The Deeper Christian Life Part 1

THE DEEPER CHRISTIAN LIFE.

AN AID TO ITS ATTAINMENT.

BY ANDREW MURRAY.

I. DAILY FELLOWs.h.i.+P WITH G.o.d.

1. The first and chief need of our Christian life is, Fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d.

The Divine life within us comes from G.o.d, and is entirely dependent upon Him. As I need every moment afresh the air to breathe, as the sun every moment afresh sends down its light, so it is only in direct living communication with G.o.d that my soul can be strong.

The manna of one day was corrupt when the next day came. I must every day have fresh grace from heaven, and I obtain it only in direct waiting upon G.o.d Himself. Begin each day by tarrying before G.o.d, and letting Him touch you. Take time to meet G.o.d.

2. To this end, let your first act in your devotion be a setting yourself still before G.o.d. In prayer, or wors.h.i.+p, everything depends upon G.o.d taking the chief place. I must bow quietly before Him in humble faith and adoration, speaking thus within my heart: "G.o.d is. G.o.d is near. G.o.d is love, longing to communicate Himself to me. G.o.d the Almighty One, Who worketh all in all, is even now waiting to work in me, and make Himself known." Take time, till you know G.o.d is very near.

3. When you have given G.o.d His place of honour, glory, and power, take your place of deepest lowliness, and seek to be filled with the Spirit of humility. As a creature it is your blessedness to be nothing that G.o.d may be all in you. As a sinner you are not worthy to look up to G.o.d; bow in self-abas.e.m.e.nt. As a saint, let G.o.d's love overwhelm you, and bow you still lower down. Sink down before Him in humility, meekness, patience, and surrender to His goodness and mercy. He will exalt you. Oh! Take time, to get very low before G.o.d.

4. Then accept and value your place in Christ Jesus. G.o.d delights in nothing but His beloved Son, and can be satisfied with nothing else in those who draw nigh to Him. Enter deep into G.o.d's holy presence in the boldness which the blood gives, and in the a.s.surance that in Christ you are most well pleasing. In Christ you are within the veil. You have access into the very heart and love of the Father. This is the great object of fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d, that I may have more of G.o.d in my life, and that G.o.d may see Christ formed in me. Be silent before G.o.d and let Him bless you.

5. This Christ is a living Person. He loves you with a personal love, and He looks every day for the personal response of your love. Look into His face with trust, till His love really s.h.i.+nes into your heart.

Make His heart glad by telling Him that you do love Him. He offers Himself to you as a personal Saviour and Keeper from the power of sin.

Do not ask, can I be kept from sinning, if I keep close to Him? But ask can I be kept from sinning, if He always keeps close to me? And you see at once how safe it is to trust Him.

6. We have not only Christ's life in us as a power, and His presence with us as a person, but we have His likeness to be wrought into us. He is to be formed in us, so that His form or figure, His likeness, can be seen in us. Bow before G.o.d until you get some sense of the greatness and blessedness of the work to be carried on by G.o.d in you this day.

Say to G.o.d, "Father, here am I for Thee to give as much in me of Christ's likeness as I can receive." And wait to hear Him say, "My child, I give thee as much of Christ as thy heart is open to receive."

The G.o.d who revealed Jesus in the flesh and perfected Him, will reveal Him in thee and perfect thee in Him. The Father loves the Son, and delights to work out His image and likeness in thee. Count upon it that this blessed work will be done in thee as thou waitest on thy G.o.d, and holdest fellows.h.i.+p with Him.

7. The likeness to Christ consists chiefly in two things-the likeness of His death and resurrection, (Rom. 6:5). The death of Christ was the consummation of His humility and obedience, the entire giving up of His life to G.o.d. In Him we are dead to sin. As we sink down in humility and dependence and entire surrender to G.o.d, the power of His death works in us, and we are made conformable to His death. And so we know Him in the power of His resurrection, in the victory over sin, and all the joy and power of the risen life. Therefore every morning, "present yourselves unto G.o.d as those that are alive from the dead." He will maintain the life He gave, and bestow the grace to live as risen ones.

8. All this can only be in the power of the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you. Count upon Him to glorify Christ in you. Count upon Christ to increase in you the inflowing of His Spirit. As you wait before G.o.d to realize His presence, remember that the Spirit is in you to reveal the things of G.o.d. Seek in G.o.d's presence to have the anointing of the Spirit of Christ so truly that your whole life may every moment be spiritual.

9. As you meditate on this wondrous salvation and seek full fellows.h.i.+p with the great and holy G.o.d, and wait on Him to reveal Christ in you, you will feel how needful the giving up of all is to receive Him. Seek grace to know what it means to live as wholly for G.o.d as Christ did.

Only the Holy Spirit Himself can teach you what an entire yielding of the whole life to G.o.d can mean. Wait on G.o.d to show you in this what you do not know. Let every approach to G.o.d, and every request for fellows.h.i.+p with Him be accompanied by a new, very definite, and entire surrender to Him to work in you.

10. "By faith" must here, as through all Scripture, and all the spiritual life, be the keynote. As you tarry before G.o.d, let it be in a deep quiet faith in Him, the Invisible One, who is so near, so holy, so mighty, so loving. In a deep, restful faith too, that all the blessings and powers of the heavenly life are around you, and in you. Just yield yourself in the faith of a perfect trust to the Ever Blessed Holy Trinity to work out all G.o.d's purpose in you. Begin each day thus in fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d, and G.o.d will be all in all to you.

II. PRIVILEGE AND EXPERIENCE.

"And he said unto him, Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine." -Luke 15:31.

The words of the text are familiar to us all. The elder son had complained and said, that though his father had made a feast, and had killed the fatted calf for the prodigal son, he had never given him even a kid that he might make merry with his friends. The answer of the father was: "Son, thou art ever with me, and all that I have is thine."

One cannot have a more wonderful revelation of the heart of our Father in heaven than this points out to us. We often speak of the wonderful revelation of the father's heart in his welcome to the prodigal son, and in what he did for him. But here we have a revelation of the father's love far more wonderful, in what he says to the elder son.

If we are to experience a deepening of spiritual life, we want to discover clearly what is the spiritual life that G.o.d would have us live, on the one hand; and, on the other, to ask whether we are living that life; or, if not, what hinders us living it out fully.

This subject naturally divides itself into these these heads:-I. The high privilege of every child of G.o.d. 2. The low experience of too many of us believers. 3. The cause of the discrepancy; and, lastly, The way to the restoration of the privilege.

I. THE HIGH PRIVILEGE OF THE CHILDREN OF G.o.d.

We have here two things describing the privilege: -First, "Son, thou art ever with me"-unbroken fellows.h.i.+p with thy Father is thy portion; Second, "All that I have is thine "-all that G.o.d can bestow upon His children is theirs.

"Thou art ever with me;" I am always near thee; thou canst dwell every hour of thy life in My presence, and all I have is for thee. I am a father, with a loving father's heart. I will withhold no good thing from thee. In these promises, we have the rich privilege of G.o.d's heritage. We have, in the first place, unbroken fellows.h.i.+p with Him. A father never sends his child away with the thought that he does not care about his child knowing that he loves him. The father longs to have his child believe that he has the light of his father's countenance upon him all the day-that, if he sends the child away to school, or anywhere that necessity compels, it is with a sense of sacrifice of parental feelings. If it be so with an earthly father, what think you of G.o.d? Does He not want every child of His to know that he is constantly living in the light of His countenance? This is the meaning of that word, "Son, thou art ever with me."

That was the privilege of G.o.d's people in Old Testament times. We are told that "Enoch walked with G.o.d." G.o.d's promise to Jacob was: "Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave thee until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of." And G.o.d's promise to Israel through Moses, was: "My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest." And in Moses' response to the promise, he says, "For wherein shall it be known that I and Thy people have found grace in Thy sight? Is it not that Thou goest with us; so shall we be separated, I and Thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth." The presence of G.o.d with Israel was the mark of their separation from other people. This is the truth taught in all the Old Testament; and if so, how much more may we look for it in the New Testament? Thus we find our Saviour promising to those who love Him and who keep His word, that the Father also will love them, and Father and Son will come and make Their abode with them.

Let that thought into your hearts-that the child of G.o.d is called to this blessed privilege, to live every moment of his life in fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d. He is called to enjoy the full light of His countenance.

There are many Christians-I suppose the majority of Christians-who seem to regard the whole of the Spirit's work as confined to conviction and conversion: -not so much that He came to dwell in our hearts, and there reveal G.o.d to us. He came not to dwell near us, but in us, that we might be filled with His indwelling. We are commanded to be "filled with the Spirit;" then the Holy Spirit would make G.o.d's presence manifest to us. That is the whole teaching of the epistle to the Hebrews: -the veil is rent in twain; we have access into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus; we come into the very presence of G.o.d, so that we can live all the day with that presence resting upon us. That presence is with us wheresoever we go; and in all kinds of trouble, we have undisturbed repose and peace. "Son, thou art ever with me."

There are some people who seem to think that G.o.d, by some unintelligible sovereignty, withdraws His face. But I know that G.o.d loves His people too much to withhold His fellows.h.i.+p from them for any such reason. The true reason of the absence of G.o.d from us is rather to be found in our sin and unbelief, than in any supposed sovereignty of His. If the child of G.o.d is walking in faith and obedience, the Divine presence will be enjoyed in unbroken continuity.

Then there is the next blessed privilege: "All that I have is thine."

Thank G.o.d, He has given us His own Son; and in giving Him, He has given us all things that are in Him, He has given us Christ's life, His love, His Spirit, His glory. "All things are yours; and ye are Christ's; and Christ is G.o.d's." All the riches of His Son, the everlasting King, G.o.d bestows upon every one of His children. "Son, thou art ever with me; and all that I have is thine." Is not that the meaning of all those wonderful promises given in connection with prayer: "Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name, ye shall receive."? Yes, there it is. That is the life of the children of G.o.d, as He Himself has pictured it to us.

2. In contrast with this high privilege of believers, look at THE LOW EXPERIENCE OF TOO MANY OF US.

The elder son was living with his father and serving him "these many years," and he complains that his father never gave him a kid, while he gave his prodigal brother the fatted calf. Why was this? Simply because he did not ask it. He did not believe that he would get it, and therefore never asked it, and never enjoyed it. He continued thus to live in constant murmuring and dissatisfaction; and the keynote of all this wretched life is furnished in what he said. His father gave him everything, yet he never enjoyed it; and he throws the whole blame on his loving and kind father. O beloved, is not that the life of many a believer? Do not many speak and act in this way? Every believer has the promise of unbroken fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d, but he says, "I have not enjoyed it; I have tried hard and done my best, and I have prayed for the blessing, but I suppose G.o.d does not see fit to grant it." But why not? One says, it is the sovereignty of G.o.d withholding the blessing.

The father withheld not his gifts from the elder brother in sovereignty; neither does our Heavenly Father withhold any good thing from them that love Him. He does not make any such differences between His children. "He is able to make all grace abound towards you" was the promise equally made to all in the Corinthian church.

Some think these rich blessings are not for them, but for those who have more time to devote to religion and prayer; or their circ.u.mstances are so difficult, so peculiar, that we can have no conception of their various hindrances. But do not such think that G.o.d, if He places them in these circ.u.mstances, cannot make His grace abound accordingly? They admit He could if He would, work a miracle for them, which they can hardly expect. In some way, they, like the elder son, throw the blame on G.o.d. Thus many are saying, when asked if they are enjoying unbroken fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d: -"Alas, no! I have not been able to attain to such a height; it is too high for me. I know of some who have it, and I read of it; but G.o.d has not given it to me, for some reason." But why not? You think, perhaps, that you have not the same capacity for spiritual blessing that others have. The Bible speaks of a joy that is "unspeakable and full of glory" as the fruit of believing; of a "love of G.o.d shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost given unto us." Do we desire it, do we? Why not get it? Have we asked for it? We think we are not worthy of the blessing-we are not good enough; and therefore G.o.d has not given it. There are more among us than we know of, or are willing to admit, who throw the blame of our darkness, and of our wanderings on G.o.d! Take care! Take care! Take care!

And again, what about that other promise? The Father says, "All I have is thine." Are you rejoicing in the treasures of Christ? Are you conscious of having an abundant supply for all your spiritual needs every day? G.o.d has all these for you in abundance. "Thou never gavest me a kid!" The answer is, "All that I have is thine. I gave it thee in Christ."

Dear reader, we have such wrong thoughts of G.o.d. What is G.o.d like? I know no image more beautiful and instructive than that of the sun. The sun is never weary of s.h.i.+ning; -of pouring out his beneficent rays upon both the good and the evil. You might close up the windows with blinds or bricks, the sun would s.h.i.+ne upon them all the same; though we might sit in darkness, in utter darkness, the s.h.i.+ning would be just the same. G.o.d's sun s.h.i.+nes on every leaf; on every flower; on every blade of gra.s.s; on everything that springs out of the ground. All receive this wealth of suns.h.i.+ne until they grow to perfection and bear fruit.

Would He who made that sun be less willing to pour out His love and life into me? The sun-what beauty it creates! And my G.o.d, -would He not delight more in creating a beauty and a fruitfulness in me? -Such, too, as He has promised to give? And yet some say, when asked why they do not live in unbroken communion with G.o.d, "G.o.d does not give it to me, I do not know why; but that is the only reason I can give you-He has not given it to me." You remember the parable of the one who said, "I know thou art an hard master, reaping where thou hast not sown and gathering where thou hast not strawed," asking and demanding what thou hast not given. Oh! Let us come and ask why it is that the believer lives such a low experience.

3. THE CAUSE OF THIS DISCREPANCY BETWEEN G.o.d'S GIFTS, AND OUR LOW EXPERIENCE.

The believer is complaining that G.o.d has never given him a kid. Or, G.o.d has given him some blessing, but has never given the full blessing. He has never filled him with His Spirit. "I never," he says, "had my heart, as a fountain, giving forth the rivers of living water promised in John vii. 38." What is the cause? The elder son thought he was serving his father faithfully "these many years" in his father's house, but it was in the spirit of bondage and not in the spirit of a child, so that his unbelief blinded him to the conception of a father's love and kindness, and he was unable all the time to see that his father was ready, not only to give him a kid, but a hundred, or a thousand kids, if he would have them. He was simply living in unbelief, in ignorance, in blindness, robbing himself of the privileges that the father had for him. So, if there be a discrepancy between our life and the fulfilment and enjoyment of all G.o.d's promises, the fault is ours. If our experience be not what G.o.d wants it to be, it is because of our unbelief in the love of G.o.d, in the power of G.o.d, and in the reality of G.o.d's promises.

G.o.d's word teaches us, in the story of the Israelites, that it was unbelief on their part that was the cause of their troubles, and not any limitation or restriction on G.o.d's part. As Psalm 78th says:-"He clave the rocks in the wilderness, and gave them drink as out of the great depths. He brought streams also out of the rock, and caused waters to run down like rivers." Yet they sinned by doubting His power to provide meat for them-"They spake against G.o.d; they said, can G.o.d furnish a table in the wilderness?" (vs. 15-19). Later on, we read in v. 41, "They turned back and tempted G.o.d, and limited the Holy One of Israel." They kept distrusting Him from time to time. When they got to Kadesh-Barnea, and G.o.d told them to enter the land flowing with milk and honey where there would be rest, abundance, and victory, only two men said, "Yes;" we can take possession, for G.o.d can make us conquer."

But the ten spies, and the six hundred thousand men answered, "No; we can never take the land; the enemies are too strong for us." It was simply unbelief that kept them out of the land of promise.

If there is to be any deepening of the spiritual life in us, we must come to the discovery, and the acknowledgment of the unbelief there is in our hearts. G.o.d grant that we may get this spiritual quickening, and that we may come to see that it is by our unbelief that we have prevented G.o.d from doing His work in us. Unbelief is the mother of disobedience, and of all my sins and short comings-my temper, my pride, my unlovingness, my worldliness, my sins of every kind. Though these differ in nature and form, yet they all come from the one root, viz, that we do not believe in the freedom and fullness of the Divine gift of the Holy Spirit to dwell in us and strengthen us, and fill us with the life and grace of G.o.d all the day long. Look, I pray you, at that elder son, and ask what was the cause of that terrible difference between the heart of the father and the experience of the son. There can be no answer but that it was this sinful unbelief that utterly blinded the son to a sense of his father's love.

Dear fellow believer, I want to say to you, that, if you are not living in the joy of G.o.d's salvation, the entire cause is your unbelief. You do not believe in the mighty power of G.o.d, and that He is willing by His Holy Spirit to work a thorough change in your life, and enable you to live in fullness of consecration to Him. G.o.d is willing that you should so live; but you do not believe it. If men really believed in the infinite love of G.o.d, what a change it would bring about! What is love? It is a desire to communicate oneself for the good of the object loved-the opposite to selfishness; as we read in 1 Cor. xiii. "Love seeketh not her own." Thus the mother is willing to sacrifice herself for the good of her child. So G.o.d in His love is ever willing to impart blessing; and He is omnipotent in His love. This is true, my friends; G.o.d is omnipotent in love, and He is doing His utmost to fill every heart in this house. "But if G.o.d is really anxious to do that, and if He is Almighty, why does He not do it now?" You must remember, that G.o.d has given you a will, and by the exercise of that will, you can hinder G.o.d, and remain content, like the elder son, with the low life of unbelief. Come, now, and let us see the cause of the difference between G.o.d's high, blessed provision for His children, and the low, sad experience of many of us in the unbelief that distrusts and grieves Him.

4. THE WAY OF RESTORATION-HOW IS THAT TO BE BROUGHT ABOUT?

We all know the parable of the prodigal son and how many sermons have been preached about repentance, from that parable. We are told that "he came to himself and said, I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in thy sight."

In preaching, we speak of this as the first step in a changed life-as conversion, as repentance, confession, returning to G.o.d. But, as this is the first step for the prodigal, we must remember that this is also the step to be taken by His erring children-by all the ninety-nine "who need no repentance," or think they do not. Those Christians who do not understand how wrong their low religious life is must be taught that this is sin-unbelief; and that it is as necessary that they should be brought to repentance as the prodigal. You have heard a great deal of preaching repentance to the unconverted; but I want to try to preach it to G.o.d's children. We have a picture of so many of G.o.d's children in that elder brother. What the father told him, to bring about a consideration of the love that He bore him, just as he loved the prodigal brother, thus does G.o.d tell to us in our contentedness with such a low life: -"You must repent and believe that I love you, and all that I have is thine." He says, "By your unbelief, you have dishonoured me, living for ten, twenty, or thirty years, and never believing what it was to live in the blessedness of My love. You must confess the wrong you have done Me in this, and be broken down in contrition of heart just as truly as the prodigal."

There are many children of G.o.d who need to confess, that though they are His children, they have never believed that G.o.d's promises are true, that He is willing to fill their hearts all the day long with His blessed presence. Have you believed this? If you have not, all our teaching will be of no profit to you. Will you not say, "By the help of G.o.d, I will begin now a new life of faith, and will not rest until I know what such a life means. I will believe that I am every moment in the Father's presence, and all that He has is mine?"

May the Lord G.o.d work this conviction in the hearts of all cold believers. Have you ever heard the expression, "a conviction for sanctification?" You know, the unconverted man needs a conviction before conversion. So does the dark-minded Christian need conviction before, and in order for sanctification, before he comes to a real insight to spiritual blessedness. He must be convicted a second time because of his sinful life of doubt, and temper, and unlovingness. He must be broken down under that conviction; then there is hope for him.

May the Father of mercy grant all such that deep contrition, so that they may be led into the blessedness of His presence, and enjoy the fullness of His power and love!

III. CARNAL OR SPIRITUAL?.

"And Peter went out and wept bitterly." - Luke 22:62.

These words indicate the turning point in the life of Peter, -a crisis. There is often a question about the life of holiness. Do you grow into it? Or do you come into it by a crisis suddenly? Peter has been growing for three years under the training of Christ, but he had grown terribly downward, for the end of his growing was, he denied Jesus. And then there came a crisis. After the crisis he was a changed man, and then he began to grow aright. We must indeed grow in grace, but before we can grow in grace we must be put right.

You know what the two halves of the life of Peter were. In G.o.d's Word we read very often about the difference between the carnal and the spiritual Christian. The word "carnal" comes from the Latin word for flesh. In Romans viii., and in Gal. v., we are taught that the flesh and the Spirit of G.o.d are the two opposing powers by which we are dominated or ruled, and we are taught that a true believer may allow himself to be ruled by the flesh. That is what Paul writes to the Corinthians. In the 3rd chapter, the first four verses, he says, four times to them, "You are carnal, and not spiritual." And just so a believer can allow the flesh to have so much power over him that becomes "carnal." Every object is named according to its most prominent characteristic. If a man is a babe in Christ and has a little of the Holy Spirit and a great deal of the flesh, he is called carnal, for the flesh is his chief mark. If he gives way, as the Corinthians did, to strife, temper, division, and envy, he is a carnal Christian. He is a Christian, but a carnal one. But if he gives himself over entirely to the Holy Spirit so that He (the Holy Spirit) can deliver from the temper, the envy, and the strife, by breathing a heavenly disposition; and can mortify the deeds of the body; then G.o.d's Word calls him a "spiritual" man, a true spiritual Christian.

Now, these two styles are remarkably ill.u.s.trated in the life of Peter.

The text is the crisis and turning point at which he begins to pa.s.s over from the one side to the other.

The message that I want to bring to you is this: That the great majority of Christians, alas, are not spiritual men, and that they may become spiritual men by the grace of G.o.d. I want to come to all who are perhaps hungering and longing for the better life, and asking what is wrong that you are without it, to point out that what is wrong is just one thing,- allowing the flesh to rule in you, and trusting in the power of the flesh to make you good.

There is a better life, a life in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Then, I want to tell you a third thing. The first thing is important, take care of the carnal life, and confess if you are in it. The second truth is very blessed, there is a spiritual life; believe that it is a possibility. But the third truth is the most important, -You can by one step get out of the carnal into the spiritual state. May G.o.d reveal it to you now through the story of the Apostle Peter!

Look at him, first of all, in the carnal state. What are the marks of the carnal state in him? Self-will, self-pleasing, self-confidence.

Just remember, when Christ said to the disciples at Caesarea Philippi, "The Son of Man must be crucified," Peter said to Him, "Lord, that can never be!" And Christ had to say to him, "Get thee behind Me, Satan!"

Dear reader, what an awful thing for Peter! He could not understand what a suffering Christ was. And Peter was so self-willed and self-confident that he dared to contradict and to rebuke Christ! Just think of it! Then, you remember, how Peter and the other disciples, were more than once quarrelling as to who was to be the chief-self-exaltation, self-pleasing;-every one wanted the chief seat in the Kingdom of G.o.d. Then again, remember the last night, when Christ warned Peter that Satan had desired to sift him and that he would deny Him; and Peter said twice over, "Lord, if they all deny Thee, I am ready to go to prison and to death." What self-confidence! He was sure that his heart was right. He loved Jesus, but he trusted himself. "I will never deny my Lord"! Don't you see the whole of that life of Peter is carnal confidence in himself. In his carnal pride, in his carnal unlovingness, in the carnal liberty he took in contradicting Jesus, it was all just the life of the flesh. Peter loved Jesus. G.o.d had by the Holy Spirit, taught him. Christ had said, "Flesh and blood hath not revealed this unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven." G.o.d had taught him that Christ was the Son of G.o.d; but with all that, Peter was just under the power of the flesh; and that is why Christ said at Gethsemane, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak."-"You are under the power of the flesh, you cannot watch with Me." Dear reader, what did it all lead to? The flesh led not only to the sins I have mentioned, but last of all to the saddest of things, to Peter's actual denial of Jesus. Three times over he told the lie; and once with an oath, "I know not the man." He denied his blessed Lord. That is what it comes to with the life of the flesh. That is Peter.

Now, look in the second place at Peter after he became a spiritual man.

Christ had taught Peter a great deal. I think, if you count carefully, you will find some seven or eight times, Christ had spoken to the disciples about humility; He had taken a little child and set him in the midst of them; He had said, "He that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted." He had said that three or four times; He had at the last supper washed their feet; but all had not taught Peter humility. All Christ's instructions were in vain. Remember that now. A man who is not spiritual, though he may read his Bible, though he may study G.o.d's Word, cannot conquer sin, because he is not living the life of the Holy Spirit. G.o.d has so ordered it, that man cannot live a right Christian life unless he is full of the Holy Ghost. Do you wonder at what I say? Have you been accustomed to think,-"Full of the Holy Ghost, that is what the Apostles had to be on the day of Pentecost; that is what the martyrs and the ministers had to be; but for every man to be full of the Holy Ghost, that is too high"? I tell you solemnly, unless you believe that, you will never become thoroughgoing Christians. I must be full of the Holy Spirit if I am to be a whole-hearted Christian.

Then, note what change took place in Peter. The Lord Jesus led him up to Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came from heaven upon him, and what took place? The old Peter was gone, and he was a new Peter. Just read his epistle, and note the keynote of the epistle. "Through suffering to glory." Peter, who had said, "Of course, Lord, you never can suffer, or be crucified;" Peter, who, to save himself suffering or shame, had denied Christ, -Peter becomes so changed that when he writes his epistle the chief thought is the very thought of Christ, "Suffering is the way to glory." Do you not see that the Holy Spirit had changed Peter?

And look at other aspects. Look at Peter. He was so weak that a woman could frighten him into denying Christ; but when the Holy Spirit came he was bold, bold, bold to confess his Lord at any cost, was ready to go to prison and to death, for Christ's sake. The Holy Spirit had changed the man. Look at his views of Divine truth. He could not understand what Christ taught him, he could not take it in. It was impossible before the death of Christ; but on the day of Pentecost how he is able to expound the word of G.o.d as a spiritual man! I tell you, beloved, when the Holy Ghost comes upon a man he becomes a spiritual man, and instead of denying his Lord he denies himself, just remember that. In the sixteenth chapter of Matthew when Peter had said, "Lord, be it far from Thee, this shall never happen that Thou shalt be crucified," Christ said to Him: "Peter, not only will I be crucified, but you will have to be crucified too. If any man is to be My disciple, let him take up his cross to die upon it, let him deny himself, and let him follow Me." How did Peter obey that command? He went and denied Jesus! As long as a man, a Christian, is under the power of the flesh, he is continually denying Jesus. You always must do one of the two, you must deny self or you must deny Jesus, and, alas, Peter denied his Lord rather than deny himself. On the other hand, when the Holy Spirit came upon him, he could not deny his Lord, but he could deny himself, and he praised G.o.d for the privilege of suffering for Christ.

Now, how did the change come about? The words of my text tell us, -"And Peter went out and wept bitterly." What does that mean? It means this, that the Lord led Peter to come to the end of himself, to see what was in his heart, and with his self-confidence to fall into the very deepest sin that a child of G.o.d could be guilty of; -publicly, with an oath, to deny his Lord Jesus! When Peter stood there in that great sin, the loving Jesus looked upon him, and that look, full of loving reproach, loving pity, pierced like an arrow through the heart of Peter, and he went out and wept bitterly. Praise G.o.d, that was the end of self-confident Peter! Praise G.o.d, that was the turning point of his life! He went out with a shame that no tongue can express. He woke up as out of a dream to the terrible reality "I have helped to crucify the blessed Son of G.o.d." No man can fathom what Peter must have pa.s.sed through that Friday, Sat.u.r.day and Sunday morning. But, blessed be G.o.d, on that Sunday Jesus revealed Himself to Peter, we know not how, but "He was seen of Simon;" then in the evening He came to him with the other disciples and breathed peace, and the Holy Spirit upon him; and then, later on, you know how the Lord asked him, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?"-three times, until Peter was sorrowful, and said, "Lord, thou knowest all things, thou knowest that I love thee." What was it that wrought the transition from the love of the flesh to the love of the Spirit? I tell you, that was the beginning, -"Peter went out and wept bitterly," with a broken heart, with a heart that would give anything to show its love to Jesus. With a heart that had learned to give up all self-confidence, Peter was prepared for the blessing of the Holy Spirit.

And, now, you can easily see the application of this story. Are there not many just living the life of Peter, of the self-confident Peter as he was? Are there not many who are mourning under the consciousness, "I am so unfaithful to my Lord, I have no power against the flesh, I cannot conquer my temper, I give way just like Peter to the fear of man, of company, for people can influence me and make me do things I do not want to do, and I have no power to resist them? Circ.u.mstances get the mastery over me, and I then say and do things that I am ashamed of."? Is there not more than one, who, in answer to the question, "Are you living as a man filled with the Spirit, devoted to Jesus, following Him, fully giving up all for Him?"-must say with sorrow, "G.o.d knows I am not. Alas, my heart knows it."? You say it, and I come, and I press you with the question, Is not your position, and your character, and your conduct, just like that of Peter? Like Peter, you love Jesus, like Peter you know He is the Christ of G.o.d, like Peter you are very zealous in working for Him. Peter had cast out devils in His name, and had preached the gospel, and had healed the sick. Like Peter you have tried to work for Jesus; but Oh! Under it all, isn't there something that comes up continually? Oh, Christian, what is it? I pray, and I try, and I do long to live a holy life, but the flesh is too strong, and sin gets the better of me, and continually I am pleasing self instead of denying it, and denying Jesus instead of pleasing Him. Come, all who are willing to make that confession, and let me ask you to look quietly at the other life that is possible for you.

Just as the Lord Jesus gave the Holy Spirit to Peter, He is willing to give the Holy Spirit to you. Are you willing to receive Him? Are you willing to give up yourself entirely as an empty, helpless vessel, to receive the power of the Holy Spirit, to live, to dwell, and to work in you every day? Dear believer, G.o.d has prepared such a beautiful and such a blessed life for every one of us, and G.o.d as a Father is waiting to see why you will not come to Him and let Him fill you with the Holy Ghost. Are you willing for it? I am sure some are. There are some who have said often, "O G.o.d, why can't I live that life?-Why can't I live every hour of unbroken fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d?-Why can't I enjoy what my Father has given me, all the riches of His grace? It is for me He gave it, and why can't I enjoy it?" There are those who say, "Why can't I abide in Christ every day, and every hour, and every moment? -Why can't I have the light of my Father's love filling my heart all the day long? Tell me, servant of G.o.d, what can help me?"

I can tell you one thing that will help you. What helped Peter? "Peter went out and wept bitterly." It must come with us to a conviction of sin; it must come with us to a real downright earnest repentance, or we never can get into the better life. We must stop complaining and confessing, "Yes, my life is not what it should be, and I will try to do better." That won't help you. What will help you? This,-that you go down in despair to lie at the feet of Jesus, and that you begin with a very real and bitter shame to make confession, "Lord Jesus, have compa.s.sion upon me! For these many years I have been a Christian, but there are so many sins from which I have not cleansed myself, -temper, pride, jealousy, envy, sharp words, unkind judgments, unforgiving thoughts." One must say, "There is a friend whom I never have forgiven for what he has said." Another must say, "There is an enemy whom I dislike, I cannot say that I can love him." Another must say, "There are things in my business that I would not like brought out into the light of man." Another must say, "I am led captive by the law of sin and death." Oh, Christians, come and make confession with shame and say, "I have been bought with the Blood, I have been washed with the Blood, but just think of what a life I have been living! I am ashamed of it." Bow before G.o.d and ask Him by the Holy Spirit to make you more deeply ashamed, and to work in you that Divine contrition. I pray you take the step at once. "Peter went out and wept bitterly," and that was his salvation; yes, that was the turning point of his life. And shall we not fall upon our faces before G.o.d, and make confession, and get down on our knees under the burden of the terrible load, and say, "I know I am a believer, but I am not living as I should to the glory of my G.o.d. I am under the power of the flesh and all the self-confidence, and self-will, and self-pleasing that marks my life."

Dear Christians, do you not long to be brought nigh unto G.o.d? Would you not give anything to walk in close fellows.h.i.+p with Jesus every day?

Would you not count it a pearl of great price to have the light and love of G.o.d s.h.i.+ning in you all the day? Oh, come and fall down and make confession of sin; and, if you will do it, Jesus will come and meet you and He will ask you, " Lovest thou Me?" And, if you say, "Yes, Lord,"

very quickly He will ask again, " Lovest thou Me?"-and if you say, "Yes, Lord," again, He will ask a third time, " Lovest thou Me?"-and your heart will be filled with an unutterable sadness, and your heart will get still more broken down and bruised by the question, and you will say, "Lord, I have not lived as I should, but still I love Thee and I give myself to Thee." Oh, beloved may G.o.d give us grace now, that, with Peter, we may go out, and, if need be, weep bitterly. If we do not weep bitterly,-we are not going to force tears-shall we not sigh very deeply, and bow very humbly, and cry very earnestly, "O G.o.d, reveal to me the carnal life in which I have been living: reveal to me what has been hindering me from having my life full of the Holy Ghost"?

Shall we not cry, "Lord, break my heart into utter self-despair, and, Oh! Bring me in helplessness to wait for the Divine power, for the power of the Holy Ghost, to take possession and to fill me with a new life given all to Jesus?"

IV. OUT OF AND INTO.

And He brought us out from thence, that He might bring us in, to give us the land which He sware unto our Fathers." -Deut. 6:23.

I have spoken of the crisis that comes in the life of the man who sees that his Christian experience is low and carnal, and who desires to enter into the full life of G.o.d. Some Christians do not understand that there should be such a crisis. They think that they ought, from the day of their conversion, to continue to grow and progress. I have no objections to that, if they have grown as they ought. If their life has been so strong under the power of the Holy Ghost that they have grown as true believers should grow, I certainly have no objection to this.

But I want to deal with those Christians whose life since conversion has been very much a failure, and who feel it to be such because of their not being filled with the Spirit, as is their blessed privilege.

I want to say for their encouragement, that by taking one step, they can get out into the life of rest, and victory, and fellows.h.i.+p with G.o.d to which the promises of G.o.d invite them.

Look at the elder son in the parable. How long would it have taken him to get out of that state of blindness and bondage into the full condition of sons.h.i.+p? By believing in his father's love, he might have gotten out that very hour. If he had been powerfully convicted of his guilt in his unbelief, and had confessed like his prodigal brother, "I have sinned," he would have come that very moment into the favor of the son's happiness in his father's home. He would not have been detained by having a great deal to learn, and a great deal to do; but in one moment, his whole relation would have been changed.

Remember, too, what we saw in Peter's case. In one moment, the look of Jesus broke him down and there came to him the terribly bitter reflection of his sin, owing to his selfish, fleshly confidence, a contrition and reflection which laid the foundation for his new and better life with Jesus. G.o.d's word brings out the idea of the Christian's entrance into the new and better life by the history of the people of Israel's entrance into the land of Canaan.

In our text, we have these words: -"G.o.d brought us out from thence (Egypt), that He might bring us in" into Canaan. There are two steps: one was bringing them out; and the other was bringing them in. So in the life of the believer, there are ordinarily two steps quite separate from each other; -the bringing him out of sin and the world; and the bringing him into a state of complete rest afterward. It was the intention of G.o.d that Israel should enter the land of Canaan from Kadesh-Barnea, immediately after He had made His covenant with them at Sinai. But they were not ready to enter at once, on account of their sin and unbelief, and disobedience. They had to wander after that for forty years in the wilderness. Now, look how G.o.d led the people. In Egypt, there was a great crisis, where they had first to pa.s.s through the Red Sea, which is a figure of conversion; and when they went into Canaan, there was, as it were, a second conversion in pa.s.sing through the Jordan. At our conversion, we get into liberty, out of the bondage of Egypt; but, when we fail to use our liberty through unbelief and disobedience, we wander in the wilderness for a longer or shorter period before we enter into the Canaan of victory, and rest, and abundance. Thus G.o.d does for His Israel two things: -He brings them out of Egypt; and He lead them into Canaan.

My message, then, is to ask this question of the believer: -Since you know you are converted and G.o.d has brought you out of Egypt, have you yet come into the land of Canaan? If not, are you willing that he should bring you into the fuller liberty and rest provided for His people? He brought Israel out of Egypt by a mighty hand, and the same mighty hand brought us out of our land of bondage; with the same mighty hand, He brought his ancient people into rest, and by that hand, too, He can bring us into our true rest. The same G.o.d who pardoned and regenerated us-is waiting to perfect His love in us, if we but trust Him. Are there many hearts saying:-"I believe that G.o.d brought me out of bondage twenty, or thirty, or forty years ago; but alas! I cannot say that I have been brought into the happy land of rest and victory?"

How glorious was the rest of Canaan after all the wanderings in the wilderness! And so is it with the Christian who reaches the better promised Canaan of rest, when he comes to leave all his charge with the Lord Jesus-his responsibilities, anxieties, and worry; his only work being to hand the keeping of his soul into the hand of Jesus every day and hour, and the Lord can keep, and give the victory over every enemy.

Jesus has undertaken not only to cleanse our sin, and bring us to heaven, but also to keep us in our daily life.