almighty 
 keeping becomes as strong with us as it was with 
 Paul, when he spake that glorious word: **I know 
 Him in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded 
 that He is able to guard that which I have committed 
 unto Him against that day." Come and learn this 
 lesson from him. 
 
 Learn from him to deposit your pledge with Jesus. 
 Patil had surrendered himself, body and soul, to the 
 Lord Jesus : that was His pledge which he had de- 
 
 1 Gen. xxviii. 15 ; Deut. vii. 9, xxxii. 10; Ps. xvii. 8, Ixxxix. 33, 
 34 ; Rom. xi. 2, 29. 
 
 * The Dutch version has, ' ' My pledge, which I deposited with 
 Him."— Tr. 
 
 90 
 
Jesus the Keeper. 
 
 posited with the Lord. You also surrendered your- 
 selves to the Lord, but perhaps not with the clear 
 understanding that it is in order to be kept every- 
 day. Do this now daily. Deposit your soul with 
 Jesus as a costly pledge that He will keep secure. 
 Do this same thing with every part of your life. Is 
 there something that you cannot rightly hold — your 
 heart, because it is too worldly;^ your tongue, be- 
 cause it is too idle ; "^ your temper, because it is too 
 passionate ; ' your calling to confess the Lord, because 
 you are too weak ? * Learn, then, to deposit it as a 
 pledge for keeping with Jesus, in order that He may 
 fulfill in you the promise of God about it. You often 
 pray and strive too much in vain against a sin : it is 
 because, although this is done with God's help, you 
 would be the person who would overcome. No : en- 
 trust the matter wholly to Jesus : " the battle is not 
 yours, but God's." ^ Leave it in His hands : believe 
 in Him to do it for you : " This is the victory that 
 hath overcome the world, even your faith."* But 
 you must first place it wholly out of your hands in 
 His. 
 
 Learn from Paul to set your confidence only on the 
 power of Jesus. I am persuaded that He is able to 
 keep my pledge. You have an almighty Jesus to 
 
 1 Ps. xxxi, 6 ; Jer. xxxi. 33. 
 * Ps. li. 17, cxli. 3. 
 
 » Ps. cxix. 165 ; Jer. xxvi. 3, 4 ; John xiv. 27 ; Phil. £▼. 6, 7 ; » 
 Thess. iii. 16. 
 *Isa. 1. 7 ; Jer. i. 9 ; Matt. x. 19, 20 ; Luke xxvi. 15. 
 6 Ex. xiv. 14; Deut. iii. 22, xx. 4 ; 2 Chroa. xx. 15. 
 *Matt ix. 23 ; i John v. 3, 4. 
 
 91 
 
The New Life. 
 
 keep you. Faith keeps itself occupied only with His 
 omnipotence.^ Let your faith especially be strength- 
 ened in what God is able to do for you.^ Expect 
 with certainty from Him that He will do for you 
 great and glorious things, entirely above your own 
 strength. See in the Holy Scriptures how constantly 
 the power of God was the ground of the trust of His 
 people. Take these words and hide them in your 
 heart. Let the power of Jesus fill your soul. Ask 
 only : ** What is my Jesus able to do? " What you 
 really trust Him with, He is able to keep.' 
 
 And learn also from Paul where he obtained the 
 assurance that this power would keep his pledge : it 
 was in his knowledge of Jesus. '* I know Him whom 
 I have believed : " therefore I am assured.* You can 
 trust the power of Jesus, if you know that He is 
 yours, if you hold converse with Him as your friend. 
 Then you can say : ' * I know whom I have believed : 
 I know that he holds me very dear : I know and am 
 assured that He is able to keep my pledge." So 
 runs the way to the full assurance of faith : Deposit 
 your pledge with Jesus ; give yourselves wholly, give 
 everything, into His hands ; think much on His 
 might, and reckon upon Him ; and live with Him so 
 that you may always know who He is in whom you 
 have believed. 
 
 Young disciples of Christ, pray, receive this word : 
 
 1 Gen. xvii. i, xviii. 14 ; Jer. xxxii. 17, 27 ; Matt. viii. 27, xxviii. 
 l8 ; I,uke i. 37, 49, xviii. 27 ; Rom. iv. 21 ; Heb. xi. 18. 
 
 2 Rom. iv. 21, xiv. 4 ; 2 Cor. ix. 8 ; 2 Tim^. i. 12. 
 
 3 John xiii. i ; i Cor. i. 8, 9. 
 
 < John X. 14, 28 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; 2 Tim. iv. 18 ; i John ii. 13, 14. 
 92 
 
Jesus the Keeper. 
 
 " The Lord is thy keeper.'' For every weakness, 
 every temptation, learn to deposit your soul with 
 Him as a pledge. You can reckon upon it, you can 
 shout joyfully over it: "The Lord shall keep you 
 from all evil." ^ 
 
 Holy Jesus, I take Thee as my keeper. Let Thy 
 name, " The Lord thy keeper," sound as a song in 
 my heart the whole day. Teach me in every need to 
 deposit my case as a pledge with Thee, and to be 
 assured that Thou art able to keep it. Amen. 
 
 1. There was once a woman who for years long, and with 
 much prayer, had striven against her temper, but could not 
 obtain the victory. On a certain day she resolved not to come 
 out of her room until by earnest prayer she had the power to 
 overcome. She went out in the opinion that she should succeed. 
 Scarcely had she been in the household, when something gave 
 her offence and caused her to be angry. She was deeply 
 ashamed, burst into tears, and hastened back to her room. A 
 daughter, who understood the way of faith better than she, 
 went to her and said, "Mother, I have observed your conflict: 
 may I tell you what I think the hindrance is?" "Yes, my 
 child." " Mother, you struggle against temper, and pray that 
 the I,ord may help you to overcome. This is wrong. The Lord 
 must do it alone. You must give temper wholly iuto His hands : 
 then He takes it wholly, and He keeps you." The mother 
 could not at first understand this, but later it was made plain 
 to her. And she enjoyed the blessedness of the life in which 
 Jesus keeps us, and we by faith have the victory. Do you un- 
 derstand this? 
 
 2. " The Lord must help me to overcome sin : " the expression 
 is altogether outside of the New Testament. The grace of God 
 
 1 Josh. i. 9 ; Ps. xxiii. 4 ; Rom. viii. 3s, 39. 
 
 93 
 
The New Life. 
 
 in the soul does not become a help to us. He will do everjrthing : 
 •* The Spirit has made me free from the law of sin." 
 
 3. When you surrender anything to the Lord for keeping, take 
 heed to two things : that you give it wholly into His hands ; and 
 that you have it there. Let Him have it wholly : He will carry 
 out your case gloriously. 
 
 94 
 
XX. 
 
 POWER AND WEAKNESS. 
 
 " He hath said unto me, My power is made perfect in weak- 
 ness. Therefore will I glory in my weaknesses, that the strength 
 of Christ may rest upon me. Wherefore I take pleasure in 
 weaknesses : for when I am weak, then am I strong." — 2 Cor. 
 xii. 9, 10. 
 
 THERE is almost no word that is so imperfectly- 
 understood in the Christian life as the word 
 weakness. Sin and shortcoming, sluggishness and 
 disobedience, are set to the account of our weakness. 
 With this appeal to weakness, the true feeling of 
 guilt and the sincere endeavor after progress are im- 
 possible. How, pray, can I be guilty, when I do not 
 do what it is not in my power to do ? The Father 
 cannot demand of His child what He can certainly 
 do independently. That, indeed, was done by the 
 law under the Old Covenant ; but that the Father, 
 under the New Covenant, does not do. He requires 
 of us nothing more than what He has prepared for 
 us power to do in His Holy Spirit. The new life is a 
 life in the power of Christ through the Spirit. 
 
 The error of this mode of thinking is that people 
 estimate their weakness, not too highly, but too 
 meanly. They would still do something by the ex- 
 ercise of all their powers, and with the help of God. 
 95 
 
The New Life. 
 
 They know not that they must be nothing before 
 God.^ You think that you have still a little strength, 
 and that the Father must help you by adding some- 
 thing of His own power to your feeble energ}\ This 
 thought is wrong. Your weakness appears in the 
 fact that you can do nothing. It is better to speak of 
 utter inability — that is what the Scriptures under- 
 stand by the word "weakness. " "Apart from me ye 
 can do nothing," ** In us is no power." "^ 
 
 Whenever the young Christian acknowledges and 
 assents to this his weakness, then he learns to under- 
 stand the secret of the power of Jesus. He then sees 
 that he is not to wait and pray to become stronger, 
 to feel stronger. No : in his inability, he is to have 
 the power of Jesus. By faith he is to receive it ; he 
 is to reckon that it is for him, and that Jesus Himself 
 will work in and by him.^ It then becomes clear to 
 him what the Lord means when He says, ** My power 
 is made perfect in your weakness." He knows to 
 return the answer, " When I am weak, then am I — 
 yea, then am I — strong." Yea, the weaker I am, the 
 stronger I become. And he learns to sing with Paul, 
 " I shall glory in my weakneaees." " I take pleasure 
 in weaknesses." "We rejoice when we are weak." * 
 
 It is wonderful how glorious that life of faith be- 
 comes for him who is content to have nothing, or feel 
 nothing, in himself, and always to live on the power 
 
 1 Rom. iv. 4, 5, xi. 6 ; i Cor. i. 27, 28. 
 22 Chron. xvi 9, xx. 12 ; John v. 19, xv. 5 ; 2 Cor. i. 9. 
 8 John XV. 5 ; 1 Cor. i. 24, xv. 10; Eph. i. 18, 19 ; Col i. 11. 
 *2 Cor. xi. 30, xii. 9, 11, xiii 4, 9. 
 
Power and Weakness. 
 
 of His Lord. He leains to understand what a joyful 
 thing it is to know God as his strength. "The Lord 
 is my strength and song."^ He lives in what the 
 Psalms so often express: " I love Thee, O Lord, my 
 strength ; " "I will sing of Thy strength : unto Thee, 
 O my strength, will I sing praises.'"* He under- 
 stands what is meant when a psalm says, " Give 
 strength to the Lord : the Lord will give strength to 
 His people; " and when another says, ' ' Give strength 
 to God : the God of Israel, He giveth strength and 
 power to His people. ' * ' When we give or ascribe all 
 the power to God, then He gives it to us again. 
 
 " I have written unto you, young men, because ye 
 are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and 
 ye have overcome the Evil One. ' ' The Christian is 
 strong in his Lord : * not sometimes strong and some- 
 times weak, but always weak, and therefore always 
 strong. He has merely to know and use his strength 
 trustfully. To be strong is a command, a behest that 
 must be obeyed. On obedience there comes more 
 strength. '' Be strong. . . and He shall strengthen 
 thine heart." In faith the Christian must simply 
 obey the command, ' * Be strong in the Lord, and in 
 the power of His might. " * 
 
 The God of the Lord Jesus, the Father of glory, 
 give unto us the spirit of wisdom and of revelation 
 
 1 Ps. Ixxxix. i8, cxviii. 14 ; Jer. xii. 2. 
 
 2Ps. xviii. 2, xxviii. 7, 8, xxxi. 5, xliii. 2, xlvi. 2, lix. 17, 18, Ixii. 
 8, Ixxxi. 2. 
 
 * Ps. xxix. I, II, Ixviii, 35, 36. * Ps. Ixxi. 16 ; i John ii. 14. 
 
 ' Ps. xxvii. 14, xxxi. 25 ; Isa. xl. 31 ; Eph. vi. 10. 
 
 7 97 
 
The New Life. 
 
 in the knowledge of Jesus, that we may know what 
 is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward 
 who believe. Amen. 
 
 1. So long as the Christian thinks of the service of God or of 
 sanctification as something that is hard and difficult, he will 
 make no progress in it. He must see that this very thing is for 
 him impossible. Then he will cease still endeavoring to do 
 something ; he will surrender himself that Christ may work all 
 in him. See these thoughts set forth in detail in Professor Hof- 
 meyr'sbook, Out of Darkness into Light : a Course of Instruction 
 on Conversion, the Surrender of Faith, and Sanctification * (J. H. 
 Rose, Cape Town), chapter third and following of the third 
 part. 
 
 2. The complaint about weakness is often nothing else than 
 an apology for our idleness. There is power to be obtained in 
 Christ for those who will take the pains to have it. 
 
 3. " Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might." 
 Mind that. I must abide in the Lord and in the power of His 
 might, then I become strong. To have His power I must have 
 Himself The strength is His, and continues His ; the weakness 
 continues mine. He, the Strong, works in me, the weak ; I, 
 the weak, abide by faith in Him, the Strong ; so that I, in the 
 self-same moment, know myself to be weak and strong. 
 
 4. Strength is for work. He who would be strong simply to 
 be pious, will not be so. He who in his weakness begins to 
 work for the Lord, shall become strong. 
 
 * Professor N. J. Hofmeyr is senior professor of the Theologi- 
 cal College of the Dutch Reformed Church, Stellenbosch, Cape 
 Colony. The volume referred to has been recently published in 
 English under the title, The Blessed Life : How to Find and Live 
 It (J. Nisbet fit Co.).— Tr. 
 
 98 
 
XXI. 
 
 THE LIFE OF FEELING. 
 
 * We walk by faith, not by sight." — 2 Cor. v. 7. 
 
 " Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.'* 
 —John xi. 29. 
 
 " Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest 
 see the glory of God ? "— John xi. 40. 
 
 IN connection with your conversion there was no 
 greater hindrance in your way than feeling. You 
 thought, perhaps for years, that you must experience 
 something, must feel and perceive something in your- 
 selves. It was to you as if it were too hazardous thus 
 simply, and without some feeling, to believe in the 
 word, and be sure that God had received you, and 
 that your sins were forgiven. But at last you have 
 had to acknowledge that the way of faith, without 
 feeling, was the way of the word of God. And it has 
 been to you the way of salvation. Through faith 
 alone have you been saved, and your soul has found 
 rest and peace. ^ 
 
 In the further life of the Christian there is no 
 temptation that is more persistent and more danger- 
 ous than this same feeling. The word " feeling " we 
 do not find in Scripture, but what we call ' * feeling ' * 
 the Scripture calls " seeing." And it tells us without 
 
 1 John iii. 36 ; Rom. \ii. 28, iv. 5, 16, v. x. 
 99 
 
The New Life. 
 
 ceasing that not seeing, but believing, that believing 
 right in opposition to what we see, gives salvation. 
 "Abraham, not being weak in faith, considered not 
 his own body." * Faith adheres simply to what God 
 says. The unbelief that would see shall not see ; the 
 faith that will not see, but has enough in God, shall 
 see the glory of God.^ The man who seeks for feel- 
 ing, and mourns about it, shall not find it ; the man 
 who cares not for it shall have it overflowing. ' ' Who- 
 soever would save his life shall lose it, and who- 
 soever shall lose his life for my sake shall find it." 
 Faith in the word becomes later on sealed with true 
 feeling by the Holy Spirit.^ 
 
 Child of God, learn to live by faith. Let it be fixed 
 with you that faith is God's way to a blessed life. 
 When there is no feeling of liveliness in prayer, 
 when you feel cold and dull in the inner chamber, 
 live by faith. Let your faith look upon Jesus as near, 
 upon His power and faithfulness, and though you 
 have nothing to bring to Him, believe that He will 
 give you all. Feeling always seeks something in 
 itself; faith keeps itself occupied with what Jesus 
 is.^ When you read the word, and have no feeling of 
 interest or blessing, read it yet again in faith. The 
 
 1 2 Chron. vii. 2 ; Ps. xxvii. 13 ; Isa. vii. 9 ; Matt. xiv. 30, 31 ; 
 IvUke V. 5. 
 
 2 John xii. 25 ; Gal. iii. 2, 14 ; Eph. i. 13. 
 
 8 Rom. iv. 20, 21 ; 2 Tim. i. 12 ; Heb. ix. 5,6 ; Jas. iii. 16, vi. 16. 
 
 *The Dutch version here renders as our Authorized. The 
 R. V. has— "Without being weakened in faith, he considered 
 his own body," etc.; but the same victory of faith over sight is 
 implied.— Tr. 
 
 100 
 
The Life of Feeling. 
 
 word will work and bring blessing; **the word 
 worketh in those that believe." When you feel no 
 love, believe in the love of Jesus, and say in faith 
 that He knows that you still love Him. When you 
 have no feeling of gladness, believe in the inexpressi- 
 ble joy that there is in Jesus for you. Faith is 
 blessedness, and will give joy to those who are not 
 concerned about the self-sufficiency that springs from 
 joy, but about the glorification of God that springs 
 from faith, ^ Jesus will surely fulfill His word: 
 " Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have 
 believed." * * Said I not unto thee, that, if thou be- 
 lievedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God ? " 
 
 Betwixt the life of feeling and the life of faith the 
 Christian has to choose every day. Happy is he who, 
 once for all, has made the firm choice, and every 
 morning renews the choice, not to seek or listen for 
 feeling, but only to walk by faith, according to the 
 will of God. The faith that keeps itself occupied 
 with the word, with what God has said, and, through 
 the word, with God Himself and Jesus His Son, shall 
 taste the blessedness of a life in God above. Feeling 
 seeks and aims at itself; faith honors God, and shall 
 be honored by Him. Faith pleases God, and shall 
 receive from Him the witness in the heart of the be- 
 liever that he is acceptable to God. 
 
 Lord God, the one, the only, thing that Thou 
 desirest of Thy children is that they should trust 
 
 1 Rom. XV. 13 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; i Pet. L 5, 7, 8. 
 lOI 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Thee, and that they should always hold converse 
 with Thee in that faith. Lord, let it be the one 
 thing in which I seek my happiness, to honor and to 
 please Thee by a faith that firmly holds Thee, the In- 
 visible, and trusts Thee in all things. Amen. 
 
 1. There is indeed something marvelous in the new life. It is 
 difficult to make it clear to the young Christian. The Spirit of 
 God teaches him to understand it after he perseveres in grace. 
 Jesus has laid the foundation of that life in the first word of the 
 Sermon on the Mount : " Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 
 is the kingdom of heaven ; " a feeling of deep poverty and of 
 royal riches, of utter weakness and of kingly might exist 
 together in the soul. To have nothing in itself, to have all in 
 Christ — that is the secret of faith. And the true secret of faith 
 is to bring this into exercise, and, in hours of barrenness and 
 emptiness, still to know that we have all in Christ. 
 
 2. Forget not that the faith, of which God's word speaks so 
 much, stands not only in opposition to works, but also in oppo- 
 sition to feeling, and therefore that for a pure life of faith you 
 must cease to seek your salvation, not only in works, but also in 
 faith. Therefore let faith always speak against feeling. When 
 feeling says, " In myself, I am sinful ; I am dark ; I am weak ; 
 I am poor ; I am sad ; " let faith say, " In Christ, I am holy ; I 
 am light ; I am strong ; I am rich ; I am joyful." 
 
 I02 
 
XXII. 
 THE HOI.Y GHOST. 
 
 •'And because ye are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of His 
 Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father."— Gal. iv. 6. 
 
 THE great gift of the Father, through whom He 
 obtained salvation and brought it near to us, is 
 the Son. On the other hand, the great gift of the 
 Son, whom He sends to us from the Father, to apply 
 to us an inner and effectual salvation, is the Holy 
 Spirit.^ As the Son reveals and glorifies the Father, 
 so the Spirit reveals and glorifies the Son.^ The 
 Spirit is in us to transfer to us the life and the salva- 
 tion that are prepared in Jesus, and to make them 
 wholly ours.^ Jesus who is in heaven is made present 
 in us, dwells in us, by the Spirit. We have seen that 
 in order to become partaker of Jesus there are always 
 two things necessary : the knowledge of the sin that 
 is in us, and of the redemption that is in Him. It is 
 the Holy Spirit who continually promotes this double 
 work in believers. He reproves and comforts. He 
 convinces of sin and He glorifies Christ.* 
 The Spirit convinces of sin. He is the light and 
 
 J John vii. 38, xiv. 16, 26 ; Acts i. 4, ii. 33 ; 1 Cor. iii. 16. 
 2 John XV. 26, xvi. 14, 15 ; i Cor. ii. 8, 12, xii. 3. 
 'Job xiv. 17, 21 ; Rom. viii. 2 ; Kph. iii. 17, 19. 
 < John xvi. 9, 14. 
 
 103 
 
The New Life. 
 
 the fire of God, through whom sin is unveiled and 
 consumed. He is "the Spirit of judgment and of 
 burning," by whom God purifies His people.^ To 
 the anxious soul who complains that he does not feel 
 his sin deeply enough, we must often say that there 
 is no limit as to how deep his repentance must be. 
 He must come daily just as he is ; the deepest convic- 
 tion oftentimes comes after conversion. To the 
 young convert we have simply to say : let the Spirit 
 who is in you convince you always of sin. Sin, 
 which formerly you knew but by name, He will 
 make you hate. Sin, which you had not seen in the 
 hidden depths of your heart, He will make you 
 know, and with shame confess. Sin, of which you 
 fancied that it was not with you, and which you had 
 judged severely in others, He will point out to you 
 in yourself^ And He will teach you with repentance 
 and self-condemnation to cast yourself upon grace as 
 entirely sinful, in order to be thereby redeemed and 
 purified from it. 
 
 Beloved brother, the Holy Spirit is in you as the 
 light and fire of God to unveil and to consume sin. 
 The temple of God is holy, and this temple you are. 
 Let the Holy Spirit in you have full mastery to point 
 out and expel sin.' After He makes you know sin, 
 He will at every turn make you know Jesus as your 
 life and your sanctification. 
 
 1 Isa. iv. 4 ; Zech. xii. lo, ii ; Matt. iii. ii, la. 
 
 2ps. cxxxix. 7, 23 ; Isa. x. 17 ; Matt. vii. 5 ; Rom. xiv. 4 ; i Cor. 
 U. 10, xiv. 34, 35. 
 
 •Ps. xix. 13, cxxxix. 33 ; Mic. iii. 8 ; i Cor. iii. 17 ; a Cor. iii. 17, 
 Vii6. 
 
 104 
 
The Holy Ghost. 
 
 And then shall the Spirit who rebukes also comfort. 
 He will glorify Jesus in you, will take what is in 
 Jesus and make it known to you. He will give you 
 knowledge concerning the power of Jesus' blood to 
 cleanse,' and the power of Jesus' indwelling to keep.^ 
 He will make you see how literally, how completely, 
 how certainly Jesus is with you every moment, to do 
 Himself all his own Jesus-work in you. Yea, in the 
 Holy Spirit, the living, almighty, and ever-present 
 Jesus shall be your portion ; you shall also know 
 this, and have the full enjoyment of it. The Holy 
 Spirit will teach you to bring all your sin and sinful- 
 ness to Jesus, and to know Jesus with His complete 
 redemption from sin as your own. As the Spirit of 
 sanctification, He will drive out sin in order that He 
 may cause Jesus to dwell in you.' 
 
 Beloved young Christian, take time to understand 
 and to become filled with the truth : the Holy Spirit 
 is in you. Review all the assurances of God's word 
 that this is so.* Pray, think not for a moment of 
 living as a Christian without the indwelling of the 
 Spirit. Take pains to have your heart filled with the 
 faith that the Spirit dwells in you, and will do His 
 mighty work, for through faith the Spirit comes and 
 works ^ Have a great reverence for the work of the 
 Spirit in you. Seek Him every day to believe, to 
 
 1 I John i. 7, V. 8. 
 
 * John xiv. ai, 23 ; Eph. iii. 17 ; i John iii. 24, iv. 13. 
 3 Rom. i. 4, V. 5, viii. a, 13 ; i Pet. i. 2. 
 
 ♦ Rom. viii. 14, 16 ; i Cor. vi. 19 ; a Cor. i. aa, vi. x6 ; Sph. 
 ii3. 
 
 6 Gal. iii. 2, 5, 14, v. 5. 
 
 los 
 
The New Life. 
 
 obey, to trust, and He will take and make known to 
 you all that there is in Jesus. He will make Jesus 
 very glorious to you and in you. 
 
 O my Father, I thank thee for this gift which 
 Jesus sent me from Thee, the Father. I thank Thee 
 that I am now the temple of Thy Spirit, and that He 
 dwells in me. 
 
 Lord, teach me to believe this with the whole 
 heart, and to live in the world as one who knows 
 that the Spirit of God is in him to lead him. Teach 
 me to think with deep reverence and filial awe on 
 this, that God is in me. Lord, in that faith I have 
 the power to be holy. 
 
 Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that sin is in me. 
 Holy Spirit, reveal to me all that Jesus is in me. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. The knowledge of the person and the work of the Holy 
 Spirit is for us of just as much importance as the knowledge of 
 the person and the work of Christ. 
 
 2. Concerning the Holy Spirit, we must endeavor especially to 
 hold fast the truth that He is given as the fruit of the work of 
 Jesus for us, that he is the power of the life of Jesus in us, and 
 that through Him, Jesus Himself, with his full salvation, dwells 
 in us. 
 
 3. In order to enjoy all this, we must be filled with the Spirit. 
 This simply means, emptied of all else and full of Jesns. To 
 deny ourselves, to take up the cross, to follow Jesus : this is the 
 way to be filled with the Spirit of Jesus. Or rather, this is the 
 way in which the Spirit leads us to His fulness. No one has the 
 power to enter fully into the death of Jesus but he who is led by 
 the Spirit. But He takes him that desires this by the hand and 
 brings him. 
 
 4. As the whole of salvation, the whole of the new life is by 
 fidth, so is this also true of the gift and the working of the Holy 
 
 106 
 
The Holy Ghost. 
 
 Spirit. By faith, not by works— not in feeling, do I receive Him, 
 am I led by Him, am I filled with Him. 
 
 5. As clear and definite as my faith is in the work that Jesus 
 only and alone finished for me, so clear and definite must faith 
 be in the work that the Holy Spirit accomplishes in me, to work 
 in me the willing and the performing of all that is necessary for 
 my salvation. 
 
 107 
 
XXIII. 
 
 THE LEADING OF THE SPIRIT. 
 
 " As many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of 
 God. The Spirit Himself beareth witness with our spirit, that 
 we are children of God." — Rom. viii. 14. 16. 
 
 IT is the very same Spirit that leads us as children 
 who also assures us that we are children. With- 
 out His leading there can be no assurance of our fili- 
 ation. True, full assurance of faith is enjoyed by 
 him who surrenders himself entirely to the leading 
 of the Spirit. 
 
 In what does this leading consist? Chiefly in this, 
 that our whole hidden inner life is guided by Him to 
 what it ought to be. This we must firmly believe. 
 Our growth and increase, our development and pro- 
 gress, is not our work, but His : we are to trust Him 
 for this. As a tree or animal grows and becomes 
 large by the spirit of life which God has given to it, 
 so also does the Christian by the Spirit of life in 
 Christ Jesus.^ We have to cherish the joyal assur- 
 ance that the Spirit whom the Father gives to us 
 does with divine wisdom and power guide our hidden 
 life, and bring it where God will have it. 
 
 Then there are also special directions of this lead- 
 
 1 Hos. xiv. 6, 7 ; Matt. vi. 28 ; Mark iv. 26, 28 ; I,uke ii. 40 . 
 Rom. viii. 2. 
 
 108 
 
The Leading of the Spirit. 
 
 ing. " He will lead you into all the truth." When 
 we read the word of God, we are to wait upon Him, 
 to make us experience the truth, the essential 
 power of what God says. He makes the word living 
 and powerful. He leads us into a life corresponding 
 to the word.i 
 
 When you pray you can reckon upon His leading : 
 "The Spirit helpeth our infirmities." He leads us 
 to what we must desire. He leads us into the way in 
 which we are to pray, trustfully, persistently, mightily.* 
 
 In the way of sanctification it is He that will lead : 
 He leads us in the path of righteousness. He leads 
 us into all the will of God.^ 
 
 In our speaking and working for the Ivord, He will 
 lead. Every child has the Spirit: every child has 
 need of Him to know and to do the work of the 
 Father. Without him no child can please or serve 
 the Father. The leading of the Spirit is the blessed 
 privilege, the sure token, the only power of a child 
 of God.* 
 
 And how then can you fully enjoy this leading? 
 The first thing that is necessary for this is faith. 
 You must take time, young Christian, to have your 
 heart filled with the deep and living consciousness 
 that the Spirit is in you. Read all the glorious decla- 
 rations of your Father in His word concerning what 
 the Spirit is in you and for you, until the conviction 
 
 1 John vi. 63, xiv. 26, xvi. 13 ; i Cor. ii. 10, 14 ; i Thess. ii. 13. 
 ^Zech. xii. 10 ; Rom. viii. 26, 27 ; Jude 12, 30. 
 ^i Cor vi. 19, 30 ; i Pet. i. 2, 15. 
 
 4 Mact. X. 20 ; Acts i. 8 ; Rom. viii. 9, 13 ; Gal. iv. 6 ; Eph. i- 13. 
 109 
 
The New Ufe. 
 
 •wholly fills you that you are really a temple of the 
 Spirit. Ignorance or unbelief on this point makes 
 it impossible for the Spirit to speak in you and to 
 lead you. Cherish an ever-abiding assurance that the 
 Spirit of God dwells in you.^ 
 
 Then the second thing that is necessary is this : 
 you are to hold yourself still, to attend to the voice 
 of the Spirit. As the Lord Jesus acts, so does also 
 the Spirit : " He shall not cry nor lift up His voice. ' ' 
 He whispers gently and quietly : only the soul that 
 sets itself very silently towards God can perceive His 
 voice and guidance. When we become to a needless 
 extent engrossed with the world, with its business, its 
 cares, its enjoyments, its literature, its politics, the 
 Spirit cannot lead us. When our service of God is a 
 bustling and working in our own wisdom and 
 strength, the Spirit cannot be heard in us. It is the 
 weak, the simple, who are willing to have themselves 
 taught in humility, that receive the leading of the 
 Spirit. Sit down every morning, sit down often in 
 the day, to say : Lord Jesus, I know nothing, I will 
 be silent : let the Spirit lead me.' 
 
 And then : be obedient. Listen to the inner voice, 
 and do what it says to you. Fill your heart every 
 day with the word, and when the Spirit puts you in 
 mind of what the word says, betake yourself to the 
 doing of it. So you become capable of further teach- 
 
 1 Acts xix. a ; Rom. v. 5 ; i Cor. iii. 16 ; 2 Cor. v. 5 ; Gal. iii. 
 
 5, 14- 
 
 * I Chron. xix. 12 ; Ps. Ixii. 2, 6, cxxxL i ; Isa. xlii. 2 ; Hab. ii, 
 20 ; Zech. iv. 6 ; Acts i. 4. 
 
 1 10 
 
The Leading of the Spirit, 
 
 ing : it is to the obedient that the full blessing of the 
 Spirit is promised.^ 
 
 Young Christian, know that you are a temple of the 
 Spirit, and that it is only through the daily leading 
 of the Spirit that you can walk as a child of God, 
 with the witness that you are pleasing the Father. 
 
 Precious Saviour, imprint this lesson deeply on my 
 mind. The Holy Spirit is in me. His leading is 
 every day and everywhere indispensable for me. I 
 cannot hear His voice in the word when I do not wait 
 silently upon Him. lyord, let a holy circumspectness 
 keep watch over me, that I may always walk as a 
 pupil of the Spirit. Amen. 
 
 1. It is often asked: How do I know that I shall continue 
 standing, that I shall be kept, that I shall increase ? The ques- 
 tion dishonors the Holy Spirit— is the token that you do not 
 know Him or do not trust Him. The question indicates that 
 you are seeking the secret of strength for perseverance in your- 
 self, and not in the Holy Spirit, your heavenly Guide. 
 
 2. As God sees to it, that every moment there is air for me to 
 "breathe, so shall the Holy Spirit unceasingly maintain life in 
 the hidden depths of my soul. He will not break off His own 
 w^ork. 
 
 3. From the time that we receive the Holy Spirit, we have 
 nothing to do but to honor His work : to keep our hands ofi 
 from it, and to trust Him, and to let Him work. 
 
 4. The beginning and the end of the work of the Spirit is to 
 reveal Jesus to me, and to cause me to abide in Him. As soon 
 as I would fain look after the work of the Spirit in me, I hinder 
 Him : He cannot work when I am not willing to look upon 
 Jesus. 
 
 J John xiv. 15, i6 ; Acts v. 32. 
 Ill 
 
The New Life. 
 
 5. The voice of the Father, the voice of the good Shepherd, 
 the voice of the Holy Spirit is very gentle. We must learn to 
 become deaf to other voices, to the world and its news of friends 
 and their thoughts, to our own Ego and its desires : then shall 
 we distinguish the voice of the Spirit. Let us often set ourselves 
 silent in prayer, entirely silent, to oflfer up our will and our 
 thoughts, and, with our eye upon Jesus to keep ear and heart 
 open for the voice of the Spirit. 
 
 112 
 
XXIV. 
 GRIEVING THE SPIRIT. 
 
 " Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed 
 onto the day of redemption." — Eph. iv. jo. 
 
 IT is by the Holy Spirit that the child of God is 
 sealed : separated and stamped and marked as 
 the possession of God. This sealing is not a dead or 
 external action that is finished once for all. It is a 
 living process, which has power in the soul, and 
 gives firm assurance of faith, only when it is experi- 
 enced through the life of the Spirit in us. On this 
 account we are to take great care not to grieve the 
 Spirit : in Him alone can you have every day the 
 joyful certitude and the full blessing of your child- 
 ship.* It is the very same Spirit that leads us who 
 witnesses with our spirit that we are children of God. 
 And how can any one grieve the Spirit? Above all 
 by yielding to sin. He is the Holy Spirit, given ta 
 sanctify us, and for every sin from which the blood 
 cleanses us, to fill us with the holy life of God, with 
 God, Sin grieves Him.^ For this reason the word 
 
 ^ Isa. liii. 10 ; Acts vii. 51 ; Heb. x. 29. 
 
 * Kindschap—a. word coined by the writer to express the rela- 
 tion of a child. Our childhood expresses rather the state or stage 
 of child-life.— Tr. 
 
 8 "3 
 
The New Life. 
 
 ^f God presently states by name the sins against 
 which above all we are to be on our guard. Mark 
 £^nly the four great sins that Paul mentions in con- 
 nection with our text. 
 
 There is first lying. There is no single sin that in 
 the Bible is so brought into connection with the devil 
 as lying. Lying is from hell, and it goes on to hell. 
 God is the God of truth. And the Holy Spirit can- 
 not possibly carry forward His blessed working in a 
 man or woman that lies, that is insincere, that does 
 injury to the truth. Young Christian, review with 
 care what the word of God says about lying and liars, 
 and pray God that you may never speak anything 
 but the literal truth. Grieve not the Holy Spirit of 
 God.i 
 
 Then there is anger. ''Let all bitterness, and wrath, 
 and anger, and clamor, and evil-speaking, be put 
 away from you." Hastiness, proneness to anger, sin 
 of temper is, along with lying, the most common sin 
 by which the Christian is kept back from increase in 
 grace.' Christian, let all passionateness be put away 
 from you : this follows on the command not to grieve 
 the Spirit. Believe that the Holy Spirit, the great 
 power of God, is in you. Surrender yourself every 
 day to His indwelling, in faith that Jesus can keep 
 you by Him : He will make and keep you gentle. 
 Yea, believe, I pray you, in the power of God, and of 
 
 IPs, V. 7; Prov. xii. 2a, xxi. 28 ; John viii. 44; Rev. xxi. 8, 27 
 xxii. 15. 
 
 'Matt V. 92, 46, 47; I Cor. i. 10, 11, iii. 3, xiii 1,3;. Gal. v. 5, xv 
 ■I, 26 ; Col. iii. 8, 12 ; i Thess. v. 15; Jas. iii. 14. 
 114 
 
Grieving the Spirit. 
 
 Jesus and of the Holy Spirit to overcome temper.* 
 Confess the sin : God shall cleanse you from it. 
 Grieve not the Holy Spirit of God. 
 
 Then there is stealing : all sin against the property 
 or possession of my neighbor : all deception and dis- 
 honesty in trade, whereby I do wrong to my neigh- 
 bor, and seek my own advantage at his cost. The 
 law of Christ is love whereby I seek the advantage of 
 my neighbor as well as my own. O the love of money 
 and property, which is inseparable from self-seeking 
 — it is incompatible with the leading of the Holy 
 Spirit. The Christian must be a man who is known 
 as honest to the back-bone, righteous, and loving his 
 neighbor as himself.'* 
 
 Then says the apostle: " «(? corrupt speech — but 
 such as is good for edifying as the case maybe." 
 Even the tongue of God's child belongs to his Lord, 
 He must be known by his mode of speech. By his 
 speaking, he can grieve or please the Spirit. The 
 sanctified tongue is a blessing not only to his neigh- 
 bors, but to the speaker himself. Foul talk, idle 
 words, foolish jests — they grieve the Holy Spirit. 
 They make it impossible for the Spirit to sanctify 
 and to comfort and to fill the heart with the love of 
 God.3 
 
 Young Christian, I pray you, grieve not the Holy 
 Spirit of God by these or other sins. If you have 
 
 ^Matt. xi. 29; I Cor. vi. 19, 20; Gal. vi. 1 ; Epb. ii. 16, 17 ; Col. 
 i. 8 ; 2 Tim. i. 12. 
 
 2 Luke vi. 31 ; Rom. xiii. 10 ; i Thess. iv. 6. 
 
 3 Prov. X. 19, 20, 21, 31, xviii. 20 ; Eccles. v. i, 2 ; Matt. xii. 36 ,- 
 Bph. V. 4 ; Jas. iii. 9, iq. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 committed such sins, confess them, and God will 
 cleanse you from them. By the Holy Spirit you are 
 sealed : if you would walk in the stability and joy of 
 faith, listen to the word : " Grieve not the Holy Spirit 
 of God." 
 
 Lord God, my Father in heaven, do, I pray thee, 
 cause me to understand what marvelous grace Thou 
 art manifesting to me, in that Thou hast given to me 
 Thy Holy Spirit in my heart. Lord, let this faith be 
 the argument and the power for cleansing me from 
 every sin. Holy Jesus, sanctify me, that in my 
 thinking, speaking, acting — in all things, Thine image 
 may appear. Amen. 
 
 I. The thought of the Christian about this word, "Grieve not 
 the Holy Spirit" is a touchstone as to whether he understands 
 the life of faith. 
 
 For some it is a word of terror and fear. A father once brought 
 a child to the train to go on a journey with the new governess, 
 with whom she was to remain. Before her departure he said : 
 " I hear that she is very sensitive and takes things much amiss : 
 take care that you do nothing to grieve her." The poor child 
 had no pleasant journey : it appeared to her very grievous to be 
 in anxious fear of one who was so prone to take anything wrong 
 
 This is the view of the Holy Spirit which many have : a Being 
 whom it is difficult to satisfy, who thinks little of our weakness, 
 and who, even though we take pains, is discontented when our 
 work is not perfect. 
 
 2. Another father also brought his daughter to the train to go 
 on a journey, and to be a time from home: but in company with 
 her mother, whom she loved very dearly. " You are to be a 
 good child," said the father, "and do everything to please your 
 mamma; otherwise you shall grieve her and me." "Oh,cer 
 ii6 
 
Grieving the Spirit. 
 
 tainly, papa ! " was the joyful answer of the child. For she felt 
 so happy to be with her mother, and was willing to do her 
 utmost to be agreeable to her. 
 
 There are children of God to whom the Holy Spirit is so well 
 known in His tender, helpful love, and the Comforter and the 
 Good Spirit, that the word, " Grieve not the Spirit of God " has 
 for them a gentle, encou:aging power. May our fear to grieve 
 Him always be the tender childlike fear of trustful love. 
 117 
 
XXV. 
 
 FLESH AND SPIRIT. 
 
 "And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, 
 but as unto carnal, as unto babes in Christ."— i Cor. iii. i 
 
 •' I am carnal, sold under sin : to will is present with me, but 
 to do that which is good is not. The law of the Spirit of life in 
 Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of death. Ye 
 are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of 
 God dwelleth in you." — Rom. vii. 14, 18, viii. 2, 9. 
 
 " Having begun in the Spirit, are ye now perfected in the 
 flesh? If ye are led by the Spirit, ye are not under the law. If 
 we live by the Spirit, by the Spirit let us also walk."— Gal. iii. 
 3, V. 18. 25. 
 
 IT is of great importance for the young Christian to 
 understand that there are in him two natures, 
 which strive against one another.^ If we weigh the 
 texts noted above, we shall see that the word of God 
 teaches us the following truths on this point. 
 
 Sin comes from the flesh : the reason why the 
 Christian still does sin is that he yields to the flesh 
 and does not walk by the Spirit. Every Christian 
 has the Spirit and lives by the Spirit, but every 
 Christian does not walk by the Spirit. If he walks 
 by the Spirit, he will not fulfill the desires of the 
 flesh.' 
 
 1 Gal. V. 17, 24, 25, vi. 8 ; Eph. iv. 22, 24 ; Col. iii. 9, 10 ; i Pet 
 iv. 2. 
 'Rom. viii. 7 ; i Cor. iii. i, 3 ; Gal. v. 16, 25. 
 118 
 
Flesh and Spirit. 
 
 So long as there are still in the Christian strife and 
 envy, the word of God calls him carnal. He would 
 indeed do good, but he cannot : he does what he 
 would not, because he still strives in his own strength 
 and not in the power of the Spirit. ^ 
 
 The flesh remains under the law, and seeks to obey 
 the law. But through the flesh the law is powerless, 
 and the endeavor to do good is vain. Its language 
 is : "I am carnal, sold under sin : to will is present 
 with me, but to do that which is good is not. " ' 
 
 This is not the condition in which God would have 
 his child remain. The word says : *' It is God that 
 worketh in you, both to will and to work."* The 
 Christian must not only live by the Spirit, but also 
 walk by the Spirit. He must be a spiritual man, and 
 abide entirely under the leading of the Spirit.' If he 
 thus walks, he will no longer do what he would not. 
 He will no longer remain in the condition of Romans 
 vii., as a new-born babe, still seeking to fulfill the 
 law, but in Romans viii., as one who through the 
 Spirit is made free from the law with its command- 
 ment, "do this," which gives no power, but brings 
 death, and who walks, not in the oldness of the let- 
 ter, but in the newness of the Spirit.* 
 
 There are Christians that begin with the Spirit, but 
 end with the flesh. They are converted, born again 
 
 1 Rom. vii. i8 ; i Cor. iii. 3 ; Gal. v. 15, 26. 
 
 2 Rom. iv. 14, 15, vii. 4, 6, viii. 3, 8 ; Gal. v. 18, vi. 12, 13 ; Heb. 
 vii. 18, viii. 9, 13. 
 
 8 Rom. viii. 14; i Cor. ii. 15, iii. i ; Gal. vi. i. 
 * Rom. vii. 6, viii. 2, 13. 
 
 ♦The Dutch version has — " and to accomplish." — Tr. 
 119 
 
The Nev7 Life. 
 
 through the Spirit, but fall unconsciously into a life 
 in which they endeavor to overcome sin and be holy 
 through their own exertion, through doing their best. 
 They ask God to help them in these their endeavors, 
 and think that this is faith. They do not understand 
 what it is to say : '' In me, that is, in my flesh, dwell- 
 eth no good thing," and that therefore they are to 
 cease from their own endeavors, in order to do God's 
 will, wholly and only through the Spirit.^ 
 
 Child of God, pray, learn what it is to say of your- 
 self, just as you are, even after the new birth : "I am 
 carnal, sold under sin." Endeavor no longer to be 
 doing your best, and to be praying to God, and to be 
 trusting Him to help you. No : learn to say : "The 
 law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free 
 from the law of sin and of death." Let your work 
 every day be to have the Spirit work in you, to walk 
 by the Spirit, and you shall be redeemed from the 
 life of complaining, ** the good that I would 1 do 
 not," into a life of faith, in which it is God that 
 worketh in you both to will and to do. 
 
 Lord God, teach me to acknowledge with all my 
 heart that in me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth 
 nothing good. Teach me also to cease from every 
 thought, as if I could, with my own endeavors, serve 
 or please Thee. Teach me to understand that the 
 Spirit is the Comforter, who frees me from all anxiety 
 and fear about my own powerlessness, in order that 
 He may work the strength of Christ in me. Amen. 
 
 1 Rom. vii. i8 ; Gal. iii. 3, iv. 9, v. 4, 7. 
 X20 
 
Flesh and Spirit. 
 
 1. In order to understand the conflict betwixt flesh and Spirit, 
 we must especially seek to have a clear insight into the connec- 
 tion between Rom. vii. and viii. In Rom. vii. 6, Paul had 
 spoken of the twofold way of serving God, the one in the old- 
 ness of the letter, the other in the newness of the Spirit In 
 Rom. vii. 14-16 he describes the first, in Rom. viii. 1- 16 the 
 second. This appears clearly when we observe that in ch. vii. 
 he mentions the Spirit but once, the law more than twenty 
 times ; in Rom. viii. 1-16, the Spirit sixteen times. In Rom. vii. 
 We see the regenerate soul, just as he is in himself with his new 
 nature, desirous, but powerless, to fulfill the law, mourning as 
 one who "is captive under the law of sin." In Rom. viii. we 
 hear him say, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ made me 
 free from the law of sin." Rom. vii. describes the ever-abiding 
 condition of the Christian, contemplated as renewed, but not 
 experiencing by faith the power of the Holy Spirit : Rom. viii. 
 his life in the freedom which the Spirit of God really gives from 
 the power of sin. 
 
 2. It is of very great importance to understand that the con- 
 flict between grace and works, between faith and one's own 
 power, between the Holy Spirit and confidence in ourselves and 
 the flesh, always continues to go on, not only in connection 
 w^ith conversion and the reception of the righteousness of God, 
 but even further, into a walk in this righteousness. On this 
 account the Christian has to watch very carefully against the 
 deep inclination of his heart still to work in his own behalf, 
 when he sees in himself anything wrong or when he would fol- 
 low after holiness, instead of always and only trusting in Jesus 
 Christ and so serving God in the Spirit. 
 
 3. In order to make clear the opposition between the two 
 methods of serving God, let me adduce consecutively in their 
 entirety the passages in which they are expressed with special 
 distinctness. Compare them with care. Pray God for the 
 Spirit in order to make you understand them. Take deeply to 
 heart the lesson as to how you are to serve God well, and how not. 
 
 The circumcision of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter. 
 (Rom. ii. 29.) 
 
 To him that worketh not, but believeth, his faith is reckoned 
 for righteousness. (Rom. iv. 5.) 
 
 121 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Rom. vi. 14.) 
 
 We have been discharged from the law, so that we serve in 
 newness of the Spirit and not in the oldnessof the letter. (Rom. 
 viL 6.) 
 
 We know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under 
 sin. (Rom. vii. 14.) 
 
 The ordinance of the law is fulfilled in us, who walk not after 
 the flesh, but after the Spirit. (Rom. viii. 4.) 
 
 Ye received not the Spirit of bondage again to fear, but ye re- 
 ceived the Spirit of adoption. (Rom. viii. 15.) 
 
 The righteousness which is of the law is : " The man that 
 doeth these things shall live by them. But the righteousness 
 which is of faith saith thus, Say not in thine heart, Who shall 
 ascend? Who shall desceud? But what saith it? The word 
 is nigh thee, in thy mouth and in thy heart." (Rom. x. 5-8.) 
 
 If it is by grace it is no more of works. (Rom. xi. 6.) 
 
 I could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto car- 
 nal, as unto babes in Christ, (i Cor. iii. i.) 
 
 I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me. (GaL 
 ii. ao.) 
 
 The righteous shall live by faith ; yet the law is not of faith: 
 but the man that doeth these things shall live by them. (Gal. 
 iii II, 12.) 
 
 If the inheritance is of the law, it is no more of promise. (GaL 
 iii. 18.) 
 
 So that thou art no longer a bondservant, but a son. (Gal. 
 iv. 7.) 
 
 Wherefore, brethren, we are not children of a handmaid, but 
 of the free-woman. (Gal. iv. 31.) 
 
 Walk by the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. 
 (Gal. V. 16.) 
 
 If ye are led by the Spirit ye are not under the law. (Gat 
 V. 18.) 
 
 Who worship by the Spirit of God and glory in Christ JesDS> 
 and hav« no confidence in the flesh. (Phil. iii. 3.) 
 
 Another priest who hath been made not after the law of a car- 
 nal commandment, but after the power of an endless life. (Heb. 
 viii. 16.) 
 
 4. Beloved Christian, you have received the Holy Spirit from 
 122 
 
Flesh and Spirit. 
 
 the Lord Jesus to reveal Him and His life in you, and to mortify 
 the working of the body of sin. Pray much to be filled with the 
 Spirit. Ivive in the joyful faith that the Spirit is in you, as your 
 Comforter and Teacher, and that through Him all will come 
 right. I^eam by heart this text, and let it live in your heart 
 and on your lips: " We are the circumcision, who worship by 
 the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus, and have no confi> 
 dence in the flesh." 
 
XXVI. 
 THE LIFE OF FAITH. 
 
 " The righteous shall live by his faith." — Hab. ii. 4. 
 
 *' We have been discharged from the law, so that we serve in 
 newness of the Spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter.' ' — 
 Rom. vii. 6. 
 
 " I live ; and yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me ; and 
 that life which I now live in the flesh I live in faith, the faith 
 which is in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave Himself up 
 for me." — Gal. ii. 20. 
 
 THE word from Habakkuk is thrice quoted in the 
 New Testament as the Divine representation of 
 salvation in Christ by faith alone.^ But that word is 
 oftentimes very imperfectly understood, as if it ran : 
 Man shall, on his conversion, be justified by faith. 
 The word includes this, but signifies much more. It 
 says that the righteous shall live by faith : the whole 
 life of the righteous, from moment to moment, shall 
 be by faith. '' 
 
 We all know how sharp is the opposition which 
 God in His word presents betwixt the grace that 
 comes by faith and the law that works — demands. 
 This is generally admitted with reference to 
 justification. But that distinction holds just as 
 much of the whole life of sanctification. The right- 
 
 >Rom. i. 17; Gal. iii. 11 ; Heb x. 38. 
 >Rom. V. 17, 21, vi. II, viii. 2 ; Gal. ii. 20 ; i John v. 11, 12. 
 124 
 
The I,ife of Faith. 
 
 eous shall live by faith alone, that is, shall have 
 power to live according to the will of God. As at 
 his conversion he found it necessary to understand 
 that there was nothing good in him, and that he must 
 receive grace as one that was powerless and godless, 
 so must he as a believer just as clearly understand 
 that in him there is nothing good, and that he must 
 receive his power for good every moment from 
 above. 1 And his work must therefore be every 
 morning and every hour to look up and believe and 
 receive his power from above, out of his Lord in 
 heaven. I am not to do what I can, and hope in the 
 Lord to supply strength. No : as one who has been 
 dead, who is literally able for nothing in himself, and 
 whose life is in his Lord above, I am to reckon by 
 faith on Him who will work in me mightily.'^ 
 
 Happy the Christian who understands that his 
 greatest danger every day is again to fall under the 
 law, and to be fain to serve God in the flesh with his 
 own strength. Happy when he discerns that he is 
 not under the law which just demands and yet is 
 powerless through the flesh, but is under grace where 
 we have simply to receive what has been given. 
 Happy when he fully appropriates for himself the 
 promise of the Spirit who transfers all that is in 
 Christ to him. Yea, happy when he understands 
 what it is to live by faith, and to serve, not in the 
 oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the Spirit.* 
 
 1 Rom. vii. i8, vim. 2, 13 ; Heb. xi. 38. 
 >Rom. iv. 17 ; 2 Cor. i. 9 ; Col. i. 29, ii. 3. 
 'Rom. vii. 4, 6, xii. s, 6; Gal. v. 18; PhiL iii.3. 
 125 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Let us make our own the words of Paul ; tlaey pre- 
 sent to us the true life of faith : " I have been cruci- 
 fied with Christ; yet I live." My flesh, not only 
 my sin, but my flesh, all that is of myself, my own 
 living and willing, my own power and working, have 
 I given up to death. I live no longer — of myself, I 
 cannot. I will not live, or do anything.^ Christ 
 lives in me : He Himself, by His Spirit, is my power, 
 and teaches and strengthens me to live as I ought to 
 do. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I 
 live by faith in Him : my great work is to reckon 
 upon Him to work in Him, as well the willing as the 
 accomplishment. 
 
 Young Christian, let this life of faith be your faith. 
 
 O my Lord Jesus, Thou art my life : yea, my life. 
 Thou livest in me, and art willing to take my whole 
 life at thine own charges. And my whole life may 
 daily be a joyful trust and experience that Thou art 
 working all in me. 
 
 Precious Lord, to that life of faith will I surrender 
 myself. Yea, to Thee. I surrender myself, to teach 
 me and to reveal thyself fully in me. Amen. 
 
 I. Do you discern the error of the expression — if the Lord helpt 
 me — the Lord must help me ? In natural things we speak thus, 
 for we have a certain measure of power, and the l,ord will in- 
 crease it But the New Testament never uses the expression 
 "help" of the grace of God in the soul. We have absolutely no 
 XKJwer— God is not to help us because we are weak : no. He is 
 to give His life and His power in us as entirely impotent. He 
 that discerns this aright will learn to live by faith alone. 
 
 1 John XV. 4, 5 ; I Cor. xv. lo ; 2 Cor. xii. lo. 
 126 
 
The Life of Faith. 
 
 2. " Without faith it is impossible to please God ; " " All that 
 is not of faith is sin." Such words of the Spirit of God teach us 
 how really every deed and disposition of our life is to be full of 
 faith. 
 
 3. Hence our first work every day is anew to exercise faith in 
 Jesus as our life ; to believe that He dwells in us, and will do all 
 for us and in us. This faith must be the mood of our soul the 
 whole day. This faith cannot be maintained except in the fel- 
 lowship and nearnesss of Jesus Himself. 
 
 4. This faith has its p>ower in the mutual surrender of Jesus 
 and the believer to each other. Jesus first gives Himself wholly 
 for us. The believer gives himself wholly in order to be taken 
 into possession and gfuided by Jesus. Then the soul cannot 
 even doubt if He will do all for it. 
 
 127 
 
XXVII. 
 THE MIGHT OF SATAN. 
 
 •• Simon, Simon, behold, Satan asked to have you, that he 
 might sift you as wheat : but I made supplication for thee, that 
 thy faith fail not."— I^uke xxii. 31, 32. 
 
 THERE is nothing that makes an enemy so dan- 
 gerous as the fact that he remains hidden or 
 forgotten. Of the three great enemies of the Chris- 
 tian, the world, the flesh, and the devil, the last is 
 the most dangerous, not only because it is he that, 
 strictly speaking, lends to the others what power 
 they have, but also because he is not seen, and, 
 therefore, little known or feared. The devil has the 
 power of darkness : he darkens the eyes, so that men 
 do not know him. He surrounds himself with dark- 
 ness, so that he is not observed. Yea, he has even 
 the power to appear as an angel of light ' It is by 
 the faith that recognizes things unseen that the 
 Christian is to endeavor to know Satan, even as the 
 Scripture has revealed him. 
 
 When the Lord Jesus was living upon earth, His 
 great work was to overcome Satan. When at His 
 baptism He was filled with the Spirit, this fulness of 
 the Spirit brought him into contact with Satan as 
 
 1 Matt. iv. 6 ; 3 Cor. iv. 4, xi. 14. 
 128 
 
The Might of Satan. 
 
 head of the world of evil spirits, to combat him and 
 to overcome him. ^ After that time the eyes of the 
 Lord were always open to the power and working of 
 Satan. In all sin and misery. He saw the revelation 
 of the mighty kingdom of the very same superior, 
 the evil one. Not only in the demoniacs, but also in 
 the sick, He saw the enemy of God and man.^ In 
 the advice of Peter to avoid the cross, and in his de- 
 nial of his Lord, where we should think of the reve- 
 lation of the natural character of Peter, Jesus saw the 
 work of Satan.* In His own sufifering, where we 
 rather speak of the sin of man and the permission of 
 God, Jesus perceives the power of darkness. His 
 whole work in living and in dying was to destroy the 
 works of Satan, as He shall also at His second com- 
 ing utterly bruise Satan himself.* 
 
 His word to Peter, compared with the personal ex- 
 perience of the Lord, gives us a fearful insight into 
 the work of the enemy. ** Satan hath eagerly desired 
 you," says Jesus. "As a roaring lion, he walketh 
 about, seeking whom he may devour," says Peter 
 himself later on.^ He has no unlimited power, but 
 he is always eager to make use of every weak or un- 
 guarded moment. " That he might sift you as 
 wheat : " what a picture ! This world, yea, even the 
 Church of Christ, is the threshing-floor of Satan. 
 
 ^Matt. iv. I, 10. 
 
 •^Matt. xii. 28 ; Mark iv. 15 ; Luke xiii. 16 ; Acts x. 38. 
 8 Matt. xvi. 23 ; I,uke xxii. 31, 32. 
 
 ♦lyuke X. t8, xxii. 3, 53 ; John xii. 31, xiv. 30 ; xvi. 11 ; Rom. 
 xvi. 20 ; Col. ii. 15 ; 2 Thess. ii. 8, 9 ; i John iii. 8. 
 6 1 Cor. vii. 5; 2 Cor. ii. 10; i Pet. v. 8. 
 
 9 129 
 
The New Life. 
 
 The corn belongs to God ; the chaff is his own. He 
 sifts and sifts continually, and all that falls through 
 "with the chaff he endeavors to take for himself. 
 And many a Christian is there who does fall through 
 in a terrible fashion, and who, were it not for the 
 intercession of his Lord, would perish for ever.^ 
 
 Satan has more than one sieve. The first is gen- 
 erally worldly-mindedness — the love of the world. 
 Many a one is pious in his time of poverty, but when 
 he becomes rich, he again eagerly strives to win the 
 world. Or in the time of conversion and awakening 
 he appears very zealous, but through the care of the 
 world he is led astray.^ 
 
 A second sieve is self-love and self-seeking. When- 
 ever any one does not give himself undividedly to 
 serve his Lord and his neighbor, and to love his 
 neighbor in the Lord, it soon appears that the prin- 
 cipal token of a disciple is lacking in him. It will be 
 manifest that many a one, with a fair profession of 
 being devoted to the service of God, fails utterly on 
 this point, and must be reckoned with the chaff. 
 Lovelessness is the sure token of the power of Satan.^ 
 
 Yet another sieve, a very dangerous one, is self- 
 confidence. Under the name of following the Spirit^ 
 one may listen to the thoughts of his own heart. He 
 is zealous for the Lord, but with a carnal zeal, in 
 which the gentleness of the lamb of God is not seen. 
 Without being observed, the movements of the flesh 
 
 ' I Cor. V. 5 ; i Tim. i. 20. 
 
 8 Matt. iv. 9, xiii. 22; i Tim. vi. 9, 10; 8 Tim. iv. 10. 
 'John viii. 44 ; i John ii. 10, 15, iv. 20. 
 130 
 
The Might of Satan. 
 
 mingle with the workings of the Spirit, and while he 
 boasts that he is overcoming Satan, he is being 
 secretly ensnared by him. ^ 
 
 O it is a serious life here upon the earth, where 
 God gives permission for Satan to set his threshing 
 floor even in the Church. Happy are they who with 
 deep humility, with fear and trembling, distrust 
 themselves. Our only security is in the intercession 
 and guidance of Him who overcame Satan. '^ Far be 
 from us the idea that we know all the depths of 
 Satan, and are a match for all his cunning stratagems. 
 It is in the region of the spirit, in the invisible, that 
 he works and has power, as well as in the visible. 
 Let us fear lest, while we have known and overcome 
 him in the visible, he should prevail over us in the 
 spiritual. May our only security be the conviction 
 of our frailty and weakness, our confidence in Him 
 who certainly keeps the lowly in heart. 
 
 Lord Jesus, open our eyes to know our enemy and 
 his wiles. Cause us to see him and his realm, that 
 we may dread all that is of him. And open our eyes 
 to see how Thou hast overcome him, and how in 
 Thee we are invincible. O teach us what it is to be 
 in Thee^ to mortify all that is of the mere Ego and 
 the will of the flesh, and to be strong in weakness 
 and lowliness. And teach us to bring into prayer the 
 conflict of faith against every stronghold of Satan, 
 
 ^ Gal. iii. 3, v. 13. 
 2 Eph. vi. 10, 12, 16. 
 
The New lyife. 
 
 because we know that Thou wilt bruise him under 
 our feet. Amen. 
 
 1. What comfort does the knowledge of the existence of Satan 
 give us? 
 
 We know then that sin is derived from a foreign power which 
 has thrust itself into our nature, and does not naturally belong 
 to us. We know besides that he has been entirely vanquished 
 by the Lord Jesus, and thus has no power over us so long as we 
 abide trustfully in Christ. 
 
 2. The whole of this world, with all that is in it, is under the 
 domination of Satan : therefore there is nothing, even what ap- 
 pears good and fair, that may not be dangerous for us. In all 
 things, even in what is lawful and right, we must be led and 
 sanctified by the Spirit, if we would continue liberated from the 
 power of Satan. 
 
 3. Satan is an evil spirit : only by the good Spirit, the Spirit of 
 God, can we offer resistance to him. He works in the invisible : 
 in order to combat him, we have, by prayer, to enter into the 
 invisible. He is a mighty prince : only in the name of One who 
 is mightier and in fellowship with Him can we overcome. 
 
 4. What a glorious work is labor for souls, for the lost, for 
 drunkards, for heathen; a conflict to rescue them from the 
 might of Satan. (Acts xx\n. 18.) 
 
 5. In the Revelation the victory over Satan is ascribed to the 
 blood of the Lamb. (Rev. xii. 11.) Christians have also testi- 
 fied that there is no power in temptation, because Satan readily 
 retreats when one appeals to the blood, by which one knows 
 that sin has been entirely expiated, and we are thus also wholly 
 freed from his power. 
 
 132 
 
XXVIII. 
 THE CONFI.ICT OF THE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 " strive to enter in by the narrow door." — I,uk:e xiii. 24. 
 " Fight the good fight of the faith."— i Tim. vi. 12. 
 '* I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I 
 have kept the faith."— 2 Tim. iv. 7. 
 
 THBSB texts speak of a twofold conflict. The 
 first is addressed to the unconverted: ** Strive 
 to enter in by the narrow door." Entrance by a door 
 is the work of a moment : the sinner is not to strive 
 to enter during his whole lifetime ; he is to strive and 
 do it immediately. He is not to sufifer anything to 
 hold him back ; he must enter in.^ 
 
 Then comes the second, the life-long conflict : by 
 the narrow door I come upon the new way. On the 
 new way there are still always enemies. Of this life- 
 long conflict Paul says: "I have fought the good 
 fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the 
 faith." With respect to the continuous conflict, he 
 gives the charge : "Fight the good fight of faith." 
 
 There is much misunderstanding about this two- 
 fold conflict. Many strive all their life against the 
 Lord and His summons, and, because they are not at 
 rest, but feel an inner conflict, they think that this is 
 the conflict of a Christian. Assuredly not : this is 
 
 1 Gen. xix. 22 ; John x. 9 ; 2 Cor. vi. 2 ; Heb. iv. 6. 7. 
 133 
 
The New Life. 
 
 the struggle against God of one who is not willing to 
 abandon everything and surrender himself to the 
 Lord.^ This is not the conflict that the Lord would 
 have. What He says is that the conflict is concerned 
 with entering in : but not a conflict for long years. No : 
 He desires that you should break through the enemies 
 that would hold you back, and immediately enter in. 
 
 Then follows the second conflict, which endures 
 for life. Paul twice calls this the fight of faith. The 
 chief characteristic of it is faith. He who under- 
 stands well that the principal element in the battle is 
 to believe, and acts accordingly, does certainly carry 
 off the palm : just as in another passage Paul says to 
 the Christian combatant : * ' Withal taking up the 
 shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench 
 all the fiery darts of the evil one." ' 
 
 And what then does it mean, this " fight of faith ? " 
 That, while I strive, I am to believe that the Lord 
 will help me ? No : it is not so, although it often is 
 so understood. 
 
 In a conflict it is of supreme importance that I 
 should be in a stronghold or fortress which cannot be 
 taken . With such a stronghold a weak garrison can 
 offer resistance to a powerful enemy. Our conflict as 
 Christians is now no longer concerned with going 
 into the fortress. No : we have gone in, and are now 
 in ; and so long as we remain in it, we are invincible. 
 The stronghold, this stable fort, is Christ.' By faith 
 
 1 Acts V. 39 ; i Cor. x. 22. 
 
 2 Eph. vi. 16 ; I John iii. 4, 5. 
 
 3Ps. xviii. 3, xlvi. 2, Ixii. 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, cxliv. a ; Eph. vL 10. 
 
The Conflict of the Christian. 
 
 ■we are in Him : by faith we know that the enemy 
 can make no progress against our fortress. The wiles 
 of Satan all go forth on the line of enticing us out of 
 cur fortress, of engaging us in conflict with him on 
 the open plain. There he always overcomes. But if 
 we only strive in faith, abiding in Christ by faith, 
 then we overcome, because Satan then has to deal 
 with Him, and because He then fights and over- 
 comes. ^ ** This is the victory that hath overcome the 
 world, even our faith." Our first and greatest work 
 is thus to believe. As Paul said before he mentions 
 the warlike equipment of the Christian : ' ' From 
 henceforth be strong in the Lord, and in the strength 
 of His might." 
 
 The reason why the victory is only by faith, and 
 why the fight of faith is the good fight, is this : it is 
 the Lord Jesus who purchased the victory, and who 
 therefore alone gives power and dominion over the 
 enemy. If we are, and abide, in Him, and surrender 
 ourselves to live in Him, and by faith appropriate 
 what He is, then the victory is in itself our own. 
 We then understand : ' * The battle is not yours, but 
 God's. The Lord your God shall fight for you, and 
 ye shall be still." Just as we in opposition to God 
 can achieve nothing good of ourselves, but in Christ 
 please Him, so also is it in opposition to Satan : in 
 ourselves we achieve nothing, but in Christ we are 
 more than conquerors. By faith we stand in Him 
 
 1 Ex. xiv. 14 ; Josh. v. 14 ; 2 Chron. xxiii. 15 ; John xvi. 33 ; 
 Rom. viii. 37 ; 2 Cor, ii. 14. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 righteous before God, and just so in Him are we 
 strong against our enemies. ^ 
 
 In this light we can read and take home to our- 
 selves all the noble passages in the Old Testament, 
 especially in the Psalms, where the glorious conflict 
 of God in behalf of His people is spoken of. Fear, 
 or spiritlessness, or uncertainty, makes weak, and 
 cannot overcome : faith in the living God is equal to 
 everything.^ In Christ this truth is now still more 
 real. God has come near. His power works in us 
 who believe ; it is really He that fights for us. 
 
 Lord Jesus, who art the Prince of the army of 
 the Lord, the Hero, the Victor, teach me to be strong 
 in Thee my stronghold, and in the power of Thy 
 might. Teach me to understand what the good fight 
 of faith is, and how the one thing that I have need 
 of is, always to look to Thee, to Thee, the supreme 
 Guide of faith. And, consequently, in me, too, let 
 this be the victory that overcometh the world, 
 namely, my faith. Amen. 
 
 I. The conflict of faith is no civil war, in which one half of 
 , the kingdom is divided against the other. This would be insur- 
 rection. This is the one conflict that many Christians know -• 
 the unrest of the conscience, and the powerless wrestling of a 
 will which consents to that which is good, but does not perform 
 it. The Christian has not to overcome himself This his Lord 
 does when he surrenders himself. Then he is free and strong 
 
 1 Ps. xliv. 4, 9 ; Isa. xlv. 24. 
 
 « Deut. XX. 3, 8 ; Josh. vi. 20 ; Judges vii. 3 ; Ps. xviii. 32-40 ; 
 Heb. xi. 23. 
 
 136 
 
The Conflict of the Christian. 
 
 to combat and overcome the enemies of his Lord and of the 
 kingdom. No sooner, however, we are willing that God should 
 have his way with us than we are found striving against God. 
 This also is truly conflict, but it is not the good fight of faith. 
 
 2. In Galatians v. reference is made to the inner conflict : for 
 the Galatians had not yet entirely surrendered themselves to 
 the Spirit, to walk after the Spirit. "The connection," says 
 Lange, *' shows that this conflict betwixt the flesh and the Spirit 
 of God is not endless, but that there is expected of the Christian 
 a complete surrender of himself, in order to be led only by the 
 one principle— the Spirit ; and then, further, a refusal to obey 
 the flesh." The believer must not strive against the flesh, to 
 overcome it : this he cannot do. What he is to do is to choose 
 to whom he will subject himself: by the surrender of faith to 
 Christ, to strive in Him through the Spirit, He has a divine 
 power for overcoming. 
 
 3. Hence, as we have seen in connection with the beginning 
 of the new life, our one work every day and the whole day is to 
 believe. Out of faith come all blessings and power, also the 
 victory for overcoming. 
 
XXIX. 
 
 BE A BLESSING. 
 
 " Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and' 
 from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee ; 
 and I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee ; 
 and be thou a blessing." — Gen. xii. i, 2. 
 
 IN these first words that God spake to Abraham, we 
 have the short summary of all that God has to 
 say to him and to us as His children. We see what 
 the goal is to which God calls us, what the power 
 that carries us to that goal, and what the place where 
 the power is found. 
 
 Be a blessing : that is the goal for which God sepa- 
 rates Abraham and every believing child of His. 
 
 God would have him and us made to understand 
 that, when He blesses us, this is certainly not simply 
 to make us happy, but that we should still further 
 communicate His blessing.^ God Himself is love, 
 and therefore He blesses. Love seeketh not itself : 
 when the love of God comes to us, it will seek others 
 through us.' The young Christian must from the 
 beginning understand that he has received grace 
 with the definite aim of becoming a blessing to 
 others. Pray, keep not for yourself what the Lord 
 
 1 Matt. V. 34, 35, X. 8, xviii. 33. 
 
 2lsa. Iviii. 10, 11 ; i Cor. xiii. 5 ; i John iv. 11. 
 
 138 
 
Be a Blessing. 
 
 gives to you for others. Offer yourself expressly 
 and completely to the Lord, to be used by Him for 
 others : that is the way to be blessed overflowingly 
 yourself. ^ 
 
 The power for this work will be given. " Be a 
 blessing :" "I will bless thee," says Ibe Lord. You 
 are to be personally blessed yourself, personally sanc- 
 tified and filled with the Spirit, and peace, and power 
 of the Lord : then you have power to bless. ^ In 
 Christ God has * ' blessed us with all spiritual things :'' 
 let Jesus fill you with these blessings, and you snail 
 certainly be a blessing : you need not doubt or fear. 
 The blessing of God includes in it the power of life 
 for multiplication, for expansion, for communication. 
 See in the Scriptures how blessing and multiplica- 
 tion go together.' Blessing always includes the 
 power to bless others. Only give the word of the 
 the Almighty God, *' I will bless Thee," time to sink 
 into your spirit. Wait upon God, that He Himself 
 may say to you, "I will bless thee." Let your faith 
 cleave fast to this. God will make it truth to you, 
 above all asking and thinking.* 
 
 But for this end you must also betake yourself to 
 the place of blessing : the land of promise, the sim- 
 ple life of faith in the promises. * ' Get thee out thy 
 land and thy father's house," says the Lord. De- 
 parture, separation from the life of nature and the 
 
 1 Ps. cxii. 5, 9 ; Prov. xi. 24, 25 ; Matt. xxv. 40 ; i Cor. xv. 58 ; 2 
 Cor. ix. 6 ; Heb. vi. 10. 
 *i,uke xxiv. 49; John vii. 38, xiv. 12. 
 •Gen. i. 22, 28, ix. i, xxii. 17, xxvL 24. 
 *a Cor. ix. 8, II ; Uph. i. 3 ; Heb. vi. 14. 
 
The New Ufe. 
 
 flesh, in -which we were born of our father Adam, is 
 what God would have. The ofiFering up of what is 
 most precious to man is the way to the blessing of 
 God.i "Get thee to a land that I will show thee," 
 says the Lord, out of the old life to a new life, where 
 I alone am your guide ; that is, a life where God can 
 have me wholly for Himself alone, where I walk only 
 on the promises of God — a life of faith. 
 
 Christian, God will, in a Divine fashion, fulfill to 
 you His promise, "I will bless thee." O go, pray, 
 out of your land and your father* s house, out of the 
 life of nature and the flesh, out of intercourse with 
 the flesh and this world, to the New lyife, the life of 
 the Spirit, the life in fellowship with God to which 
 He will lead you. There you become receptive of 
 His blessing ; there your heart becomes open to full 
 faith in His word, " I will bless thee ;" there He can 
 fulfill that word to you, and make you full of His 
 blessing and power to be a blessing to others. Live 
 with God, separated from the world : then shall you 
 hear the voice of God speak with power : "I will 
 bless thee ; " "Be thou a blessing." 
 
 O my Father, show me the way to that promised 
 land where Thou bringest Thy people to have them 
 wholly for Thyself. I will abandon everything to 
 follow Thee, to hold converse with Thee alone, in 
 order that Thou mayest fill me with Thy blessing. 
 Lord, let Thy word, *'I will bless Thee," live in my 
 heart as a word of God : then shall I give myself 
 wholly to live for others and to be a blessing. Amen. 
 
 il,uke xviii. 29, 30; John xii. 24, 25; 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. 
 140 
 
Be a Blessing. 
 
 1. God is the great, the only Fountain of blessing : as much of 
 God as I have in me, so much blessing can I bring. I can work 
 much for others without blessing. Actually to be a blessing, I 
 must begin with that word, " I will bless thee : " then theother, 
 " Be a blessing ' ' becomes easy. 
 
 2. In order to become a blessing, begin on a small scale : yield 
 yourself up for others. I^ive to make others happy. Believe 
 that the love of God dwells in you by the Spirit, and give your- 
 self wholly to be a blessing and a joy to those who are round 
 about you. Pray God to shed abroad His love in you still fur- 
 ther by the Spirit. And believe very firmly that God can make 
 you a greater blessing than you can think, if you surrender 
 yourself to Him for this end. 
 
 3. But this surrender must have time in solitary prayer, that 
 God may obtain possession of your spirit. This is for you the 
 departure from your father's house : separate yourself from 
 men that God may speak with you. 
 
 4. What think you? Was Abraham ever filled with regret 
 that he placed himself so entirely under the leading of God ? 
 Then do you likewise. 
 
 5. Do you now know the two words which are the source of 
 all promises and all commands to the children of believing 
 Abraham? The promise is: "I well bless thee." The com- 
 mand is: "Be a blessing." Pray, take them both firmly for 
 yourself. 
 
 6. And do you now understand where these two words to 
 Abraham are fulfilled? In separation from his father's house- 
 in the walk in fellowship with God. 
 
 141 
 
XXX. 
 
 PERSONAI, WORK. 
 
 *• Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation : and uphold me 
 with a free spirit. Then will I teach transgressors Thy ways ; 
 and sinners shall be converted unto Thee." — Ps. li. 12, 13. 
 
 " I believe, for I vrill speak." — Ps. cxvi. 10. 
 
 " But ye shall receive power, when the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon you." — Acts i. 8. 
 
 EVERY redeemed man is called to be a witness for 
 his Lord. Not only by a godly walk, but by 
 personal efifort must I serve and make known my 
 Lord. My tongue, my speech, is one of the principal 
 means of intercourse with others and influence upon 
 them. It is but a half dedication, when I do not also 
 bring the offering of the lips, to speak for the Lord.^ 
 Of this work there is inconceivably great need. 
 There are thousands of Christians who continually 
 enjoy the preaching of the word, and yet do not 
 understand the way of salvation. The Lord Jesus 
 not only preached to the multitudes, but also spoke 
 to individuals according to their needs. 2 Scripture 
 is full of examples of those who told to others what 
 the Lord had done for them, and who thus became a 
 
 1 Ps. xl. 10, II, Ixvi. 16, Ixxi. 8, 15, 24 ; Heb. xiii. 15. 
 ' lyuke vii. 40 ; John iii. 3, iv. 7. 
 142 
 
Personal Work. 
 
 blessing to them.* The teacher alone cannot do this 
 ^ork of personal speaking : every ransomed soul 
 must co-operate with him. He is in the world as a 
 -witness for his Lord. His own life cannot come to 
 its full healthy increase, if he does not confess his 
 Ivord and work for Him. 
 
 That witness for the Lord must be a personal wit- 
 ness. We must have the courage to say, " He has 
 redeemed me; He will also redeem you : will you 
 not accept this redemption? Come, let me show 
 you the way." ^ There are hundreds who would be 
 glad if the personal question were put to them, 
 " Are you redeemed ? What keeps you back ? Can 
 I not help you to go to the Lord ? " Parents ought 
 to speak personally with their children, and put the 
 ■question, " My child have you already received the 
 Lord Jesus?" Teachers in Sabbath-schools and in 
 day-schools, when they teach the word of God, ought 
 to bring forward the personal question, whether the 
 children have really received salvation, and ought to 
 seek the opportunity of also putting the question to 
 them separately. Friends must speak with their 
 friends. Yesj before all else should this work be 
 done. 
 
 Such work must be the work of love. Let souls 
 feel that you love them tenderly. Let the humility 
 and gentleness of love, as this was to be seen in 
 Jesus, be seen also in you. At every turn surrender 
 yourself to Jesus to be filled with His love : not by 
 
 1 Ex. xviii. 8, II ; 2 Chron. v. 3. 
 
 2 John i. 42, 46, iv. 28, 39 ; Acts xi. 19. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 feeling, but by faith in this love, can you do your 
 work. "Beloved, keep yourselves in the love of 
 God. And on some have mercy who are in doubt ; 
 and some save, snatching them out of the fire ; and 
 on some have mercy v^^ith fear." The flesh often 
 thinks that strength and force do more than love 
 and patience. But that is not so : love achieves 
 everything : it has overcome on the cross.* 
 
 Such work must be the work of faith, of faith 
 working by love : faith that the Lord desires to use 
 you and will use you. Be not afraid on account of 
 your weakness : learn in the Scriptures what glorious 
 promises God from time to time gave to those who 
 had to speak for Him.'^ Surrender yourself con- 
 tinually to God to be used for the rescue of souls, and 
 take your stand on the fact that He who has redeemed 
 you for this end, will for this end bless you. Although 
 your work is in weakness and fear, although no 
 blessing appears to come, be of good courage: at 
 His time, we shall reap.^ Be filled with faith in the 
 power of God, in His blessing upon you, and in the 
 certainty of the hearing of prayer. * ' If any man see 
 his brother sinning a sin not unto death, he shall 
 ask, and God will give him life." Whether it be the 
 most miserable and neglected, or whether it be the 
 decent but indifferent who does not know his sin, take 
 courage, the Lord is mighty to bless : He hears prayer. 
 
 iHeb. iii. 13, x. 24; Jude ax, 23. 
 
 8 Ex. iv. II, 12 ; Josh. i. 9; Isa. 1. 4, 11 ; Jer. i. 6, 7 ; Matt, x 
 19, 20. 
 
 82 Chron. xv. 7 ; Ps. cxxvi. 6, 7 ; Hag. ii. 5 ; Gal. viii. 9 ; 1 John 
 V. 16. 
 
 144 
 
Personal Work. 
 
 But above all — for this is the principal point — 
 carry out this work in fellowship with Jesus. Live 
 closely with Him — live entirely for Him — let Jesus 
 be in all your own life and He will speak and work 
 in you.i Be full of the blessing of the lyord, full of 
 His Spirit and His love, and it cannot be otherwise 
 than that you should be a blessing. You shall be 
 able to tell what He is continually for you. You 
 shall have the love and the courage, with all humil- 
 ity, to put to souls the question, "Is it well with 
 you? Have you indeed the Lord Jesus as your 
 Saviour? " And the Lord will make you experience 
 the rich blessing which is promised to those who 
 live to bless others. 
 
 Young Christian, be a witness for Jesus. Live as 
 one who is wholly given away to Him to watch and 
 to work for His honor. 
 
 Blessed Lord, who hast redeemed me to serve the 
 Father in the proclamation of His love, I will with a 
 free spirit ofifer myself to Thee for this end. Fill my 
 heart for this end with love to Him, to Thee, and to 
 souls. Cause me to see what an honor it is to do the 
 work of redeeming love, even as Thou didst do it. 
 Strengthen my confidence that Thou art working 
 with Thy power in my weakness. And let my joy be 
 to help souls to Thee. Amen. 
 
 I. The question is often asked, " "What can I do to work for 
 the I,ord?" 
 
 1 Acts. iv. i8 ; 2 Cor. iii. 5, xiii. 3. 
 10 145 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Can you not take a class in the Sabbath school ? Perhaps you 
 live in the country where there are children that have no hour 
 of the Sabbath devoted to them. Perhaps there are heathen 
 children, or even grown-up people of the farms, who do not go 
 to Church. See whether you cannot gather them together in 
 the name of Jesus. Make it a matter of prayer and faith. 
 Although you do this work with trembling, you may be sure 
 that to begin to work will make you strong. 
 
 Or can you do nothing for the circulation of books and tracts? 
 When you have a book that has been useful to you, order six or 
 twelve copies of it. Speak of it, and ofifer it for sale : you can 
 do great service by this means. So also with tracts : if you are 
 too poor to give them for nothing, have them to sell : you may 
 procure blessing by this method. It will especially help you to 
 speak to others, if you begin with telling what is in a book, 
 
 2. But the principal thing is personal speaking. Do not hold 
 back because you feel no freedom. The lyOrd will give 3'ou free- 
 dom in His own time. It is incredible how many are lost 
 through ignorance. No one has ever personally made it clear 
 to them how they can be saved. The thought that a change 
 must first be sought and felt is so deeply rooted that the most 
 faithful preaching is often of no avail against it. By their 
 erroneous ideas, people misunderstand everything. Begin then 
 to speak and to help souls to understand that they are to receive 
 Jesus just as they are, that they can certainly know that He re- 
 ceives them, and that this is the power of a new and holy life. 
 146 
 
XXXI. 
 MISSIONARY WORK. 
 
 "And He said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach 
 the gospel to the whole creation. And they went forth, and 
 preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and con- 
 firming the word by the signs that followed."— Mark xvi. 15, 20. 
 
 EVERY friend of Jesus is a friend of missions. 
 Where there is a healthy spiritual life, there is 
 a love for the missionary cause. When you consider 
 the reasons of this, you obtain an insight into the 
 glory of missions, and into your calling to embrace 
 this cause as a part of your soul's life. Come and 
 hear how much there is to make missionary work 
 glorious and precious. 
 
 1. It is the cause for which Jesus left the throne of 
 heaven. The heathen are His inheritance, given to 
 Him by His Father. It is in heathendom that the 
 power of Satan has been established. Jesus must 
 have Himself vindicated as the conqueror. His 
 glory, the coming and manifestation of His king- 
 dom, depend on missions.^ 
 
 2. Missionary work is the principal aim of the 
 church on earth. All the last words of the Lord 
 
 ' Ps. ii. 8 ; Matt. xidv. 14, xxviii. 18, 28 ; Mark xiii. 10 ; Luke 
 xxi. 24 ; Rom. xi. 25. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Jesus teach us this.^ The Lord is the head and He 
 has made himself dependent upon His body, upon 
 His members, by whom alone He can do His work.'* 
 As a member of Christ, as a member of the Church, 
 shall I npt give myself to take part in the work, 
 that this goal may be reached ? 
 
 3. It is the work for which the Holy Spirit was 
 given. See this in the promise of the Spirit : in the 
 leading of the Spirit vouchsafed to Peter and Barna- 
 bas and Saul.' In the history of the Church we find 
 that times of revival go hand in hand with new zeal 
 for the missionary cause. The Holy Spirit is always 
 a holyjenthusiasm for the extension of the kingdom. 
 
 4. Missionary work brings blessing on the Church. 
 It rouses the heroic deeds of faith and self-denial. It 
 has furnished the most glorious instances of the won- 
 drous power of the Lord. It gives heavenly joy over 
 the conversion of sinners to those who watch for it 
 with love and prayer. It cleanses the heart to under- 
 stand God's great plans, and to await the fulfillment 
 of them in supplication. Missionary work is a token 
 of life in a Church, and brings more life.* 
 
 5. What a blessing it is for the world ? What would 
 we have been, had not missionaries come to our 
 heathen forefathers in Europe? What a glorious 
 blessing has not missionary work already won in 
 some lands? What help is there for the hundred 
 
 1 Mark xvi. 15 ; I^uke xxiv. 47 ; John xvii. 18 ; Acts i. 8. 
 
 2 I Cor. xii. 21. 
 
 3 Acts i. 8, xi. 12, 23, 24, xiii. 2, 4, xxii. 21. 
 
 * Acts xiv. 27, XV. 4, 5 ; Rom. xi. 25, 33, xv. 10 ; Eph. iii- 5, 8, 10. 
 148 
 
Missionary Work. 
 
 millions of heathen, if not in missions?- Heaven 
 and hell look upon missions as the battlefield where 
 the powers of Satan and of Jesus Christ encounter 
 one another. Alas ! that the conflict should be car- 
 ried on so feebly. 
 
 6. There will be a blessing for your own soul in 
 love for missionary work.^ 
 
 You will be exercised in faith. Missionary work 
 is a cause for faith, where everything goes on slowly, 
 and not according to the fancy of men. You will 
 learn to cleave to God and the word. 
 
 Love will be awakened. You will learn to go out 
 of yourselves and your little circle, and with an open 
 eye and a large heart to live in the interests of your 
 Lord and King : you will feel how little true love you 
 have, and you will receive more love. 
 
 You will be drawn into prayer. Your calling and 
 power as an intercessor will become clearer to you, 
 and therewith the blessedness of thus co-operating 
 for the kingdom. You will discern how it is the 
 highest conformity to Him who came to seek the 
 lost, to give up your own ease and rest to fight in love 
 the fight of prayer against Satan in behalf of the 
 heathen. 
 
 Young Christian, missionary work is more glorious 
 and holy than you suppose. There is more blessing 
 in it than you are aware of. The new life in you 
 depends upon it more than you can as yet understand. 
 Yield yourself up anew in obedience to the word to 
 
 1 Isa. xlix. 6, 12, i8, 22, liv. i, 2, Ix. 
 
 2 Prov. xi. 24, 25 : l&a.. iviiL 7. 8. 
 
 149 
 
The New Life. 
 
 give missions a large place in your heart ; yes, in your 
 heart. The Lord Himself will further teach and 
 bless you. 
 
 And if you would know how to have your love for 
 missions, as the work of your Lord, increased, attend 
 to the following hints : — Become acquainted with the 
 missionary cause. Endeavor by writings and books 
 to know what the condition and n«ed of heathendom 
 is ; what, by the blessing of the Lord, has been 
 already done there ; what the work is that is being 
 done now. Speak with others about this cause. Per- 
 haps there could be instituted in your neighborhood 
 a little missionary society. Perhaps one of yt)ur 
 prayer-meetings, say, once a month, could be set 
 apart for prayer in behalf of the missionary cause. 
 Pray also for this in secret. Let the coming of 
 the kingdom have a definite place in your secret 
 prayers. Endeavor to follow the material for prayer 
 in the promises of the word about the heathen, 
 in the whole Scriptures, especially in the prophet 
 Isaiah.^ Give also for missions : not only when you 
 are asked ; not merely what you can spare without 
 feeling it ; but set apart for this cause a portion of 
 what you possess or earn. Let the Lord see that you 
 ere in earnest with His work. If there is missionary 
 work that is being done in your neighborhood, show 
 yourself a friend to it. Although there be much im- 
 perfection in that work, — and where is there work of 
 man that is perfect ? — complain not of the imperfec- 
 tion, but look upon the essence of the cause, the en- 
 1 Isa. xlix. 6, i8, 21, 22, liv. i, 3, Ix. i, 3, 11, 16, Ixii. 2. 
 150 
 
Missionary Work. 
 
 deavor to obey the command of the Lord, and give 
 your prayer and your help. A friend of Jesus is a 
 friend of missions. Love for missionary work is an 
 indispensable element of the new life. 
 
 Son of God, when Thou didst breathe Thy Spirit 
 upon Thy disciples, saying, "Receive ye the Holy 
 Ghost," Thou didst add: "As the Father hath sent 
 Me, even so send I you." Lord, here am I : send me 
 also. Breathe Thy Spirit into me also, that I may 
 live for Thy kingdom. Amen. 
 
 1. " Unknown makes unbeloved," is a word that is specially 
 true of missionary work. He who is acquainted with the won- 
 ders that God has wrought in some lands, will praise and thank 
 God for what the missionary enterprise has achieved, and will 
 be strengthened in his faith that missionary work is really 
 God's own cause. 
 
 Among the books that help to awaken interest in missions 
 are biographies of missionaries. " The L,ife of Henry Martyn " 
 is one, formerly issued by the Book Society. " Uncle Charles " 
 is the name of a book with an account of missionary work in 
 South Africa. Some books on missions are generally to be 
 found in our Sabbath-school libraries. 
 
 2. We should never forget that the missionary cause is an 
 enterprise of faith. It requires faith in the promises of God, 
 in the power of God. It has need of love — love to Jesus, whereby 
 the heart is filled with desire for His honor, and love to souls, 
 that longs for their safety. It is a work of the Spirit of God, 
 "whom the world cannot receive:" therefore the world can 
 approve of missions only when they go forward with the highest 
 prosperity. 
 
 3. I,et no friend of missions become discouraged when the 
 work proceeds slowly. Although all baptized black men are 
 not converted, although even amongst the converts there is 
 
The New Life. 
 
 still much perversity, although some fall back after a fair pro 
 fession, amongst the whites also everything is by no means 
 perfect. Among our forefathers in Europe, a whole century 
 was occupied with the introduction of Christianity. Sometimes 
 a nation received Christianity to cast it oflf again after thirty or 
 forty years. It required a thousand years to bring them up to the 
 height at which we now stand. I^et us not expect too much 
 from the heathen at once, but with love and patience and firm, 
 faith, pray and work, and expect the blessing of God- 
 152 
 
XXXIL 
 
 LIGHT AND JOYFULNESS. 
 
 " Blessed Is the people that know the joyful sound : they walk, 
 O lyord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name do they 
 rejoice all the day." — Ps. Ixxxix. 15, 16 
 
 " I/ight is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright 
 in heart."— Ps. xcvii. 11, 
 
 " I am the Light of the worid : he that followeth me shall not 
 walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life."— John 
 viii. 12. 
 
 "I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and j'^our 
 joy no one taketh away from you." — John xvi. 22. 
 
 *■' As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing."— 2 Cor. vi. lo. 
 
 A FATHER will always be eager to see his 
 children joyful. He does all that he can to 
 make them happy. Hence God also desires that His 
 children should walk before Him in gladness of 
 heart. He has promised them gladness ; He will give 
 it. * He has commanded it : we must take it and 
 walk in it at all times.'' 
 
 The reason of this is not difl&cult to find. Gladness 
 is always the token that something really satisfies me 
 and has great value for me. More than anything 
 else is gladness for what I possess a recommendation 
 of it to others. And gladness in God is the strongest 
 
 1 Ps Izxxix. 16, 17 ; Isa. xxix. 19 ; John xvi. 2a j i Pet. L 8. 
 ' Ps. xxxii. II ; Isa. xii 5, 6 ; i Thess. v. 16; Phil. Iv. 4. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 proof that I have in God what satisfies and satiates 
 me, that I do not serve Him with dread, or to be 
 kept, but because He is my salvation. Gladness is 
 the token of the truth and the worth of obedience, 
 showing whether I have pleasure in the will of God.^ 
 It is for this reason that joy in God is so acceptable 
 to Him, so strengthening to believers themselves, 
 and to all who are around the most eloquent testi- 
 mony of what we think of God.^ 
 
 In the Scriptures light and gladness are frequently 
 connected with each other.' It is so in nature. The 
 joyful light of the morning awakens the birds to 
 their song and gladdens the watchers who in the 
 darkness have longed for the day. It is the light of 
 God's countenance that gives the Christian his glad- 
 ness : in fellowship with his Lord, he can, and 
 always will, be happy : the love of the Father shines 
 like the sun upon His children.* When darkness 
 comes over the soul, it is always through one of two 
 things, through sin or through unbelief. Sin is 
 darkness, and makes dark. And unbelief also makes 
 dark, for it turns us from Him, who alone is the light. 
 
 The question is sometimes put, Can the Christian 
 walk always in the light ? The answer of our Lord 
 is clear, ' ' He that followeth Me shall not walk in 
 darkness." It is sin, the turning from behind Jesus 
 to our own way, that makes dark. But at the moment 
 
 ' Deut. xxviii. 47 ; Ps. xi. 9, cxix. 11. 
 2Neh. viii. 11 ; Ps. Ixviii. 4 ; Prov. iv. 18. 
 3Esth. viii. 16 ; Prov. xiii. 9, xv. 30 ; Isa. Ix. 20. 
 *Ex. X. 23 ; 2 Sam. xxiii. 4 ; Ps. xxxvi. 10 ; Isa. Ix. i, 20; i John 
 i. 5, iv. 16. 
 
Ligli.t and Joyfulness. 
 
 we confess sin, and have it cleansed in the blood, we 
 are again in the light. ^ Or it is unbelief that makes 
 dark. We look to ourselves and our strength ; we 
 would seek comfort in our own feeling, or our own 
 works, and all becomes dark. As soon as we look to 
 Jesus, to the fulness, to the perfect provision for our 
 needs that is in Him, all is right. He says, " I am 
 the Light : he that foUoweth me shall not walk in 
 darkness, but shall have the light of life." So long 
 as I believe, I have light and gladness.' 
 
 Christians, who would walk according to the will 
 of the Ivord, hear what His word says : ** Finally, my 
 brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord 
 alway : again, I will say, Rejoice." ' In the Lord 
 Jesus there is joy unspeakable, and full of glory : 
 believing in Him, rejoice in this. Live the life of 
 faith : that life is salvation and glorious joy. A heart 
 that gives itself undividedly to follow Jesus, that 
 lives by faith in Him and His love, shall have light 
 and gladness. Therefore, soul, only believe. Do not 
 seek gladness; in that case you will not find it, 
 because you are seeking feeling. But seek Jesus, 
 follow Jesus, believe in Jesus, and gladness shall be 
 added to you. " Not seeing but believing, rejoice 
 with joy unspeakable and full of glory.'* 
 
 Lord Jesus, Thou art the light of the world, the 
 Effulgence of the unapproachable light, in whom we 
 
 1 Josh. vii. 13 ; Is. Iviii. 10, lix. I, 2, 9 ; Matt. xv. I4, 16 ; a Cor. vL 
 14 ; Eph. V. 8, 14 ; i Thess. V. 5 ; I John ii. 10. 
 
 * John xii. 36, xi 40 ; Rom. xv. 13 ; i Pet. i. 8. 
 
 ' PhiL iii. i, iv. 4. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 see the liglit of God. From Thy countenance radi- 
 ates upon us the illumination of the knowledge of 
 the love and glory of God. And Thou art ours, our 
 light and our salvation, O teach us to believe more 
 firmly that with Thee we can never walk in the 
 darkness. Let gladness in Thee be the proof that 
 Thou art all to us, and our strength to do all that 
 Thou wouldst have us do. Amen. 
 
 1. The gladness that I have in anything is the measure of its 
 worth m my eyes *. the gladness in a person^ the measure of my 
 pleasure in him : the gladness in a work the measure of my 
 pleasure in it. Gladness .in God and His service is one of the 
 surest tokens of healthy spiritual life. 
 
 2. Gladness is hindered by ignorance, when we do not rightly 
 understand God and His love and the blessedness of His service : 
 by unbelief; whom we still seek something in our own strength 
 or feeling: by double-heartedness, when we are not willing to 
 give up and lay aside everything for Jesus. 
 
 3. Understand this saying; " He that seeks gladness shall not 
 find it* he that seeks the Lord and His will, shall find gladness 
 unsought." Think over this. He that seeks gladness as a thing 
 of feeling, seeks himself : he would fain be happy ! he will not 
 find it. He that forgets himself to live in the I,ord and His will, 
 shall be taught of himself to rejoice in the I^ord. It is God, God 
 Himself, who is the God of the gladness of our rejoicing: seek 
 God, and you have gladness. You have then simply to take and 
 enjoy it by faith. 
 
 4 To thank much for what God is and does, to believe much 
 in what God says and will do, is the way to abiding gladness. 
 
 5. " The light of the eyes gladdens the heart." God has not 
 intended that His children should walk in the darkness, Satan 
 is the prince of the darkness ; God is light : Christ is the Light 
 of the world : we are children of the light : let us walk in the 
 light. Let us believe in the promise, *' The Lord shall be to thee 
 an everlasting light. Thy sun shall no more go dowo, for the 
 Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light, and the days of thy 
 mourning shall be ended." 
 
 156 
 
XXXIII. 
 
 CHASTISEMENT. 
 
 "Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O IvOrd, and 
 teachest out of Thy law ; that Thou mayest give him rest from 
 the days of adversity." — Ps. xciv. 12. 
 
 " Before I was afflicted, I went astray ; but now I observe Thy 
 word. It is good for me that I have been afflicted ; that I might 
 learn Thy statutes."— Ps. cxix. 67, 71. 
 
 "He chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of 
 His holiness." — Heb. xii. 10. 
 
 " Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into manifold 
 temptations ; knowing that the proof of your faith worketh 
 patience. "—J AS. i. 2, 3. 
 
 EVERY child of God must at one time or another 
 enter the school of trial. What the Scriptures 
 teach us is confirmed by experience. And the Scrip- 
 tures teach us further, that we are to count it a joy- 
 when God takes us into this school. It is a part of 
 our heavenly blessedness to be educated and sancti- 
 fied by the Father through chastisement. 
 
 Not that trial in itself brings a blessing.^ Just as 
 there is no profit in the ground's being made wet by 
 rain or broken up by the plough, when no seed is 
 cast into it, so there are children of God that enter 
 into trial and have little blessing from it. The heart 
 is softened for a time, but they know not how to ob- 
 
 1 Isa. V. 3 ; Hos. viL 14, 15 ; 2 Cor. vii. 10. 
 
 157 
 
The New Life. 
 
 tain an abiding blessing from it. They know not 
 what the Father has in view with them in the school 
 of trial. 
 
 In a good school there are four things necessary — 
 a definite aim, a good text-book, a capable teacher, a 
 willing pupil. 
 
 1. Let the aim of trial be clear to you. Holiness 
 is the highest glory of the Father, and also of the 
 child. He " chastens us for our profit that we may 
 be partakers of His Holiness: ' ^ In trial the Christian 
 would often have only comfort. Or he seeks to be 
 quiet and contented under the special chastisement. 
 This is indeed the beginning ; but the Father desires 
 something else, something higher. He would make 
 him holy, holy, for his whole life. When Job said, 
 " Blessed be the name of the I/ord," this was still but 
 the beginning of his school-time : the Lord had still 
 more to teach him. God would unite our will with 
 His holy will, not only on the one point in which He 
 is trying us, but in everything : God would fill us 
 with His Holy Spirit, with His holiness. This is the 
 aim of God ; this also must be your aim in the school 
 of trial. 
 
 2. Let the word of God at this time be your read- 
 ing book. See in our trials how in affliction God 
 would teach us out of His law. The word will reveal 
 to you why the F'ather chastens you, how deeply He 
 loves you in the midst of it, and how rich are the 
 promises of His consolation. Trial will give new 
 
 1 Isa. xxvii. 8, 9 ; i Cor. xi. 32 ; Heb. ii. 10, xii. 11. 
 158 
 
Chastisement. 
 
 glory to the promises of the Father. In chastisement 
 have recourse to the word.^ 
 
 3. Let Jesus be your teacher. He Himself was 
 sanctified by suffering : it was in suffering that He 
 learned full obedience. He has a wonderfully sym- 
 pathetic heart. Have much intercourse with Him. 
 Seek not your comfort from much speaking on the 
 part of men or with men. Give Jesus the opportu- 
 nity of teaching you. Have much converse with Him 
 in solitude.^ The Father has given you the word, the 
 Spirit, the Lord Jesus your sanctification, in order to 
 sanctify you : affliction and chastisement are meant 
 to bring you to the word, to Jesus Himself, in order 
 that He may make you partaker of His holiness. It 
 is in fellowship with Jesus that consolation comes as 
 of itself.' 
 
 4. Be a willing pupil. Acknowledge your ignor- 
 ance. Think not that you understand the will of 
 God. Ask and expect that the Lord would teach you 
 the lesson that you are to learn in affliction. To the 
 meek there is the promise of teaching and wisdom. 
 Seek to have the ear open, the heart very quiet, and 
 turned towards God. Know that it is the Father that 
 has placed you in the school of trial : yield yourself 
 with all willingness to hear what He says, to learn 
 what He would have you taught. He will bless you 
 greatly in this.* 
 
 *' Happy is the man whom Thou chastenest, and 
 1 Ps. cxix. 49, 50 92, 143 ; Isa. xl. i, xliii. 2 ; i Thess. iv. 8. 
 2lsa. xxvi. 16, Ixi. i, 2 ; Heb. ii. 10, 17, 18, v. 9. 
 3 2 Cor. i. 3, 4; Heb. xiii. 5, 6. ^ 
 *Ps. XXV. 9, xx.xix. 2, 10 ; Isa. 1. 4, 5. 
 
 159 
 
The New lyife. 
 
 teachest out of Thy law." "Count it all joy when 
 ye fall into manifold temptations," " that ye may be 
 perfect, lacking in nothing." Regard the time of 
 trial as a time of blessing, as a time of close converse 
 with the Father, of being made partaker of His holi- 
 ness, and you shall also rejoicingly say: "It is good 
 for me that I have been afflicted." 
 
 Father, what thanks shall I express to Thee for the 
 glorious light that Thy word casts upon the dark 
 trials of this life? Thou wilt by this means teach 
 me, and make me partaker of Thy holiness. Hast 
 Thou considered the suffering and the death of Thy 
 beloved Son not too much to bring holiness near to 
 me, and shall I not be willing to endure Thy chas- 
 tisement to be partaker of it? No: Father, thanks 
 be unto Thee for Thy precious work : only fulfill Thy 
 counsel in me. Amen. 
 
 1. In chastisement it is first of all necessary that we should 
 be possessed by the thought : This is the will of God. Although 
 the trial comes through our own folly or the perversity of men, 
 we must acknowledge that it is the will of God that we should 
 be in that suffering by means of that folly or perversity. We see 
 this clearly in Joseph and the L,ord Jesus. Nothing will give us 
 rest but the willing acknowledgment : this is the will of God. 
 
 2. The second thought is : God wills not only the trial, but 
 also the consolation, the power, and the blessing in it. He who 
 acknowledges the will of God in the chastisement itself is on 
 the way to see and experience the accompaniments also as the 
 will of God. 
 
 3. The will of God is as perfect as He Himself: let us not be 
 afraid to surrender ourselves to it : no one suffers loss by deem- 
 ing the will of God unconditionally good, 
 
 160 
 
Chastisement. 
 
 4. This is holiness : to know and to adore the will of God, to 
 unite one's self wholly with it. 
 
 5. Pray, seek not comfort in trial in connection with men. Do 
 not mingle too much with them : see to it rather that you deal 
 with God and His word. The object of trial is just to draw you 
 away from what is earthly, in order that you may turn to God 
 and give Him time to unite your will with His perfect wilL 
 
 II 161 
 
XXXIV. 
 
 PRAYER. 
 
 *' Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, 
 and having shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, 
 and thy Father which seeth in secret shall recompense thee."— 
 Matt. vi. 6. 
 
 nPHE Spiritual life with its growth depends in 
 i great measure on prayer. According as I pray 
 much or little, pray with pleasure or as a duty, pray 
 according to the word of God or my own inclination, 
 will my life flourish or decay. In the word of Jesus 
 quoted above, we have the leading ideas of true 
 prayer. 
 
 Alone with God : that is the first thought. The 
 door must be shut, with the world and man outside, 
 because I am to have converse with God undisturbed. 
 When God met with His servants in the olden time, 
 He took them alone.i Let the first thought in your 
 prayer be : here are God and I in the chamber with 
 each other. According to your conviction of the 
 nearness of God will be the power of your prayer. 
 
 In the presence of your Father : this is the second 
 thought. You come to the inner chamber, because 
 your Father with His love awaits you there. Although 
 you are cold, dark, sinful ; although it is doubtful 
 
 iGen. xviii. 22, 23, xxii. 5, xxxii. 24 ; Ex. xxxiii. 11. 
 162 
 
Prayer. 
 
 whether you can pray at all ; come, because the 
 Father is there, and there looks upon you. Set your- 
 self beneath the light of His eye. Believe in His 
 tender fatherly love, and out of this faith prayer will 
 be born. ^ 
 
 Count certainly upon aft answer : that is the third 
 point in the word of Jesus. "Your Father will 
 recompense you openly," There is nothing about 
 which the Ivord Jesus has spoken so positively as 
 the certainty of an answer to prayer. Pray, review 
 the promises.^ Observe how constantly in the 
 Psalms, that prayer-book of God's saints, God is 
 called upon as the God who hears prayer and gives 
 answers.^ 
 
 It may be that there is much in you that prevents 
 the answer. Delay in the answer is a very blessed 
 discipline. It leads to self-searching as to whether 
 we are praying amiss, and whether our life is truly in 
 harmony with our prayer. It rouses to a purer exer- 
 cise of faith.* It conducts to a closer and more per- 
 sistent converse with God. The sure confidence of 
 an answer is the secret of powerful praying. Let 
 this always be with us the chief thing in prayer. 
 When you pray, stop in the midst of your prayer to 
 ask, Do I believe that I am receiving what I pray for? 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 8, vii. ii. 
 
 9 Matt. V. 1, 7, 8, xi. 24 ; I,uke xviii. 8 ; John xiv. 13, 14, xv. 7, 
 16, xvi. 23, 24. 
 
 3 Ps. iii. 5, iv. 4, vi. 10, x. 17, xvii. 6, 22, 25, xx. 2, 7, 10, xxxiv. 5, 
 7, 18, xxxviii. 16, xl. 2, Ixv. 3, Ixvi. 19. 
 
 < Josh. vii. 12 , I Sam. viii. 18, xiv. 37, 38, xxviii. 6, 15 ; Prov, 
 xxi. 13 ; Isa. i. 15 ; Mic. iii. 4 ; Hag. i. 9 ; Jas. i. 6, iv. 3, v. 16. 
 
 163 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Let your faith receive and hold fast the answer as 
 given : it shall turn out according to your faith.^ 
 
 Beloved young Christians, if there is one thing 
 about which you must be conscientious, it is this : 
 secret converse with God. Your life is hid with 
 Christ in God. Every day must you in prayer ask 
 from above, and by faith receive in prayer what you 
 need for that day. Every day must personal inter- 
 course with the Father and the Lord Jesus be re- 
 newed and strengthened. God is our salvation and 
 our strength : Christ is our life and our holiness : 
 only in personal fellowship with the living God is 
 our blessedness found. 
 
 Christian, pray much, pray continually, pray with- 
 out ceasing. When you have no desire to pray, go 
 just then to the inkier chamber. Go as one who has 
 nothing to bring to the Father, to set yourself before 
 Him in faith in His love. That coming to the Father, 
 and abiding before Him, is already a prayer that He 
 understands. Be assured that to appear before God, 
 however passively, always brings a blessing. The 
 Father not only hears: He sees in secret, and He 
 will recompense it openly. 
 
 O my Father, who hast so certainly promised in 
 Thy word to hear the prayer of faith, give to me the 
 Spirit of prayer, that I may know how to offer that 
 prayer. Graciously reveal to me Thy wonderful 
 
 J Ps. cxlv. 9 ; Isa. xxx. 19 ; Jer. xxxiii. 3 ; Mai. iii. 10 ; Matt. 
 ix. 29, XV. 28 ; 1 John iii. 22, v. 14, 15, 
 
 164 
 
Prayer. 
 
 Fatherly love, the complete blotting out of my sins 
 in Christ, by which every hindrance in this direction 
 is taken away, and the intercession of the Spirit in 
 me, by which my ignorance or weakness cannot de- 
 prive me of the blessing. Teach me with faith in 
 Thee, the Three-One, to pray in fellowship with 
 Thee. And confirm me in the strong living certitude 
 that I receive what I believingly ask. Amen. 
 
 1. In prayer the principal thing is faith. The whole of salva- 
 vation, the whole of the new life is by faith, therefore also by 
 prayer. There is all too much prayer that brings nothing, be- 
 cause there is little faith in it. Before I pray, and while I pray, 
 and after I have prayed, I must ask : Do I pray in faith? I 
 must say : I believe with my whole heart. 
 
 2. To arrive at this faith we must take time in prayer : time 
 to set ourselves silently and trustfully before God, and to become 
 awake to His presence : time to have our soul sanctified in fel- 
 lowship with God : time for the Holy Spirit to teach us to hold 
 fast and use trustfully the word of promise. No earthly know- 
 ledge, no earthly possessions, no earthly food, no intercourse 
 with friends, can we have without time, sufficient time. I^et us 
 not think to learn how to pray, how to enjoy the power and the 
 blessedness of prayer, if we do not take time with God. 
 
 3. And then there must be not only time every day, but per- 
 severance from day to day. Time is required to grow in the 
 certitude that we are acceptable to the Father, and that our 
 prayer has power, in the filial confidence which knows that our 
 prayer is according to His will, and is heard. We must not 
 suppose that we know well enough how to pray, and can but 
 ask, and then it is over. No : prayer is converse and fellowship 
 with God, in which God has time and opportunity to work in 
 us, in which our souls die to their own will and power, and be- 
 come bound up and united with God. 
 
 4. For encouragement in persistent prayer, the following in- 
 stance may be of service. In an address delivered at Calcutta, 
 George Miiller recently said that in 1844 five persons were laid 
 
 i6s 
 
The New Life. 
 
 upon his heart, and that he began to pray for their conversion. 
 :Eighteen months passed by before the first was converted. He 
 prayed five years more, when the second was converted. After 
 twelve years and a half yet another was converted. And now he 
 has already prayed forty years for the other two, without let- 
 ting slip a single day; and still they are not converted. He 
 was, nevertheless, full of courage in the sure confidence that 
 these two also would be given him in answer to his prayer. 
 
 5. In the book, "With Christ in the School of Prayer: 
 Thoughts on our Training for the Ministry of Intercession " 
 (Nisbet & Co.), I have endeavored in thirty-one meditations to 
 explain the principal points of the life of prayer. 
 166 
 
XXXV. 
 
 THE PRAYER MEETING, 
 
 " Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth 
 as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for 
 them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three 
 are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of 
 them." — Matt, xviii. 19, 20. 
 
 THE Lord Jesus has told us to go into the inner 
 chamber and hold our personal converse with 
 God by prayer in secret, and not to be seen of men. 
 The very same voice tells us that we are also to pray 
 in fellowship with one another.^ And when He went 
 to heaven, the birth of the Christian Church took 
 place in a prayer meeting which one hundred and 
 twenty men and women held for ten days.^ The Day 
 of Pentecost was the fruit of unanimous persevering 
 prayer. Let every one who would please the Lord 
 Jesus, who desires the gift of the Spirit with power 
 for his congregation or Church, who would have the 
 blessing of fellowship with the children of God, 
 attach himself to a prayer meeting, and prove the 
 Lord whether He will make good His word and 
 bestow upon it a special blessing.' And let him give 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 6 ; Luke ix. 18, 28. 
 a Acts i. 14. 
 
 82 Chron. xx. 4, 17 ; Neh. ix. 2, 3 ; Joel ii. 16, 17 ; Acts xii. 5. 
 167 
 
The New Life. 
 
 help in it, so that the prayer meeting may be such 
 as the Lord presented it to us. 
 
 For a blessed prayer-meeting, there must be, first 
 of all, agreement concerning the thing which we 
 desire. There must be something that we really de- 
 sire to have from God ; and concerning this we are to 
 be in harmony. There must be inner love and unity 
 amongst the suppliants, — all that is strife, envy, 
 wrath, lovelessness, makes prayer powerless,^ — and 
 then agreement on the definite object that is desired.'^ 
 For this end it is entirely proper that what people are 
 to pray for should be stated in the prayer meeting. 
 Whether it be that one of the members would have 
 his particular needs brought forward, or whether 
 others would bring more general needs to the Lord, 
 such as the conversion of the unconverted, the revival 
 of God's children, the anointing of the teacher, the 
 extension of the kingdom, let the objects be an- 
 nounced beforehand. And let no one then suppose 
 that there is unanimity whenever one is content to 
 join in prayer for these objects. No : we are to take 
 them into our heart and life, bring them continually 
 before the Lord, be inwardly eager that the Lord 
 should give them : then we are on the way to the 
 prayer that has power. 
 
 The second feature that characterizes a right prayer 
 meeting is the coming together in the name of Jesus 
 and the consciousness of His presence. The Scrip- 
 ture says, **The name of the Lord is a strong tower : 
 
 1 Ps. cxxxiii. I, 3 ; Jer. Iviii. 4 ; Matt. v. 23, 24 ; Mark xi. 25. 
 ' Jer. xxxii. 39 ; Acts iv. 24. 
 
 168 
 
The Prayer Meeting. 
 
 the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." ^^ The 
 name is the expression of the person. When they 
 come together, believers are to enter into the name 
 of Jesus, to betake themselves within this name as 
 their fortress and abode. In this name they mingle 
 with one another before the Father, and out of this 
 name they pray : this name makes them also truly 
 one with each other. And when they are thus in 
 this name, the living Lord Himself is in their midst : 
 and He says that this is the reason why the Father 
 certainly hears them.^ They are in Him, and He is 
 in them, and out of Him they pray, and their prayer 
 comes before the Father in His power. O let the 
 name of Jesus be really the point of union, the 
 meeting-place, in our prayer meetings, and we shall 
 be conscious that He is in our midst. 
 
 Then there is the third feature of united prayer of 
 which the Lord has told us : our request shall cer- 
 tainly be done of the Heavenly Father. The prayer 
 shall certainly be answered. O we may well cry out 
 in these days, ''Where is the God of Elijah?" for 
 He was a God that answered. ♦' The God that shall 
 answer, He shall be God," said Elijah to the people. 
 And he said to God, "Answer me. Lord ; answer me; 
 that this people may acknowledge that Thou, O Lord, 
 art God." ' When we are content with much pray- 
 ing, with continuous praying, without answer, then 
 
 1 Prov. xviii. lo. 
 
 * John xiv. 13, 14, XV. 7, 16, xvi. 2^, 24. 
 
 3 1 Chron. xviii. 24, 37 ; Jas. v. 16. 
 
 * The Dutch version has — " and is set in a high room.'*— Ta. 
 169 
 
The New Life. 
 
 there will be little answer given. But when we un- 
 derstand that the answer as the token of God's pleas- 
 ure in our prayer is the principal thing, and are not 
 willing to be content without it, we shall discover 
 what is lacking in our prayer, and shall set ourselves 
 so to pray that an answer may come. And this 
 surely we may firmly believe : the Lord takes delight 
 in answering. It is a joy to Him when His people so 
 enter into the name of Jesus, and pray out of it, that 
 He can give what they desire.^ 
 
 Children of God, however young and weak you 
 may still be, here is one of the institutions prepared 
 for you by the Lord Jesus Himself to supply you with 
 help in prayer. Let every one make use of the prayer 
 meeting. Let every one go in a praying and believ- 
 ing frame of mind, seeking the name and the pres- 
 ence of the Lord. Let every one seek to live and 
 pray with His brethren and sisters. And let every 
 one expect surely to see glorious answers to prayer. 
 
 Blessed Lord Jesus, who hast given us command- 
 ment to pray, as well in the solitary inner chamber 
 as in public fellowship with one another, let the one 
 habit always make the other more precious as com- 
 plement and confirmation. Let the inner chamber 
 prepare us, and awaken the need for union with Thy 
 people in prayer. Let Thy presence there be our 
 blessedness. And let fellowship with Thy people 
 strengthen us surely to expect and receive answers. 
 
 Amen. 
 
 1 Acts xii. 5 ; 2 Cor. i. u ; Jas. iv 3, v. 16, 17. 
 
 170 
 
The Prayer Meeting. 
 
 1. There are many places of our country where prayer meet« 
 Xigs might be a great blessing. A pious man or woman who 
 should once a week or on Sabbath at mid-day gather together 
 the inhabitants on a farm-place or the neighbors of two or three 
 places that are not far from one another, might be able to obtain 
 great blessing. L,et every believing reader of this portion in- 
 quire if there does not exist in his neighborhood some such need, 
 and let him. make a beginning in the name of the Lord. Let 
 me therefore earnestly put the question to every reader ; Is there 
 a prayer-meeting in your district ? Do you faithfully take part 
 in it ? Do you know what it is to come together with the chil- 
 dren of God in the name of Jesus, to experience His presence 
 and His hearing of prayer ? 
 
 2. There is a book, " The Hour of Prayer " with suitable por- 
 tions for reading out in such gatherings. Or let this book, 
 "The New Life/' be taken, a portion read, and some of the 
 texts reviewed and spoken upon : this will give material for 
 prayer. 
 
 3. Will the prayer meeting do no harm to the inner chamber? 
 is a question son^etimes asked. My experience is just the re- 
 verse of this result. The prayer meeting is a school of prayer. 
 The weak learn from more advanced petitioners. Material for 
 prayer is g^ven : opportunity for self-searching ; encouragement 
 to more prayer. 
 
 4. Would that it were more general in prayer meetings for 
 people to speak of definite objects for which to pray ; things in 
 which one can definitely and trustfully look out for an answer, 
 and concerning which one can know when an answer comes. 
 Such announcements would greatly further unanimity and be- 
 lieving expectation. 
 
 171 
 
XXXVI. 
 THE FEAR OF THE LORD. 
 
 " Blessed is the man that feareth the L,ord. He shall not be 
 afraid of exdl tidings. His heart is established, he shall not be 
 afraid."— Ps. cxii. i, 7, 8. 
 
 " So the Church, walking in the fear of the I^ord and in the 
 comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied."— Acts ix. 31. 
 
 THE Scriptures use the word " fear " in a twofold 
 way. In some places it speaks of "fear" as 
 something wrong and sinful, and in the strongest 
 terms it forbids us to "fear."i jjj well-nigh one 
 hundred places occurs the word : " Fear not." In many- 
 other places, on the contrary, fear is praised as one 
 of the surest tokens of true godliness, acceptable to 
 the Lord, and fruitful of blessing to us.'^ The people 
 of God bear the name : those that fear the Lord. 
 The distinction betwixt these two lies in this simple 
 fact : the one is unbelieving fear, the other is believing. 
 Where fear is found connected with lack of trust in 
 God, there it is sinful and very hurtful.' The fear, on 
 the other hand, that is coupled with trust and hope 
 in God, is for the spiritual life entirely indispensable. 
 The fear that has man and what is temporal for its 
 
 1 Gen. XV. 1 , Isa. viii. 13 ; Jer. xxxii. 40; Rom. xaii. 15; i Pet. 
 iii. 14 ; 1 John iv. 18. 
 2Ps. xxii 24, 26, xxxiii. 18, cxii. i, cxv. 13 ; Prov. xxviiL 14. 
 'Matt. viii. 26 ; Rev. xxi. 9. 
 
 172 
 
The Fear of the Lord. 
 
 object, is condemned. The fear that with childlike 
 confidence and love honors the Father, is com- 
 manded.i It is the believing, not slavish, but filial, 
 fear of the Lord that is presented by the Scriptures as 
 a source of blessing and power. He that fears the 
 Lord will fear nothing else. The fear of the Lord 
 will be the beginning of all wisdom. The fear of the 
 Lord is the sure way to the enjoyment of God's 
 favor and protection.'^ 
 
 There are some Christians who by their upbringing 
 are led into the fear of the Lord, even before they 
 come to faith. This is a very great blessing : parents 
 can give a child no greater blessing than to bring 
 him up in the fear of the Lord. When those who are 
 thus brought up are brought to faith, they have a 
 great advantage : they are, as it were, prepared to 
 walk in the joy of the Lord. When, on the con- 
 trary, others that have not this preparation, come to 
 conversion, they have need of special teaching and 
 vigilance, in order to pray for and awaken this holy 
 fear. 
 
 The elements of which this fear is composed are 
 many and glorious. The principal are the following : 
 
 There are holy reverence and awe before the glorious 
 majesty of God and before the All Holy. These 
 g^ard against the superficiality that forgets who God 
 is, and that takes no pains to honor Him as God.' 
 
 ^Ps. xxxiii. i8, cxivii. ii ; t^uke xii. 4, 7 
 
 ' Ps. Ivi. 5, 12 ; Prov. %■ 7, ix. lo, x. 27, xix. 33 ; Acts ix. 31 ; 3 
 Cor. vii. I. 
 
 3 Job xlii. 6 ; Ps. v. 8 ; Isa. vi. 2, 5 ; Hab. ii. 20 : Zech. ii. 3. 
 
 173 
 
The New Life. 
 
 There is deep humility that is afraid of itself, and 
 couples deep confidence in God with an entire dis- 
 trust in itself. Conscious weakness that knows the 
 subtlety of its own heart always dreads doing any- 
 thing contrary to the will or honor of God. But just 
 because he fears God, such an one firmly reckons on 
 Him for protection. And this same humility inspires 
 him in all his intercourse with his fellow-men.' 
 
 There is circumspectness or vigilance. With holy 
 forethought, it seeks to know the right path, to watch 
 against the enemy, and to be guarded against all 
 lightness or hastiness in speech, resolve and con- 
 duct.' 
 
 And there are also in it holy zeal and courage in 
 Watching and striving. The fear of displeasing the 
 Lord by not conducting one's self in everything as 
 His servant, incites to being faithful in that which is 
 least. The fear of the Lord takes ali other fear away, 
 and gives inconceivable courage in the certitude of 
 victory.' 
 
 And out of this fear is then bom joy. " Rejoice 
 with trembling : " the fear of the Lord gives joy its 
 depth and stability. Fear is the root, joy the fruit : 
 the deeper the fear, the higher the joy. On this ac- 
 count it is said : " Ye that fear the Lord praise Him ; '* 
 " Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord." * 
 
 Young disciples of Christ, hear the voice of your 
 Father. " Fear the Lord, ye His saints." Let deep 
 1 Luke xviii 2, 4 ; Rom. xi. 20 ; i Pet. iiL 5. 
 2Prov. ii. 5, II, viii. 12, 13, xiii. 33, xvi. 6; L,uke i. 74. 
 3Deut. vi. 2 ; Isa. xii. 2. 
 ♦ Ps. xxii. 24, cxxxv. 20. 
 
 174 
 
The Fear of the Lord. 
 
 fear of the Lord and dread of all that might displease 
 or grieve Him, fill you. Then shall you never have 
 any evil to fear. He that fears the Lord and seeks to 
 do all that pleases Him, for him shall God also do 
 all that he desires. The child-like believing fear of 
 God will lead you into the love and joy of God, while 
 slavish, unbelieving, cowardly fear is utterly cast 
 out. 
 
 O my God, unite my heart for the fear of Thy 
 name. May I always be amongst those that fear the 
 Lord, that hope in His mercy. Amen. 
 
 1. What are some of the blessings of the fear of God? (Ps. 
 xxxi 20, cxv 13, cxxvii. 11, cxlv. 19; Prov. i., vii., viii., xiii.,xiv., 
 xxvii. ; Acts. x. 35.) 
 
 2. What are the reasons why we are to fear God? (Deut, x. 
 17, 20, 21 ; Josh. iv. 24 ; i Sam. xii. 24; Jer. v. 22, x. 6, 7 ; Matt. x. 
 28 ; Rev. XV. 4.) 
 
 3. It is especially the knowledge of God in His greatness, 
 power, and glory that will fill the soul with fear. But for this 
 end, we must set ourselves silent before Him, and take time for 
 our soul to come under the impression of His majesty. 
 
 4. " He delivered me from all my fears." Does this apply to 
 every different sort of fear by which you are hindered ? There 
 is the fear of man (Isa. li. 12, 13 ; Heb. xiii. 16) ; the fear of heavy 
 trial (Isa. xl. i, 2) ; the fear of our own weakness (Isa. xli. 10) j 
 fear for the work of God (i Chron. xxviii. 20) ; the fear of death 
 (Ps. xxiii. 4.) 
 
 5. Do you now understand the word : " Blessed is the man 
 that fears the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be 
 afraid?" 
 
XXXVII. 
 
 UNDIVIDED CONSECRATION. 
 
 "And Ittai answered, As the Lord liveth, surely in wha 
 place my lord the king shall be, whether for death or for life, 
 even there also will thy servant be." — 2 Sam. xv. 21. 
 
 " Whosoever he be of you that renounceth not all that he 
 hath, he cannot be My disciple." — I,uke xiv. 33. 
 
 " Come ye out from among them, and be ye separate, saith 
 the Lord, and touch no unclean thing ; and I will receive you, 
 and will be to you a Father."— 2 Cor. vi. 17, 18. 
 
 "Yea verily, and I count all things to be loss for Christ Jesus 
 my lyord."— Phil. iii. 8. 
 
 WB have already said that surrender to the Lord 
 is something that for the Christian always 
 obtains newer and deeper significance. When this 
 takes place, he comes to understand how this sur- 
 render involves nothing less than a complete and 
 undivided consecration to live only, always, wholly 
 for Jesus. As entirely as the temple was dedicated to 
 the service of God alone, so that every one knew that 
 it existed only for that purpose; as entirely as the 
 offering on the altar could be used only according to 
 the command of God, and no one had a right to dis- 
 pose of one portion of it otherwise than God had 
 said : so entirely do you belong to your Lord, and so 
 undivided must your consecration to Him be, God 
 continually reminded Israel that He had redeemed 
 176 
 
Undivided Consecration. 
 
 them to be His possession.^ Let us see what this 
 implies. 
 
 There is personal attachment to JesuSy and inter- 
 course with Him in secret. He will be, He must be, 
 the beloved, the desire, the joy of our souls. It is 
 not, in the first instance, to the service of God, but to 
 Jesus as our Friend and King, our Redeemer and 
 God, that we are to be consecrated.^ It is only the 
 spiritual impulse of a personal cordial love that can 
 set us in a condition for a life of complete conse- 
 cration. Continually did Jesus use the words : " For 
 My sake," " Follow Me," *' My disciple : " He Himself 
 must be the central point. ^ He gave Himself: to 
 desire to have Him, to love, to depend on Him, is the 
 characteristic of a disciple. 
 
 Then there is public confession. "What has been 
 given to any one, that he will have acknowledged by 
 all as his property. His possessions are his glory. 
 When the Lord Jesus manifests His great grace to a 
 soul in redeeming it. He desires that the world should 
 see and know it : He would be known and honored 
 as its proprietor. He desires that every one that be- 
 longs to Him should confess Him, and that it should 
 come out that Jesus is King.* Apart from this pub- 
 lic confession, the surrender is but a half-hearted 
 one. As a part of this public confession, it is also 
 required that we should join His people and acknow- 
 
 1 Ex. xix. 4, 5 ; I^ev. i. 8, 9; Deut. vii. 6 ; Rom. xii. i ; i Cor. HL 
 16, 17. 
 'John xiv. 21, XV. 14, 15, xxi. 17 ; Gal. ii. 10. 
 'Matt. x. 32, 33, 37, 38, 40 ; L,uke xiv. 26, 27, 33, xviii. 23. 
 <Ex. xxxiii. 16 ; Josh. xxiv. 15 ; John xiii. 35. 
 12 177 
 
The New Life. 
 
 ledge them as our people. The one new command- 
 ment that the Lord gave, the sure token by which all 
 should recognize that we are His disciples, is 
 brotherly love. Although the children of God in a 
 locality are few, or despised, or full of imperfection, 
 yet do you join them. Love them : hold intercourse 
 with them. Attach yourself to them in prayer meet- 
 ings and otherwise. Love them fervently : brotherly 
 love has wonderful power to open the heart for the 
 love and the indwelling of God.^ 
 
 To complete consecration, there also belongs sepa- 
 ration from sin and the world. Touch not the un- 
 clean thing. Know that the world is under the 
 power of the Evil One. Ask not how much of it you 
 can retain without being lost. Ask not always what 
 is sin and what is lawful. Even of that which is 
 lawful, the Christian must oftentimes make a willing 
 renunciation, in order to be able to live wholly for his 
 God.' Abstinence even from lawful things is often 
 indispensable for the full imitation of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 Live as one who is really separated for God and His 
 holiness. He who renounces everj'thing, who counts 
 everything loss for Jesus' sake, shall even in this life 
 receive an hundredfold.^ 
 
 And what I separate from everything, I will use, 
 Entire consecration has its eye upon making us use- 
 ful and fit for God and His service. Let there not be 
 
 1 Ruth i. 16 ; John xv. 12 ; Rom. xii. 5 ; i Cor. xii. 20, 21 ; Eph. 
 iv. 14, 16 ; I Pet. i. 22. 
 ' I Cor. viii. 13, ix. 25, 27, x. 23 ; 2 Cor. vi. 16, 17 ; 2 Tim. if. 4. 
 3 Gen. xxii. 16, 17 ; 2 Chron. xxv. 9 ; lyUke xviii. 29 ; John xii. 
 
 24, 25 ; Phil. iii. 8. 
 
Undivided Consecration. 
 
 "with you the least doubt as to whether God has need 
 of you, and will make you a great blessing. Only 
 give yourself unreservedly into His hands. Present 
 yourself to Him, that He may fill you with His bless- 
 ing, His love, His Spirit : you shall be a blessing,^ 
 
 Let no one fear that this demand for a complete 
 consecration is too high for him. You are not under 
 the law which demands, but gives no power. You 
 are under grace, which itself works what it requires.^ 
 Like the first surrender, so is every fresh dedication 
 yielded to this Jesus whom the Father has given to do 
 all things for you. Consecration is a deed of faith, a 
 part of the glorious life of faith. It is on this account 
 that 5^ou have to say : It is not I, but the grace of 
 God in me, that will do it. I live only by faith in 
 Him who works in me as well the willing as the per- 
 formance.' 
 
 Blessed Lord, open the eyes of my heart that I may 
 see how completely Thou wouldst have me for Thy- 
 self. Be Thou in the hidden depths of my heart the 
 one power that keeps me occupied, and holds me in 
 possession. Let all know of me that Thou art my 
 King, that I ask only for Thy will. In my separa- 
 tion from the world, in my surrender to Thy people 
 and to Thy will, let it be manifest that I am wholly, 
 yea, wholly, the Lord's. Amen. 
 
 I. There is well-nigh no point of the Christian life in connec- 
 tion with which I should more desire to urge you to pray to God 
 
 ^2 Tim. ii. 21. "^i Cor. ix. 8 ; 2 Thess. i. ii, 12. 
 
 3 1 Cor. XV. 10; Gal. ii. 20 ; Phil. ii. 13. 
 179 
 
The New Life. 
 
 that He may enlighten your eyes, than this of the entire conse- 
 cration that God desires. In myself and others, I discover that 
 vdth our own thoughts we can form no conception how com- 
 pletely God Himself would take possession of our will and live 
 in us. The Holy Spirit must reveal this in us. Only then in- 
 deed does a conviction arise of how little we understand this. 
 "We are not to think : I see truly how entirely I must live for 
 God, but I cannot accomplish this : no, we are to say : I am still 
 blind, I have still no view of what is the glory of a life in which 
 God is all : if I should once see that, I would strongly desire and 
 believe that, not I, but God, should work it in me. 
 
 2. I,et there not be in your mind the least doubt as to whether 
 you have given yourself to God, to live wholly and only as His. 
 Express this conviction often before Him. Acknowledge that 
 you do not yet see or understand what it means, but abide by 
 this, that you desire it to be so. Reckon on the Holy Spirit to 
 seal you, to stamp you as God's entire possession. Even if you 
 stumble and discover self-will, hold fast your integrity, and 
 trustfully aver that the deep, firm choice of your heart is in all 
 things, in all things, to live to God. 
 
 3. Keep always before your eyes that the power to give all to 
 the Ivord, and to be all for the I^ord, arises from the fact that He 
 has given all for you, that He is all for you. Faith in what He 
 did for you is the power of what you do for Him. 
 
 180 
 
XXXVIII. 
 
 ASSURANCE OF FAITH. 
 
 " Ivooking unto the promise of God, Abraham wavered not 
 through unbelief, but waxed strong through faith, giving glory 
 to God, and being fully assured that, what He had promised, He 
 was able also to perform."— Rom. iv. 20, 21. 
 
 " My little children, let us not love in word, neither with the 
 tongue ; but in deed and truth. Hereby shall we know that we 
 are of the truth, and shall a.ssure our heart before Him."— i 
 John iii. 18, 19. 
 
 "And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit 
 which He gave us."— i John iii. 24. 
 
 EVERY child of God has need of the assurance of 
 faith : the full certitude of faith that the Lord 
 has received him and made him His child. The 
 Holy Scripture always speaks to Christians as those 
 that know that they are redeemed, that they are now 
 children of God, and that they have received eternal 
 life.^ How, pray, can a child love or serve his father, 
 while he is uncertain whether his father will really 
 acknowledge him as a child? We have already 
 spoken on this point in a previous chapter; but 
 oftentimes by ignorance or distrust a Christian again 
 comes into darkness : for this reason we will now 
 deal with it once again of set purpose. 
 
 Scripture names three things by which we have our 
 
 I Deut. xxvi. 27, 28 ; Isa. xliv. 5 ; Gal. iv. 7 ; i John v. 12. 
 181 
 
The New Life. 
 
 certitude : first, faith in the word; after that, works; 
 and then, in and with both of these, the Holy 
 Spirit, 
 
 First, faith in the word. Abraham is to us the 
 great exemplar of faith, and also of the assurance of 
 faith. And what then says the Scripture about the 
 certitude that he had? He was fully assured that 
 what God had promised He was abie aiso to perform. 
 His expectation was only from God. and what God 
 had promised- He relied uoon God to do what He 
 had said : the promise of God was lor liim his only 
 but sufficient assurance of faith.^ 
 
 There are many young Christians who think that 
 faith in the word is not sufficient to give full certi- 
 tude : they would fain have something more. They 
 imagine that assurance, a sure inward feeling or con- 
 viction, is what is given above or outside of faith. 
 This is wrong. As I have need of nothing more than 
 the word of a trustworthy man to give me complete 
 certitude, so must the word of God be my certitude. 
 People err because they seek something in themselves 
 and in their feeling. No : the whole of salvation 
 comes from God : the soul must not be occupied with 
 itself or its work, but with God : he that forgets 
 himself to hear what God says, and to rely upon His 
 promise as something worthy of credit, has in this 
 fact the fullest assurance of faith.' He does not 
 doubt the promises, but is strong in faith, giving God 
 
 ' John iii. 33, v. 24 ; Acts xxvii. 25 ; Rom. iv. 21, 22 ; i John ▼. 
 10, II. 
 
 , * Num. xxiii. 19 ; Ps. Ixxxix. 35 ; Isa. liv. 9. 
 182 
 
Assurance of Faith. 
 
 the glory, and being fully assured that what was 
 promised God is also able to perform. 
 
 Then the Scripture names also works : by unfeigned 
 love we shall assure our hearts.^ Here carefully ob- 
 serve this : assurance by faith in the promise, without 
 works, comes first. The godless man who receives 
 grace knows this only from the word. But then, 
 later on, assurance is to follow from works. " By 
 works was faith made perfect. " "^ The tree is planted 
 in faith ; without fruits. But when the time of fruit 
 arrives, and no fruit appears, then I may doubt. The 
 more clearly I at the outset hold the assurance of 
 faith, without works, on the w^ord alone, the more 
 certainly shall works follow. 
 
 And both^assurance of faith and by works — come 
 by the Spirit. Not by the word alone, and not by 
 works as something that I myself do, but by the 
 word as the instrument of the Spirit, and by works 
 as the fruit of the Spirit, has a child of God the 
 heavenly certification that he the Lord's.' 
 
 O let us believe in Jesus as our life, and abide in 
 Him, and assurance of faith shall never be lacking 
 to us. 
 
 O my Father, teach me to find my assurance of 
 faith in a life with Thee, in cordial reliance upon 
 Thy promises, and in cordial obedience to Thy com- 
 mands. Let Thy Holy Spirit also witness with my 
 spirit that I am a child of God. Amen. 
 
 J I John iii. i8, 19. 
 
 ' John XV. 10, 14 ; Gal. v. 6 ; Jas. ii. 22 ; 1 John iii. 14. ^ 
 
 3 John iv. 13 ; Rom. viii. 13, 14 ; i John iii. 24 
 
 183 
 
The New Life. 
 
 1. The importance of the assurance of faith lies in the fact, 
 that I cannot possibly love or serve as a child of God of whom I 
 do not know whether He loves and acknowledges me as His 
 child. 
 
 2. The whole Bible is one great proof for the assurance of 
 faith. Just because it thus speaks of itself, it is not always 
 named. Abraham and Moses knew well that God had received 
 them : otherwise they could not serve or trust Him. Israel 
 knew that God had redeemed them : for this reason they had to 
 serve God. How much more must this be the case in the greater 
 redemption of the New Testament? All the Epistles are written 
 to men of whom it is presupposed that they know and confess 
 that they are redeemed, holy children of God. 
 
 3. Faith and obedience are inseparable, as root and fruit. 
 First, there must be the root, and the root must have time 
 without fruits ; then later on come surely the fruits : first assur- 
 ance without fruits by living faith in the word ; then, further 
 assurance from fruits. It is in a life with Jesus that assurance 
 of faith is exalted firmly above all doubt. 
 
 4. Assurance of faith is much helped by confession. What I 
 express becomes for me more evident ; I am bound and con- 
 firmed by it. 
 
 5. It is at the feet of Jesus, looking up into His friendly coun- 
 tenance, listening to His loving promises, it is in intercourse 
 with Jesus Himself in prayer, that all doubtfulness of mind 
 falls away. Go thither for the full assurance of faith. 
 
 184 
 
XXXIX 
 CONFORMITY TO JESUS. 
 
 " Foreordained to be conformed to the image of His Son."— 
 Rom. viii. 29. 
 
 " I have given you an example, that ye also should do as I 
 have done to you." — John xiii. 15. 
 
 THE Bible speaks of a twofold conformity, a two- 
 fold likeness that we bear. We may be con- 
 formed to the world or to Jesus. The one excludes 
 and drives out the other. Conformity to Jesus, where 
 it is sought, will be secretly prevented by conformity 
 to the world more than anything else. And con- 
 formity to the world can be overcome by nothing but 
 conformity to Jesus. 
 
 Young Christian, the new life of which you have 
 become partaker is the life of God in heaven. In 
 Christ that life is revealed and made visible. What 
 the workings and fruits of eternal life were in Jesus, 
 they shall also be in you : in His life you get to see 
 what eternal life will work in you. It cannot be 
 otherwise : if for this end you surrender yourself un- 
 reservedly to Jesus and the dominion of eternal life, 
 it will bring forth in you a walk of wonderful con- 
 formity to that of Jesus. ^ 
 
 ^ Matt. XX. 87, a8 ; Luke vi. 40; John vi. 57 ; i John ii. 6, iv. 17. 
 
 i8S 
 
The New Life. 
 
 To the true imitation of Jesus in His example and 
 growth in inward conformity to Him, two things 
 especially are necessary. These are a clear insight 
 that I am really called to this, and a firm trust that 
 it is possible for me. 
 
 One of the greatest hindrances in the spiritual life 
 is that we do not know, that we do not see, what 
 God desires that we should be.^ Our understanding 
 is still so little enlightened, we have still so many of 
 our own human thoughts and imaginations about the 
 true service of God, we know so little of waiting for 
 the Spirit who alone can teach us. We do not 
 acknowledge that even the clearest words of God do 
 not have for us the meaning and power that God 
 desires. And so long as we do not spiritually discern 
 what likeness to Jesus is, and how utterly we are 
 called to live like Him, there can be but little said of 
 true conformity. Would that we could only con- 
 ceive our need of a special heavenly instruction on 
 this point.'* 
 
 Let us for this end earnestly examine the Scrip- 
 tures in order to know what God says and desires 
 about our conformity to Christ.^ Let us unceasingly 
 ponder such words of Scripture, and keep our heart 
 in contact with them. Let it remain fixed with us 
 that we have given ourselves wholly to the Lord, to 
 be all that he desires. And let us trustfully pray that 
 the Holy Spirit would inwardly enlighten us and 
 
 ' Matt. xxii. 19 ; I,uke xxiv. 16 ; i Cor. iii. i. 2 ; Heb. v. 11, 12. 
 2 I Cor. ii. 12, 13 ; Eph. i. 17, 18. 
 
 2 John xiii. 15, xv. 10, 12, xvii. 18 ; Kph- v. 2 ; Phil. ii. 5 ; CoL 
 iii. 13. 
 
 186 
 
Conformity to Jesus. 
 
 bring us to a full view of the life of Jesus so far as 
 that can be seen in a believer. ^ The Spirit will con- 
 vince us that we, no less than Jesus, are absolutely- 
 called to live only for the will and glory of the 
 Father : to be in the world even as He is. 
 
 The other thinj that we have need of is the belief 
 that it is really possible for us with some measure of 
 exactness to bear the image of our Lord. Unbelief 
 is the cause of impotence. We put this matter other- 
 wise. Because we are powerless, we think we dare 
 not believe that we can be conformed to our Lord, 
 l^kis thought is in conflict with the word of God. 
 We do not have it in our own power to carry our- 
 selves after the image at lesus. No : He is our head 
 and our life. He dwells in us. and will have His life 
 work from within, outwards, vitk ^ivir>e power, 
 through the Holy Spirit.' 
 
 Yet this cannot be apart from our faith. Faith is 
 the consent of the heart, the surrender to Him to 
 work, the reception of His working. "Be it unto 
 you according to your faith," is one of the funda- 
 mental laws of the kingdom of God.^ It is something 
 incredible what a power unbelief has to hinder the 
 working and the blessing of the Almighty God. 
 The Christian who would be partaker of conformity 
 to Christ must specially cherish the firm trust that 
 this blessing is within his reach, is entirely within 
 the range of possibility. He must learn to look to 
 
 1 I Cor. xi. 1 ; 2 Cor. iii. i8 
 * John. xiv. 23 ; 2 Cor. xiii. 3 ; Eph. iii. 17, 18. 
 ' Zech. viii. 6 ; Matt. viii. 29 ; Luke i. 37, 45, xviii. 27 ; Gal. ii. 20. 
 187 
 
The New I^ife. 
 
 Jesus as Him to whom he by the grace of God 
 Almighty can, in his measure, be really comformable. 
 He must believe that the same Spirit that was in 
 Jesus is also in him ; that the same Father that led 
 and strengthened Jesus also watches over him ; that 
 the same Jesus that lived on earth now lives in him . 
 He must cherish the strong assurance that this Three- 
 One God is at work in changing him into the image 
 of the Son. 1 
 
 He that believes this shall receive it. It will not 
 be without much prayer : it will require especially 
 converse, ceaseless intercourse with God and Jesus, 
 Yet he that desires it and is willing to give time and 
 sacrifice to it, certainly receives it. 
 
 Son of God, Effulgence of the glory of God, the 
 very image of His substance, I must be changed into 
 Thine image. In Thee I see the image and the like- 
 ness of God in which we are created, in which we 
 are by Thee created anew. Lord Jesus, let conformity 
 to Thee be the one desire, the one hope of my souL 
 Amen. 
 
 I. Conformity to Jesus : we think that we understand fir" 
 word : but how little do we comprehend that God really expects 
 we should live even as Jesus. It requires much time with Him, 
 in prayer and pondering of his example, at all rightly to con- 
 ceive it. The writer of these precepts has written a book on 
 this theme, has often spoken of it, and yet he sometimes feels 
 as if he must cry out : Is it really true ? Has God indeed called 
 us to live even as Jesus ? 
 
 1 John xiv. 19, xvii. 19 ; Rom. viii. 2 ; 2 Cor. iii. 18 ; Eph. i. 19, 20. 
 188 
 
Conformity to Jesus. 
 
 2. " I^ike Jesus : Thoughts on the image of the Son of God and 
 our conformity to Him," is the title of a book which the various 
 features of the image of Jesus and the sure way of receiving 
 them are set forth. 
 
 3. Conformity to the world is strengthened especially by inter- 
 course with it : it is in intercourse with Jesus that we shall 
 adopt His mode of thinking, His disposition, His manners. 
 
 4. The chief feature of the life of Jesus in this : He surren- 
 dered Himself wholly to the Father in behalf of men. This is 
 the chief feature of conformity to Him : the offering up of our- 
 selves to God for the redemption and blessing of the lost. 
 
 5. The chief feature of His inner disposition was— child-like- 
 ness : absolute dependence on the Father, great willingness to 
 be taught, cheerful preparedness to do the will of the Father. 
 Be specially like Him in this. 
 
 189 
 
XL. 
 CONFORMITY TO THE WORLD. 
 
 " I beseech you, brethren, to present your bodies a living sac- 
 rifice, holy, acceptable to God. And be not fashioned according 
 to this world : but be ye transformed by the renewing of your 
 mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and 
 perfect will of God."— Rom. xii. i, 2. 
 
 BB not conformed to this world. But what is con- 
 formity to the world? The opposite of con- 
 formity to Jesus : for Jesus and the world stand 
 directly opposed to each other. The world crucified 
 Him. He and His disciples are not of the v/orld. 
 The spirit of this world and the Spirit of God exclude 
 each other : the world cannot receive the Spirit of 
 God, for it sees Him not and knows Him not.^ 
 
 And what is the spirit of this world ? The spirit 
 of this world is the disposition that animates man- 
 kind in their natural condition, where the Spirit of 
 God has not yet renewed them. The spirit of this 
 world comes from the Evil One, who is the prince of 
 this world, and has dominion over all that are not 
 renewed by the Spirit of God.^ 
 
 And in what does the spirit of this world, or con- 
 formity to it, manifest itself? The word of God gives 
 
 1 John xiv. 17, xvii. 14, 16 ; i Cor. ii. 6, 8. 
 
 2 John xiv. 30. xvi. ri ; i Cor. ii. 12. 
 
Conformity to the World. 
 
 the answer : ' ' All that is in the world, the lust of the 
 flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the vainglory of 
 life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." The 
 craving for pleasure or the desire to enjoy the world; 
 the craving for property, or the desire to possess the 
 the world ; the craving for glory, or the desire to be 
 honored in the world : these are the three chief 
 forms of the spirit of the world. ^ 
 
 And these three are one in root and essence. The 
 spirit of this world is, that man makes himself his 
 own end : he makes himself the central point of the 
 world : all creation, so far as he has power over it, 
 must serve him ; he seeks his life in the visible. 
 This is the spirit of the world : to seek one's self and 
 the visible.^ And the Spirit of Jesus ; to live not for 
 one's self and not for the visible, but for God and 
 the things that are invisible.^ 
 
 It is a very terrible and serious thought that one 
 can carry on a busy fashionable life, free from mani- 
 fest sin or unrighteousness, and yet remain in the 
 friendship of the world, and thereby in enmity 
 against God.* 
 
 Where the care for the earthly, fbr what we eat 
 and what we should drink, for what we possess or 
 may still get into possession, for what we can have 
 brought forth in the earth and made to increase, is 
 the chief element in our life, there we are conformed 
 to this world. It is a terrible and a very serious 
 thought that one can maintain to all appearance a 
 
 J I John ii. 15, 16. ' John V. 44. 
 
 3 2 Cor. iv. 18, V. 7, 15. * Jas. iv. 4. 
 
 191 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Christian life and think that one is trusting in Christ, 
 while yet one is living with the worid for self and the 
 visible.^ For this reason the command comes to all 
 Christians with great emphasis : Be conformed, not to 
 this worid, but to Jesus. 
 
 And how can I, for this end, come to be not con- 
 formed to the world ? Read our text over again with 
 consideration : we read there two things. Observe 
 what goes before. It is those that have presented 
 their bodies to God as a sacrifice on the altar that 
 have it said to them : Be not conformed to the world. 
 Ofifer yourself to God — that is conformity to Jesus ; 
 live every day as one that is ofifered up to God, cruci- 
 fied in Christ to the world : then you shall not be 
 conformed to the world.' 
 
 Observe also what follows : Be transformed by the 
 renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is 
 the perfect will of God. There must be a continuous 
 growing renewal of our mind. This takes place by 
 the Holy Spirit, when we let ourselves be led by 
 Him. Then we learn to judge spiritually of what is 
 according to the will of God and what is according to 
 the spirit of the world. A Christian who strives after 
 the progressive renewal of his whole mind shall not 
 be conformed to the world : the Spirit of God makes 
 him conformed to Jesus.' 
 
 Christians, pray, do believe that Jesus has obtained 
 for you the power to overcome the world, with its 
 
 » Matt. vi. 32, 33. 
 * Gal. vi. 14. 
 
 «2 Cor. vi. 14, 16; Eph. V. 17; Heb. v. 14. 
 192 
 
Conformity to the World. 
 
 deep hidden seductions to living for ourselves. Be- 
 lieve this : believe in Him as Victor : and you also 
 have the victory.^ 
 
 Precious Lord, we have presented ourselves to Thee 
 as living sacrifices. We have offered up ourselves to 
 God. We are not of the world, even as Thou art not 
 of the world. Lord, let our mind be enlightened by 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost, that we may rightly 
 see what the spirit of this world is. And let it be 
 seen in us that we are not of this world, but are con- 
 formed to Jesus. Amen. 
 
 1. Worldly pleasures. Is dancing sin ? What harm is there in 
 pla5dng billiards ? Why may a Christian not go to the play ? 
 One has sometimes wished that there were in the Scriptures a 
 distinct law to forbid such things. God has intentionally not 
 given this. If there were such a law it would make men only 
 externally pious. God would put each one upon trial whether 
 his inner disposition is worldly or heavenly. Pray, learn Rom. 
 xii. I, 2 by heart, and ask the Spirit of God to make it living 
 in you. The Christian who offers himself up to God, and be- 
 comes transformed by the renewing of the mind to prove the 
 perfect will of God, will speedily learn whether he may dance 
 or play billiards. The Christian who is afraid only of hell, bvrt 
 not of conformity to the world, cannot see what the Spirit of 
 Cod gives His children to see. 
 
 a. It is remarkable that the trinity of the god of this world, 
 in John's Epistle, is seen as well in the temptation in Paradise 
 as in that of the Lord Jesus. 
 
 •John xvi. 33 ; i John v. 4, 5. 
 
The lust of the flesh. 
 
 The woman saw 
 that the tree was 
 good for food. 
 
 Command that 
 those stones become 
 bread. 
 
 The New Life. 
 
 The lust of the eyes. 
 
 And that it was a 
 delight to the eyes. 
 
 The devil showeth 
 Him all the king- 
 doms of the world. 
 
 And the vainglory of 
 life. 
 
 And that the tree 
 was to be desired to 
 make one wise. 
 
 Cast Thyself 
 down. 
 
 3. Consider what I say to you : It is only conformity to Jesus 
 that wiU keep out conformity to the world. I<et conformity to 
 Jesus be the study, the endeavor of your souL 
 194 
 
XLI. 
 THE LORD'S DAY. 
 
 " And God blesses the seventh day, and hallowed it ; because 
 that in it He rested from all His work which God had created." 
 —Gen. ii. 3. 
 
 " On that day, the first day of the week, Jesus came and stood 
 in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you." — John 
 XX. 19. 
 
 " I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."— Rev. i. 10. 
 
 MAN abides under the law of time. He must 
 have time for what he would do or obtain . In 
 a wonderful way God gives him time for intercourse 
 with Himself. One day in seven God separated for 
 fellowship with Himself. 
 
 The great object of God's gift of this day is said to 
 be, that it may serve as a token that God desires to 
 sanctify man.^ Endeavor, pray, to understand well 
 that word "holy :" it is one of the most important 
 words in the Bible. God is the Holy One : that alone 
 is holy to which God communicates His holiness by 
 revealing Himself thereby. We know that the tem- 
 ple was holy, because God dwelt there. God had 
 taken possession of it. He gave Himself to dwell 
 there. So would God also sanctify man, take posses- 
 sion of him, fill him with Himself, with His own 
 life, His disposition, His holiness. For this end, 
 
 l^x. xxxi. 13, 17 ; Ezek. xx. 12, 20. 
 
The New Life. 
 
 God took possession of the seventh day, appropriating 
 it to Himself : He sanctified it. And He calls man 
 also to sanctify it, and to acknowledge it as the 
 Lord's day, the day of the Lord's presence and 
 special working. He that does this, that sanctifies 
 this day, shall as God has promised, be sanctified by 
 Him. (Read with attention Ex. xxxi. 12-17, espe- 
 cially ver. 13. ) 
 
 God blessed the seventh day by sanctifying it. 
 The blessing of God is the power of life, lodged by 
 Him in anything, whereby it has a result full of 
 blessing. Grass, and cattle, and man He blessed 
 with power to multiply.^ And so He lodged in the 
 seventh day a power to bless : the promise that every 
 one that sanctifies this day shall be sanctified and 
 blessed by it. We must accustom ourselves always to 
 think of the Sabbath as a blessed day, that certainly 
 brings blessing. The blessing bound up with it is 
 very great.^ 
 
 There is still a third word that is used of the insti- 
 tution of the Sabbath : " God rested on the seventh 
 day," and, as it stands in Exodus, "was refreshed" 
 or gladdened. God would sanctify and bless us, by 
 introducing us into His rest. He would bring us to 
 see that we are not to burden ourselves with our cares 
 and weakness : we are to rest in Him, in His finished 
 work, in His rest, which He takes because all is in 
 order. This rest is not the outward cessation of em- 
 ployments ; no : it is the rest of faith, by which we 
 
 1 Gen. i. 22, 28, xxii. 17. 
 2lsa. Ivi. 4-7, Iviii. 13, 14. 
 196 
 
The lyord's Day. 
 
 cease from our works as God did from His, because 
 all is finished. Into this rest we enter by faith in the 
 finished work of Jesus, in surrender to be sanctified 
 by God.i 
 
 Because Jesus finished the second creation in His 
 resurrection, and we, by the power of His resurrec- 
 tion, enter into life and rest, the seventh day is 
 changed to the first day of the week. There is no 
 specific statement on this point : under the New Tes- 
 tament, the Spirit takes the place of the law. The 
 Spirit of the Lord led His disciples to the celebration 
 of this day. It was the day. not only in which the 
 Lord was raised, but also on which, in all likelihood, 
 the Spirit was poured out : not only on which the 
 Lord manifested Himself during the forty days, but 
 on which the Spirit also specially worked.^ 
 
 The chief lessons that we have to learn about this 
 day are the following : 
 
 The principal aim of the Sabbath is to make you 
 holy, as God is holy. God would have you holy : 
 this is glory, this is blessedness : this is His blessing, 
 this His rest. God would have you holy, filled with 
 Himself and His holiness.' 
 
 In order to sanctify you, God must have you with 
 Him, in His presence and fellowship. You are to 
 come away from all your struggling and working to 
 rest with Him : to rest quietly, without exertion or an- 
 xiety, in the certitude that the Son has finished every- 
 
 I Heb. iv. 3, lo. 
 
 'John XX. I, 19, 26 ; Acts i. 8, xx. 7 ; i Cor. xvi. 2 ; Rev. i za 
 8Ex. xxix. 43, 45 • Ezek. xxxvii. 27, 28; i Pet. i. 15, 16. 
 197 
 
The New Life. 
 
 thing, that the Father cares for you in everything, 
 that the Spirit will work everything in you. In the holy 
 rest of a soul that is converted to God, that is silent 
 towards God, that remains silent before His presence 
 to hear what God speaks in him, that reckons upon 
 God to achieve all, God can reveal Himself.^ It is 
 thus that He sanctifies us. 
 
 We sanctify the day of rest, first by withdrawal 
 from all external business and distraction ; but then 
 especially by employing it as God's day, belonging to 
 the Lord, for what He destined it, fellowship with 
 Himself. 
 
 Take heed, on the other hand, that you do not use 
 the day of rest only as a day for the public observance 
 of divine worship. It is especially in private personal 
 intercourse that God can bless and sanctify you. In 
 the church, the understanding is kept active, and you 
 have the ordinances of preaching, united prayer and 
 praise, to keep you occupied. But we do not there 
 always know whether the heart is really dealing with 
 God, is taking delight in Him. This takes place in 
 solitude. O, accustom yourself, then, to be alone 
 with the Lord your God. Not only speak to Him : 
 let Him speak to you : let your heart be the temple 
 in whose holy silence His voice is heard. Rest in 
 God : then will God say of your heart : This is my 
 rest, here will I dwell.' 
 
 Young Christian, set great store by the holy, the 
 blessed day of rest. Long for it. Thank God for it. 
 
 1 Ps. Ixii. 2, 6 ; Hab. ii. 20 ; Zech. ii. 13 ; John xix. 30. 
 * Ps. cxxxii. 13, 14. 
 
 198 
 
The Ivord's Day. 
 
 Keep it very holy. And, above all, let it be a day of 
 inner fellowship with your God, of a living converse 
 with His love. 
 
 Holy God, I thank Thee for the holy day which 
 Thou givest me as a token that Thou wilt sanctify 
 me. Lord God, it is Thou who didst sanctify the day 
 by taking it for Thyself : sanctify me in like manner 
 by taking me for Thyself. Teach me so to enter into 
 Thy rest, so to find my rest in Thy love, that my 
 whole soul shall be silent before Thee, in order that 
 Thou mayest make Thyself and Thy love known in 
 me. And let every Sabbath be to me a foretaste of 
 the eternal rest with Thee. Amen. 
 
 1. The Sabbath was the first of all the means of grace, insti- 
 tuted even before the Fall. You cannot set too high a value 
 upon it. 
 
 2. Observe how specially the Three-One God has revealed 
 Himself upon the day of rest. The Father rested on this day. 
 The Son rose from the dead upon it. The Spirit sanctified this 
 day by His special workings. You may on this day expect the 
 fellowship and the powerful workings of the Three-One. 
 
 3. What is meant by the word " holy? " Of what is the day 
 of rest a token, according to Ex. xxxi. 13? How did God sanc- 
 tify the day of rest ? How does He sanctify us ? 
 
 4. There are in this country peculiar difficulties in the way of 
 the quiet celebration of the day of rest in a village, where the 
 church is often very full. Yet one can lay aside that which is 
 unnecessary and receive the influx of company. We can fix an 
 hour in which there shall be reading and singing. 
 
 5. It is a matter of great importance to bring up children 
 aright, for the sanctification of the Sabbath day, by avoiding 
 worldly society and conversation, by accustoming them to read 
 something that may be useful for them. For the younger chil- 
 
 199 
 
The New Life. 
 
 dren, there should be in every place a Sabbath school. For the 
 older children, it would be well to come together in connection 
 with such a book as this, every one with a Bible, and to review 
 texts. 
 
 6. There is no better day than the L,ord's day for doing good 
 to body and soul. I,et the works of Satan on this day come to 
 an end, and work for the heathen and the ignorant be carried 
 forward. 
 
 7. The principal point is this : the day of rest is the day of 
 God's rest, of rest in and with God, and of intercourse with 
 Him. It is God that will sanctify us. He does this by taking 
 possession of us. 
 
 200 
 
xui. 
 
 HOLY BAPTISM. 
 
 *' Go ye therefore, and make disciples * of all the nations, 
 baptizing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and 
 of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
 ever I commanded you." — Matt, xxviii. 19. 
 
 '•He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved."— Mark 
 xvi. 16. 
 
 IN these words of the institution of baptism, we 
 find its meaning comprehended as in a summary. 
 The word "teach" means: "make disciples of all 
 the nations, baptizing them." The believing disci- 
 ple, as he is baptized in the water, is also to be bap- 
 tized or introduced into the name of the Three-One 
 God. By the name of the Father, the new birth and 
 life as a child in the love of the Father are secured to 
 him : ^ by the name of the Son, participation in the 
 forgiveness of sins and the life that is in Christ : "^ by 
 the name of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling and pro- 
 gressive renewal of the Spirit.' And every baptized 
 believer must always look upon baptism as his en- 
 trance into a covenant with the Three-One God, and 
 
 1 Gal. iii. 26, 27, iv. 6, 7. 
 *Col. ii. 12. 
 »Tit. ii. 5, 6. 
 
 * The Dutch version, like our Authorized, has " teach " here. 
 201 
 
The New Life. 
 
 as a pledge that the Father, the Son, and the Spirit 
 will in course of time do for him all that they have 
 promised. It requires a life-long study to know and 
 enjoy all the blessing that is presented in baptism. 
 
 In other passages of Scripture the thrice twofold 
 blessing is again set forth separately : thus we find 
 bound up with it the new birth required to make a 
 child of God. " Except a man be born of water and 
 the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of 
 God." The baptized disciple has in God a Father, 
 and he has to live as a child in the love of this 
 Father.i 
 
 Then, again, baptism is brought more directly into 
 connection with the redemption that is in Christ. 
 Consequently, the first and simplest representation 
 of it is the forgiveness or washing away of sins. 
 Forgiveness is always the gateway or entrance into 
 all blessing : hence baptism is also the sacrament of 
 the beginning of the Christian life ; but of a begin- 
 ning that is maintained through the whole life. It 
 is on this account that in Rom. vi. baptism is repre- 
 sented as the secret of the whole of sanctification, 
 the entrance into a life in union with Jesus. " Or are 
 ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ 
 Jesus were baptized into His death?" And then 
 follows in vers. 4-1 1, the more precise explanation 
 of what it is to be baptized into the death of Jesus, 
 and to arise out of this with Him for a new life in 
 Him. This is elsewhere very powerfully compre- 
 hended in this one word : "As many of you as were 
 
 1 John iii, 3, 5. 
 202 
 
Holy Baptism, 
 
 baptized into Christ did put on Christ." This alone 
 is the right life of a baptized disciple : he has put on 
 Christ.^ As one is plunged into water and passes 
 under it, so is the believing confessor baptized into 
 the death of Christ, in order then to live and walk 
 clothed with the new life of Christ. 
 
 And there are other passages where again there is 
 connected with baptism the promise of the Spirit, 
 not only as the Spirit of regeneration, but as the gift 
 bestowed from heaven upon believers for indwelling 
 and sealing, for progressive renewal. " He saved us 
 through the washing of regeneration and renewing 
 of the Holy Ghost, which He poured out upon us 
 richly," Renewal is here the activity of the Spirit, 
 whereby the new life that is planted in the new birth 
 penetrates our whole being, so that all our thinking 
 and doing is sanctified by Him.' 
 
 And all this rich blessing which lies in baptism is 
 received by faith. " He that believeth, and is bap- 
 tized, shall be saved." Baptism was not only a con- 
 fession on man's part of the faith that he who would 
 be a disciple already had, but equally on God's part 
 a seal for the confirmation of faith, a covenant token 
 in which the whole treasury of grace lay open, to be 
 enjoyed throughout life. As often as a baptized be- 
 liever sees a baptism administered, or reflects upon 
 it, it is to be to him an encouragement to press by an 
 over-growing faith into the full life of salvation that 
 the Three-One desires to work in him. The Holy 
 
 1 Rom. vi. 3, 4 ; Gal. Hi. 27 ; Col. ii. 12. 
 
 •Rom. xii. 2 ; Eph. iv. 23 ; Tit. ii. 5, 6. 
 
 203 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Spirit is given to appropriate witliin us all the love 
 of the Father and all the grace of the Son. The be- 
 lieving candidate for baptism is baptized into the 
 death of Christ, has put on Christ: the Holy Spirit 
 is in him to give him all this as his daily experience.* 
 
 Lord God, make Thy holy baptism always opera- 
 tive in my soul as the experience that I am baptized 
 into the death of Christ. And let Thy people every- 
 where understand by Thy Spirit what rich blessing 
 lies thrown open in the baptism of their children. 
 Amen. 
 
 And what are we now to think of Infant Baptism ? With the 
 assurance that those who cleave only to God's word, namely, 
 the Baptists, will say to us : You cannot adduce a single passage 
 in Scripture where the baptism of little children is spoken of. 
 
 Our answer is that this is thoroughly taught us in Scripture, 
 not indeed by separate texts, but by its whole tenor. The rea- 
 son why the Lord Jesus did not name children specially, was that 
 this was altogether unnecessary. From the time of Abraham 
 onwards God had engrained it in His people, that in His cove- 
 nant He always reckoned parents and children together. He 
 deals, not with separate individuals alone, but with households : 
 the faith of a father held good for the child, so long as the child 
 did not violate the covenant. 
 
 a. In Abraham, Isaac obtained part ; in every father amongst 
 the people of Israel his child obtained part in the covenant 
 blessing, and therefore in the covenant token. " I will estab- 
 lish My covenant between Me and thee, and thy seed after thee, 
 to be a God unto thee, and thy seed after thee." (Gen. xvii. 7.) 
 
 b. Even so in connection with the Passover, it was ordained 
 that, when a stranger would join the people, all his males should 
 be circumcised. (Kx. xii. 48.) Up to the time of Christ it was 
 
 > Eph. iv. 14, 15 ; Col. ii. 6. 
 204 
 
Holy Baptism. 
 
 •unquestionably the case that, when any one belonged to the 
 people of God or desired to become attached to them, his little 
 children were received along with him. If the L,ord had de- 
 sired to change this, a very express injunction was needed for 
 the purpose. 
 
 c. How expressly did the I,ord Jesus declare of children : " Of 
 such is the kingdom of God." And under the kingdom should 
 he not have as a Christian the privilege that he had as a Jew? 
 Yes : the covenant of Abraham is still confirmed from child to 
 child. 
 
 d. The answer of Paul to the gaol-keeper confirms the con- 
 tinuance of what God had instituted : " Believe in the L,ord Jesus 
 and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." Although there were 
 no children in that house, this promise confirms the principle 
 that God deals, not merely with individuals, but with house- 
 holds. 
 
 e. "Therefore are your children holy." Since the child itself 
 is holy, it has of itself a right to the holy token of the covenant. 
 
 205 
 
XLIII. 
 
 THE IvORD'S SUPPER. 
 
 "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a communion of 
 the blood of Christ ? The bread which we break, is it not a 
 communion of the body of Christ?" — i Cor. x. i6. 
 
 '' He that eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in 
 Me, and I in him. He that eateth Me, he also shall live because 
 of Me."— John vi. 56, 57. 
 
 Alvlv life has need of food : it is sustained by 
 nourishment which it takes in from without. 
 The heavenly life must have heavenly food ; nothing 
 less than Jesus Himself is the bread of life : " He 
 that eateth Me shall live by Me." ^ 
 
 This heavenly food, Jesus, is brought near to us 
 in two of the means of grace, the word and the 
 Lord's Supper. The word comes to present Jesus to 
 us from the side of the intellectual life, by our 
 thoughts. The Lord's Supper comes in like manner 
 to present Jesus to us from the side of the emotional 
 life, by the physical senses. Man has a double 
 nature : he has spirit and body. Redemption begins 
 with the spirit, but it would also penetrate to the 
 body.* Redemption is not complete until this mor- 
 tal body also shall share in glory. The Supper is 
 
 ' Ps. xlii. 3 ; Matt. iv. 4 ; John vi. 51. 
 SRom. viii. 23 ; i Cor. vi. 13, 15, 19, 20 ; Phil. iii. 21. 
 206 
 
The Lord's Supper. 
 
 the pledge that the Lord will also change our body 
 of humiliation and make it like His own glorified 
 body by the working whereby He subdues all things 
 to Himself. It is not simply because all that is cor- 
 poreal is more clear and intelligible for us, that the 
 Lord gives Himself in the bread of the Supper. No : 
 by the body, Scripture often understands the whole 
 man. In the Supper, Christ would take possession 
 of the whole man, body and soul, to renew and sanc- 
 tify it by the power of His holy body and blood. 
 Bven His body shares in His glory : even His body 
 is communicated by the Holy Spirit. Bven our body 
 is fed with His holy body, and renewed by the work- 
 ing of the Holy Spirit.^ 
 
 This feeding with the body of Christ takes place, 
 on the side of the Lord by the Spirit, on our side 
 by faith. On the side of the Lord by the Spirit : 
 for the Spirit communicates to us the power of the 
 glorified body, whereby even our bodies, accord- 
 ing to Scripture, become members of His body.^ 
 The Spirit gives us to drink of the life-power of 
 His blood, so that that blood becomes the life 
 and the joy of our soul. The bread is a participa- 
 tion in the body: the cup is a participation in the 
 blood. 
 
 And this takes place on our side by faith : a 
 faith that, above what can be seen or understood, 
 reckons on the wonder-working power of the Holy 
 Spirit to unite us really, alike in soul and body. 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 26 ; John vi. 54, 55 ; Rom. viii. 11, 13. 
 •i Cor. vi. 15, 17, xii. 13 ; Eph. v. 23, 30. 
 207 
 
The New Life. 
 
 with our Lord, by communicating Him inwardly 
 to us.^ 
 
 This is what the Heidelberg Catechism intends in 
 Question and Answer 76. 
 
 " What is it to eat the glorified body of Christ and 
 to drink His shed blood ?" 
 
 " It is not only to receive with a believing heart the 
 whole sufi"ering and dying of Christ, and thereby to 
 obtain forgiveness of sins and eternal life, but also 
 therewith, by the Holy Spirit, who dwells alike in 
 Christ and in us, to be so united more and more with 
 His blessed body, that we, although He is in heaven 
 and we are upon earth, are nevertheless flesh of His 
 flesh and bone of His bone, and so live and are gov- 
 erned eternally by one Spirit, as the members of our 
 body by a soul." * 
 
 This deeply inward union with Jesus, even with 
 His body and blood, is the great aim of the Lord's 
 Supper. All that it teaches and gives us of the for- 
 giveness of sins, of the remembrance of Jesus, of the 
 confirmation of the divine covenant, of union with 
 one another, of the announcement of the Lord's 
 death till He comes, must lead to this : complete 
 oneness with Jesus through the Spirit.^ "He that 
 eateth My flesh and drinketh My blood abideth in 
 Me, and I in him. He that eateth Me, he shall live 
 by Me.' 
 
 1 lyuke i. 37 ; i Cor, ii. 9, 12. 
 
 2 Matt. XX vi. 28 ; Luke xxii. 19 ; John vi. 56, xv. 4 ; i Cor. x. 17, 
 xi. 26 ; Rev. iii. 20. 
 
 * " Der Heidelbergische Catechismus, " § 28, v. 76. 
 208 
 
The Ivord's Supper. 
 
 It is readily understood that the blessing of the 
 Supper depends very much on preparation within 
 the inner chamber, on the hunger and thirst with 
 which one longs for the living God.^ Do not imag- 
 ine, however, that the Supper is nothing but an em- 
 blematic token of what we already have by faith in 
 the word. No : it is a spiritual actual communica- 
 tion from the exalted Lord in heaven of the powers 
 of His life : yet this, only according to the measure 
 of desire and faith. Prepare for the Lord's Suppe-^, 
 therefore, and very earnest separation and prayer. 
 And then expect that the Lord will, with His heav- 
 enly power, in a way to you incomprehensible, yet 
 sure, renew yotir life. 
 
 Blessed Lord, who didst institute the Supper in 
 order to communicate Thyself to Thy redeemed as 
 their food and their power of life, O teach us to use 
 the Supper, Teach us at every opportunity to eat 
 and to drink with great hunger and thirst for Thy- 
 self and for full union with Thee, believing that the 
 Holy Spirit feeds us with Thy body and gives us to 
 drink of Thy blood. Amen. 
 
 I. In connection with the Supper let us be especially on our 
 guard against the idea of a mere divine service of the congre- 
 gation or transitory emotion. Preaching and addresses xuay 
 make an edifying impression, while there is little power or 
 blessing. 
 
 ». For a meal, the first requisite is hunger. A strong hunger 
 and thirst for God is indispensable. 
 
 1 Job xi. 13 ; Isa. Iv. i, 3 ; Matt. v. 6 ; I,ulcc i. -3 ; i Cor. xi. 8. 
 14 209 
 
"^he New Life. 
 
 3. In the Supper, Jesus desires to give Himself to us, and 
 would have us g^ve ourselves to Him. These are great and holy 
 things. 
 
 4. The lessons of the Supper are many. It is a feast of remem- 
 brance ; a feast of reconciliation ; a covenant feast ; a love feast ; 
 a feast of hope. But all these separate thoughts are only sub- 
 ordinate parts of the principal element : the living Jesus would 
 give Himself to us in the most inward union. The Son of God 
 would descend into our inmost parts ; He would come in to 
 celebrate the Supper with us. " He that eateth My flesh and 
 drinketh My blood, let him abide in Me, and I in him." 
 
 5. And then union with Jesus is union vnth His people in love 
 and sympathy. 
 
 6. The preparatory address is not itself the preparation : it is 
 only a help to the private preparation which one must have in 
 intercourse with Jesus. 
 
 7. To hold festival with God at His table is something of un- 
 speakable importance. Pray, do not suppose that, because you 
 are a Christian, it is easy for you to go and sit down. No : be- 
 take yourself to solitude with Jesus, that He may speak to you 
 and say how you are to prepare your heart to eat with Him, 
 yea, with Himself 
 
 It is very useful to take the whole week before the Supper fcr 
 preparation and the whole week after for reflection. You will 
 find help for this in the book, ' ' The Table of the I,ord ; a help 
 to the right celebration of the Holy Supper" (J. H. Rose, Cape 
 Town). 
 
 210 
 
XI.IV. 
 OBEDIENCE. 
 
 " Now therefore, if ye will obey My voice indeed, ye shall be a 
 peculiar treasure unto Me from among all peoples." — Ex. xix. s 
 
 " The lord will surely bless thee, if thou only diligently 
 hearken unto the voice of the I,ord thy God."— Deut. xv. 4, 5. 
 
 " By faith Abraham obeyed."— Heb. xi. 8. 
 
 " He learned obedience by the things which He suffered ; and 
 having been made perfect. He became unto all them that obey 
 Him the author of eternal salvation."— Heb. v. 8, 9. 
 
 OBEDIENCE is one of the most important words 
 in the Bible and in the life of the Christian. 
 It was in the way of disobedience that man lost the 
 favor and the life of God : it is only in the way of 
 obedience that that favor and that life can again be 
 enjoyed.' God cannot possibly take pleasure in those 
 who are not obedient, or bestow His blessing upon 
 them. "If ye will obey My voice indeed, ye shall 
 be a peculiar treasure unto Me;" "The Lord will 
 surely bless thee, if thou only diligently hearken 
 unto the voice of the Lord thy God." These are the 
 eternal principles according to which alone man can 
 enjoy God's favor and blessing. 
 
 We see this in the Lord Jesus. He says : ' ' If ye 
 keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love ; 
 
 1 Rom. V. 19, vi. 16 ; 1 Pet. i. 2, 14, 22. 
 211 
 
The New Life. 
 
 even as I have kept my Father's commandments, 
 and abide in His love." He was in the love of the 
 Father, but could not abide there otherwise than by 
 obedience. And He says that this is equally for us 
 the one way to abide in His love : we must keep His 
 commandments. He came to open for us the way 
 back to God : this way was the way of obedience : 
 only he that through faith in Jesus walks in this way 
 shall come to God.i 
 
 How gloriously is this connection betwixt the obe- 
 dience of Jesus and our own, expressed in Heb. v. : 
 " He learned obedience, and became unto all them 
 that obey Him the author of eternal salvation." 
 This is the bond of unity between Jesus and His peo- 
 ple, the point of conformity and inward unanimity. 
 He was obedient to the Father : they, on the other 
 hand, are obedient to Him. He and they are both 
 obedient. His obedience not only atones for, but 
 drives out their disobedience. He and they bear one 
 token : obedience to God. ^ 
 
 This obedience is a characteristic of the life of 
 faith. It is called the obedience of faith.' There is 
 nothing in earthly things that so spurs on men to 
 work as faith : the belief that there is advantage or 
 joy to be found is the secret of all work. "By faith 
 Abraham, when he was called, obeyed : ' ' according 
 to what I believe shall my works be. The faith that 
 Jesus made me free from the power of sin for obedi- 
 
 1 Gen. xxii. 17, 18, xxvi. 4, 5 ; i Sam. xv. 22 : John xv. 10. 
 *Rom. vi. 17; 2 Cor. x. 5 ; Phil, ii 8. 
 'Acts vi. 7 ; Rom. i. 5, xvi. 26. 
 
 212 
 
Obedience. 
 
 ence and sets me in a suitable condition for it, has a 
 mighty power to make me obedient. Faith in the 
 overflowing blessing which the Father gives to it, 
 faith in the promises of the love and indwelling of 
 God, of the fulness of the Spirit which comes by this 
 channel, strengthens for obedience.^ 
 
 The power of this faith, again, as also of obedience, 
 lies especially in intercourse with the living God 
 Himself. There is but one Hebrew word for * * obey- 
 ing voice" and '■^hearing voice:" to hear aright 
 prepares to obey. It is when I learn the will of God, 
 not in the words of a man or a book, but from God 
 Himself, when I hear the voice of God, that I shall 
 surely believe what is promised and do what is com- 
 manded. The Holy Spirit is the voice of God : when 
 we hear the living voice speak, obedience becomes 
 easy.'^ O let us then wait in silence upon God, and 
 set our soul open before Him, that He may speak by 
 His Spirit, When in our Bible-reading and praying 
 we learn to wait more upon God, so that we can say : 
 My God has spoken this to me, has given me this 
 promise, has commanded this, then, shall we also 
 obey. " To listen to the voice " earnestly, diligently, 
 is the sure way to obedience. 
 
 With a servant, a warrior, a child, a subject, obedi- 
 dience is indispensable, the first token of integrity. 
 And shall God, the living, glorious God, find no 
 obedience with us ? * No : let cheerful, punctual, 
 
 ' Deut. xxviii. i ; Isa. Ixiii. 5 ; John xiv. 15, n, 23 ; Acts v. 32. 
 2 Gen. xii. i, 4, xxxi. 13, 16 ; Matt. xiv. 28 ; Luke v. 5 ; John x. 
 4,27. 
 '^ Mai. i. 6 ; Matt. viL 21. 
 
 213 
 
The New Life. 
 
 precise obedience from the beginning be the token of 
 the genuineness of our fellowship with the Son whose 
 obedience is our life. 
 
 O Father, who makest us Thy children in Christ, 
 Thou makest us in Him obedient children, as He was 
 obedient. Let the Holy Spirit make the obedience 
 of Jesus so glorious and powerful in us, that obedi- 
 ence shall be the highest joy of our life. Teach us 
 in everything only to seek to know what Thou 
 desirest and then to do it. Amen. 
 
 For a life of obedience these things are required : — 
 
 1. Decisive surrender. I must no longer have to ask in every 
 single case : Shall I or shall I not, must I, can I, be obedient ? 
 No : it must be such an unquestionable thing, that I shall know 
 of nothing else than to be obedient. He that cherishes such a 
 disposition and thinks of obedience as a thing that stands firm, 
 shall find it easy, yea, shall literally taste in it great joy. 
 
 2. The, knowledge of God's will through the Spirit. Pray, do 
 not imagine that, because you know the Bible in some sort, you 
 know the will of God. The knowledge of God's will is some- 
 thing spiritual : let the Holy Spirit make known to you the 
 knowledge of God's will. 
 
 3. The doing 0/ all that we know to be right. All doing teaches 
 men : all doing of what is right teaches men obedience. All 
 that the word, or conscience, or the Spirit tells you is right, 
 actually do it. It helps to form doing into a holy habit, and is 
 an exercise leading to more power and more knowledge. Do 
 what is right. Christian, out of obedience to God, and you 
 shall be blessed. 
 
 4. Faith in the power 0/ Christ. You have the power to obey : 
 "be sure of this. Although you do not feel it, you have it in 
 Christ your Lord by faith. 
 
 5 . The glad assu ranee 0/ the blessing of obedience. It unites us 
 with our God, it wins his good pleasure and love, it strengthens 
 •our life, it brings the blessedness of heaven in our heart. 
 
 214 
 
XLV. 
 THE WILL OF GOD. 
 
 "Thy will be done as in heaven, so on earth." — Matt. vi. la 
 
 THE glory of heaven, where the Father dwells, is 
 that His will is done there. He who would 
 taste the blessedness of heaven must know the Father 
 who is there, and do His will, as it is done in heaven. ^ 
 
 " Heaven is an unending holy kingdom, of which 
 the throne of God is the central point. Around this 
 throne there are innumerable multitudes of pure, 
 free beings, all ordered under powers and dominions. 
 An indescribably rich and many-sided activity fills 
 their life. All the highest and noblest that keeps 
 man occupied is but a faint shadow of what finds 
 place in this invisible world. All these beings 
 possess each their free personal will. The will, how- 
 ever, has in self-conscious freedom, by its own choice, 
 become one with the holy will of the holy Father, so 
 that, in the midst of a diversity that flashes out in a 
 million forms, only one will is accomplished — the 
 will of God. All the rich, blessed movement of the 
 inhabitants of heaven has its origin and its aim in 
 the will of God." 
 
 And why is it then that His children on earth da 
 
 1 Dan. iv. 35. 
 215 
 
The New Life. 
 
 not regard this will as their highest joy ? Wherefore 
 is it that the petition, "Thy will be done as in 
 heaven," is for the most part coupled with thoughts 
 of the severe, the trying elements in the will of God, 
 of the impossibility of our always rejoicing in God'a 
 will. The cause is this : we do not take pains to 
 know the will of God in its glory and beauty, as the 
 emanation of love, as the source of power and joy, as 
 the expression of the perfection of God. We think 
 of God's will only in the law that He gave and that 
 we cannot keep, or in the trials in which this will 
 appears in conflict with our own. O let us no longer 
 do this, but take pains to understand that in the will 
 of God all His love and blessedness are compre- 
 hended and can be apprehended by us. ^ 
 
 Hear what the word says about the will of God : 
 and the glorious things that are destined for us in 
 this will. 
 
 " This is the will of my Father, that every one that 
 "beholdeth the Son and believeth on Him should 
 have eternal life." The will of God is the rescue of 
 sinners by faith in Christ. He that surrenders him- 
 self to this glorious will to seek souls shall have the 
 assurance that God will bless His work to others ; for 
 he carries out God's will, even as Jesus did it.' 
 
 "It is not the will of your Father which is in 
 heaven that one of these little ones should perish." 
 The will of God is the maintenance, the strengfthen- 
 ing, the keeping of the weakest of His children. 
 
 1 Gal. i. 4 ; Bph. i. 5, 9, ii ; Heb. x. 10. 
 » John iv. 34, V. 30, vi. 38, 40. 
 216 
 
The Will of God. 
 
 What courage shall he have who unites himself 
 cordially with this will.^ 
 
 ''This is the will of God, even your sanctifica- 
 tion." With His whole heart, with all the power of 
 His will, is God willing to make us holy. If we but 
 open our heart to believe that it is not the law, but 
 the will of God, something that He certainly gives 
 and does where we permit Him, then shall we rejoice 
 over our sanctification as stable and sure.^ 
 
 " In everything give thanks : for this is the will of 
 God in Christ Jesus to you-ward." A joyful, thank- 
 ful life is what God has destined for us, is what He 
 will work in us : what He desires, that He certainly 
 does in those who do not withstand Him, but receive 
 and suffer His will to work in them.^ 
 
 What we require then is to surrender our spirit to 
 be filled with the thought, that what God would have 
 He will certainly bring to pass when we do not resist 
 Him. And if we further consider how glorious, and 
 good, and perfect the will of God is, shall we not 
 then yield ourselves with the whole heart, that this 
 will may bring itself to accomplishment in us ? * 
 
 To this end, let us believe that the will of God is 
 His love. Let us see what blessings in the word are 
 connected with the doing of this will.* Let us think 
 of the glory of heaven as consisting in the doing of 
 
 1 Matt, xviii. 14. 
 ' I Thess. iv. 3, v. 23, 24. 
 » I Thess. V. i8. 
 < Rom. xii. 2. 
 
 *Matt. vii. 21, xii. 50; John vii. 17, ix. 31 ; Kph- v. 17, vi. 6; x 
 John ii. 17, 
 
 217 
 
The New Life. 
 
 God's will, and make the choice that that our life on 
 earth shall be. And let us with prayer and medita- 
 tion suffer ourselves to be led of the Spirit to know 
 this will aright.^ 
 
 When we have thus learned to know the will of 
 God on its glorious heavenly side in the word, and 
 have done it, it will not be difl&cult for us also to 
 bear this will where it appears to be contrary to our 
 nature. We shall be so filled with the adoration of 
 God and His will, that we shall resolve to see, and 
 approve, and love this will in everything. And it 
 will be the most glorious thought of our life that 
 there is to be nothing, nothing, in which the will of 
 God must not be known and honored.^ 
 
 O my Father, this was the glory of the Lord Jesus, 
 that He did not His own will, but the will of His 
 Father. This His glory I desire to have as mine. 
 Father, open mine eyes and my heart to know the 
 perfection, the glory of Thy will, and the glory of a 
 life in this will. Teach me to understand Thy will 
 aright, then willingly and cheerfully to execute it ; 
 and where I have to hear it, to do this also with filial 
 adoration. Amen. 
 
 1. To do the will of God from the heart in prosperity is the 
 only way to bear this will from the heart in suffering. 
 
 2. To do the will of God, I must know it spiritually. The 
 light and the power of the Spirit go together : what He teaches 
 
 1 Rom. xii. 2 ; Col. i. 9, iv. 12 ; Heb. x. 36, xiii. 21. 
 
 2 Ps. xlii. 9 ; Matt. xxvi. 39 ; Heb. x. 7, 9. 
 
 218 
 
The Will of God. 
 
 to see as God's will. He certainly teaches all to do. Meditate 
 much on Rom. xii. i, and pray earnestly to see God's will aright. 
 
 3. Learn always to adore the will of God in the least and the 
 worst thing that man does to you. It is not the will of God 
 that man should do what is sinful ; but when man does sin, it is 
 the will of God that His child should be proved thereby. Say 
 then always in the least as well as the greatest trials : it is the 
 will of God that I am in this difficulty. This brings the soul to 
 rest and silence, and teaches it to honor God in the trial. On 
 this point read the chapter, "Is God in everything?" in the 
 excellent little book, "The Christian's Secret of salvation."* 
 
 4. When God gave a will to man, He gave him a power 
 whereby he could accept or rejeet the will of God. Child of 
 God, pray, open your will to receive the will of God with its full 
 power, and to be filled with it. This is heavenly glory and 
 blessedness, to be conscious every day : my will is in harmony 
 with God's will ; God's will lives in me. It is the will of God to 
 work this in you. 
 
 *[Tkf Christian's Secret of a Happy Life, by H. W. S. F. E- 
 Longley, chap, viii,, p. 83.— Tr.] 
 219 
 
XLVI. 
 SELF-DENIAL. 
 
 *' Then said Jesus unto His disciples, if any man would come 
 after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow 
 Me."— Matt. xvi. 24. 
 
 SELF-DENIAIv was an exercise of which the Lord 
 Jesus often spoke. He mentioned it several 
 times as an indispensable token of every true disci- 
 ple. He connects it with cross-bearing and losing 
 life.^ Our old life is so sinful, and remains to the 
 end so sinful, that it is never in a condition for any- 
 thing good. It must therefore be denied and morti- 
 fied, in order that the new life, the life of God, may 
 have free dominion over us.'' Let the young Chris- 
 tian resolve from the very beginning to deny himself 
 wholly, in accordance with the injunction of his 
 Lord. At the outset, it seems severe : he will find 
 that it is the source of inconceivable blessing. 
 
 Let self-denial reach our carnal understanding. It 
 was when Peter had spoken according to the thought 
 of the natural understanding, that the Lord had to 
 say to him : " Thou mindest not the things of God, 
 but the things of men. " You must deny yourselves 
 and your own thoughts. We must be careful that 
 
 1 Matt. X. 38, 39 ; Luke ix. 23, xiv. 27 ; John xii. 24, 25. 
 
 2 Rom. vi. 6, viii. 13 ; Gal. li. 20, v. 24, vi. 14 ; Col. iii. 5. 
 
 220 
 
Self-Denial. 
 
 the activity of our understanding with the word and 
 prayer, in endeavoring to reach the knowledge of 
 what is God's will, does not deceive us with a service 
 of God that is not in spirit and in truth. Deny your 
 carnal understanding ; bring it to silence ; in holy 
 silence give place to the Holy Spirit ; let the voice of 
 God be heard in your heart. ^ 
 
 Deny also your own will, with all its lusts and 
 desires. Let it be once for all unquestionable that 
 the will of God in everything is your choice, and 
 that therefore every desire that does not fall in with 
 this will, must be mortified. Pray, believe that in 
 the will of God there is heavenly blessedness, and 
 that therefore self-denial appears severe only at the 
 outset, but, when you exercise yourself heartily in it, 
 becomes a great joy. Let the body with all its life 
 abide under the law of self-denial.'^ 
 
 Deny also your own honor. Seek not it, but the 
 honor of God. This brings such a rest into the soul. 
 "How can ye believe," says Jesus, ''which receive 
 glory one of another?" Although your honor be 
 hurt or reviled, commit it to God to watch over it. 
 Be content to be little, to be nothing. " Blessed are 
 the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom." ' 
 
 Deny, in like manner, your own power. Cherish 
 the deep conviction that it is those who are weak, 
 those who are nothing, that God can use. Be very 
 much afraid of your own endeavors in the service of 
 
 1 Matt. xvi. 23 ; i Cor. i. 17, 27, ii. 6 ; Col. ii. 18. 
 » Matt. xxvi. 39 ; Rom. vi. i j ; i Cor. ix. 25, 27. 
 3 Matt. V. 3 : John v. 44, vii. 18, viii. 50 ; 1 These, ii. 6- 
 221 
 
The New Life. 
 
 God, however sincere they may be. Although you 
 feel as if you had power, say before God that you 
 have it not, that your power is nothing : continuous 
 denial of your own power is the way to enjoy the 
 power of God. It is in the heart that dies to its own 
 power, that the Holy Spirit decides to dwell and 
 bring the power of God.^ 
 
 Deny especially your own interests. Live not to 
 please yourself, but your neighbor. He that seeks 
 his own life shall lose it ; he that would live for him- 
 self shall not find life. But he that would really 
 imitate Jesus, to share in His joy, let him give his 
 life as He did, let him sacrifice his own interests.* 
 
 Beloved Christian, at conversion you had to make 
 a choice betwixt your own self and Christ, which 
 you should obey. You then said: "Not I, but 
 Christ." Now you are to confirm this choice every 
 day. The more you do so, the more joyful and 
 blessed will it be for you to renounce the sinful self, 
 to cast aside unholy self-working, and suffer Jesus to 
 be all. The way of self-denial is a way of deep heav- 
 enly blessedness. 
 
 There are very many Christians that observe noth- 
 ing of this way. They would have Jesus to make 
 them free from punishment, but not to liberate them 
 from themselves, from their own will. But the in- 
 vitation to discipleship still always rings : " If any 
 man would come after Me, let him deny himself, and 
 take up his cross and follow Me." 
 
 1 2 Cor. iii. 5, xii. 9. 
 
 2 Rom. XV. I, 3 ; I Cor. x. 23, 24 ; Kph. ii 4- 
 222 
 
Self-Denial. 
 
 The reason as well as the power for self-denial we 
 find in the little word Me. " If any man would 
 come after Me, let him deny himself, and follow Me.'' 
 The old life is in ourselves : the new life is in Jesus : 
 the new life cannot rule without driving out the old. 
 Where one's own self had everything to say, it must 
 be nothing. This it would fain not be : on this ac- 
 count there must be all the day denial of one's self, 
 imitation of Jesus. He, with His teaching, His will, 
 His honor, his interests, must fill the heart. But he 
 that has and knows Him, willingly denies himself ; 
 Christ is so precious to him, that he sacrifices every- 
 thing, even himself, to win Him.^ 
 
 This is the true life of faith. Not according to 
 what nature sees or thinks to be acceptable, do I live, 
 but according to what Jesus says and would have. 
 Every day and every hour I confirm the wonderful 
 bargain: "Not I, but Christ:" I nothing, Christ 
 everything. "Ye died," and no longer have power, 
 or will, or honor ; "your life is hid with Christ in 
 God:" Christ's power and will alone prevail. O 
 soul, cheerfully deny that sinful, wretched self, in 
 order that the glorious Christ may dwell in you. 
 
 Precious Saviour, teach me what self-denial is. 
 Teach me so to distrust my heart that in nothing 
 shall I yield to its fancy. Teach me so to know 
 Thee that it shall be impossible for me to do any- 
 thing else than to offer up myself to possess Thee 
 and Thy life. Amen, 
 
 1 Gal. ii. ao ; Phil. iii. 7. 8. 
 223 
 
The New Life. 
 
 1. Of the denial of the natural understanding Tersteegen 
 says: "God and His truth are never known aright, save by 
 such an one as, by the dying of his carnal nature, his inclina- 
 tions, passions, and will, is made very earnest and silent ; and 
 by the abandonment of the manifold deliberations of the under- 
 standing, has become very simple and childlike. We must give 
 our heart and our will entirely to God, forsaking our own will 
 in all things, releasing ourselves especially from the manifold 
 imaginations and activities of the understanding, even in 
 spiritual things, that it ma}' collect itself silently in the heart, 
 and dwell as in the heart with God. Not in the head, but in the 
 heart, does the true understanding display itself in acquiring 
 the knowledge of God. In the head are the barren ideas of 
 truth : in the heart is found the living truth itself, the anointing 
 that teaches us all things. In the heart is found the living 
 fountain of light. Any one that lives in a heart entertained 
 with God, will often, with a glance of the eye, discern more 
 truth than another with the greatest exertion." 
 
 2. Read the above passage with care : you will find in it the 
 reason why we have several times said, that when you read or 
 pray you must at every opportunity keep quiet for a little and 
 set yourself in entire silence before God. This is necessary, to 
 bring the activity of the natural understanding to silence and 
 to set the heart open before God, that He may speak there. In 
 the heart is the temple where worship in spirit and truth takes 
 place. Distrust, deny your understanding in spiritual things. 
 The natural understanding is in the head : the spiritual under- 
 standing is in the heart, the temple of God. O preserve in the 
 temple of God a holy silence before His countenance : then He 
 will speak. 
 
 3. "The peculiar mark of Christian self-denial is inward 
 cheerfulness and joy in the midst of privation. The word of 
 God makes unceasing joy a duty. This gladsome disposition, 
 which, hailing from eternity, has all change and vicissitude 
 under foot, will hold its ground, not only in times of severe suf- 
 fering, but also in the self-denial of every day and hour that is 
 inseparable from the Christian life." 
 
 4. What all am I to deny ? Deny yourself How shall I know 
 where and when to deny myself? Do so always and in every- 
 
 224 
 
Self-Denial. 
 
 thing. And if you do not rightly understand that answer, know 
 that no one can give you the right explanation of it but Jesus 
 Himself. To imitate Him, to be taught of Him, is the only -way 
 to self-denial. Only when Jesus comes in, does self go out. 
 15 72$ 
 
XlyVII. 
 DISCRETION. 
 
 "For wisdom shall enter into thine heart, and knowledge 
 shall be pleasant unto thy soul ; discretion shall vratch over 
 thee, understanding shall keep thee. "~Prov. ii. lo, ii. 
 
 "My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion: so shall they 
 be life unto thy soul." — Prov. iii. 21, 22. 
 
 " Ye ought to be quiet, and to do nothing rash."— Acts 
 xix. 36. 
 
 INDISCRETION is not meraly the sin of the uncon- 
 verted : amongst the people of God, it is often 
 the cause of much evil and misery. We read of 
 Moses : ' ' They angered him also at the waters of 
 Meribah, so that it went ill with Moses for their 
 sakes : because they were rebellious against his spirit, 
 and he spake unadvisedly with his lips." So of 
 Uzzah's touching the ark: "And God smote him 
 there for his error {margin, rashness)." ^ 
 
 What discretion is, and why it is so necessary, may 
 be easily explained. When an army marches into 
 the province of an enemy, its safety depends on the 
 guards which are set, which are to be always on the 
 watch, to know and give warning when the enemy 
 approaches. Advance guards are sent out that the 
 territory and power of the enemy may be known. 
 
 I'i Sam. vi. 7 ; Ps. cvi. 33; Prov. xii. 18. 
 226 
 
Discretion. 
 
 This prudence, wliich looks out beforehand and looks 
 round, is indispensable. 
 
 The Christian lives in the province of the enemy. 
 All that surrounds him may become a snare or an oc- 
 casion of sin. Therefore his whole walk is to be car- 
 ried out in a holy reserve and watchfulness, in order 
 that he may do nothing indiscreet. He watches and 
 prays that he may not enter into temptation.^ Pru- 
 dence keeps guard over him.* 
 
 Discretion keeps watch over the lips. O what loss 
 many a child of God suffers by the thought that if 
 he only speaks nothing wrong, he may speak what 
 he will. He knows not how, through much speaking, 
 the soul becomes ensnared in the distractions of the 
 world, because in the multitude of words there is not 
 wanting transgression. Discretion endeavors not to- 
 speak, save for the glory of God and blessing to 
 neighbors.^ 
 
 Over the ear also discretion keeps guard. Through 
 the gate of the ear comes to me all the news of the 
 world, all the indiscreet speech of others, to infect 
 me. Very hurtful for the soul is eagerness for news. 
 One can afterwards no more look into one's self : one 
 lives wholly in the world round about. Corinth was 
 much more godless than Athens; but in this last 
 place where they '' spent their time in nothing else but 
 either to tell or to hear some new thing, ' ' very few 
 
 1 Matt. xxvi. 41 ; Luke xxi. 36 ; Eph. vi. i8 ; i Pet. v. 7, v. 8. 
 2 1 Sam. xviii. 14; Matt. x. 16; Luke i. 17, xvi. 8 ; Eph. v. 15 ; 
 Tit. ii. 4. 
 3Ps. xxxix. 2, cxli. 3 ; Prov. x. 19 ; Eccles. v. i, 2. 
 227 
 
The New Life. 
 
 were converted. Take heed, says Jesus, what ye 
 hear.i 
 
 On this account, discretion keeps watch over the 
 society in which the Christian mingles. " He that 
 separateth himself seeketh his own desire." The 
 child of God has not the freedom to yield himself to 
 the society of the world so much and so long as he 
 would : he must know the will of his Father.^ 
 
 Discretion keeps watch over all lawful occupations 
 and possessions. It knows how gradually and stealth- 
 ily the love of money, worldly-mindedness, the secret 
 power of the flesh, obtains the upper hand, and that 
 it can never reckon itself free from this temptation.' 
 
 And, above all, it keeps watch over the heart, 
 because there are the issues of life, there is the foun- 
 tain out of which everything springs. Remembering 
 the word, "he that trusteth in his own heart is a 
 fool," it walks in deep humility, and it works out 
 salvation with fear and trembling.* 
 
 And whence has the soul the power to be with a 
 never-resting watchfulness on its guard against the 
 thousand dangers that surround it on all sides ? Is it 
 not fatiguing, exhausting, harassing, to have thus to 
 watch always and never to be at rest in the certainty 
 that there is no danger ? No, absolutely not. Discre- 
 tion brings just the highest restfulness. It has its se- 
 curity and strength in its heavenly Keeper, who slum- 
 
 1 Prov. ii. a, xviii. 5 ; Mark iv. 24 : Acts xvii. 21. 
 
 2 Ps. i. I ; Prov. xviii. i ; 2 Cor. vi. 14 ; 2 Thess. iii. 14 ; a John 
 
 XO, II. 
 
 'Matt. xiii. 22 ; Luke xxi. 34 ; i Tim. vi. 9, 17. 
 *Prov. iii, 21, 23, iv. 23, xxviii. 16 ; Jer. xzxi. 33. 
 228 
 
Discretion. 
 
 bers not nor sleeps. In confidence in Him, under the 
 inspiration of His Spirit, discretion does its work : 
 the Christian walks as one that is wise ; the dignity of 
 a holy prudence adorns him in all his actions. The 
 rest of faith, the faith that Jesus watches and guards, 
 binds to Him in love, and holy discretion springs as 
 of its own accord from a love that would not grieve 
 or abandon Him, from a faith that has its strength 
 for everything in Him. 
 
 O Ivord my God, guard me, that I may not be of 
 the indiscreet in heart. I/et the prudence of the 
 righteous always characterize me, in order that in 
 everything I may be kept from giving offence. 
 Amen. 
 
 1. To one who bestowed great care on having his horse and 
 cart in thoroughly good order, it was once said : Come, it is not 
 necessary to be always taking so much pains with this. His 
 answer was : I have always found my prudence paid. How 
 many a Christian has need of this lesson. How many a young 
 Christian may well pray for this — that his conversion may be, 
 according to God's word, " to the prudence of the righteous." 
 
 2. Discretion has its root in self-knowledge. The deeper my 
 knowledge of my impotence and the sinfulness of my flesh is, 
 the greater is the need of watchfulness. It is thus our element 
 of true self-denial. 
 
 3. Discretion has its power in faith : the Lord is our Keeper, 
 and He does His keeping through the Spirit keeping us in 
 mind. It is from Him that our discretion comes. 
 
 4. Its activity is not limited to ourselves : it reaches out espe- 
 cially to our neighbor, in the way of giving him no offence, and 
 in laying no stumbling-block in his way. (Rom. xiv. 13 ; i Cor. 
 viii. 9, X. 32 ; Phil. i. 10.) 
 
 5. It finds great delight in silence, so as to commit its way to 
 the Ivord with composure and deliberation. It esteems highly 
 
 229 
 
The New Life. 
 
 the word of the town-clerk of Ephesus : " Ye ought to be quiet, 
 and to do nothing rash." 
 
 6. In great generals and their victories, we see that discretion 
 
 is not timidity : it is consistent with the highest courage and the 
 
 most joyful certitude of victory. Discretion watches against 
 
 rashness, but enhances the courage of faith. 
 
 230 
 
XLVIIL 
 MONEY. 
 
 *• Money answereth all things."— Eccles. x. 19. 
 
 " I verily dedicate the silver unto the I^ord from my hand."— 
 JUDG. xvii. 3. 
 
 ' ' Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the 
 bankers, and at my coming I should have received back mine 
 own with interest." — Matt. xxv. 27. 
 
 IT is in his dealing with the world and its posses- 
 sions, that the Christian finds one of the oppor- 
 tunities in which he is to manifest his self-denial and 
 the spirit of discretion.' Since it is in money that 
 all value or property on earth still finds its expres- 
 sion, so it is especially in his dealing with money 
 that he can show whether he is free from worldliness 
 to deny himself and to serve his God. In order 
 rightly to comprehend this, we must consider for a 
 little what falls to be said about money. 
 
 What is money the token of? It is the token of 
 the work by which a man earns it : of his industry, 
 and zeal, and ability in that work : of his success and 
 the blessing of God upon the work. It is also the 
 token of all that I can do with money : the token of 
 the work that others would do for me, of the power 
 that I thereby have to accomplish what I desire, of 
 
 > John xvii. 15, 16 ; i Cor. vii. 31. 
 231 
 
The New Life. 
 
 the influence which I exercise on those that are 
 dependent upon me for my money : a token of all 
 the possessions or enjoyments that are to be obtained 
 by money : a token of all upon earth that can make 
 life desirable : yea, a token of life itself, which with- 
 out the purchase of indispensable food cannot be 
 supported. 
 
 Money is thus, indeed, of earthly things, one of 
 the most desirable and fruitful. No wonder that it 
 is thus esteemed by all. 
 
 What is the danger of money ? What is the sin 
 that is done with it, that the Bible and experience 
 should so warn us to be prudent in dealing with it ? 
 There is the anxiousness that knows not if there will 
 be sufficient money. ^ There is the covetousness that 
 longs too much for it.'^ There is the dishonesty that, 
 without gross deception or theft, does not give to a 
 neighbor what belongs to him.' There is the love- 
 lessness that would draw everything to one's self and 
 does not keep another.* There is love of money, 
 which seeks after riches and lands in avarice.^ There 
 is robbery of God and the poor in withholding the 
 share that belongs to them.* 
 
 What is the blessing of money ? If the danger of 
 sin is so great, would it not be better if there were no 
 money ? Is it not better to be without money ? No : 
 even for the spiritual life money may be a great 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 31. * Jas. v. 4. 
 
 > I John ii. 16. ♦ I,uke xri. 21. 
 
 6 1 Tim. vi. 9, 10, 17. 
 
 « Prov. vii. 34, 26 ; Mai. iii. 8. 
 232 
 
Money. 
 
 blessing : as an exercise in* industry and activity,* in 
 care and economy : as a token of God's blessing 
 upon our work : ^ as an opportunity for showing that 
 we can possess and lay it out for God, without with- 
 holding it or cleaving to it ; that by means of it we 
 can manifest our generosity to the poor and our 
 overflowing love for God's cause :^ as a means of 
 glorifying God by our beneficence, and of spreading 
 among men the gold of heavenly blessing : * as a 
 thing that, according to the assurance of Jesus, we 
 can exchange for a treasure in heaven. ^ 
 
 And what is now the way to be freed from the dan- 
 ger and to be led into the right blessing of money ? 
 
 Let God be Lord over your money. Receive all 
 your money with thanksgiving, as coming from God 
 in answer to the prayer : " Give us this day our daily 
 bread." 6 
 
 Lay it all down before God as belonging to Him. 
 Say with the woman : " I verily dedicate the silver 
 unto the Lord." ^ 
 
 Let your dealing with your money be a part of 
 your spiritual life. Receive, and possess, and give 
 out your money as one who has been bought at a 
 high price, redeemed, not with silver and gold, but 
 with the precious blood.' 
 
 1 Prov. xiii. 4, xviii. 19. 
 
 ' ProT. X. 4, »2. 
 
 ' Isa. Ivii. 7, 8, 10, II ; 2 Cor. viii. 14, 15. 
 
 ♦3 Cor. ix. 12, 13. 
 
 6 Matt. xix. 21 ; Luke xii. 33. 
 •i Chron. xxix. 14. 
 
 7 I Tim. iv. 4, 5. » I^uke xix. 8. 
 
 233 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Make what the word of God says of money, of 
 earthly good, a special study. The word of the 
 Father alone teaches how the child of the Father is 
 to use blessing. 
 
 Reflect much on the fact that it is not given to you 
 yourself alone, but for you and your brethren together. 
 The blessing of money is to do good to others, and 
 make them rejoice. ^ 
 
 Remember especially that it can be given up to the 
 Father and the service of His kingdom for the up- 
 building of His spiritual temple, for the extension of 
 His sway. Every time of spiritual blessing men- 
 tioned in Scripture was a time of cheerful giving for 
 God's cause. Even the outpouring of the Holy 
 Spirit made itself known in the giving of money for 
 the Lord.2 
 
 Christian, understand it: all the deepest delibera- 
 tions of the heart and its most spiritual activities 
 can manifest themselves in the way in which we deal 
 with our money. Love to God, love to our neighbor, 
 victory over the world by faith, the hope of everlast- 
 ing treasure, faithfulness as steward, joy in God's 
 service, cheerful self-denial, holy discretion, the 
 glorious freedom of the children of God, can all be 
 seen in the use of money. Money can be the means 
 of the most glorious fellowship with God, and the 
 full enjoyment of the blessedness of being able to 
 honor and serve Him. 
 
 1 Acts XX. 35. 
 
 2 ^x. XXX vi. 5 ; I Chron. xxix. 6, 9 ; Acts ii. 45, iv. 34. 
 
 234 
 
Money. 
 
 Lord God, make me righily discern in what close 
 connection my money stands with my spiritual life. 
 Let the Holy Spirit lead and sanctify me, so that all 
 my earning and receiving, my keeping and dispensing 
 of money may always be well-pleasing to Thee and 
 a blessing to my soul. Amen. 
 
 1. John Wesley always said that there were three rules about 
 the use of money which he gave to men in business, and by 
 which he was sure that they would experience benefit. 
 
 Make as much money as you can. Be industrious and 
 diligent. 
 
 Save as much money as you can. Be no spendthrift, 
 live frugally and prudently. 
 
 Give away as much money as you can. That is the 
 di%nne destination of money ; that makes it an ever- 
 lasting blessing for yourselves and others. 
 
 2. Acquaint yourself with the magnificent prayer of David in 
 I Chron. xxix. Receive it into your soul: it teaches us the 
 blessedness and the glorification of God that spring from 
 cheerful gfiving. 
 
 235 
 
XLIX. 
 
 THE FREEDOM OF THE CHRISTIAN. 
 
 " Being made free from sin, ye became bond-servants of right- 
 eousness. Being made free from sin, ye have your fruit unto 
 sanctification." — Rom. vi. 18,22. 
 
 "But now we have been discharged from the law." — Rom. 
 vii. 6. 
 
 " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus made me free 
 from the law of sin and of death." — Rom. viii. 2. 
 
 FREEDOM is counted in Scripture as one of the 
 greatest privileges of the child of God. There 
 is nothing in history for which nations have made 
 great sacrifices except freedom. Slavery is the lowest 
 condition into which man can sink, for in it he can 
 no longer dispose of himself. Freedom is the deepest 
 need of his nature. 
 
 To be free, then, is the condition in which any- 
 thing can develop itself according to the law of its 
 nature, that is, according to its disposition. Without 
 freedom nothing can attain its destiny or become 
 what it ought to be. This is true alike of the animal 
 and man, of the corporeal and the spiritual. It was 
 for this cause that God in Israel chose the redemp- 
 tion out of the slavery of Egypt into the glorious 
 liberty of God's people, as the everlasting type of 
 redemption out of the slavery of sin into the liberty 
 236 
 
The Freedom of the Christian. 
 
 of the children of God.^ On this account, Jesus said 
 on earth : "If the Son shall make you free, ye shall 
 be free indeed. " And the Holy Scriptures teach us 
 to stand fast in the freedom with which Christ made 
 us free. A right insight into this freedom opens up 
 to us one of the greatest glories of the life that the 
 grace of God has prepared for us.^ 
 
 In the three passages, from the Epistle to the 
 Romans, in which sanctification is dealt with, a 
 threefold freedom is spoken of. There is freedom, 
 from sin in the sixth chapter, freedom from the law 
 in the seventh, freedom from the law of sin in the 
 eighth. 
 
 There is freedom from sin (Rom. vi. 7, 18, 22). Sin 
 is represented as a power that rules over man, under 
 which he is brought and taken captive, and that urges 
 him as a slave to evil.^ By the death of Christ and 
 in Christ of the believer, who is one with Him, he is 
 made entirely free from the dominion of sin : it has 
 no more power over him. If, then, he still does sin, 
 it is because he, not knowing his freedom by faith, 
 permits sin still to rule over him. But if by faith he 
 fully accepts what the word of God thus confirms, 
 then sin has no power over him : he overcomes it by 
 the faith that he is made free from it.* 
 
 Then there is freedom from the law. This leads us 
 deeper into the life of grace than freedom from sin. 
 
 1 Ex. i. 14, iv. 23, vi. 5, XX. 2 ; Deut. xxiv. 8. 
 
 2 John viii. 32, 36; Gal. iv. 21 31, v. i. 
 
 ' John viii. 34 ; Rom. vii. 14, 23 ; 2 Pet. ii. 19. 
 *Rom. V. 21, vi. 12, 14. 
 
 237 
 
The New Life. 
 
 According to Scripture, law and sin always go together. 
 " The strength of sin is the law :" the law does noth- 
 ing but make the ofifence greater.^ The law is the token 
 of our sinfulness, cannot help us against sin, but 
 with its demand for perfect obedience gives us over 
 hopeless to the power of sin. The Christian who 
 does not discern that he is made free from the law 
 will still always abide under sin.'^ Christ and the law 
 cannot rule over us together : in every endeavor to 
 fulfill the law as believers, we are taken captive by 
 sin.^ The Christian must know that he is entirely 
 free from the law, from the you must that stands 
 without us and over us : then for the first time shall 
 he know what it is to be free from sin. 
 
 Then there is also freedom from the law of sin, 
 actual liberation from the power of sin in our mem- 
 bers. "What we have in Christ, freedom from sin and 
 from the law, is inwardly appropriated for us by the 
 Spirit of God. "The law of the Spirit of life in 
 Christ Jesus made me free from the law of sin and of 
 death." The Holy Spirit in us takes the place of the 
 law over us, "If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not 
 under the law." Freeing from the law is not any- 
 thing external, but takes place according to the 
 measure the Spirit obtains dominion in us and leads 
 us. "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is 
 liberty." According as the law of the Spirit rules 
 in us, we are made free from the law, from the law 
 
 1 Rom. iv. 15, V. 13, 20, vii. 13 ; i Cor. xv. 56. 
 
 2 Rom. vi. 15, vii. 5. 
 
 3 Rom. vii. 5, 23. 
 
 238 
 
The Freedom of the Christian. 
 
 of sin. "We are then free to do what we, as God's 
 children, would fain do, free to serve God.- 
 
 Free expresses a condition in which nothing hin- 
 ders me from being what I would be and ought to be. 
 In other words, free is to be able to do what I would. 
 The power of sin over us, the power of the law 
 against us, the power of the law of sin in us, hinder 
 us. But he that stands in the freedom of the Holy 
 Spirit, he that is then truly free, nothing can prevent 
 or hinder him from being what he would be and 
 ought to be. As it is the nature of a tree to grow 
 upwards, and it also grows as it is free from all hin- 
 drances, so a child of God then grows to what he 
 ought to be and shall be. And according as the Holy 
 Spirit leads him into this freedom, there springs up 
 the joyful consciousness of his strength for the life 
 of faith. He joyfully shouts : " I can do all things 
 in Him that strengtheneth me." '' Thanks be unto 
 God which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ." 
 
 Son of God, anointed with the Spirit to announce 
 freedom to the captives, make me also truly free. 
 Let the Spirit of life in Thee, my Lord, make me 
 free from the law of sin and of death. I am Thy 
 ransomed one. O let me live as Thy freed one, who 
 is hindered by nothing from serving Thee. Amen. 
 
 I. The freedom of the Christian extends over his whole life. 
 
 He is free in relation to the institutions and teachings of men. 
 
 *' Ye were bought with a price: become not bond-ser\'ants of 
 
 men." (i Cor. vii. 23 ; Col. ii. 20.) He is free ia relation to the 
 
 ^ 2 Cor. iii. 17 ; Gal. v. 18, 
 
 239 
 
The New Life. 
 
 world, and in the use of what God gives : he has power to pos- 
 sess it or to dispense with it, to enjoy it or to sacrifice it. (i Cor., 
 viii. 8, ix. 4, 5.) 
 
 2. This freedom is no lawlessness. We are free from sin and 
 the law to serve God in the Spirit. We are not under the law, 
 but give ourselves, with free choice and in love, to Him who 
 loved us. (Rom. vi. 18; Gal. v. 13; i Pet. ii. 16.) Not under the 
 law, also not vnthout law ; but in the law : a new, a higher 
 law, " The law of the Spirit of life," " the law of liberty," the 
 law written in our hearts, is our rule and measure, (i Cor. ix. 
 21 ; Jas. i. 15, ii. 12.) In this last passage the translation ought 
 to be : "bound by a law to Christ." 
 
 3. This freedom has its subsistence from the word and also in 
 it : the more the word abides in me, and the truth lives in me, 
 the freer I become. (John viii. 31, 32, 36.) 
 
 4. Freedom manifests itself in love. I am free from the law, 
 and from men, and from institutions, to be able now like Christ 
 to surrender myself for others. (Rom. xiv. 13, 21 ; Gal. v. 13, 
 vi. 1.) 
 
 5. This glorious liberty to serve God and our neighbor in love 
 is a spiritual thing. We cannot by any means seize it and draw 
 it to us. It becomes known only by a life in the Holy Spirit. 
 " Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty." " If ye are 
 led by the Spirit ye are not under the law." It is the Holy 
 Spirit that makes free. Let us suffer ourselves to be introduced 
 by Him into the effectual glorious liberty of the children of God. 
 " The Spirit of life in Christ Jesus freed me from the law of sin 
 and of death." 
 
 S40 
 
GROWTH. 
 
 " So is the kingdom of God, as if a man should cast seed upon 
 the earth ; and should sleep and rise night and day, and the 
 seed shouM spring up and grow, he knoweth not how. The 
 earth beareth fruit of herself ; first the blade, then the ear, then 
 the full corn in the ear." — Mark iv. 26-28. 
 
 "The Head, from whom the whole body increaseth with the 
 increase of God."— Col. ii. 19. 
 
 "That we may grow into Him which is the Head, even 
 Christ, from whom the whole body makfth the increase."— 
 Kph. iv. 15, 16. 
 
 DEATH is always a standing still : life is always 
 movement, progressiveness. Increase or growth 
 is the law of all created life ; consequently, the new 
 life in man is destined to increase, and always by be- 
 coming stronger. As there are in the seed and in the 
 earth a life and power of growth by which the plant 
 is impelled to have its full height and fruit ; so is 
 there in the seed of the eternal life an impelling 
 force by which also that life always increases and 
 grows with a divine growth, until we come to a per- 
 fect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness 
 of Christ. 1 
 
 In this parable of the seed that springs up of itself, 
 and becomes great and bears fruit, the I^ord teaches 
 
 1 Eph. iv. 13 ; a Thess. i. 4. 
 16 241 
 
The New Life. 
 
 us two of the most important lessons on the increase 
 of the spiritual life. The one is that of its self -suffix 
 ciency, the other that of its graduabiess. 
 
 The first lesson is for tho^e that ask what they are 
 to do in order to grow aix.. advance more in grace. 
 As the Lord said of the body : *' Which of you by 
 being anxious can add one cubit unto his sta.ure? 
 Consider the lilies of the field how they grow ; " so 
 He says to us here tliat we can do nothing, and need 
 to do nothing, to make the spiritual life grow.^ Do 
 you not see how, while man slept, the seed sprang up 
 and became high, he knew not how, and how the 
 earth brought f^rth fruit of itself? When man has 
 once sowed, he must reckon that God cares for the 
 growth : he has not to care : he must trust and rest. 
 
 And must man then do nothing ? He can do noth- 
 ing: it is from wit'. in that the power of life must 
 come: from the life, from the Spirit implanted in 
 liim. To the growth itself he can contribute noth- 
 ing : i* shall be given him to grow.^ 
 
 All that he can do is to let the life grow. All that 
 can hinder the life, he must take away and keep 
 away. If there are thorns and thistles that take away 
 place and power in the soil which the plant should 
 have, he can take them away.^ The plant must have 
 its place in the earth alone and undivided. For this 
 the husbandman can care: then it grows further of 
 itself. So must the Christian take away what can 
 
 1 Hos. xiv. i6 ; Matt. vi. 25, 27, 30. 
 2Ps xcii. 14; Gal. ii. 20 ; Col. iii. 3. 
 3 Jer. iv. 13 ; Matt. xiii. 22, 23. 
 242 
 
Growth. 
 
 hinder the growth of the new life : to surrender the 
 heart entire and undivided for the new life, to hold 
 it alone in possession and to fill it, so that it may 
 grow free and unhindered.^ 
 
 The husbandman can also bring forward vvhat the 
 plant requires in the way of food or drink ; he can 
 manure or moisten the soil as it may be needful. So 
 must the believer see to it that for the new life there 
 is brought forward nourishment out of the word, the 
 living water of the Spirit, by prayer. It is in Christ 
 that the new life is planted : from Him it increases 
 with divine increase : abide rooted in Him by the 
 exercise of faith : the life will grow of itself.'' Give 
 it what it must have : take away what can hinder it : 
 the life will grow and increase of itself. 
 
 Then comes in the second lesson of the parable : 
 the gradualness of the growth : " first the blade, then 
 the ear, then the full corn in the ear." Do not 
 expect everything at once. Give God time. By 
 faith and endurance we inherit the promises: the 
 faith that knows that it has everything in Christ: 
 the endurance that expects everything in its time 
 according to the rule and the order of the divine gov- 
 ernment. Give God time. Give the new life time. 
 It is by continued abiding in the earth that the 
 plant grows : it is by continuous standing in grace, 
 in Christ Himself, in whom God has planted us, that 
 the new life grows. ^ 
 
 1 Song ii. 15 ; Heb. xii. i. 
 
 2 John XV. 4, 5 ; Col. ii. 6, 7. 
 
 3 Heb. iii. 13, vi. 12, 15; Jas. v. 7. 
 
 243 
 
The New Life. 
 
 Yes : give the new life only sufficient time : time 
 in prayer : time in intercourse with God : time in 
 continuous exercise of faith : time in persistent 
 separation from the world. Give it time : slow but 
 sure, hidden but real, in apparent weakness, but with 
 heavenly power, is the divine growth with which the 
 life of God in the soul grows up to the perfect man 
 in Christ. 
 
 Lord God, graciously strengthen the faith of Thy 
 children, that their growth and progress are in Thy 
 hands. Enable them to see what a precious, power- 
 ful life was implanted in them by Thyself, a life that 
 increases with a divine increase. Enable them by 
 faith and patience to inherit the promises. And 
 teach them in that faith to take away all that can 
 hinder the new life, to bring forward all that can 
 further it, so that thou mayest make Thy work in 
 them glorious. Amen. 
 
 1. For a plant, the principal thing is the soil in which it 
 stands and out of which it draws its strength. For the Chris- 
 tian, this also is the principal thing : he is in Christ. Christ is 
 all : he must grow up in Him, for out of Him the body obtains 
 its increase. To abide in Christ by faith— that is the main 
 thing. 
 
 2. Remember that faith must set itself towards a silent rest- 
 fulness, that growth is just like that of the lilies on God's hands, 
 and that He will see to it that we increase and g^row strong. 
 
 3. By this firm and joyful faith, we become 'Strengthened 
 with all power according to the might of His glory, unto all 
 patience and long-suflFering with joy." (Col. i. 11.) 
 
 4. This faith, that God cares for our growth, takes away all 
 anxiety, and gives courage for doing the two things that we 
 
 244 
 
Growth. 
 
 have to do : the taking away of what may be ohstructive to the 
 new life, the bringing forward of what may be serviceable 
 to it. 
 
 5. Observe well the distinction betwixt planting and growing. 
 Planting is the work of a moment : in a moment the earth 
 receives the seed : after that comes the slow growth. Without 
 delay — immediately must the sinner receive the word : before 
 conversion there is no delay. Then with time follows the 
 growth of the seed. 
 
 6. The main thing is Christ : from Him and in Him is our 
 growth. He is the soil that of itself brings forth fruit, we know 
 not how. Hold daily intercourse vnth Him. 
 
 There is a book "Abide iu Christ" (Nisbet & Co.), with 
 meditations for a month on the blessed life of continued fellow- 
 ship with Him. 
 
 245 
 
SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES. 
 
 "O how love I Thy law : it is my meditation all the day."— 
 Ps. cxix. 97. 
 
 " Ye search (or search ye) the Scriptures : and these are they 
 which bear witness of Me." — John v. 39. 
 
 " The word did not profit them, because they were not united 
 by faith with them that heard."— Heb. iv. 2. 
 
 AT the beginning of this book there is more than 
 one passage upon the use of God's word in the 
 life of grace. Ere I take leave of my readers, I would 
 fain once again come back to this all-important point. 
 I cannot too earnestly and urgently address this call 
 to my beloved young brothers and sisters : Upon 
 your use of the word of God your spiritual life in 
 great measure depends. Man lives by the word that 
 proceedeth from the mouth of God. Therefore seek 
 with your whole heart to learn how to use God's 
 word aright. To this end receive the following hints. 
 Read the word more with the heart than with the 
 understanding: with the understanding I would 
 know and comprehend ; with the heart I desire, and 
 love, and hold fast. Let the understanding be the 
 servant of the heart. Be much afraid of the under- 
 standing of the carnal naiure, that cannot receive 
 246 
 
Searching the Scriptures. 
 
 spiritual things.^ Deny your understanding, and 
 wait in humility on the Spirit of God. On every 
 occasion, still keep silent amidst your reading of the 
 word, and say to yourselves : this word I now receive 
 in my heart, to love and to let it live in me.^ 
 
 Read the word always in fellowship with the liv- 
 ing God. The power of a wor 1 depends on my con- 
 viction regarding the man from whom it comes. 
 First set yourself in loving fellowship with the living 
 God under the impression of His nearness and love : 
 d^al vdth the word under the full conviction that He, 
 the eternal God, is speaking wi h you; and let the 
 heart be silent to listen to God, to God Himself.^ 
 Then the word certainly becomes to you a great 
 blessing. 
 
 Read the word, as a living word in which the 
 Spirit of God dwells, and that certainly works in 
 those that believe. The word is seed. Seed has life, 
 and grows and yields fruit of itself. The word has 
 life, and of itself grows and yields fruit.'' If you do 
 not wholly understand it, if you do not feel its power, 
 carry it in your heart ; ponder it and meditate upon 
 it : it will of itself begin to yield a working and 
 growth in you.^ The Spirit of God is with, and in 
 the word. 
 
 Read it with the resolve to be, not only a hearer^ 
 but a doer of the word. Let the great question be : 
 
 1 I Cor i. 19, 27, ii. 6, 12 ; Col. ii. 18. 
 2Ps. cxix. 10, II, 47 ; Rom. x. 8 ; Jas. i. 21. 
 3 Gen xvii. 3 ; i Sam. iii. 9 10; Isa. i. 4, Hi. 6; Jer. i.z. 
 *-Mark iv. 27, 28 ; John vi. 63 ; i Thess. ii. 13 ; 1 Pet. i. 23. 
 6Ps. cxix. 18, 40, 48, 69 ; 2 Tim. iii. 16, 17. 
 247 
 
The New Life. 
 
 What would God now have of me with this word? 
 If the answer is : He would have me believe it and 
 and reckon upon Him to fulfill it : do this immedi- 
 ately from the heart. If the word is a command of 
 what you are to do, yield yourself immediately to do 
 it.i O there is an unspeakable blessedness in the 
 doing of God's word, and in the surrender of myself 
 to be and to act just as the word says and would 
 have it. Be not hearers, but doers of the word. 
 
 Read the word with tune. I see more and more 
 that one obtains nothing on earth without time. 
 Give the word time. Give the word time, at every 
 occasion on which you sit down to read it, to come 
 into your heart. Give it time, in the persistence 
 with which you cleave to it, from day to day, and 
 month after month. ^ By perseverance you become 
 exercised and more accustomed to the word : the 
 word begins to work. Pray, be not dispirited when 
 you do not understand the word. Hold on : take 
 courage : give the word time : later on the word will 
 explain itself. David had to meditate day and night 
 to understand it. 
 
 Read the word with a searching of the Scriptures. 
 The best explanation of the Bible is the Bible itself. 
 Take three or four texts upon a point : set them close 
 to one another and compare them. See wherein they 
 agree and wherein they differ ; where they say the 
 same thing or again something else. Let the word 
 of God at one time be cleared up and confirmed by 
 
 1 Matt. V. 19, 20, vii. 21, 24 ; I,uke xi. 28 ; Jas. i. 21, 25. 
 *Deut. vi. 5 ; Ps. i. 2, cxix. 97 ; Jer. xv. 16. 
 248 
 
Searching the Scriptures. 
 
 .what He said at another time on the same subject : 
 this is the safest and the best explanation. Kven 
 the sacred writers use this method of instruction 
 with the Scriptures : " a7id again. ''^ ^ Do not ccftn- 
 plain that this method takes too much time and 
 pains : it is worthy of the pains : your pains will be 
 rewarded. On earth you have nothing without 
 pains.^ Even the bread of life we have to eat in the 
 sweat of our face. He that would go to heaven never 
 goes without taking pains. Search the Scriptures : 
 it will be richly recompensed to you. 
 
 Young Christian, let one of my last and most 
 earnest words to you be this : on your dealing with 
 the word of God depend your growth, your power, 
 your life. Love God's word then ; esteem it sweeter 
 than honey : better than thousands of gold or silver. 
 In the word, God can and will reveal His heart to 
 you. In the word, Jesus will communicate Himself 
 and all His grace. In the word, the Holy Spirit will 
 come in to you, to renew your heart and all your 
 thoughts, according to the mind and will of God. 
 O, then, read not simply enough of the word to keep 
 you from declension, but reckon it one of your chief 
 occupations on earth to yield yourself that God may 
 fill you with His word, that He may fulfill His word 
 in you. 
 
 Lord God, what grace it is that Thou speakest to us 
 in Thy word, that we in Thy word have access to Thy 
 
 1 Isa. xxxiv. i6 ; John xix. 37 ; Acts xvii. 11 ; Heb. ii. 13. 
 * Prov. ii. 4, 5, iiL 13, 18 ; Matt. xiii. 44. 
 249 
 
The New Life. 
 
 heart, to Thy will, to Thy love. O forgive us ou* 
 sins against Thy precious word. And, Lord, let the 
 new life become so strong by the Spirit in us, that all 
 its desire shall be to abide in Thy word. Amen. 
 
 I. Ps. cxix. In the middle of the Bible stands this psalm, in 
 which the praise and the love of God's word are so strikingly 
 expressed. It is not enough for us to read through the divisions 
 of this psalm successively : we must take its principal points, 
 and one with another seek what is said in diflferent passages 
 upon each of these. I,et us, for example, take the following 
 points observing the indications of the answers, and seek in 
 this way to come under the full impression of what is taught us 
 of the glory of God's word : 
 
 1. The blessing that the word gives. Vv. i, 2, 6, 9, 11, 14, 24, 
 
 45, 46, 47, and so on. 
 
 2. The appellations that in this psalm are given to God's 
 
 word. 
 
 3. How we have to handle the word. (Observe — walk— keep 
 
 — mark — and so on.) 
 
 4. Prayer for divine teaching. Vv. 5, 10, 12, 18, 19, 26. 
 
 5. Surrender to obedience to the word. B- g. vv. 93, 105. 106, 
 
 112, 128, 133. 
 
 6. God's word the basis of our prayer. Vv. 41, 49, 58, 76, 107, 
 
 116, 170. 
 
 7. Observance as the ground of confidence in prayer. Vv. 
 
 77, 159. 176. 
 
 8. Observance as promised upon the hearing of prayer. Vv. 
 
 8, 17. 33, 34, 44- 
 
 9. The power to observe the word. Vv. 32, 36, 41, 42, 117, 135, 
 
 146. 
 10. The praise of God's word. Vv. 54, 72, 97, 129, 130, 144. 
 
 II. The confident confession of obedience. Vv. 102, 110, 121, 
 
 168. 
 la. Personal intercourse with God, seen in the use of Thou 
 and /, Thine and Mine. 
 
 I have merely mentioned a few points and a few verses. Seek 
 250 
 
Searcliincr the Scriptures. 
 
 out more and mfir'.c them, until your mind is filled with the 
 thoughts about the word, which the Spirit of God desires to 
 give you. 
 
 Read with great thoughtfulness the words of that man of faith, 
 George Miiller. H'j says ; " The power of our spiritual life will be 
 according to the measure of the room that the word of God takes up 
 in our life and in our thoughts. After an experience of fifty- four 
 years, I can solemnly declare this. For three years after my 
 conversion I used the word little. Since that time I searched it 
 with diligence, and the blessing was wonderful. From that 
 time, I have read the Bible through a hundred times in order, 
 and at every time with increasing joy. Whenever I start afresh 
 with it, it appears to me as a new book. I cannot express how 
 great the blessing is of faithful, daily, regular searching of the 
 Bible. The day is lost for me, on which I have used no rounded 
 time for enjoying the word of God. 
 
 "Friends sometimes say: I have so much to do, that I can 
 find no time for regular Bible study. I believe that there are 
 few that have to work harder than I have. Yet it remains a 
 rule with me never to begin my work until I have had real 
 sweet fellowship with God. After that I give myself heartily to 
 the business of the day, that is, to God's work, with only in- 
 tervals for some minutes for prayer." (See also the very re- 
 markable words of his, quoted in " The School of Prayer," pp. 
 256-263.) 
 
LIl. 
 THE LORD THE PERFECTER. 
 
 " I will cry unto God most High ; unto God that performeth 
 all things for me."— Ps. Ivii. 2. 
 
 •'The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me."— Ps. 
 cxxxviii. 8. 
 
 " Being confident of this very thing, that He which began a 
 good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ." 
 —Phil. i. 6. 
 
 " For of Him, and through Him, and unto Him are all things. 
 To Him be the glory for ever and ever."— Rom. xi. 36. 
 
 WE read that David was once dispirited by unbe- 
 lief, and said : "I shall one day perish by the 
 hand of Saul. " So even the Christian may indeed 
 fear that he shall one day perish. This is because he 
 looks upon himself and what is in him, and does not 
 set his trust wholly upon God. It is because he does 
 not yet know God as the Perfecter. He does not yet 
 know what is meant by His name being : "I am the 
 Alpha and the Omega : the Beginning and the End : 
 the First and the Last." If I really believe in God 
 as the beginning out of whom all is, then must I also 
 trust Him as the continuation by whom, as also the 
 End to whom, all is. 
 
 God is the beginning: "He who began a good 
 work in you : " "Ye have not chosen Me, but I have 
 chosen you." It is God's free choice, from before the 
 252 
 
The Lord the Perfecter. 
 
 foundation of the world, that we have to thank that 
 we became believers, and have the new life.^ Those 
 that are still unconverted have nothing to do with 
 this election : for them there is the oflfer of grace and 
 the summons to surrender. Outside, over the door of 
 the Father, stands the superscription : " Him that 
 Cometh unto Me, I will in no wise cast out." This 
 every one can see and understand. No sooner are 
 they inside the door than they see and understand 
 the other superscription : "All that the Father giveth 
 Me shall come to me." ^ Then they can discern how 
 all things are of God : first obedience to the command 
 of God, then insight into the counsel of God. 
 
 But then it is of great moment to hold fast this 
 truth : He has begun the good work. Then shall 
 every thought of God strengthen the confidence that 
 He will also perfect it. His faithfulness, His love, 
 His power, are all pledged that He will perfect the 
 good work that He began. Pray, read how God has 
 taken more than one oath regarding His unchange- 
 able faithfulness : your soul will rest in this and find 
 courage.' 
 
 And how shall He finish His work ? What has its 
 origin from Him is sustained by Him, and shall one 
 day be brought to Him and His glory. There is 
 nothing in your life, temporal or spiritual, for which 
 the Father will not care, because it has influence 
 
 1 John XV. i6 ; Rom. viii. 29, 30 ; Eph. i. 4, 11. 
 
 2 John vi 37. 
 
 » Gen. xxviii. 15 ; Ps. Ixxxix 29, 34, 35, 36 ; Isa. liv. 9, 10 ; Jer. 
 xxxiii. 25, 26. 
 
The New Ufe. 
 
 upon you for eternity. ^ There is no moment of day 
 or night in which the silent growth of your soul is 
 not to go forward : the Father will take care of this, 
 if you believe. There is no part of your destiny as a 
 child of God, perhaps in things of which you have 
 as yet not the least thought, but the Father will 
 continue and complete His work in it.' Yet upon 
 one condition. You must trust Him for this. You 
 must in faith suffer Him to work. You must trust- 
 fully say : The Lord will perfect that which con- 
 cerneth me. You must trustfully pray : I will cry 
 unto God that performeth all things for me. Chris- 
 tian, pray, let your soul become full of the thought : 
 The whole care, for the continuation and the perfect- 
 ing of God's work in me, is in His hands.' 
 
 And how glorious shall the perfecting not be. In 
 our spiritual life, God is prepared to exhibit His 
 power in making us partakers of His holiness and 
 the image of His Son. He will make us fit, and set 
 us in a condition for all the blessed work in His, 
 kingdom that He would have from us. Our body He 
 will make like to the glorious body of His Son. We 
 may wait for the coming of the Son Himself from 
 heaven to take His own to Him. He will unite us in 
 one body with all His chosen, and will receive and 
 make us dwell for ever in His glory. O how can we 
 think that God will not perfect His work ? He will 
 surely do it. He will gloriously do, it, for every one 
 that trusts Him for it. 
 
 1 Matt. vi. 25, 34 ; i Pet. v. 7. 2 isa. xxvii. 2, 3, li. 12, 13. 
 
 3 Heb. X. 35, xiii. 5, 6, 20, 21 ; i Pet. v. 10. 
 
 254 
 
The Lord the Perfecter. 
 
 Child of God, pray, say in deep assurance of faith : 
 The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me. In 
 every need say continually with great boldness : I 
 will call on God, that performeth all things for me. 
 And let the song of your life be the joyful doxology: 
 "From Him, and through Him, and to Him are all 
 things: to Him be the glory for ever. Amen." 
 
 Lord God, who shall perfect that which concerneth 
 me, teach me to know Thee and to trust Thee. And 
 let every thought of the new life go hand in hand 
 with the joyful assurance : He who began a good 
 work in me will perfect it. Amen. 
 
 1. " He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved." 
 It brings but little profit to beg^n well ; we must hold the begin- 
 ning of our hope firm unto the end. (Matt. x. 27, xxiv. 13 ; 
 Heb. iii. 14, 16, xi. 12.) 
 
 2. The perseverance of the saints— in holiness— is one of the 
 characteristic articles of doctrine of the Reformed Church. The 
 grace of regeneration is inadmissible. 
 
 3. How do we explain the falling away of some believers? 
 They were only temporary believers : they were partakers only 
 of the workings of the Spirit. (Heb. vi. 4.) 
 
 4. How do I know whether I am partaker of the true new 
 birth? "As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the 
 sons of God" (Rom. viii. 14). The faith that God has received 
 me is matured, is confirmed, by works, by a walk under the 
 leading of the Spirit. 
 
 5. How can any one know for certain that he will persevere 
 unto the end? By faith in God the Perfecter. We may take the 
 Almighty God as our keeper. He that gives himself in sincerity 
 to Him, and trusts wholly in Him to perfect His work, obtains 
 
 255 
 
The New Life. 
 
 a divine certitude that the I,ord has Him, and will hold him 
 fast unto the end. 
 
 Child of God, live in fellowship with your Father : live the life 
 of faith in your Jesus with an undivided heart, and all fear of 
 falling away shall be taken away from you. The living sealing 
 of the Holy Spirit shall be your assurance of perseverance unto 
 the end. 
 
 256 
 
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