Holy in Christ Part 8

Very wonderful is the revelation we have in Isaiah of G.o.d, the Holy One, as the Redeemer and the Saviour of His people. In the midst of the people whom He created and formed for Himself, He will as the Holy One dwell, showing forth His power and His glory, filling them with joy and gladness. All these promises have, however, reference to the people as a whole. Our text to-day reveals a new and specially beautiful feature of the Divine Holiness in its relation to the individual. The High and Lofty One, whose name is Holy, and whose only fit dwelling-place is eternity, He looks to the man who is of a humble and contrite heart; with him will He dwell. G.o.d's Holiness is His condescending Love. As it is a consuming fire against all who exalt themselves before Him, it is to the spirit of the humble like the s.h.i.+ning of the sun, heart-reviving and life-giving.

The deep significance of this promise comes out clearly when we connect it with the other promises of New Testament times. The great feature of the New Covenant, in its superiority to the old, is this, that whereas in the law and its inst.i.tution all was external, in the New the kingdom of G.o.d would be within. G.o.d's laws given and written into the heart, a new spirit put within us, G.o.d's own Spirit given to dwell within our spirit, and so the heart and the inner life fitted to be the temple and home of G.o.d; it is this const.i.tutes the peculiar privilege of the ministration of the Spirit. Our text is perhaps the only one in the Old Testament in which this indwelling of the Holy One, not among the people only, but in the heart of the individual believer, is clearly brought out. In this the two aspects of the Divine Holiness would reach their full manifestation: I dwell in the High and Holy place, and with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit. In His heaven above, the high and lofty place, and in our heart, contrite and humble, G.o.d has His home. G.o.d's Holiness is His glory that separates Him by an infinite distance, not only from sin, but even from the creature, lifting Him high above it. G.o.d's Holiness is His Love, drawing Him down to the sinner, that He may lift him into His fellows.h.i.+p and likeness, and make him holy as He is holy. The Holy One seeks the humble; the humble find the Holy One: such are the two lessons we have to learn to-day.

_The Holy One seeks the humble._ There is nothing that has such an attraction for G.o.d, that has such affinity with holiness, as a contrite and humble spirit. The reason is evident. There is no law in the natural and the spiritual world more simple, than that two bodies cannot at the same moment occupy the same s.p.a.ce. Only so much as the new occupant can expel of what the s.p.a.ce was filled with can it really possess. In man, self has possession, and self-will the mastery, and there is no room for G.o.d. It is simply impossible for G.o.d to dwell or rule when self is on the throne. As long as, through the blinding influence of sin and self-love, even the believer is not truly conscious of the extent to which this self-will reigns, there can be no true contrition or humility. But as it is discovered by G.o.d's Spirit, and the soul sees how it has just been self that has been secretly keeping out G.o.d, with what shame it is broken down, and how it longs to break utterly away from self, that G.o.d may have His place! It is this brokenness, and continued breaking down, that is expressed by the word contrition. And as the soul sees what folly and guilt it has been, by its secret honouring of self, to keep the Holy One from the place which He alone has a right to, and which He would so blessedly have filled, it casts itself down in utter self-abas.e.m.e.nt, with the one desire to be nothing, and to give G.o.d the place and the praise that is His due.

Such breaking down and humiliation is painful. Its intense reality consists in this, that the soul can see nothing in itself to trust or hope in. And least of all can it imagine that it should be an object of Divine complacency, or a fit vessel for the Divine blessing. And yet just this is the message which the Word of the Lord brings to our faith.

It tells us that the Holy One, who dwells in the High and Lofty place, is seeking and preparing for Himself a dwelling here on this earth. It tells us, just what the truly contrite and humble never could imagine, and even now can hardly believe, that it is even, that it is only, with such that He will dwell. These are they in whom G.o.d can be glorified, in whom there is room for Him to take the place of self and to fill the emptied place with Himself. The Holy One seeks the humble. Just when we see that there is nothing in us to admire or rest in, G.o.d sees in us everything to admire and to rest in, because there is room for Himself.

The lowly one is the home of the Holy One.

_The humble find the Holy One._ Just when the consciousness of sin and weakness, and the discovery of how much of self there is, makes you fear that you can never be holy, the Holy One gives Himself. Not as you look at self, and seek to know whether now you are contrite and humble enough--no, but when no longer looking at self, because you have given up all hope of seeing anything in it but sin, you look up to the Holy One, you will see how His promise is your only hope. It is in faith that the Holy One is revealed to the contrite soul. Faith is ever the opposite of what we see and feel; it looks to G.o.d alone. And it believes that in its deepest consciousness of unholiness, and its fear that it never can be holy, G.o.d, the Holy One, who makes holy, is near as Redeemer and Saviour. And it is content to be low, in the consciousness of unworthiness and emptiness, and yet to rejoice in the a.s.surance that G.o.d Himself does take possession and revive the heart of the contrite one. Happy the soul who is willing at once to learn the lesson that, all along, it is going to be the simultaneous experience of weakness and power, of emptiness and filling, of deep, real humiliation, and the as real and most wonderful indwelling of the Holy One.

This is indeed the deep mystery of the Divine life. To human reason it is a paradox. When Paul says of himself, 'as dying, and behold we live; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, yet possessing all things,' he only gives expression to the law of the kingdom, that as self is displaced and man becomes nothing, G.o.d will become all. Side by side with deepest sense of nothingness and weakness, the sense of infinite riches and the joy unspeakable can fill the heart. However deep and blessed the experience becomes of the nearness, the blessing, the love, the actual indwelling of the Holy One, it is never an indwelling in the old self; it is ever a Divine Presence humbling self to make place for G.o.d alone to be exalted. The power of Christ's death, the fellows.h.i.+p of His cross, works each moment side by side with the power and the joy of His resurrection. 'He that humbleth himself shall be exalted;' in the blessed life of faith the humiliation and the exaltation are simultaneous, each dependent on the other.

The humble find the Holy One; and when they have found, the possession only humbles all the more. Not that there is no danger or temptation of the flesh exalting itself in the possession, but, once knowing the danger, the humble soul seeks for grace to fear continually, with a fear that only clings more firmly to G.o.d alone. Never for a moment imagine that you attain a state in which self or the flesh are absolutely dead.

No; by faith you enter into and abide in a fellows.h.i.+p with Jesus, in whom they are crucified; abiding in Him, you are free from their power, but only as you believe, and, in believing, have gone out of self and dwell in Jesus. Therefore, the more abundant G.o.d's grace becomes, and the more blessed the indwelling of the Holy One, keep so much the lower.

Your danger is greater, but your Help is now nearer: be content in trembling to confess the danger, it will make you bold in faith to claim the victory.

Believers, who profess to be nothing, and to trust in grace alone, I pray you, do listen to the wondrous message. The High and Lofty One, whose name is Holy, and who dwells in the Holy Place, and who can dwell nowhere but in a Holy Place, seeks a dwelling here on earth. Will you give it Him? Will you not fall down in the dust, that He may find in you the humble heart He loves to dwell in? Will you not now believe that even in you, however low and broken you feel, He doth delight to make His dwelling? 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom;' with them the King dwells. Oh, this is the path to holiness!

be humble, and the holy nearness and presence of G.o.d in you will be your holiness. As you hear the command, Be holy, as I am holy, let faith claim the promise, and answer, I will be holy, O Most Holy G.o.d! if Thou, the Holy One, wilt dwell with me.

BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.

O Lord! Thou art the High and Lofty One, whose Name is Holy. And yet Thou speakest, 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is of a contrite and humble spirit.' Yes, Lord! when the soul takes the low place, and has low thoughts of itself, that it feels it is nothing, Thou dost love to come and comfort, to dwell with it and revive it.

O my G.o.d! my creature nothingness humbles me; my many transgressions humble me; my innate sinfulness humbles me; but this humbles me most of all, Thine infinite condescension, and the ineffable indwelling Thou dost vouchsafe. It is Thy Holiness, in Christ bearing our sin, Thy Holy Love bearing with our sin, and consenting to dwell in us; O G.o.d! it is this love that pa.s.seth knowledge that humbles me. I do beseech Thee, let it do its work, until self hides its head and flees away at the presence of Thy glory, and Thou alone art all.

Holy Lord G.o.d! I pray Thee to humble me. Didst Thou not of old meet Thy servants, and show Thyself unto them until they fell upon their faces and feared? Thou knowest, my G.o.d! I have no humility which I can bring Thee. In my blessed Saviour, who humbled Himself in the form of a servant, and unto the death of the cross, I hide myself. In Him, in His spirit and likeness, I would live before Thee. Work Thou it in me, by the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, and as I am dead to self in Him, and His cross makes me nothing, let Thy holy indwelling revive and quicken me.

Amen.

1. Lowliness and holiness. Keep fast hold of the intimate connection. Lowliness is taking the place that becomes me; holiness, giving G.o.d the place that becomes Him. If I be nothing before Him, and G.o.d be all to me, I am in the sure path of holiness. Lowliness is holiness, because it gives all the glory to G.o.d.

2. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' These first words of the Master when He opened His lips to proclaim the Kingdom, are often the last in the hearts of His disciples. 'The Kingdom is in the Holy Ghost:' to the poor in spirit, those who know they have nothing that is really spiritual, the Holy Spirit comes to be their life. The poor in spirit are the Kingdom of the Saints: in them the Holy Spirit reveals the King.

3. Many strive hard to be humble with G.o.d, but with men they maintain their rights, and nourish self. Remember that the great school of humility before G.o.d, is to accept the humbling of man. Christ sanctified Himself in accepting the humiliation and injustice which evil men laid upon Him.

4. Humility never sees its own beauty, because it refuses to look to itself: It only wonders at the condescension of the Holy G.o.d, and rejoices in the humility of Jesus, G.o.d's Holy One, our Holy One.

5. The link between holiness and humility is indwelling. The Lofty One, whose name is Holy, _dwells_ with the contrite one.

And where He dwells is _the Holy Place_.

Fourteenth Day.

HOLY IN CHRIST.

The Holy One of G.o.d.

'Therefore also that _holy_ thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of G.o.d.'--Luke i. 35.

'We have believed and know that Thou art _the Holy One of G.o.d_.'--John vi. 69.

'The holy one of the Lord'--only once (Ps. cvi. 16) the expression is found in the Old Testament. It is spoken of Aaron, in whom holiness, as far as it could then be revealed, had found its most complete embodiment. The t.i.tle waited for its fulfilment in Him who alone, in His own person, could perfectly show forth the holiness of G.o.d on earth--Jesus the Son of the Father. In Him we see holiness, as Divine, as human, as our very own.

1. In Him we see wherein that Incomparable Excellence of the Divine Nature consists. 'Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity, therefore G.o.d, even Thy G.o.d, hath anointed Thee with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows.' G.o.d's infinite hatred of sin, and His maintenance of the Right, might appear to have little moral worth, as being a necessity of His nature. In the Son we see Divine Holiness tested. He is tried and tempted. He suffers, being tempted. He proves that Holiness has indeed a moral worth: it is ready to make any sacrifice, yea to give up life and cease to be, rather than consent to sin. In giving Himself to die, rather than yield to the temptation of sin; in giving Himself to die, that the Father's righteous judgment may be honoured; Jesus proved how Righteousness is an element of the Divine Holiness, and how the Holy One is sanctified in Righteousness.

But this is only one side of Holiness. The fire that consumes also purifies: it makes partakers of its own beautiful Light-nature all that is capable of a.s.similation. So Divine Holiness not only maintains its own purity; it communicates it too. Herein was Jesus indeed seen to be the Holy One of G.o.d, that He never said, 'Stand by, for I am holier than thou.' His holiness proved itself to be the very incarnation of Him who had spoken, 'Thus saith the High and Lofty One, whose Name is Holy: I dwell in the High and Holy place, and with him who is of a contrite spirit.' In Him was seen the affinity holiness has for all that is lost and helpless and sinful. He proved that holiness is not only the energy which in holy anger separates itself from all that is impure, but which in holy love separates to itself even what is most sinful, to save and to bless. In Him we see how the Divine Holiness is the harmony of Infinite Righteousness with Infinite Love.

2. Such is the Divine aspect of the character of Christ, as He shows in human form what G.o.d's Holiness is. But there is another aspect, to us no less interesting and important. We not only want to know how G.o.d is holy, but how man must act to be holy as G.o.d is holy. Jesus came to teach us that it is possible to be men, and yet to have the life of G.o.d dwelling in us. We ordinarily think that the glory and the infinite Perfection of Deity are the proper setting in which the beauty of holiness is to be seen: Jesus proved the perfect adaptation and suitability of human nature for showing forth that which is the essential glory of Deity. He showed us how, in choosing and doing the will of G.o.d, and making it his own will, man may truly be holy as G.o.d is holy.

The value of this aspect of the Incarnation depends upon our realizing intensely the true humanity of our Lord. The awful separating and purifying process that is ever being carried on in the fiery furnace of the Divine Holiness, ever consuming and ever a.s.similating, we expect to see in Him in the struggles of a truly human will. Holiness, to be truly human, must not only be a gift, but an acquirement. Coming from G.o.d, it must be accepted and personally appropriated, in the voluntary surrender of all that is not in accordance with it. In Jesus, as He distinctly gave up His own will, and did and suffered the Father's will, we have the revelation of what human holiness is, and how truly man, through the unity of will, can be holy as G.o.d is holy.

3. But what avails that we have seen in Jesus that a man can be holy?

His example were indeed a mockery if He show us not the way, and give us not the power, to become like Himself. To bring us this, was indeed the supreme object of the Incarnation. The Divine nature of Christ did not simply make _His_ humanity partaker of its holiness, leaving Him still nothing more than an individual man. His Divinity gave the human holiness He wrought out, the holy human nature which He perfected, an infinite value and power of communication. With Him a new life, the Eternal Life, was grafted into the stem of humanity. For all who believe in Him, He sanctified Himself, that they themselves might also be sanctified in truth. Because His death was the great triumph of His obedience to the will of the Father, it broke for ever the dominion of sin, it atoned for our guilt, and won for Him from the Father the power to make His people partakers of His own life and holiness. In His Resurrection and Ascension the power of the New Life, and its right to universal dominion, were made manifest, and He is now in full truth the Holy One of G.o.d, holding in Himself as Head the power of a Holiness, at once Divine and human, to communicate to every member of His body.

THE HOLY ONE OF G.o.d! in a fulness of meaning that pa.s.seth knowledge, in spirit and in truth, Jesus now bears this t.i.tle. He is now the One Holy One whom G.o.d sees, of such an infinite compa.s.s and power of holiness, that He can be holiness to each of His brethren. And even as He is to G.o.d the Holy One, in whom He delights, and for whose sake He delights in all who are in Him, so Christ may now be to us too the One Holy One in whom we delight, in whom the Holiness of G.o.d is become ours. 'We have believed and know that Thou art _the Holy One of G.o.d_,'--blessed they who can say this, and know themselves to be holy in Christ.

In speaking of the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we saw how Christ stands midway between the Father and the Spirit, as the point of union in which they meet. In the Son, 'the very image of His substance' (Heb. i. 3), we have the objective revelation of Deity, the Divine Holiness embodied and brought nigh. In the Holy Spirit we have the same revelation subjectively, _the Divine Holiness entering our inmost being and revealing itself there_. The work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal and glorify Christ as the Holy One of G.o.d, as He takes of His Holiness and makes it ours. He shows us how all is in Christ; how Christ is all for us; how we are in Christ; and how, as a living Saviour, Christ through His Spirit takes and keeps charge of us and our life of holiness. He makes Christ indeed to be to us _the Holy One of G.o.d_.

My Brother! wouldst thou be holy, wouldst thou know G.o.d's way of holiness--learn to know Christ as the Holy One of G.o.d. Thou art _in Him_, 'holy in Christ.' Thou hast been placed, by an act of Divine Power, in Christ, and that same Power keeps thee there, planted and rooted in that Divine fulness of life and holiness which there is in Him. His Holy Presence, and the power of His eternal life, surround thee: let the Holy Spirit reveal this to thee. The Holy Spirit is within thee as the power of Christ and His life. Secretly, silently, but mightily, if thou wilt look to the Father for His working, will He strengthen the faith that thou art in Christ, and that the Divine life, which thus encircles thee on every side, will enter in and take possession of thee. Study and pray to believe and realize that it is in Christ as the Holy One of G.o.d, in Christ in whom the Holiness of G.o.d is prepared for thee as a holy nature and holy living, that thou art, and that thou mayest abide.

And then remember, also, that this Christ is thy Saviour, the most patient and compa.s.sionate of teachers. Study holiness in the light of His countenance, looking up into His face. _He came from heaven for the very purpose of making thee holy._ His love and power are more than thy slowness and sinfulness. Do learn to think of holiness as the inheritance prepared for thee, as the power of a new life which Jesus waits and lives to dispense. Just think of it as all in Him, and of its possession as being dependent upon the possession of Himself. And as the disciples, though they scarce understood what they confessed, or knew whither the Lord was leading them, became His saints, His holy ones, in virtue of their intense attachment to Him, so wilt thou find that to love Jesus fervently, and obey Him simply, is the sure path to holiness and the fulness of the Holy Spirit.

BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.

Most Holy Lord G.o.d! I do bless Thee that Thy beloved Son, whom Thou didst sanctify and send into the world, is now to us _the Holy One of G.o.d_. I beseech Thee that my inner life may so be enlightened by the Spirit that I may in faith fully know what this means.

May I know Him as the revelation of Thy Holiness, the incarnation in human nature, even unto the death, of Thine infinite and unconquerable hatred of sin, as of Thy amazing love to the sinner. May my soul be filled with great fear and trust of Thee.

May I know Him as the exhibition of the Holiness in which we are now to walk before Thee. He lived in Thy holy will. May I know Him as He wrought out that holiness, to be communicated to us in a new human nature, making it possible for us to live a holy life.

May I know Him as Thou hast placed me in Him in heaven, holy in Christ, and as I may abide in Him by faith.

May I know Him, as He dwells in me, the Holy One of G.o.d on the throne of my heart, breathing His Holy Spirit and maintaining His holy rule. So shall I live holy in Christ.

O my Father! it pleased Thee that in Thy Son should all the fulness dwell. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in Him dwell the unsearchable riches of grace and holiness. I beseech Thee, reveal Him to me, reveal Him in me, that I may not have to satisfy myself with thoughts and desires, without the reality, but that in the power of an endless life I may know Him, and be known of Him, the Holy One of G.o.d. Amen.

1. In the holiness of Jesus we see what ours must be: righteousness, that hates sin and gives everything to have it destroyed; love, that seeks the sinner and gives everything to have him saved. 'Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of G.o.d, neither he that loveth not his brother.'

2. It is a solemn thought that we may be studying earnestly to know what holiness is, and yet have little of it, because we have little of Jesus. It is a blessed thought that a man may directly be little occupied with the thought of holiness, and yet have much of it, because he is full of Jesus.