How to Live a Holy Life Part 9

Lukewarmness is very loathsome to G.o.d. It reproaches him. To make no profession of love to G.o.d at all is not such a reproach to him as to profess love and be lukewarm. G.o.d wants all your heart. If he can not have it all, he will have none. He desires warm, fervent love. To love him only partially, and not supremely, makes it appear as if he were worthy of only half-hearted love. It makes other things equal with G.o.d.

After the physician learns the symptoms and p.r.o.nounces the disease, he then prescribes the remedy. Thank G.o.d, there is an unfailing remedy for lukewarmness. Of course, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." "Repent and do the first works." Come to G.o.d and buy of him gold tried in the fire. Exercise yourself in spiritual things if there yet be any love in your heart. Shake off everything that is stupefying. Press your way through to G.o.d in spite of dryness and deadness. Stir up your soul. Give yourself to deep meditation upon the great love of G.o.d to you.

Pray in fervency and faith. Consecrate to the whole will of G.o.d. If your case is not hopeless--and it is not--this will effect a cure.

STEADFASTNESS.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." 1 Cor. 15:58. Steadfastness is an essential principle in Christian character. There can be no success nor prosperity in the Christian life when this principle is wanting. The Psalmist said, "My heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord." This is true steadfastness. It is cleaving to G.o.d, let the storms rage as they may. It is resting and abiding in Jesus though the trials of life may be the severest possible. It is a firm, fixed, settled decision to abide in doctrines of the Bible. It is to rest confidingly upon the teaching and promises of the Holy Scriptures. Just as a man lies confidently down to rest upon his bed, so a Christian, in his steadfastness, rests confidingly, rests without fear, upon the never-changing Word of G.o.d.

Through Jesus Christ, Christians are made partakers of the divine nature.

They receive the imprint of divine character in their souls. Among the different principles in the character of G.o.d is found steadfastness. When G.o.d delivered Daniel from the lions, Darius the king said, "I make a decree that in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the G.o.d of Daniel: for he is the living G.o.d, and steadfast forever." Dan.

6:26. Just as Christian fort.i.tude is n.o.ble, manly, and pleasing to G.o.d, so a lack of steadfastness is ign.o.ble, unmanly, and highly displeasing to G.o.d.

Some (it may be many) are led by their feelings. We, as the children of G.o.d, are to be led by the Spirit of G.o.d; but not all fully understand what is meant by "being led by the Spirit." I would rather be led by a sense of duty than by my feelings. I do not understand that in order to be led by the Spirit we need always to have a strong inward impression or almost audible voice speaking to us. The Spirit of G.o.d has illuminated the Word and enlightened your mind to know what is your Christian duty; hence when you go forward and discharge your duties faithfully, you are truly being led by the Spirit. You know it to be your duty to help the poor, to support the weak, to comfort the sorrowful, to attend religious services, to witness for Jesus, to study the Scriptures, to pray, and diligently to follow every good work. You may sometimes feel a strong impression to pray, but you do not need to have this feeling always in order to be duty -bound to pray. It is your duty to pray, to give of your means, etc., oftentimes just as much when you do not feel impressed to do so as when you have strong inward impressions. You do not need to wait for such impressions before you act, for a knowledge of your duty makes you responsible.

A man can have no true steadfastness who is influenced by his emotions or impressions. The man who is steadfast, unmovable in the Word, goes forward to a discharge of his known duties, no matter what his feelings may be.

Whatever may be his impressions to do a certain thing, if it is not consistent with the Word and the Spirit and his knowledge of right, he persistently refuses to obey.

How the true principle of steadfastness abides in the will of G.o.d and the doctrines of Christ is demonstrated in the teachings of Barnabas to the church at Antioch. There was some contention in the church over circ.u.mcision, and heavy persecutions from without, and many were being moved from the true faith. Barnabas exhorted that with purpose of heart they cleave to the Lord. Steadfastness is a firm, fixed purpose of the heart to cleave unto G.o.d, to attend strictly and promptly to every Christian duty. It is a decided, unchangeable, unshaken purpose of the heart to obey implicitly the teachings of the Savior, regardless of the feelings.

You will find that, if you attend to every Christian duty, you will often have to go contrary to your feelings. How often the enemy of your soul will, if he can, cast indifferent feelings over you concerning prayer.

That is the time to show your Christian fort.i.tude and steadfastness. It is weakness and laziness to neglect prayer simply because we do not feel inclined to pray. To yield to indifferent feelings is to encourage them, and they will grow stronger and stronger, so that we shall feel less and less inclined to pray. The more we pray, the more prayerful we feel; likewise, the less we pray, the less prayerful we feel. When we have yielded to indifferent feelings for sometime and have sadly neglected prayer, we have a hard struggle to get through to the glorious light and victory and sweetness. But you must get out where the blessings fall; you must get where you have sweet tastes of love and the satisfying blessings of the presence of G.o.d. You must be courageous, manly, and decided. The way to enjoy serving G.o.d and doing our full Christian duty is always to do our duty and especially at those times when doing it seems to be the least enjoyable.

Steadfastly resist Satan and every indifferent feeling, and do your duty at any cost. Remember, it is not he that feels to do good and doeth it not, but "he that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin,"

HOW TO UNDERSTAND G.o.d'S WILL.

In order to do G.o.d's will we must first know his will. In order to have real satisfaction, rest, and contentment in the Christian life--and there is no true rest outside the Christian life--we must have the full a.s.surance that we are doing the will of G.o.d. The soul that loves G.o.d can not be satisfied with anything less than this. As long as there is a doubt, there can not be perfect contentment. We must have a perfect knowledge of G.o.d's will concerning us, or else we shall not fully know we are doing his will.

Many are saying, "I would gladly do G.o.d's will if I only knew what was his will." Such ones have not reached that nearness to G.o.d that they should.

There should always be a clear and definite understanding between G.o.d and his children. "My sheep," Jesus says, "hear my voice"; and we know that G.o.d hears the voice of his children. We can talk to G.o.d and G.o.d to us; consequently, there can be understanding between us. You can live close enough to G.o.d to know his will--not merely to suppose his will or take it for granted, but to know it because he told you. A man's employees may suppose they are doing what he wants them to do, but this does not give them full a.s.surance. It is only when they have been in his presence and heard him express his will that they know they are doing it. You can know G.o.d's will. You need not spend one day without knowing you are in his order.

The Scripture says, "Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is." Eph. 5: 17. In the verses preceding this one we are told to walk circ.u.mspectly and to redeem the time. We need to know G.o.d's will that we may use every opportunity to the greatest advantage. To pa.s.s along day after day without a definite knowledge of being in the will of G.o.d or without taking much thought about it or earnestly seeking to know it, is living on entirely too low a spiritual plane. G.o.d wants you to come up higher--high enough and close enough to know his will. Has not G.o.d purchased you? You are his servant, his bondslave. You are to do everything you do for him. He who has men in his employ expects them to do his will. They do not go out a single day ignorant of his will. They do not always wait to be told what to do, but they make inquiry. With many there may not be enough earnest seeking after G.o.d to know his will.

In order to know G.o.d's will there must be a perfect consecration to G.o.d.

The soul must lay down her own will and present herself before G.o.d as much as to say, "I give up my way and will forever to be thine and thine alone; to love thee and serve thee; to do thy whole will now and forever." There must be humility before G.o.d; a deep inner consciousness of your nothingness and your inability to accomplish anything in life of yourself.

"The meek he will guide in judgment." We must be meek and humble before the Lord and confess that we are dependent on him and that life will be an utter failure unless he wills and guides and plans and works in us and with us and for us.

There must be great love to G.o.d and an earnest desire to know his will.

Without strong desire to know G.o.d's will you can never learn it. It is those who desire that obtain answers to their prayers; and that desire must be really great. You must seek to know. Where there is great desire, there will be earnest seeking; but there will not be earnest seeking without the fervent desire. The desire must be so intense that you feel as if you must know. You must feel that you can not get along in life without knowing G.o.d's will. You can not be of any service to him without having knowledge of his will. You must also have faith. When you ask G.o.d to teach you his will, you must believe he will do it, and he will do it. When he begins to unfold his will, you must move in his order without doubting or questioning. He will guide you and direct your every step, and you can know that you are doing the very thing G.o.d wants you to do. Bless his name! Such a life is heaven here.

A VIEW OF JESUS.

Let us take a look at Jesus. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit may unveil him and present him to us clearly. Now we see him. We see him as our all and as in all. Can you see him thus? Is he everything to you? and is he in everything that comes to you?

Let us take a view of Jesus through two texts of Scripture. First, "And hath put all things under his feet." Eph. 1:22. We see him as our protector. Christ has conquered all, and G.o.d has put all things under his Son's feet. In all the world there is no evil thing that can harm the child of G.o.d. Jesus cares for his children. How safe we feel! He is our refuge, our strong tower, our buckler, and our s.h.i.+eld. Discouragements, doubts, fears, disease, Satan, and all that would antagonize us are under his feet and so can never do us harm.

Second, "The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand." Every good thing is in the hand of Jesus. He stands ready to give them to his children. There is not a need you can ever have but Jesus has in his hand something with which to supply that need. His loving hand is extended to you. It contains something that will meet all your needs in life. Praise the Lord!

Nothing can harm us, for every harmful and harming thing is beneath the feet of our Lord. So we need not fear. We can never fail to have all our needs supplied, for Jesus stands with outstretched hand to give just what we need just when we need it. Do you see Jesus as such? Open your eyes wide, look and live, and be happy and free.

DEVOTION TO G.o.d.

Devotion to G.o.d implies ardent affection for him--a yielding of the heart to him with reverence, faith, and piety in every act, particularly in prayer and meditation. We catch a glimpse of the true meaning of devotion from what is said of the centurion of the Italian band. He was termed a devout man because he feared G.o.d, gave much alms to the people, and prayed to G.o.d always (see Acts 10:2). This is the essence of true devotion. He loved G.o.d, without which there can be no devotion. The more we love an object, the more devoted to it we are. Devotion is therefore love manifested. At the feet of Jesus stood a woman weeping and was.h.i.+ng his feet with her tears and wiping them with the hairs of her head and kissing them. Is not this a picture of devotion? It is love and devotion expressed in action. Jesus said, "She loved much." The secret of devotion is loving much.

Every devoted Christian desires to be more devoted to his G.o.d. I am glad we can be. It is pleasant to feel in our hearts an ardent desire to love G.o.d more. A fond mother clasps her babe to her bosom. She loves it, and her heart is happy in that love; but she feels she can not love it enough.

She longs to love it more. Her heart yearns to love it more, though she loves it from the fulness of her soul. This longing to love increases our capacity to love. By being filled with air some vessels are made to expand. Unless filled to their utmost capacity, they would not become more extended. To the extent that the heart is filled with the love of G.o.d, man is happy.

To desire to be more devotional is not an evidence of lack of devotion, but, on the contrary, an evidence of devotion. Those who are the least devotional have the least desire to be more devotional. The heart that is fullest of love is happiest; and although it is happy and satisfied, yet it longs to move. Oh, how we long to clasp our arms more tightly about him! how we long to have him clasp his arms more tightly about us! how we long to nestle more fondly and lovingly on his bosom! What rapture to our love-flooded souls to receive of his caresses and hear his tender words!

To the soul in the ecstasy of its heavenly love, the world with its pleasures has vanished away like a morning vapor.

It is not understood by all how and why we should have a desire to possess more of that of which we are already full. It is the desire for development; it is an innate desire; it is a principle planted in our const.i.tution under grace. Let me repeat what I have said elsewhere: Every living thing consciously or unconsciously struggles to conform to type.

When the little plant bursts through the ground, it enters the race in conforming to the type that it carries in its bosom. Thus, in the heart of the acorn is a miniature oak-tree. The little chick carries within it an image of the mother bird, to which it will naturally though unconsciously conform.

In the natural world when things reach the highest point of development, they begin to decay or deteriorate; but this is not true in the spiritual world. Never in this life and possibly never in that life which is to come shall we reach the fulness of the type, or, in other words, the highest point of development. As the acorn or the little chick bears in its nature an image of the parent, so the Christian bears in his soul the image of G.o.d. This is the image to which he is to conform. Day after day he can grow in grace. Day after day the beautiful graces of the Spirit can become more beautiful and the exterior life be more perceptibly stamped with the holy image of G.o.d. There must be progress, or there will be regress. When a ball that has been thrown upward ceases to ascend, it begins to descend.

When the fulness of the type is reached, then begins the retrogression.

This is none the less true of spiritual things. The reason why there need be no declension in love is because the highest point of development is never attained.

For ill.u.s.tration let us set a little child in our midst. As a child it is perfect. All its organs are in proper place and are properly performing their functions. It is a perfect image of the type of man into which it will grow. That child's nature tends toward, and the child longs to be, a man. The child's innate desire for development does not make it discontented as long as its craving for growth is gratified. In this we behold the goodness and the wisdom of the Creator. That the child may be happy, it is so const.i.tuted that it satisfactorily meets all the requirements of the law of development. The child is thus kept in a state of contentment. Did it seek to fulfil the law of growth contrary to its nature, to become a man would be an irksome task. It is a delight to the child to eat, to play, to sleep. And these things, producing growth, meet the demands of its nature. There is implanted in it both a desire to grow and a relish for the things necessary to its growth. Thus the entire process of development is a delight. In fact, there will be no delight or enjoyment unless there be development.

True, a child does not eat and play for the express purpose of growing.

Indeed, it may take no thought about growing. But there is in the nature of the child, when in health, a demand for growth. When the child is in ill health, the growth ceases; consequently there is no demand for development, and it loses relish for the things that go to meet that demand.

This very beautifully ill.u.s.trates Christian development which includes becoming more devotional. You desire to be more devotional. Such a desire is legitimate. The nature of every sanctified soul craves development. The soul is not dissatisfied, any more than the growing child. As that developing life in the child moves it to seek for the things that produce development, so the life of G.o.d in the sanctified soul moves it to seek for the things that will unfold and amplify that life. "If ye be risen [have life] with Christ, seek those things which are above." Those things, coming into our soul daily, will unfold us more and more into an heavenly life. They are food to the sanctified soul. They keep the soul satisfied, because they are the means provided by a loving, all-wise Providence for the constant healthful growth of our spiritual natures. Herein only is true soul-rest.

G.o.d gives us a relish for the very things that go to fulfil the demands of our Christian nature. Prayer, meditation, reading the Bible, trust, and resting in the Lord promote increase in him. How delightful is prayer to the soul that is healthful and growing! and the Word of G.o.d is sweeter than honey. Where there is a demand in the soul for these things, how delightful it is to engage in them! Do you behold the beauty and the wisdom here? G.o.d implants a desire in the soul for spiritual development and at the same time implants a relish for the things necessary for such development. Bless his name! Understand me, please, this desire is not a restless longing, an aching void, as is found in an unregenerate heart or in a soul in spiritual decline; but it is the delightful struggling of a soul bearing the likeness of G.o.d, to conform to the natural law of development pent up within its bosom.

What is it in the nature of the oak that causes it to send its root down into the soil and to drink up of its substance? What is it in the nature of the child that causes it so eagerly to eat and play? It is the demand in their nature for growth, or that innate struggle to conform to type.

Manhood is sleeping in the child's bosom, and it wrestles and struggles to rise to the fulness of that image. What causes the Christian heart to long to root deeper into G.o.d; that makes the soul seek his embrace? It is that instinctive struggle to conform to G.o.d's glorious image. The entire process of development is delightful. Whenever the natural tendency toward growth ceases, the soul is in an abnormal state, and loses relish for the things necessary to growth.

Christian, see to it that you keep in your heart a desire, a longing, a panting, or, if you would rather I will say, a demand, in your spiritual being to be more devotional to G.o.d, and meet that demand by resting by faith in him, by prayer, by meditation, by service. Do this, and you will become more devotional. But I love the word "desire." Desire in the soul for spiritual things is appet.i.te. Satisfying this desire is a pleasure.

Never were any viands so sweet to the physical sense of taste as that food to our soul which helps us be more devotional. "Desire" is a Bible term.

"As new-born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby."