{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26003/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26003","id":"gutenberg_26003","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26003","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Jesus Christ -- Significance"],"text":"Produced by Free Elf, William Bumgarner and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This\nbook was produced from scanned images of public domain\nmaterial from the Google Print project.)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n  \"Jesus Himself.\"\n\n  BY\n  THE REV. ANDREW MURRAY.\n  _Author of \"Abide in Christ.\"_\n\n\n  FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY.\n  NEW YORK CHICAGO TORONTO.\n  _Publishers of Evangelical Literature._\n\n\n  COPYRIGHT 1893 BY\n  FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE.\n\n\nThe following brief messages comprise a revision of two addresses, which\noriginally appeared in the _South African Pioneer_, the organ of the\n\"Cape General Mission\" (Rev. Andrew Murray, Pres.), and are published by\narrangement, the Mission participating in the proceeds.\n\n\n\n\n\"Jesus Himself.\"\n\n\"_Their eyes were opened, and they knew Him._\"\n\nI\n\n\nThe words, from which I want to present a simple message, will be found\nin the Gospel according to St. Luke, the 24th chapter and the 31st\nverse: \"_And their eyes were opened, and they knew Him._\" Some time\nsince, I preached a sermon with the words \"Jesus Himself\" as the text;\nand as I went home I said to those who were walking with me: \"How\npossible it is to have Jesus Himself with us and never to know it, and\nhow possible to preach of, and to listen to, all the truth about Jesus\nHimself and yet not to know Him.\" I cannot say what a deep impression\nwas made upon me as I thought over it.\n\nNow these disciples had spent a most blessed time with Jesus, but if\nthey had gone away before He revealed Himself that evening, they would\nnever have been sure that it was Jesus, for their eyes were holden that\nthey should not know Him. That is, alas, the condition of a great\nmultitude in the Church of Christ. They know that Christ has risen from\nthe dead. They believe, and they very often have blessed experiences\nthat come from the risen Christ. Very often in a time of Convention, or\nin time of silent Bible reading, or in a time of the visitation of God's\ngrace, their hearts burn; and yet it can be said of a people whose\nhearts are burning within them, that they did not know it was Jesus\nHimself.\n\nAnd now if you ask me what is to be the great blessing to be sought, my\nanswer is this: Not only should we think about Jesus Himself and speak\nabout Him and believe in Him, but we should come to the point that the\ndisciples in the text arrived at, \"and they knew Him.\" Everything is to\nbe found in that.\n\nIf I read that story of the disciples on the way to Emmaus, I get from\nit four stages in the Christian life. Just think! How did they begin the\nmorning that day? With\n\n_Hearts sad and troubled_,\n\nbecause they thought Jesus was dead. They did not know that He was\nalive, and that is the state of very many Christians. They look to the\nCross, and they struggle to trust Christ, but they have never yet\nlearned the blessedness of believing that there is a living Christ to do\neverything for them. Oh! that word of the angel to the women! \"Why seek\nye the living among the dead?\" What is the difference between a dead\nChrist, whom the women went to anoint, and a living Christ? A dead\nChrist, I must do everything for; a living Christ does everything for\nme.\n\nThe disciples began the morning with a sad heart. I fancy very possibly\nthey spent a sleepless night. Oh! the terrible disappointment! They had\nhoped that Christ would be the Deliverer of Israel, and they had seen\nHim die an accursed death. On the morning of that first day of the week,\nthey rose with sad hearts--the bitter sadness cannot be expressed. That\nis just the life of many Christians. They try to believe in Jesus and to\ntrust Him, and to hope in Him, but there is no joy. Why? Because they do\nnot know that there is a living Christ to reveal Himself.\n\nThen there is the second stage. What is that? The stage of which Christ\nspeaks:\n\n\"_Slow of heart to believe._\"\n\nThey had the message from the women. They told the stranger who walked\nwith them: \"Certain women have astonished us, telling us they have seen\nan angel, who says He is alive.\" And Christ replied to them: \"Oh! fools,\nand slow of heart to believe.\" Yes! there are many Christians to-day who\nhave heard and who know that they must not only believe in a crucified\nChrist, but in a living Christ, and they try to grasp it and take it\nin, but it does not bring them a blessing, and why? Because they want to\nfeel it and not to believe it. They want to work for it, and with\nefforts get hold of it, instead of just quietly sinking down and\nbelieving, \"Christ, the living Jesus, He will do _everything_ for us.\"\nThat is the second stage. The first stage is that of ignorance, the\nsecond stage is that of unbelief--the doubting heart that cannot take in\nthe wonderful truth that Jesus lives.\n\nThen comes the third stage--\n\n_The burning heart._\n\nJesus came to the two disciples, and after He had reproved them and\nsaid: \"Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe,\" He began to open the\nScriptures to them, and to tell them of all the wonderful things the\nprophets had taught. Then their eyes were opened, and they began to\nunderstand the Scriptures. They saw that it was true that it was\nprophesied that Christ must rise. As He talked, there came out from\nHim--the living risen One--a mighty influence, and it rested upon them,\nand they began to feel their hearts burn within them with joy and\ngladness.\n\nYou still say perhaps: \"That is the stage we want to come to.\" No; God\nforbid you should stop there. You may get in that third stage--the\nburning heart--and yet something is still wanting--the revelation of\nChrist. The disciples had had a blessed experience of His divine powers,\nbut He had not revealed Himself, and oh! how often it is that at\nConventions and in churches, and in meetings and in blessed fellowship\nwith God's saints, our hearts burn within us. These are precious\nexperiences of the working of God's grace and Spirit, and yet there is\nsomething wanting. What is that? Jesus Himself has been working upon us,\nand the power of his risen life has touched us, but we cannot say, \"I\nhave met Him. He has made Himself known to me.\" Oh, the difference\nbetween a burning heart, which becomes cold after a time, which comes by\nfits and starts, and the blessed revelation of Jesus Himself as my\nSaviour, taking charge of me and blessing me and keeping me every day!\nThis is the stage of\n\n_The satisfied heart._\n\nOh my brother, my sister! It is what I ask for you, and it is what I am\nsure you ask for yourself. I ask it for myself. Lord Jesus! may we know\nThee in thy divine glory as the risen One, our Jesus, our Beloved and\nour mighty One. Oh! if there are any sad ones who cannot take this in,\nand who say, \"I have never known the joy of religion yet\"--listen, we\nare going to tell you how you can. All will center round this one thing,\nthat just as a little child lives day by day in the arms of its mother,\nand grows up year by year under a mother's eye, it is a possibility that\nyou can live every day and hour of your life in fellowship with the Holy\nJesus.\n\n_He will do it for you._\n\nCome, and let your sad heart begin to hope. Will He reveal Himself? He\ndid it to the disciples and He will do it to you. Perhaps there are\nsome who have got beyond the sad heart and who yet feel, \"I have not\ngot what I want.\" If you throw open your heart and give up everything\nbut just believing and allowing Him to do what He wants, it will come.\nGod be praised! it will come.\n\n_Jesus will reveal Himself._\n\nPerhaps you have arrived at the stage of the burning heart, and can tell\nof many blessed experiences, but somehow there is a worm at the root.\nThe experiences do not last, and the heart is so changeable. Oh come, my\nbeloved! Follow Christ. Say, \"Jesus, reveal Thyself that we may know\nThee Thyself. We ask not only to drink of the living water, we want the\nfountain. We ask not only to bathe ourselves in the light, we want the\nSun of Righteousness within our hearts. We ask not only to know Thee,\nwho hast touched us and warmed our hearts and blessed us, but we want to\nknow that we have the unchangeable Jesus dwelling within our hearts and\nabiding with us forevermore.\"\n\nNow comes the question which I really wanted to put,--What are the\nconditions under which our blessed Lord reveals Himself? Or, put it this\nway,--To whom is it that Jesus will reveal Himself? We have only to see\nhow he dealt with these disciples, and we get the answer. What is the\nanswer? First of all I think I find here that Christ revealed Himself to\nthose disciples\n\n_Who had given up everything for Him._\n\nHe had said to them: \"Forsake all and follow Me,\" and they had done it.\nWith all their feebleness and all their unfaithfulness they followed\nChrist to the end. He said to them: \"Ye have continued with Me in My\ntemptations, and I appoint you a kingdom, as I have received a kingdom\nfrom My Father.\" They were not perfect men, but they would have died for\nHim. They loved Him, they obeyed Him, they followed Him. They had left\nall, and for three years they had been following hard after Christ. You\nsay \"Tell me what Christ wants of me, if I am to have his wonderful\npresence. Tell me what is the character of the man to whom Christ will\nreveal Himself in this highest and fullest way?\" I answer: \"It is the\none who is ready to forsake all and to follow Him.\" If Christ is to give\nHimself wholly to me, He must know that He has me wholly for Himself;\nand I trust God will give grace that these words spoken about the\nconsecration and the surrender, not only of all evil, but of many lawful\nthings, and even, if necessary, of life itself, may lead us to\nunderstand what the demand is that Jesus makes upon us.\n\nThe motto of the Cape General Mission is,\n\n\"_God first._\"\n\nIn one sense that is a beautiful motto, and yet I am not always\nsatisfied with it, because it is a motto that is often misunderstood.\nGod first may mean \"I\" second, something else third, and something else\nfourth. God is thus first in order, but still God becomes one of a\nseries of powers, and that is not the place God wants. The meaning of\nthe words, \"God first\" is really \"God all; God everything;\" and that is\nwhat Christ wants. To be willing to give up everything, to submit to\nChrist to teach him what to say and what to do, is the first mark of the\nman to whom Christ will come. Are you not ready to take this step and\nsay: \"Jesus! I do give up everything; I have given up everything; reveal\nThyself.\"\n\nOh, brother! oh, sister! do not hesitate. Speak it out in your heart,\nand let this be the time in which a new sacrifice shall be laid at the\nfeet of the blessed Lamb of God.\n\nThere is a second thought. There is first the idea of having forsaken\nall to follow Him; of having given up everything in obedience to Him,\nand living just a life of simple love and obedience. But there is a\nsecond thing needed in the man who is to have this full revelation of\nChrist. He must be\n\n_Convicted of his unbelief._\n\n\"Oh! fools, and slow of heart to believe what the prophets have said.\"\nOh! brother, sister, if we could have a sight of the amount of unbelief\nin the hearts of God's children, barring the door and closing the heart\nagainst Christ, how we should stand astonished and ashamed! When there\nis not unbelief but where there is faith, Christ cannot help coming in.\nHe cannot help coming where there is a living faith, a full faith. The\nheart is opened, the heart is prepared; and as naturally as water runs\ninto a hollow place, so naturally Christ must come into a heart that is\nfull of faith. What is the hindrance with some earnest souls, who say:\n\"I have given myself up to the Lord Jesus. I have done it often, and by\nHis grace I am doing it every day, and God knows how earnestly and\nreally I am doing it, and I have the sanction of God upon it, I know God\nhas blessed me\"? They have not been convicted of their unbelief. \"Oh!\nfools, and slow of heart to believe.\" Do you know what Christ said about\na man calling his brother a fool? Yet here the loving Son of God could\nfind no other word to speak to His beloved disciples: \"Oh! fools, and\nslow of heart to believe.\" You want the Lord Jesus to give you this full\nrevelation of Himself? Are you willing to acknowledge that you are a\nfool for never having believed in Him? \"Lord Jesus, it is my own fault.\nThere Thou art, longing to have possession of me. There Thou hast been\nwith Thy faithful promises waiting to reveal Thyself.\"\n\nDid you ever hear of a man loving another and not longing to reveal\nhimself? Christ longs to reveal Himself, but He cannot on account of\nour unbelief. May God convict us of our unbelief that we may get\nutterly ashamed and broken down, and cry, \"Oh, my God, what is this,\nthis heart of unbelief actually throwing a barrier across the door\nthat Christ cannot step in, blinding my eyes that I cannot see Jesus,\nthough he is so near? Here He has been for ten or twenty years, from\ntime to time giving me the burning heart, enjoying the experience of a\nlittle of His love and grace, and yet I have not had the revelation of\nHim, taking possession of my heart and dwelling with me in unbroken\ncontinuity.\" Oh! may God convict us of unbelief. Do let us believe\nbecause all things are possible to him that believes. That is God's\nword, and this blessing, receiving the revelation of Jesus, can come\nonly to those who learn to believe and to trust him.\n\nThere is another mark of those to whom this special revelation of Christ\nwill come, and that is,\n\n_They do not rest until they obtain it._\n\nYou know the story. Their hearts were burning as they drew nigh to the\nplace they were going to, and Christ made as if He were going farther.\nHe put them to the test, and if they had allowed Him quietly to go on,\nif they had been content with the experience of the burning heart, they\nwould have lost something infinitely better. But they were not content\nwith it. They were not content to go home to the disciples that night\nand say, \"Oh, what a blessed afternoon we have had! What wonderful\nteaching we have had!\" No! The burning heart and the blessed experience\njust made them say, \"Lord, abide with us,\" and they compelled Him to\ncome in. They constrained Him to come in.\n\nIt always reminds me of the story of Jacob, \"I will not let Thee go,\nexcept Thou bless me.\" That is the spirit that prepares us for the\nrevelation of Jesus. Oh! my dear friend, has this been the spirit in\nwhich we have looked upon the wonderful blessing that we have sometimes\nheard of? \"Oh! my Lord Jesus, though I do not understand it, though I\ncannot grasp it, though my struggles avail nothing, I am not going to\nlet Thee go. If it is possible for a sinner on earth to have Jesus\nevery day, every hour, and every moment in resurrection power dwelling\nin his heart, shining within him, filling him with love and joy,--if\nthat is possible, I want it.\"\n\n_Is that your language?_\n\nOh! come then and say: \"Lord Jesus, I cannot let Thee go except Thou\nbless me.\" The question is asked so often: \"What is the cause of the\nfeeble life of so many Christians?\" What is really the matter? What is\nactually the want?\n\nHow little the Church responds to Christ's call! how little the Church\nis what Christ would have her to be! What is the cause of all the\ntrouble? Various answers may be given, but there is one answer which\nincludes all the other answers, and that is, each believer wants the\npersonal\n\n_Full revelation of a personal Christ_\n\nas an indwelling Lord, as a satisfying portion. When the Lord Jesus was\nhere upon earth, what was it that distinguished His disciples from other\npeople? He took them away from their fish-nets, and from their homes,\nand He gathered them about Himself, and they knew Jesus. He was their\nMaster, and guarded them, and they followed Him. And what is to make a\ndifference between Christ's disciples--not those who are just hoping to\nget to heaven, but Christ's whole-hearted disciples--what is to make a\ndifference between them and other people? It is this, to be in\nfellowship with Jesus--every hour of the day; and just as Christ upon\nearth was able to keep those people with Him for three years, day by\nday, so\n\n_Christ is able_\n\nin heaven now to do what He could not do when He was on earth--to keep\nin the closest fellowship with every believer throughout the whole\nworld. Glory be to God! You know that text in Ephesians: \"He that\ndescended is the same also that ascended, that He might fill all\nthings.\" Why was my Lord Jesus taken up to heaven away from the life of\nearth? Because the life of earth is a life confined to localities, but\nthe life in heaven is a life in which there is no limit and no bound and\nno locality, and Christ was taken up to heaven, that, in the power of\nGod, of the omnipresent God, He might be able to fill every individual\nhere and be with every individual believer.\n\nThat is what my heart wants to realize by faith; that is a possibility,\nthat is a promise, that is my birthright, and I want to have it, and I\nwant by the grace of God to say, \"Jesus, I will not rest until Thou hast\nrevealed Thyself fully to my soul.\"\n\nThere are often very blessed experiences in the Christian life in what I\ncall the third stage--the stage of the burning heart. Do you know what\nanother great mark of that stage is? Delight in God's word. How did the\ndisciples get their burning hearts? By that strange opening of the\nScripture to them. He made it all look different,--new,--and they saw\nwhat they had never seen before. They could not help feeling,\n\n_How wonderful_,\n\nhow heavenly was that teaching. Oh! there are many Christians who find\nthe best time of the day is the time when they can get with their\nBibles, and who love nothing so much as to get a new thought; and as a\ndiamond digger rejoices when he has found a diamond, or a gold digger\nwhen he has found a nugget, they delight when they get from the Bible\nsome new thought, and they feed upon it. Yet with all that interest in\nGod's word, and with all that stirring of the heart with joy, when they\ngo into business or attend to their daily duties, there is still\nsomething wanting.\n\nWe must come away from all the manifold and multifarious blessings that\nJesus can bestow from time to time, to the blessed unity of that\none--that Jesus makes Himself known, Jesus Himself is willing to make\nHimself known. Oh! if I were to ask, \"Is not this just what you and I\nwant, and what many of us have been longing for?\" I am sure you would\nanswer,\n\n\"_That is what I want._\"\n\nThink what the blessedness will be that comes from it. You often sing:--\n\n  \"Oh! the peace my Saviour gives!\n  Peace I never knew before,\n  And my way has brighter grown,\n  Since I've learnt to trust Him more.\"\n\nI recently had a letter from some one in the Free State saying what a\nwonderful comfort and strength that little verse was in the midst of\ndifficulties and troubles. Yes; but how can that peace be kept? It was\nthe presence of Christ that brought the peace. When the storm was\nthreatening to swallow up the disciples, it was the presence of Christ\nHimself that gave the peace.\n\nOh! Christian, do you want peace and rest? You must have Jesus Himself.\nYou talk of purity, you talk of cleansing, you talk of deliverance from\nsin. Praise God, here is the deliverance and the cleansing, when the\nliving Jesus comes and gives power. Then we have this resurrection of\nChrist, this heavenly Christ upon the throne, making Himself known to\nus. Surely that will be the secret of purity and the secret of strength.\n\nWhere does the strength of so many come from? From the joy of a personal\nfriendship with Jesus. Those disciples, if they had gone away with their\nburning hearts to the other disciples, could have told them wonderful\nthings of a man who had explained to them the Scriptures and the\npromises, but they could not have said, \"We have seen Jesus.\" They might\nhave said, \"Jesus is alive. We are sure of that,\" but that would not\nhave satisfied the others. But they could now go and say,\n\n\"_We have seen Himself._\n\nHe has revealed Himself to us.\" We are all glad to work for Christ, but\nthere is a complaint throughout the Church of Christ, from the ministers\nin the pulpit down to the feeblest worker, of lack of joy and lack of\nblessedness. Let us try and find out whether this is not the place where\nthe secret will be discovered--that the Lord Jesus comes and shows\nHimself to us as our Master and speaks to us. When we have Jesus with\nus, and when we go every footstep with the thought that it is Jesus\nwants us to go, it is Jesus who sends us and is helping us, then there\nwill be brightness in our testimony, and it will help other believers,\nand they will begin to understand; \"I see why I have failed. I took the\nword, I took the blessing, and I took, as I thought, the life, but I was\nwithout the living Jesus.\"\n\nAnd if you now ask, \"How will this revelation come?\" Brother, sister,\nthat is the secret that no man may tell, that Jesus keeps to Himself. It\nis\n\n_In the power of the Holy Ghost_;\n\nChrist, the risen One, entered into a new life. His resurrection life is\nentirely different from His life before His death. You know what we\nread: \"They knew Him.\" He revealed Himself, and then He passed away. And\nwas that vision of Christ worth so much? It was lost in a moment. It\nwas worth heaven, eternity, everything. Why? Because henceforth Christ\nwas no longer to be known after the flesh. Christ was henceforth in the\npower of the Spirit, which fills Heaven; in the power of the Spirit\nwhich is the power of the Godhead; in the power of the Spirit, which\nfills our hearts. Christ was henceforth to live in the life of Heaven.\n\nThank God, Christ can by the power of the Holy Ghost reveal Himself to\neach one of us; but oh! brother, it is a secret thing between Christ and\nyourself. Take this assurance, \"Their eyes were opened and they knew\nHim,\" and believe that it is written for you.\n\nYou say, \"I have known the other three stages; the stage of the sad\nheart, mourning that I knew no living Christ; I have known the stage of\nthe slow heart to believe, when I struggled with my unbelief; and I know\nthe stage of the burning heart, when there are great times of joy and\nblessedness.\" You say that? Oh come then and know the fourth stage of\n\n_The satisfied heart_,\n\nof the heart made glad for eternity, of the heart that cannot keep its\njoy in, but goes away back to Jerusalem, and says, \"It is true. Jesus\nhas revealed Himself. I know it, I feel it.\" Oh! brother, oh! sister,\nhow will this revelation come? Jesus will tell you. Just come to the\nLord Jesus and breathe up before Him a simple child-like prayer, and I,\nHis servant, will come and take you by the hand and say: \"Come, now, my\nwork is done. I have pointed to the Lamb of God, to the risen One. My\nwork is done.\"\n\nLet us enter into the Holy Presence and begin, if you have never yet\nsought it before, begin to plead: \"Oh! Saviour, that I might have this\nblessedness every moment present with me--Jesus Himself, my portion\nforever.\"\n\n\n\n\n\"_Jesus Himself._\"\n\n\"_Lo, I am with you alway._\"\n\nII\n\n\nWhen I think of all the struggles and difficulties and failures of which\nmany complain, and know that many are trying to make a new effort to\nbegin a holy life, their hearts fearing all the time that they would\nfail again, owing to so many difficulties and temptations and the\nnatural weakness of their character, my heart longs to be able to tell\nthem in words so simple that a little child could understand,\n\n_What the secret is of the Christian life._\n\nAnd then the thought comes to me, Can I venture to hope that it will be\ngiven to me to take that glorious, heavenly, divine Lord Jesus and to\nshow Him to these souls, so that they can see Him in His glory? And can\nit be given to me to open their eyes to see that there is a Divine,\nAlmighty Christ, who does actually come into the heart and who\nfaithfully promises, \"I will come and dwell with you, and I will never\nleave you?\" No; my words cannot do that. But then I thought, my Lord\nJesus can use me as a simple servant to take such feeble ones by the\nhand and encourage and help them; to say, Oh, come, come, come, into the\npresence of Jesus and wait on Him, and He will reveal Himself to thee. I\npray God that He may use His precious Word. It is simply\n\n_The presence of the Lord Jesus._\n\nThat is the secret of the Christian's strength and joy. You know that\nwhen He was upon earth, He was present in bodily form with his\ndisciples. They walked about together all day, and at night they went\ninto the same house, and sometimes slept together and ate and drank\ntogether. They were continually together. It was the presence of Jesus\nthat was the training school of His disciples. They were bound to Him by\nthat wonderful intercourse of love during three long years, and in that\nintercourse they learned to know Christ, and Christ instructed and\ncorrected them, and prepared them for what they were afterward to\nreceive. And now when He is going away, He says to them: \"Lo, behold, I\nam with you always--all the days--even unto the end of the world.\"\n\nWhat a promise! And just as really as Christ was with Peter in the boat,\njust as Christ sat with John at the table, as really can I have Christ\nwith me. And more really, for they had their Christ in the body and He\nwas to them a man, an individual separate from them, but I may have\nglorified Christ in the power of the throne of God, the omnipotent\nChrist, the omnipresent Christ.\n\nWhat a promise! You ask me, How can that be? And my answer is, Because\nChrist is God, and because Christ after having been made man, went up\ninto the throne and the Life of God. And now that blessed Christ Jesus,\nwith His loving, pierced heart; that blessed Jesus Christ, who lived\nupon earth; that same Christ glorified into the glory of God, can be in\nme and\n\n_Can be with me all the days._\n\nYou say, Is it really possible for a man in business, for a woman in the\nmidst of a large and difficult household, for a poor man full of care;\nis it possible? Can I always be thinking of Jesus? Thank God, you need\nnot always be thinking of Him. You may be the manager of a bank, and\nyour whole attention may be required to carry out the business that you\nhave to do. But thank God, while I have to think of my business, Jesus\nwill think of me, and He will come in and will take charge of me. That\nlittle child, three months old, as it sleeps in its mother's arms, lies\nhelplessly there; it hardly knows its mother, it does not think of her,\nbut the mother thinks of the child. And this is the blessed mystery of\nlove, that Jesus the God-man waits to come in to me in the greatness of\nHis love; and as He gets possession of my heart, He embraces me in those\ndivine arms and tells me, \"My child, I the Faithful One, I the Mighty\nOne will abide with thee, will watch over thee and keep thee all the\ndays.\" He tells me He will come into my heart, so that I can be a happy\nChristian, a holy Christian, and a useful Christian. You say, Oh! if I\ncould only believe that, if I could think that it is possible to have\nChrist always, every hour, every moment with me,\n\n_Taking and keeping charge of me!_\n\nMy brother, my sister, it is just literally this that is my message to\nyou. When Jesus said to His disciples, \"Lo, I am with you always,\" He\nmeant it in the fullness of the divine Omnipresence, in the fullness of\nthe divine love, and he longs to-night to reveal Himself to you and to\nme as we have never seen Him before.\n\nAnd now just think a moment what a blessed life that must be--the\npresence of Jesus always abiding. Is not that the secret of peace and\nhappiness? If I could just attain (that is what each heart says) to that\nblessed state in which every day and all the day I felt Jesus to be\nwatching and ever keeping me, oh, what peace I would have in the\nthought, \"I have no care if He cares for me, and I have no fear if He\nprovides for me.\" Your heart says that this is too good to be true, and\nthat it is too glorious to be for you. Still you acknowledge it must be\nmost blessed. Fearful one, erring one, anxious one, I bring you God's\npromise, it is for me and for you. Jesus will do it; as God, He is able,\nand Jesus is willing and longing as the Crucified One to keep you in\nperfect peace. This is a wonderful fact, and it is the secret of joy\nunspeakable.\n\nAnd this is also\n\n_The secret of Holiness._\n\nInstead of indwelling sin, an indwelling Christ conquering it; instead\nof indwelling sin, the indwelling life and light and love of the blessed\nSon of God. He is the secret of holiness. \"Christ is made unto us\nsanctification.\" Remember that it is Christ Himself who is made unto us\nsanctification. Christ coming into me, taking charge of my whole being;\nmy nature and my thoughts and my affections and my will; ruling all\nthings. It is this that will make me holy. We talk about holiness, but\ndo you know what holiness is? You have as much holiness as you have of\nChrist, for it is written, \"Both he that sanctifieth and they who are\nsanctified are all of one;\" and Christ sanctifies by bringing God's life\ninto me.\n\nWe read in Judges, \"The Spirit of the Lord clothed Gideon.\" But you know\nthat there is in the New Testament an equally wonderful text, where we\nread, \"Put on the Lord Jesus Christ,\" that is, clothe yourself with\nChrist Jesus. And what does that mean? It does not only mean, by\nimputation of righteousness outside of me, but to clothe myself with the\nliving character of the living Christ, with the living love of the\nliving Christ.\n\n_Put on the Lord Jesus._\n\nOh! what a work. I cannot do it unless I believe and understand that He\nwhom I have to put on is as a garment covering my whole being. I have to\nput on a living Christ who has said, \"Lo, I am with you all the days.\"\nJust draw the folds closer round you, of that robe of light with which\nChrist would array you. Just come and acknowledge that Christ is with\nyou, on you, in you. Oh, put Him on! And when you look at one\ncharacteristic of His after another; and you hear God's word, \"Let this\nmind be in you which was also in Jesus Christ,\" and it tells you He was\nobedient unto the death; and then you answer, Christ the obedient one,\nChrist whose whole life was obedience, it is that Christ whom I have\nreceived and put on. He becomes my life and His obedience rests upon me,\nuntil I learn to whisper as Jesus did, \"My Father, Thy will be done; lo,\nI come to do Thy will.\"\n\nThis, too, is the secret of influence in witness and work. How comes it\nthat it is so\n\n_Difficult to be obedient_,\n\nand how comes it that I so often sin? People sing, \"Oh, to be wholly\nThine,\" and sing it from their hearts. How comes it then that they are\ndisobedient again? Where does the disobedience come from? And the answer\ncomes, It is because I am trying to obey a distant Christ, and thus His\ncommands do not come with power. Look what I find in God's Word. When\nGod wanted to send any man upon His service, He first met him and\ntalked with him and cheered him time after time. God appeared to\nAbraham seven or eight times, and gave to him one command after another;\nand so Abraham learned to obey Him perfectly. God appeared to Joshua and\nto Gideon, and they obeyed. And why are we not obedient? Because we have\nso little of this near intercourse with Jesus. But, oh, if we knew\n\n_This blessed, heavenly secret_\n\nof having the presence of Christ with us every day, every hour, every\nminute, what a joy it would be to obey! We could not walk in this\nconsciousness,--My Lord Jesus is with me and around me,--and not obey\nHim! Oh, do you not begin to long and say, This is what I must have, the\never-abiding presence of Jesus! There are some Christians who try not to\nbe disobedient, who come to their Sunday and week-day duties most\nfaithfully, and pray for grace and a blessing, and they complain of so\nlittle blessing and power, so little power! And why? Because there is\nnot enough of the living Jesus in their hearts. I sometimes think of\nthis as a most solemn truth. There is a great diversity of gifts amongst\nministers and others who speak; but I am sure of this, that a man's\ngifts are not the measure of his real power. I am sure of this, that God\ncan see what neither you nor I can see. Sometimes people feel something\nof it; but in proportion as a man has in reality, not as a sentiment or\nan aspiration, or a thought, but in reality, the very spirit and\npresence of Jesus upon him, there comes out from him an unseen silent\ninfluence. That secret influence is the\n\n_Holy presence of Jesus._\n\n\"Lo, I am with you always.\" And now, if what I have said has sufficed\njust to indicate what a desirable thing it is, what a blessed thing it\nis to live for, then let me now give you an answer to the question that\narises in more than one heart. I can hear some one say, \"Tell me how I\ncan get this blessed abiding presence of Jesus; and when I have got it,\nhow I can ever keep it. I think if I have this, I have all. The Lord\nJesus has come very near to me. I have tried to turn away from\neverything that can hinder, and have had my Lord very near. But how can\nI know that He will be with me always?\" If you were to ask the Lord,\n\"Oh, my blessed Lord Christ, what must I do, how can I enjoy Thy\nnever-failing presence?\" His first answer would be, \"Only believe. I\nhave said it often, and you only partly understood it, but I will say it\nagain--\n\n_My child, only believe._\"\n\nIt is by faith. We sometimes speak of faith as trust, and it is a very\nhelpful thing to tell men that faith is trust: but when people say, as\nthey sometimes do, that it is nothing else but trust, that is not the\ncase. It is a far wider word than trust. It is by faith that I learn to\nknow the invisible One, the invisible God, and that I see Him. Faith is\nmy spiritual eye-sight for the unseen and heavenly. You often try hard\nto trust God, and you fail. Why? Because you have not taken time first\nto see God. How can you trust God fully until you have met Him and\nknown Him? You ask, \"Where ought I to begin?\" You ought to begin with\nfirst believing; with presenting yourself before this God in the\nattitude of silent worship, and asking Him to let a sense of His\ngreatness and His presence come upon you. You must ask Him to let your\nheart be covered over with his holy presence. You must seek to realize\nin your heart the presence of an Almighty and all-loving God, an\nunspeakably loving God. Take time to worship Him as the omnipotent God,\nto feel that the very power that created the world, the very power that\nraised Jesus from the dead, is at this moment working in your heart. We\ndo not experience it because we do not believe. We must take time to\nbelieve. Jesus says, \"Oh, my child, shut your eyes to the world, and\nshut out of your heart all these thoughts about religion, and begin to\nbelieve in God Himself.\" That is the first article of the Creed--\"I\nbelieve in God.\"\n\n_By believing I open my heart_,\n\nto receive this glorious God, and I bow and worship. And then as I\nbelieve this, I look up and I see the Lamb upon the Throne, and I\nbelieve that the Almighty power of God is in Jesus for the very purpose\nof revealing His presence to my heart. Why are there two upon the\nThrone? Is not God enough? The Lamb of God is upon the Throne in your\ninterest and in mine; the Lamb upon the Throne is Christ Himself, with\npower as God to take possession of me. Oh, do not think you cannot get\nthat realization. And do not think of it as now only within your reach;\nbut cultivate the habit of faith. \"Jesus, I believe in Thy glory; I\nbelieve in Thine omnipotence; I believe in Thy power working within me.\nI believe in Thy living, loving presence with me, revealing itself in\nDivine power.\"\n\nDo not be occupied with feelings or experiences. You will find it far\nsimpler and easier just to trust and say, \"I am sure He is all for me.\"\nGet rid of yourself for the time; don't think or speak about yourself;\nbut\n\n_Think what Jesus is._\n\nAnd then remember it is believe always. I sometimes feel that I cannot\nfind words to tell how God wants His people to believe from morning till\nnight. Every breath ought to be just believing. Yes, it is indeed true;\nthe Lord Jesus loves us to be just believing from morning to evening,\nand you must begin to make that the chief thing in life. In the morning\nwhen you wake, let your heart go forth with a large faith in this; and\nin the watches of the night let this thought be present with you--my\nSaviour Jesus is round me and near me, and you can look up and say, \"I\nwant to trust Thee always.\" You know what trust is. It is so sweet to\ntrust. And now cannot you trust Jesus; this presence, this keeping\npresence? He lives for you in Heaven. You are marked with His blood, and\nhe loves you; and cannot you say, \"My King, my King, He is with me all\nthe days?\" Oh, trust Jesus to fulfill His own promises.\n\nThere is a second answer that I think Christ would give if we come to\nHim believing, and say, \"Is there anything more, my blessed Master?\" I\nthink I can hear His answer:\n\n\"_My child, always obey._\"\n\nDo not fail to understand the lesson contained in this one word. You\nmust distinctly and definitely take that word OBEY and obedience, and\nlearn to say for yourselves: \"Now I have to obey, and by the grace of\nGod I am going to obey in everything.\" At our recent exhibition at the\nCape, Mr. Rhodes, our Prime Minister, went to the gate, thinking he had\ngot the fee in his pocket. When he got to the gate, however, he found he\nhad not enough money, and said to the door-keeper, \"I am Mr. Rhodes; let\nme in and I will take care you do not suffer.\" But the man said, \"I\ncannot help that, sir, I have my orders,\" and he refused to let Mr.\nRhodes in. He had to borrow from a friend, and pay before he could pass\nthe gate. At a dinner afterward Mr. Rhodes spoke about it, and said it\nwas a real joy to see a man stick to his order like that. That is it.\nThe man had his orders, and that was enough to him, and whoever came to\nthe gate had to pay his fee before he could enter. God's children ought\nto be like soldiers, and be\n\n_Ready to say, \"I must obey.\"_\n\nOh! to have that thought in our hearts--\"Jesus, I love to obey Thee.\"\nThere must be personal intercourse with the Saviour, and then comes the\njoy of personal service and allegiance. Are you ready to obey in all\nfeebleness and weakness and fear? Can you say, \"Yes, Lord Jesus, I will\nobey?\" If so, then give yourself up absolutely. Then your feeling will\nbe, \"I am not going to speak one word if I think that Jesus would not\nlike to hear it. I am not going to have an opinion of my own, but my\nwhole life is to be covered with the purity of His obedience to the\nFather and His self-sacrificing love to me. I want Christ to have my\nwhole life, my whole heart, my whole character. I want to be like Christ\nand to obey.\" Give yourself up to this loving obedience.\n\nThe third thought is this: If I say, \"My Master, blessed Saviour, tell\nme all, I will believe, I do obey, and I will obey. Is there anything\nmore I need to secure the enjoyment of Thine abiding presence?\" And I\ncatch this answer:\n\n\"_My child, close intercourse with me every day._\"\n\nAh, there is the fault of many who try to obey and try to believe; they\ndo it in their own strength, and they do not know that if the Lord Jesus\nis to reign in their hearts, they must have close communion with Him\nevery day. You cannot do all He desires, but Jesus will do it for you.\nThere are many Christians who fail here, and on that account do not\nunderstand what it is to have fellowship with Jesus. Do let me try and\nimpress this upon you: God has given you a loving, living Saviour, and\nhow can He bless if you do not meet Him? The joy of friendship is found\nin intercourse; and Jesus asks for this every day, that he may have time\nto influence me, to tell me of Himself, to teach me, to breathe His\nSpirit unto me, to give me new life and joy and strength. And remember,\nintercourse with Jesus\n\n_Does not mean half-an-hour_\n\nor an hour in your closet. A man may study his Bible or his commentary\ncarefully; he may look up all the parallel passages in the chapter; when\nhe comes out of his closet he may be able to tell you all about it, and\nyet he has never met Jesus that morning at all. You have prayed for five\nor ten minutes, and you have never met Jesus. And so we must remember\nthat though the Bible is most precious, and the reading of it most\nblessed and needful; yet prayer and Bible reading are not fellowship\nwith Jesus. What we need every morning is to meet Jesus, and to say,\n\"Lord, here is the day again, and I am just as weak in myself as ever I\nwas; do Thou come and feed me this morning with Thyself and speak to my\nsoul.\" Oh, friends, it is not your faith that will keep you standing,\nbut it is a living Jesus, met\n\n_Every day in fellowship_\n\nand worship and love. Wait in His presence, however cold and faithless\nyou feel. Wait before Him and say: \"Lord, helpless as I am, I believe\nand rest in the blessed assurance that what Thou hast promised Thou wilt\ndo for me.\"\n\nI ask my Master once again, \"Lord Jesus, is that all?\" And his answer\nis: \"No, my child; I have one thing more.\" \"And what is that? Thou hast\ntold me to believe, and to obey, and to abide near to Thee: what wouldst\nThou have more?\"\n\n\"_Work for me my child._\n\nRemember, I have redeemed thee for My service; I have redeemed thee to\nhave a witness to go out into the world confessing Me before men.\" Oh,\ndo not hide your treasure, or think that if Jesus is with you, you can\nhide it. One of two things will happen--either you must give all up, or\nit must come out. You have perhaps heard of the little girl, who, after\none of Mr. Moody's meetings, was found to be singing some of the hymns\nwe all know. The child's parents were in a good position in society, and\nwhile singing those hymns in the drawing-room her mother forbade her.\nOne day she was singing the hymn \"Oh, I'm so glad that Jesus loves me,\"\nwhen her mother said, \"My child, how is it that you sing this when I\nhave forbidden it?\" She replied, \"Oh, mother, I cannot help it; it\ncomes out of itself.\" If Jesus Christ be in the heart, He must come out.\nRemember, it is not only our duty to confess Him; it is that, but it is\nsomething more. If you do not do it, it is just an indication that you\nhave not given yourself up to Jesus; your character, your reputation,\nyour all. You are holding back from Him. You must confess Jesus in the\nworld, in your home; and in fact everywhere. You know the Lord's\ncommand, \"Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every\ncreature;\" \"and, lo, I am with you,\" meaning, \"Any one may work for Me,\nand I will be with him.\" It is true of the minister, the missionary, and\nevery believer who works for Jesus. The presence of Jesus is intimately\nconnected with work for Him. You say, \"I have never thought of that\nbefore. I have my Sunday work, but during the week I am not doing work\nfor Him.\" You cannot have the presence of Jesus, and let this continue\nto be the case. I do not believe you could have the presence of Jesus\nall the week and yet do nothing for Him; therefore my advice is, work\nfor Him who is worthy, His blessing and His presence will be found in\nthe work. It is\n\n_A blessed privilege to work for Christ_\n\nin this perishing world. Oh, why is it that our hearts often feel so\ncold and closed up, and so many of us say, \"I do not feel called to\nChrist's work\"? Be willing to yield yourself for the Lord's service, and\nHe will reveal Himself to you.\n\nChrist comes with His wondrous promise, and what He says, He says to all\nbelievers: \"Lo, I am with you always; that is My promise; this is what I\nin My power can do; this is what I faithfully engage to perform; will\nyou have it?\n\n_I give Myself to thee, O soul._\"\n\nTo each of those who have come to Him, Christ says, \"I give Myself to\nthee, to be absolutely and wholly thine every hour of every day; to be\nwith thee and in thee every moment, to bless thee and sustain thee, and\nto give thee each moment the consciousness of My presence; I will be\nwholly, wholly, wholly thine.\"\n\nAnd now, what is the other side? He wants me to be wholly His. Are you\nready to take this as your motto now,\n\n\"_Wholly for God_\"?\n\nO God, breathe Thou Thy presence in my heart that Thou mayest shine\nforth from my life. \"Wholly for God,\" let this be our motto. Come let us\ncast ourselves on our faces before His feet. Our missionary from\nNyassaland says he has often been touched by seeing how the native\nChristians, when they are brought to Jesus, do not stand in prayer; they\ndo not kneel; but they cast themselves upon the earth with their\nforeheads to the ground, and there they lie, and with loud voices cry\nunto God. I sometimes feel that I wish we could do that ourselves; but\nwe need not do it literally. Let us do it in spirit, for the everlasting\nSon of God has come into our hearts. Are you going to take Him and to\nkeep Him there, to give Him glory and let Him have His way? Come now\nand say, \"I will seek Thee with my whole heart; I am wholly Thine.\"\nYield yourself entirely to Him to have complete possession. He will take\nand keep possession. Come now. Jesus delights in the worship of His\nSaints. Our whole life can become one continuous act of worship and work\nof love and joy, if we only remember and value this, that Jesus has\nsaid, \"Lo, I am with you all the days, even unto the end of the world.\"","title":"'Jesus Himself'","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":8647}