{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_26652/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_26652","id":"gutenberg_26652","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26652","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Salvation Army -- Doctrines"],"text":"Produced by Curtis Weyant and the Online Distributed\nProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSTANDARDS\n\nOF\n\nLIFE AND SERVICE\n\n\n\nBY\n\nCOMMISSIONER T. H. HOWARD\n\n\n\nTHE SALVATION ARMY BOOK DEPARTMENT\n\nLONDON: 79 & 81 Fortess Road, N.W.\nMELBOURNE: 69 Bourke Street\nNEW YORK: 120 West Fourteenth Street\nTORONTO: Albert Street\nCAPE TOWN: Loop Street\n\nSIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD.\n4 STATIONERS' HALL COURT, LONDON, E.C.\n\n1909\n\nTHE SALVATION ARMY PRINTING WORKS,\nST. ALBANS\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE\n\n\nThe following pages contain reports of addresses delivered by\nCommissioner Howard, of our International Headquarters, during an\nimportant series of Holiness Meetings held in the Congress Hall,\nLondon, principally in 1908. Those Meetings were widely used by God,\nand at my request the Commissioner has revised the shorthand reports of\nhis words for this volume. We now send forth his messages in the hope\nof still further extending their usefulness.\n\nChristianity is a present-day call to a good life. If it be anything\nless than that, it is really not worth troubling about. It is, of\ncourse, rich in holy memories, and venerable in its association with\nall that is true and best in the past. But it is not only ancient in\nits origin and triumphs--it is intensely modern in its touch with human\nneed, and in its demand that the spirit of righteousness should be the\ncontrolling force in human life--in the common life of to-day. It is\nthe aim of the following addresses to bring that truth home to us, and\nto help us to go direct to JESUS CHRIST Himself for power to respond to\nthat claim.\n\nCast in popular form, as was necessary for meeting such occasions as\nthose which called them forth, these addresses do not attempt any\ncomprehensive statements of the philosophy of Holiness. Anything of\nthat kind, no matter how successful, would have been the undoing of the\nwhole effort. Nevertheless, the diligent reader will, I think, find\nunderlying these practical counsels certain valuable principles. In\nparticular, he will find implied, when not actually expressed, an\nimportant distinction between the work of God in the justifying and\npurifying of the soul, and the work of man in walking in obedience to\nthe laws of God. It is that obedience I am thinking of when I say that\nChristianity is a demand for righteousness. It is that obedience we\nmean when we talk of Holiness--in its practical aspects.\n\nOne of the dangers to which all deeply spiritual teaching is open, is a\nkind of antinomianism--a species of religious bargaining between the\nsoul and God; and that is a thing which is, of course, totally alien to\nHis will, and completely ruinous to true progress. The process of such\nthought is something like this: 'Christ has performed for me a work of\ninfinite love and merit. If I confess and deplore evil, I may claim\npardon for it and purifying from its guilt by faith in the Divine\nSacrifice made for me. That will ease my burdened soul and free me from\napprehension as to future peril--peril which would otherwise have\nproved very real. As to temptation to further evil, I must watch\nagainst it; but if by chance or evil impulse, or even wilful choice, I\nfall into it, let me not be too deeply concerned. I can easily obtain\nagain what I have obtained before.'\n\nNow, that is not only a false position, but it involves an extremely\ndangerous error--an error which in practice is ultimately destructive\nof real faith. Salvation--indeed, all spiritual experience, is entered\ninto by faith, of course; but it can only be maintained by hearty,\ndetermined obedience on our part. Christ has died for us, but He has\nnot obeyed for us. The 'new heart' is by faith in Him--but the new life\ncan only be lived by watchful and often painful obedience to the law of\nlove. 'I counsel thee to buy of Me', saith He that walketh in the midst\nof the seven golden candlesticks, 'white raiment that thou mayest be\nclothed'; and 'Blessed', He says also, 'is he that watcheth, and\n_keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked_'. Paul prayed for the saints\nof his day 'that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith'; but he\nprayed also that they 'might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing,\n_being fruitful in every good work_, strengthened _with all might_\nunto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness'.\n\nIt is towards standards for this life of rightly living that\nCommissioner Howard is working in the following chapters. May the\nblessing of the great Standard-Bearer rest upon his words, and give the\nlight and grace which He alone can afford to every reader.\n\nBRAMWELL BOOTH.\n\nTHE SALVATION ARMY,\nLONDON, _April, 1909_.\n\n\n\n\nFOREWORD\n\n\nI wish that these Addresses could, in their present form, be marked by\nthose personal experiences which made the thoughts so alive to me when\nthe words were uttered in public Meetings. If the flashes of light, the\nintensity of conviction, and the sense of Divine help which were mine\nwhen speaking, could be reproduced in cold type, the impression upon\nthe readers would be much more effective. That may not be fully\npossible, but I pray that in His own way God may use the book to the\nhelping of many souls in the things which make for Holiness and happy\nservice.\n\nT. H. H.\n\n\n\n\n        _Thou hidden love of God, whose height,\n      Whose depth unfathomed no man knows;\n    I see from far Thy beauteous light,\n      Inly I sigh for Thy repose:\n    My heart is pained, nor can it be\n    At rest till it finds rest in Thee._\n\n    _Is there a thing beneath the sun\n      That strives with Thee my heart to share?\n    Ah, tear it thence, and reign alone,\n      The Lord of every motion there!\n    Then shall my heart from earth be free,\n    When it hath found repose in Thee._\n\n    _Oh, hide this self from me, that I\n      No more, but Christ in me, may live;\n    My vile affections crucify,\n      Nor let one darling lust survive!\n    In all things nothing may I see,\n    Nothing desire or seek, but Thee!_\n\n    _Each moment draw from earth away\n      My heart, that lowly waits Thy call:\n    Speak to my inmost soul, and say,\n      'I am thy Lord, thy God, thy All!'\n    To feel Thy power, to hear Thy voice,\n    To share Thy cross be all my choice._\n\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS\n\n\n                                                 PAGE\n\n       PREFACE                                      v\n\n       FOREWORD                                    ix\n\n    I. GOD'S CALL                                   1\n\n   II. CONSECRATION COMPLETE                        8\n\n  III. DIVINE FELLOWSHIP                           15\n\n   IV. FINDING GOD                                 23\n\n    V. THE DOCTRINE ADORNED                        31\n\n   VI. SURENESS                                    40\n\n  VII. THE PATHWAY OF THE HOLY                     49\n\n VIII. CIRCUMSTANCES AND CONSEQUENCES              58\n\n   IX. BOUND TO THE ALTAR                          68\n\n    X. WHY SHOULD I?                               77\n\n   XI. JUDGED BY FRUIT                             87\n\n  XII. PERPETUAL COVENANTS                         95\n\n XIII. THE BAPTISM OF THE SPIRIT                  104\n\n  XIV. LOST EARNINGS                              113\n\n   XV. FIGHTING HOLINESS                          123\n\n  XVI. SANCTIFIED COMMONPLACES                    132\n\n XVII. SPIRITUAL GROWTH                           141\n\nXVIII. THE INWARD LAWS                            151\n\n  XIX. WORRY VERSUS PEACE                         159\n\n   XX. AN APPEAL AND A RESPONSE                   168\n\n\n\n\n    'WE believe that it is the privilege of all believers to be \"wholly\n    sanctified\", and that their \"whole spirit and soul and body\" may\n    \"be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ\".\n    That is to say, we believe that after conversion there remain in\n    the heart of the believer inclinations to evil, or roots of\n    bitterness, which, unless overpowered by Divine grace, produce\n    actual sin; but that these evil tendencies can be entirely taken\n    away by the Spirit of God, and the whole heart, thus cleansed from\n    everything contrary to the will of God, or entirely sanctified,\n    will then produce the fruit of the Spirit only. And we believe that\n    persons thus entirely sanctified may, by the power of God, be kept\n    unblameable and unreprovable in His sight.'--_The Doctrines of The\n    Salvation Army._\n\n\n\n\nSTANDARDS OF LIFE AND SERVICE\n\n\n\n\nI\n\nGod's Call\n\n_'What manner of persons ought ye to be?'_ (2 Peter iii. 11.)\n\n_'As He which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of\nconversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.'_ (1\nPeter i. 15, 16.)\n\n\nWhen we set up standards for life and character we must be quite clear\nthat our teaching fits in with God's purpose as revealed towards His\npeople. Therefore, when we enforce the doctrine of personal Holiness,\nthere is no reason more weighty than that which Peter gives us in the\nverses quoted, namely, that God calls us to Holiness.\n\nThe statement I have read seems to me to show that _it is a mistake to\nsuppose that personal Holiness is left optional_. Many people go to\nMeetings, and, when they are shown the teachings of the Bible about\nHoliness, they recognize that it is a state of being cleansed, filled\nwith the love of God, and kept by the indwelling Holy Ghost. They see\nit as a very desirable thing and a possible experience. But, somehow or\nother, they sit and listen, come and go, and seem to have the idea that\nit is quite left to themselves whether they should obey the call and\nclaim this blessing or not.\n\nSome talk as if there were two roads to Heaven; I mean the sinning and\nrepenting life; falling down and getting up again; persevering in their\njourney with just enough religion to make them want to save their souls\nfrom going to Hell, in contradistinction to the experience of the\nsaintly man or woman who says, 'By God's help I am going to live a life\nwithout sin! I am going to have my heart fully sanctified, and walk in\nthe will of God.'\n\nSome, I am afraid, even go so far as to deliberately say, 'Holiness is\na very good thing if you want it; but I am not quite prepared for this,\nor to give up this, that, and the other. I think I shall get on very\nwell as I am. If _you_ want the blessing I am glad to see you go in for\nit.'\n\nThat is what I mean when I talk about people regarding the matter as if\nit were optional; and I like these words of Peter's because they show\nus a direct command: 'Be ye holy, for I am holy'. They fit in also with\nthe other injunction: 'Come out from among them, and be ye separate,\nand touch not the unclean thing'.\n\nIt is a grand and glorious privilege to have a clean heart; to have God\nAlmighty coming and taking full possession of you; and to have His Holy\nSpirit day by day, filling your heart with love and keeping you in\nDivine fellowship. But I want you also to realize that it is a binding\nduty upon every follower of Jesus Christ to seek to become holy.\n\nI think it was John Wesley who said something to the effect that\nprofessing Christians who had not got the blessing of a clean heart, or\nwere not earnestly seeking to be delivered from sin, could not\nconsistently be regarded as Christians at all. I do not put it as\nstrongly as that; but I do, from deep conviction, say this to you, that\nevery Salvationist, and other persons who, in Meetings of this kind,\nare taught that the will of God is that they shall be delivered from\nall sin, that they shall live a life of purity and Holiness, that they\nshall walk in the enjoyment of a Full Salvation, and yet are not\nwilling to follow the light, and do what they know God wants them to\ndo, are probably heart-backsliders, and in a fair way to backslide\naltogether.\n\nI tell you, God has called you, not unto uncleanness, not to remain in\na state of impurity, but to Holiness; and he that despiseth that\ncalling despiseth not man, but God. Therefore, I beg of you not to\nimagine that, with clear light as to your duty, and the possibility of\nFull Salvation, you can either take it or leave it, and yet remain in\nthe favour of God.\n\nThen these verses are very useful because they _set the standard for\nour personal spiritual condition_. Need I explain what I mean by this?\nLet your minds turn to weights and measures, and you will see my\nmeaning exactly. If you went to a draper's shop, and asked for so many\nyards of material, you would not be satisfied by his guessing the\nquantity--you would want it measured by the yard-stick, the proper\nstandard of measurement. So with weights. If you ask for so many pounds\nof sugar or potatoes, it would not be for the shopman to say to you,\n'Will that do for you? Put another in? All right! Will that do?' You\nwould say, 'Please weigh them properly according to standard'.\n\nNow it seems to me that in spiritual character we must have something\nby which we can measure and compare ourselves, and Peter gives us just\nsuch a standard when he says, 'As He which hath called you is holy, so\nbe ye holy'. The standard is the character of God.\n\nIf Peter had said, 'As He is almighty, so be ye almighty', or, 'As He\nis infallible, so be ye infallible', then at once you would know that\nthe standard was altogether out of your reach, and could not be\nrealized. But, if you are a Christian at all, your inmost conviction\ntells you that to be holy is a reasonable requirement, and the law of\nconsistency endorses it.\n\nAs you study your Bibles you will find many references to this standard\nof conformity with the Divine character, and will quickly see that\nnothing short of that can satisfy. It is not only the standard that\nexists in the Divine mind, but the world rightly expects that we, as\nChristian men and women, shall be holy. I know the world is very often\ndisappointed, and that, unfortunately, the failures of some so-called\nChristian people are used as an excuse for disregarding the claims of\nGod, but the world is right in expecting us to live holy lives.\n\nThat passage of Peter's contains a significant reminder in the\nsentence, 'Be ye holy in all manner of conversation'. Now, that word,\n'conversation', has a much broader meaning in old English than the\nsense attached to our common use of it, generally limiting the word to\nmean intercourse between each other by speech. Here it really means the\nwhole manner of living.\n\nTo me it is a matter of unspeakable joy to think that there is no right\nassociation, no duty, and no proper relationship in life that cannot be\nwholly sanctified and have God's smile upon it. Your eatings and\ndrinkings, your speakings, your workings, your dressings, your\ncourtings and marriages, also many other things, such as business and\nrecreation, can all be sanctified, and the functions performed in\nharmony with the profession of Holiness and the maintenance of a clean\nheart.\n\nBut do not miss _the true inwardness of this command_: 'Be ye holy, for\nI am holy'. It is this--we cannot live up to the true standard, we\ncannot fulfil life's obligation, without a sanctified heart.\n\nThe General very frequently says, with reference to the failures of\ncertain classes of people who call themselves Christians, that they\nmake the mistake of supposing that they can keep the holy law of God\nwith an unholy heart. The thing is absolutely impossible, and I should\nonly be deluding you if I told you otherwise.\n\nWe sometimes say that in Heaven there is, and ever will be, an\nunwavering fulfilment of the highest will of God. But what secures that\ncondition in Heaven? Do you think it is the absence of a personal\nDevil? Not only that--although the hope of it counts for a good deal\nwith some of us. Do you think it is the absence of wicked surroundings\nand temptations from evil men and women? Not only that. Do you think it\nis the possession of things that produce unfailing pleasure and\nsatisfaction? Not only that. It is just the fact that every heart is\nconfirmed in its perfect acceptance of the Father's will, and is in the\nfullest conformity with the holy law of a holy God. There are many\nother things that go to make up Heaven, but without that there can be\nno Heaven at all.\n\nDid you repeat the Lord's Prayer this morning? If so, you came to that\nlittle sentence, 'Thy will be done on earth as it is done in Heaven'.\nNow, I ask you, do you really mean that? Do you honestly want that for\nyourselves? Because, unless you can put yourselves in line with that\npetition, unless there is a compliance with these words of Peter's, 'Be\nye holy, for I am holy', you can never get that prayer answered.\n\n\n\n\nII\n\nConsecration Complete\n\n_'Present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,\nwhich is your reasonable service.'_ (Romans xii. 1.)\n\n\nSurely, amongst those who love God and desire His Kingdom to come,\nthere can be no difference of opinion with regard to the duty of\nwhole-hearted consecration to the service of God.\n\nThe rightness of God's claims is beyond dispute among His own people;\nand so it ought to be recognized as our absolute duty to yield fully to\nthose claims. The feeling of every professed servant of Christ ought to\nbe, nay, surely is, 'I am not my own; I am bought with a price: I\nshould \"therefore glorify God in my body and soul, which are God's\"'.\n\nWhilst, however, in so many words all this is acknowledged, when it\ncomes to practically facing the question, with its personal\nresponsibility, how few there are who respond to the claims of the\nMaster, rendering Him that out-and-out devotion of which we hear and\nspeak.\n\nOf a consecration that consists in attending Holiness Meetings, singing\nhymns, and uniting in prayers full of the most sublime sentiment, we\nhave an abundance. With eyes closed and hands upraised, many vow that\nhenceforth they will live, not unto themselves, but unto Him who died\nfor them, and rose again; but when the Meetings are over, the\nsurroundings changed, and the actual duty presents itself, how much of\nthis consecration is found to be mere sentiment, for 'as the early\ncloud and morning dew' so it passeth!\n\n1. Now, let it be understood that _real consecration is a practical\nthing_. I have a saying, which cannot be repeated too often--'that\nwhich I give away I no longer have'. If we can only persuade people to\nrecognize that truth, and make their consecration on these lines,\nsomething practical will follow.\n\nMen like to say, 'I am the Lord's!' but when the Lord wants to make\npractical use of His own, Oh, what backwardness to obey! What slowness\nof speech on the part of the tongue that was professedly given to the\nLord! What weariness of body will sometimes be found when that body is\ndemanded by the Master for some special service! A dumb devil seems to\ntake possession of the tongue, and the fear of man brings a snare, and\nall this often results in a shameful compromise. The fact is, much of\nthe popular consecration means, 'Everything in general and nothing in\nparticular'--mere words, clouds without water, leaves without\nfruit--and the world is little better for the vows that have been made.\n\nWe may want to follow Jesus without denying ourselves; but He says\nplainly that we cannot. If any man will deny himself, and take up his\ncross daily, and follow Christ, he, and he only, shall be a true\ndisciple.\n\nReal, true consecration is a plain, matter-of-fact piece of business;\nsublime, not so much because of the character of the work it does, as\nbecause of the constraining love that is the motive and the results\nflowing from it. The beautiful halo and glamour clinging round our vows\nand prayers and songs during a Meeting, are gratifying to our senses;\nbut real consecration manifests itself in hard, self-denying labour,\nwhen no eye but His sees; often, perhaps, when no heart but His\nappreciates, and no voice but His commends. The halo no longer seen,\nthe glamour no longer felt, the soul steps forward and meets its duty,\nand, in the strength of God, does it: that is the consecration which\ntells for God and the Kingdom.\n\n2. Let us also understand that _real consecration is an 'all-round'\nthing_. Many recognize the claims of God in great things, but are not\nso particular in the ordinary matters of everyday life.\n\nI recall a young man, who, in private Meetings, and on the platform,\nwould go into rhapsodies as he spoke of his love for a perishing world,\nand his intense desire to be sent on some great mission. I spoke to him\nof the hundreds of recklessly godless men with whom he daily associated\nat his work, and who lived round about his house, and asked him what he\ndid in reference to these. Need I tell you how suddenly this man\ncollapsed? He did not think that consecration meant such a commonplace\nthing as being faithful in the ordinary duties and walks of life, for I\nhad inquired as to what happened when the men gathered for meals or\nconversation in the intervals of work.\n\nDoes it seem to some of you an evidence of entire consecration that we\nstand on platforms and lead Meetings, or are doing some work which\ndraws other eyes towards us in appreciation of--what is\ndeemed--untiring devotion? Well, I trust that the appearance does not\ngo beyond the spirit of the business; but I tell you, the real test\nlies elsewhere. It shows itself in such an abandonment to God and the\ninterests of the Kingdom, that no duty is felt too small or trifling.\nThe man is not found saying, 'I'll do _this_', or 'I won't do _that_',\nand '_that_ doesn't matter'; but whatsoever his hand findeth to do, he\ndoes with his might, and does it unto the Lord.\n\nBe not deceived, my friends. Consecration in great things will not\natone for neglect in smaller and more trifling matters, and that only\nis a perfect consecration which is real and all round in its\napplication. In little things and great things self is to be denied,\nignored, and God and His glory to be the one end from attaining which\nthe consecrated soul never swerves.\n\nLet this be faced at the commencement, and it will save endless\ncontroversy later on. It is because so many do not take all this in at\nthe beginning, that disappointments come, and very often breakdowns.\nLet your consecration take in all time and circumstances, and remember\nthat the soul's responsibility is only limited by its opportunities.\n'All for Jesus' should mean 'nothing left out'.\n\n3. _Whole-hearted consecration is a joyous thing._ I don't know how the\ndelusion has become so popular that entire devotion to the service of\nGod means melancholy and sadness, and irksome duties and burdens. It\nmay have only come by a roundabout road, but it is a doctrine of the\nDevil, who is a liar from the beginning, and the fully consecrated soul\nhurls the lie back to its father, proclaiming, with a heart full of\ngladness, 'I delight to do Thy will, my God'; 'My meat and my drink is\nto do the will of my Father', and 'His fruit is sweet to my taste'.\n\nSingleness of purpose and simplicity of intention soon clear discontent\nand unhappiness out of a man's heart. When the soul has cut loose from\nall self-considerations, and has put an end to such wretched questions\nas, 'Will it pay to follow the Master?' or such thoughts as, 'If I give\nmyself fully to God, perhaps I shall have to suffer the loss of many\nthings I hold dear; people will be down upon me, and chaff me, and,\nperhaps, persecute me; and, besides, I really do want to make a little\nmoney for myself and my family, and I must not be righteous over-much';\nwhen, I say, men or women have cast aside all such thoughts, and come\nto the determination to live for God and for God alone, then indeed are\nthey freed from many things which cause sadness and bitterness. It is\nthe double-minded who are strangers to true lasting joy and peace.\n\nThe great sorrows of most lives spring from disappointed ambitions,\ncovetousness, or from love of praise, fear of man, or similar things;\nbut when this life of selfishness is crucified, and a man is alive only\nunto God, none can deprive him of that which he most values. Whilst\nothers may be saying, 'We know thy poverty', he hears the Lord say,\n'But thou art rich'. Christ has been revealed to him as a living\nFriend, and though by the outward eye he sees Him not, 'yet believing,\nhe rejoices with joy unspeakable and full of glory'.\n\nDo you remember what John said about that white stone which will be\ngiven to him that overcometh? It had 'written in it a new name which no\nman knoweth save he who receiveth it'. The joy of whole-hearted service\nfor God is like that; no man really understands it save he who\npossesses it, but of its reality thousands daily testify.\n\nAre you fully consecrated? Not after the fashion we spoke of at the\nbeginning, but practically, and in a whole-hearted, all-round way? Have\nyou settled it to go all lengths for God? If not, 'I beseech you, by\nthe mercies of God, that ye present your bodies--yourselves--a living\nsacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable\nservice'.\n\n\n\n\nIII\n\nDivine Fellowship\n\n_'That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also\nmay have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the\nFather, and with His Son Jesus Christ.'_. (1 John i. 3.)\n\n\nMy mind and heart have been dwelling upon that sweet word 'fellowship'.\nWe all know what it means in ordinary social intercourse--it means\nacquaintance, friendship, communion of spirit, interchange of thought\nand feeling. But I want you to see that all this marks the fellowship\nprevailing between the Lord and His sanctified saints.\n\nThere is a chorus we sometimes sing, which expresses something of what\nI mean:--\n\n    _Friendship with Jesus,_\n      Fellowship Divine;\n    Oh, what blessed, sweet communion,\n      Jesus is a Friend of mine!_\n\nI have been reflecting on this principle as it works itself out in the\ncurrent everyday life of the sanctified. I will not now try to exhaust\nall the wonderful things in the vision which has come to me in relation\nto this matter, for I really could not explain to you all that has been\nin my mind and heart, but the thing has come to me somewhat in this\nfashion:--\n\n1. First of all, I have thought of the _fellowship of Salvation_. That\nmay sound rather low down for a Holiness Meeting, and yet that is just\nwhere true fellowship began, so far as I was concerned. There had to be\na co-operation, a uniting of God and myself before my soul could be\nsaved at all. Two words were in my mind--'He' and 'I'; He doing His\npart, and I doing my part. His heart; my heart; His approaches to me by\nthe power and influence of His Holy Spirit; my approaches to Him. Jesus\ndied; I believed. He called; I answered. He gave; I accepted. I\ntrusted, and Jesus saved me.\n\nI want you to see what I mean, because it was that union of the Lord\nJesus Christ and my own heart which brought life, and light, and peace\nto my soul. My Salvation life began at that point, and I was able to\nsay, as we often sing:--\n\n    _'Tis done, the great transaction's done,\n      I am my Lord's, and He is mine;\n    He drew me, and I followed on,\n      Charmed to confess the Voice Divine._\n\n2. Then, pursuing this line, my reflection brings me up to this: there\nis a _fellowship of love_. 'He loved me, and He gave Himself for me'.\nWe love Him because He first loved us. So, you see, our relationship\nhas been built up, and is to be built up, upon that double plank. It is\nall in that. I do not suppose there is anybody in this Hall who does\nnot know something of the power of love. You not only know the power of\nloving, but the sweetness of being loved. I am not quite sure which is\nthe better side of the two, but they are two beautiful sides of\nfellowship.\n\nDo we not see it in our family life? At any rate, I do. I can speak for\nmyself in this matter because my family always has been a very\naffectionate one, and this loving and expressing our love to one\nanother has brought us very close together. I think about the children.\nI go back to the time when they were little, and remember how they\nwould climb upon my knee, and how they used to press their little faces\nagainst mine, and their little hearts, as it were, against my breast;\nand how, with more feeling than their words could express, they used to\nsay, Dadda, papa, father, you _are_ a dear! I _do_ love you!' You\nwould readily imagine what I should say back to them.\n\nIt has been just the same with my wife. She has sweetened my life very\nmuch with her expressions of love. She has done it by responding to my\nappeals, and by sharing my sorrows and joys. And I have no doubt that\nwere she here to speak for herself, she would say she has equally felt\nthe force and sweetness of my expressions of affection during the many\nyears we have loved and lived together.\n\nI have only told you these things because I want you to see that the\nfellowship of love is just as real between the Lord Jesus Christ and\nthe soul that is set upon Him, as it is in these sacred human\nrelationships.\n\n3. Then there is the _fellowship of service_. Now, it follows that, if\nwe are fully saved, we are and we should be workers together with God,\nnot simply going out on 'our own', as you young people say sometimes,\ntrying to do people good; but really, if it is as it ought to be, your\nrelations are expressed in those words, 'We are workers together with\nGod'.\n\nThere are several particulars about that fellowship of service which I\nwant you to note. For instance, there is _the union of purpose_. You\ncannot have fellowship with God in service without a union of purpose.\nAre you in for that? Perhaps it may give my words a closer application\nif I glance at two or three references: 'For this purpose was the Son\nof God manifested, that He might destroy the works of the Devil'. Are\nyou in union with Him for that purpose? There is the reason round about\nus, plain and visible enough.\n\nTake another: 'To this end came I into the world that I might bear\nwitness of the truth'. Are you in union with Him in that\nwitness-bearing? I assure you there is a great need of it.\n\nTake still another: 'As the Father hath sent Me, even so'--that is a\nvery powerful little link--'even so send I you'. There is not only the\nsender and the one sent, but the same purpose in both minds.\n\nThere is _the unity of effort_; that is, being yoked together for the\nwork. It is a beautiful thing to be yoked with loving comrades in\nservice, so that when there is a difficulty to face, some burden to be\ncarried, or something to be moved, then you can go in for a good pull,\na strong pull, and a pull all together. But this fellowship with Christ\nreally means having Jesus Christ as a yoke-fellow in your work for God;\nthat as you are not your own, you are not left to yourselves, but find\nthat He is yoked up with you, and when the pull comes it is pulling\ntogether--He pulls and you pull.\n\n4. Then this service sometimes goes so far as to become _the fellowship\nof suffering_. Jesus Christ could only redeem men by the sacrifice of\nHimself. There was no other way, and if He had not done that man would\nnot have been redeemed, and the whole world would have remained under\nthe ban of condemnation and without hope. It is on the same track that\nwe must work out our union with Him in the service of God and humanity.\n\nWhen I was meditating on this Divine union a picture imaged itself\nbefore my mind. The scene was a prison in Rome, where was seated a\nprisoner for Christ's sake; his name was Paul. During a visit to Rome\nthey showed me the place where this was supposed to have occurred.\nThere is Paul, in this prison-cell, writing a letter which he wants to\nsend by one who, having visited him in prison, is now returning to his\nown people at Philippi.\n\nThe prisoner is reviewing his life. He writes that he was well-born, a\nHebrew of the Hebrews, and that he became very zealous, and persecuted\nthe Christians until the Lord met him and converted him. He went on,\n'But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ. Yea,\ndoubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the\nknowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of\nall things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.... That\nI may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship\nof His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death.' And on the\nsame page of his letter Paul says: 'Brethren, be followers together of\nme'. It is one of the plainest things which the Bible and Christian\nhistory confirm, that the union of service does very often include the\nfellowship of suffering.\n\n5. The last feature of this relationship which I want to name is\n_fellowship of victory and glory_. Thank God, we are in for that\nfellowship!\n\nWe all know that a great victory will crown our Blessed Lord's\nsacrificial life and service; that the great Victor over death and the\ngrave shall not only see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied,\nbut as He sits upon His throne there will be many crowns of glory. But\nthe blessedness of that knowledge is the fact that if we suffer with\nChrist we are also to reign with Him--glorified together--not only\nworkers and victors, but 'more than conquerors'. We are to sit down\namong that company who are able to say that they overcame by the Blood\nof the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony. We may have to go on\nwith the service and suffering, but we know that we shall be\ntransformed into His blessed likeness, and be sharers of His glory.\n\nSalvation, love, service, victory, glory! These are the things which we\nshare with our Lord, and that is what I mean by Divine fellowship.\n\nI do not think, however, I can leave this soul-entrancing vision of\nfellowship without specially indicating how men may enter into it. How\nshall I do this? By reading to you these words from the First Epistle\nof John: 'This then is the message which we have heard of Him, and\ndeclare unto you, that God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.\nIf we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we\nlie, and do not the truth. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the\nlight, we have fellowship one with another, and the Blood of Jesus\nChrist His Son cleanseth us from all sin.' Who shall participate in the\njoy of this experience? The people who walk in the light; the people\nwho are cleansed from all sin in the Blood of Jesus.\n\n\n\n\nIV\n\nFinding God\n\n'_Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all\nyour heart._' (Jeremiah xxix. 13.)\n\n\nThe words of Jeremiah in their relation to God are very appropriate for\nmen and women in whose hearts there is any longing after personal\nHoliness. Look at them: 'Ye shall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall\nsearch for Me with all your heart'. I like this word, because it turns\nour minds to the true and only source of light and life and power. We\nspeak of seeking and getting the blessing; but, in reality, the object\nis to find God, and that deliverance and blessing which can be secured\nonly from Him.\n\nIn our prayers and songs we express a great fact when we say, 'Thy\ngifts, alas! cannot suffice unless Thyself be given'.\n\n    _Less than Thyself, Oh, do not give,\n    In might Thyself within me live,\n      Come, all Thou hast and art._\n\nI want to make it plain that Holiness is an aspect of religion in which\nthe personality of God is very real. We must find God, and have Him\npossessing and dwelling within us if we are to live the life and do the\nwork which Full Salvation implies. To realize this Divine union is as\nessential as to experience the forgiveness of sin. We must know God as\nwell as worship Him, and the text I have read indicates to us that _the\ndiscovery of a personal God belongs to the heart_: 'Ye shall seek Me,\nand find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your heart'.\n\nGod's power displayed in Nature may be perceived by the eye, the ear,\nand other organs of the senses. On the lines of the Psalmist, we may\nwalk out at night, and consider the heavens the work of His fingers,\nand exclaim, 'All Thy works praise Thee'; 'The heavens declare the\nglory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork'. The mind also\nby reflection and deduction may clothe the Creator with attributes or\nqualities of character, such as Almighty skill and benevolence; but\n'spiritual things are spiritually discerned'; and it is only when God\nreveals Himself to the heart that He is truly known as a personal\nFather, Friend, and Saviour.\n\nTo the formal religionist or the casual dealer in pious phrases and\noccasional prayers, these revelations do not come. It is when the heart\nis set upon finding God that realizing faith makes--\n\n    _The clouds disperse, the shadows fly,\n    The invisible appears in sight,\n    And God is seen by mortal eye._\n\nWe urge men and women to thus seek God, because He alone can meet their\nneed; He alone can save after the fashion that they need a Saviour; He\nalone, having forgiven, can break the power of sin, and cleanse from\nnatural impurity.\n\nBut the real trouble with some is that they do not seek Full Salvation\nwith that full purpose of heart which the prophet's words imply. In a\nsense they want the blessing, but I fear they do not want it enough to\nmake them put their whole heart into seeking God's sanctifying power.\n\nTurn to the Garden of Gethsemane, on that final night when certain men\ncame to take Jesus. When they fain would have included and taken\nothers, His words, you remember, were, '_If ye seek Me, let these go\ntheir way_'. Now, may I not reasonably apply these words to some who\nregularly attend our Meetings, but do not obtain the blessing? You are\nholding on to things about which it requires no stretch of imagination\nto hear Christ say, 'If ye seek Me, let _these_ go their way'. He\ndesires to be your Saviour and Sanctifier, but cannot until you drop\nthe things which hinder and which come between you and Him.\n\nSome of these things may not be positively evil in themselves, but they\nare associated with things which are evil or questionable; doubtful\npursuits, questionable friendships or conduct. Do you care enough about\nGod and Holiness to drop all such? Some have not done so up to the\npresent, and it is about these very things which hinder that Jesus says\nto you, 'If ye seek _Me_, let these things go'.\n\nThen, again, some have not found God as a perfect Sanctifier, because\ntheir minds are not fully made up as to the lines of service and duty.\nThe general meaning of our various topics may be put thus, 'Holiness,\nand what comes out of it'. Not simply spiritual blessings as an inward\nexperience, but a gift to be lived out in daily toil and effort to\nspread the Kingdom. We must have that or our teaching will be rightly\nregarded as 'goody-goody', and be of little real use.\n\nA very fine young woman, on the occasion of my visit to a certain town,\noffered herself as a Candidate for Army Officership. Hearing that the\ncase did not mature, I inquired a little later, from an Officer who had\nseen her, what the difficulty was, and he repeated to me the\nexplanation she had given him: 'Well, Colonel, I have changed my mind;\nI have left The Army and become a Christian'. That seems a strange\nputting of the position; but I fear that it was with her, as with some\nof you who have sought to dodge the cross, escape the toil, and evade\nthe testimony, the sacrifice, and the service which are indispensable\nto the maintenance of Holiness. Instead of trying to escape from duty\nas it is revealed to us from day to day, our hearts should be tuned up\nto the idea in the song, which says--\n\n    _For thee delightfully employ\n      What e'er Thy bounteous grace hath given;\n    And run my course with even joy,\n      And closely walk with Thee to Heaven._\n\nThe central thought of Jeremiah's text is beautifully illustrated in\nthe Parable of the Lost Piece of Silver. Look at this woman's anxious\nconcern and corresponding action; she lights the candle--that is,\nuses what light she has; she sweeps the house--turns everything over;\nshe searches diligently--keeps at it, not giving up at the first\ndisappointment. Observe also the effect upon herself when her search\nis successful. Full of satisfaction she calls in her neighbours and\nfriends--'Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I had\nlost'. Loud in her testimony, she delights in making her blessing\nknown. You see, this woman so valued the piece of silver, that she gave\nherself up to the search for it, and nothing satisfied her until she\nfound it. When men appreciate the importance of having a clean heart\nand the blessing of God like that, they will not seek long without\nresult.\n\nThere are two or three things implied in this whole-hearted search\nafter God which need to be emphasized. Of these I will name, first,\n_intensity of desire_. There are blessings that come like God's rain\nand sunshine, sought or unsought; but no man ever got a clean heart who\ndid not badly want it; and if God is to sanctify and keep you in the\nenjoyment of the blessing, your heart will have to be moved by strong\ndesire.\n\nJesus put it clearly when He talked about 'hungering and thirsting'.\nEven prayer, without strong desire, does not accomplish much. 'What\nthings soever ye _desire_'; it is that which gives intensity to your\nprayers, as well as 'believing that ye receive'. The Psalmist's words\nare equally fitting--'As the hart panteth after the water brooks'--as\nthe hunted deer longs for the stream--'so panteth my soul after Thee, O\nGod'. That means more than a contention for the doctrine, more than a\nsentimental admiration of Holiness. It implies the deep stirrings of\nconviction, the heart moved by strong cravings, the crying out, 'Oh,\nthat I might find Him whom my soul desireth'!\n\nThis whole-hearted seeking the blessing also implies _fullness of\nintention_. How often I have spoken of the relation of the will; the\nchoice, the setting of the mind in strong purpose, the decision--'I\nought, I must, I will secure God's sanctifying blessing'; all this\ncounts for much. People speak of their desires and hopes, but how slow\nthey are to make up their minds that, at all costs, they will seek and\nfind a Saviour, by whose power they shall be fully delivered, and kept\nin purity and fellowship with God. I like those Bible words about\n'sincerity', 'following the Lord fully', 'cleaving unto Him with full\npurpose of heart', for it is to people in that state of mind that God\nreveals Himself.\n\nFinally, _compliance with God's conditions_ is included in whole-heartedly\nseeking Holiness. The revealed conditions of entire Sanctification have\noften been stated, but may be repeated once more: a turning from all\nthings known to be evil or doubtful; a full surrender and dedication of\nourselves to God's service; and a simple trust in the all-cleansing\nBlood of Jesus Christ.\n\nThe real tests are different with different people, but all who seek\nthis blessing must face God's conditions, and pay the price by\ncomplying with them, not only as I have stated the conditions in\ngeneral terms, but as the Holy Spirit reveals them to each one\npersonally. To one it is, 'Do this', to another 'Do that'; 'Give up\nthis', or 'Give up that'; 'Trust Me for this', 'Trust Me for that'. But\nall who cast themselves fully into God's hands, letting Him have His\nown way with them, shall find the truth of Jeremiah's message, 'Ye\nshall seek Me, and find Me, when ye shall search for Me with all your\nheart'.\n\n\n\n\nV\n\nThe Doctrine Adorned\n\n'_But shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of\nGod our Saviour in all things._' (Titus ii. 10.)\n\n\nThose of us who are specially interested in this great work often seek\nfor plans by which the knowledge and enjoyment of a Full Salvation may\nbe extended. I think I have found a good plan for helping the Kingdom\nforward, and I see it in this little sentence which Paul wrote to\nTitus: 'That they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all\nthings'.\n\nWhen I say that is a plan for spreading Salvation, I mean simply this:\nas there is nothing which commends an apple-tree so much as the sight\nof the ripened fruit hanging from the branches, so nothing sets people\nlonging for Holiness like the living exhibition of it.\n\nFirst of all, I want you to see the force of that little word 'adorn'.\nIn speaking about adornment we usually mean something more than\nnecessary dress. The word in our minds usually expresses the idea of\nclothing or covering, with the addition of decorations or ornaments.\n\nIf you fathers and mothers ask your boy or girl the meaning of the\nword, they will probably turn to the dictionary, and tell you something\nlike this: 'To \"adorn\" is to set off to advantage, to add to the\nattractiveness, to beautify, to decorate as with ornaments'. Now that\nis exactly what the Apostle meant, and the application is that you and\nI must set off to advantage, add to the attractiveness of the Gospel\nwhich we profess to believe.\n\nJesus Christ meant that when He said, 'Let your light so shine before\nmen, that they may see your good works'--and be so influenced that they\nshall 'glorify your Father which is in Heaven'. That also was the idea\nin Paul's mind in that verse to the Philippians, 'Shine as lights', or\nluminaries, 'in the world'.\n\nWill you also look at that word 'doctrine'? It is not an acceptable\nword at public meetings, generally implying some system of theology,\nsome stated creed, some definition of religious belief. But whilst that\nmay be the general application, the Apostle had no such idea in his\nmind when he wrote these words.\n\nHe was now writing about persons many of whom were of very humble\nposition, servants in the houses of the ungodly, often mere slaves in\nsome pagan household. They had never heard about formulated creeds or\ntheologies, but they did understand the duty of living up to their\nprofession. They knew the importance of showing in their daily lives\nthe power of the things which they believed, and thus commending their\nreligious faith and teaching to all observers.\n\nThere are people who know very little of what you call 'the body of\ndoctrine', who yet in all simplicity hold the truth of God, and live up\nto it. Tens of thousands have crossed the River who could never give\nyou a definition of any doctrine; but they accepted the simple truths\nin their hearts, were ornaments to their profession, and are now in\nGlory.\n\nNow take the two words together--'adorn' and 'doctrine'--and then you\nwill see your duty.\n\nThere are many doctrines to which this duty of adorning may be made to\napply. I might talk to you about the doctrine relating to God's\ngovernment, and bring in _the truth about His good guiding providence_.\nWe profess to believe in that. But the question is, Does your regular\npractice, your daily trust, your hourly following and accepting what\nGod's providence sends you, adorn the doctrine?\n\nThen I might also speak to you about _the doctrine of prayer and its\nresult_. Surely you believe that God 'hears and answers prayer'. But\ncan you say that your life of faith and victory is such that all who\nknow you believe it, because they see you living a life of faith and\nvictory such as can only come to the men and women whose prayers God\ndoes answer? That is, do you adorn the doctrine?\n\nFor the present purpose, however, I want to apply the principle to _the\ndoctrine of Holiness_. The great object of these Addresses is to help\nmen and women into the enjoyment of the blessing of Holiness. We hear\nabout that; sing about that; most of you believe in it, and some of you\nproclaim it; but do you know what is really wanted? It is that you\nshall so manifest the spirit of Holiness, give such illustrations of it\nas to adorn the truth, and make people around you say, 'We are bound to\nbelieve the doctrine when we look at these people, for _they live the\nblessing_'.\n\nYou cannot but know what we teach as the doctrine of Holiness. Our\ntrumpet has no uncertain sound. We not only talk about the pardoning\nmercy of God, but about the all-cleansing Blood of Jesus Christ. We not\nonly point out how the rebel can be transformed into a child, but we\nshow how a man's heart can be made pure, and his nature renewed by the\nindwelling Spirit. Delivered from the love of sin and from its\npollution in his heart, he can be kept from sin and sinning, and be\nenabled to rejoice evermore, to pray without ceasing, and in everything\nto give thanks.\n\nA clean heart, filled with love, possessed and directed by the Holy\nGhost--that is the experience which we call Holiness, and the truth\nwhich we are exhorted to adorn.\n\nOnly think what a recommendation of the doctrine it would be if you all\nadorned the truth, and showed in your daily lives the power to live in\nthat Holiness and righteousness of which I am speaking.\n\nI am not now asking whether you have an intelligent comprehension of\nthe doctrine, or that you should say what is possible, and what is not.\nSome of you could probably define the blessing as well as I can; but\nyour duty is not simply to define or defend or explain Holiness, but to\nadorn the teaching, give exhibitions of it, make everybody see what it\nmeans in living flesh and blood amidst the hurly-burly of life.\n\n1. And now, what are the means by which you and I can fulfil this\nexhortation of Paul? First, you can adorn the doctrine by _personal\ntestimony_. Personal testimony, coming from the heart, is always good\nand helpful; that is, to be able to say about any definite experience,\n'Oh, glory! He has done it for me!' But this is especially valuable\nabout a clean heart, and in relation to a Full Salvation.\n\nWhen I was a boy I sometimes heard the doctrine of Entire\nSanctification discussed over pipes and ale; but those discussions,\nwhich were merely theological disputes, had little or no relation to\nthe personal experience of the people who were debating and contending\nand losing their tempers over the doctrine, and so it made no\nimpression on me. Years after, my own heart was awakened, and desires\narose in my soul. I began to search for the truth about it, and to\nlisten for references to it, and most of all to rejoice if I could find\nor hear a clear testimony about it, for then I saw the possibility of\nthe blessing for myself.\n\nI frequently throw my Meetings open for testimony, because I know the\nhelpful power of such words. Sometimes the wording may be a little\nupside down, or some qualifying term be left out, or some exaggerating\nword put in; but in spite of all, great is the power of testimony to\nencourage other hearts.\n\nI fear, however, that many people are silent who ought to speak, and I\ntouch some very closely when I say that owing to this silence the power\nof your experience has declined and become like a faded flower or a\nmoth-eaten garment, and then when you would fain speak you find the\nassurance about the blessing has waned. My word, therefore, to you is,\nfirst of all get the blessing, then at every suitable opportunity,\nprofess it openly and boldly for God, and by your happy testimony you\nwill adorn the doctrine of Holiness.\n\n2. Again, you can adorn the doctrine by your _consistent living_. To\nprofess one thing and practise another is a blot on the profession, and\na despicable thing. What I may call mere Meeting piety, platform or\nparlour Holiness, will not stand the weather. It is too much like the\npainted sparrows sold as canaries--the paint comes off and the real\nnature of the bird is revealed. For instance, how can you ornament the\ntruth if, after testifying here, you go out to gossip and slander and\ninjure your neighbour? The word lived out is more powerful than its\nmere repetition. The teaching may be good and powerful, the testimony\nstill more so; but the evidence of the life and spirit is the most\npowerful of all.\n\nI heard somebody tell a story about a man who was too pious to shave\nhimself on Sunday, and yet he was pretty keen during the other six days\ntrying, in his business, to 'shave' other people. I hope you are not\namong that sort.\n\nIf you want to adorn this doctrine, there must be the beauties of a\nhappy, consistent character and life, otherwise it goes for nothing.\n\nI do not ask the adornment of education, nor the polish of culture,\nso-called; neither do I ask a sanctimonious attitude; I only claim from\nyou professors of the blessing the beauties of grace in your personal\ncharacter and conduct. The endorsement of the lip by the life is only\nequalled by the discount to the teaching caused by some inconsistent\naction or unfaithfulness in the teacher or professor. An angry word,\neven a flash of the eye, has been known to take the point off some\nwell-given talk or testimony. A lack of kindly consideration, which\nlooks like selfish indulgence, is not easily atoned for, even by\nilluminating speeches. As one has said, 'The words ever go to the level\nof the life--up or down'.\n\nTalking about Holiness has small effect unless it is to be seen in your\ndisposition, in your ordinary life, in your loving consideration for\nother people, or in your patient endurance of injury, real or\nimaginary. Without that your profession of Holiness is mere talk\nwithout adorning.\n\n3. You must also adorn the doctrine by your _zeal for God and souls_.\nHoliness means the possession of the Christ-spirit, the passion for\nsaving others, with reasonable efforts to secure what you seek.\n\nWhen God sanctifies your soul He makes a great inward light; the\npurpose is not to be your own selfish enjoyment, but that you may be\nbetter qualified as a minister of blessing and Salvation to the poor\ndark souls around you. The love of souls is an essential feature of\ninward Holiness, and if this is exhibited in practical effort you will\nadorn your profession and compel people to believe in your doctrine.\n\nThere is just one other word of importance in that verse, 'that they\nmay adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour'. I mean the word, 'Saviour'.\nI am so glad that is there to meet those who say, 'Ah! you talk about\nadornments, but I am distressed because I see so many things about me\nthat disfigure and discredit the doctrine'. You feel that you need a\npower which can give deliverance from the worldly spirit, the light and\nfrivolous disposition, bad tempers, resentments, and other selfish and\nsinful things which hold you more or less in bondage; but in that\nbeautiful word, 'Saviour', you have a pledge, a guarantee that it can\nbe made all right, for He is able to deliver you and save you fully.\n\n\n\n\nVI\n\nSureness\n\n'_The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of\nrighteousness quietness and assurance for ever._' (Isaiah xxxii. 17.)\n\n\nOne reason why I glory in teaching Full Salvation is that it includes a\nreligion of certainty. It brings a man to a place of sureness as to his\nreligious relationships. A soul just awakened to a sense of\nresponsibility is naturally full of wonderment and anxiety, and this\nmust be disposed of. So that when we speak of a man obtaining\nSalvation, we say 'he found peace'.\n\nDoubt is torment, and torment is the opposite of peace. The soul cannot\nrest if it is perpetually on the string. To enjoy religion the mind\nmust be settled about the main facts of the case; there must be a\nfeeling of sureness as to one's acceptance with God and His approval of\nour spiritual condition.\n\nWe have a wily old Devil to deal with, and I believe that nothing gives\nhim more malicious delight than to get sincere souls into the bondage\nof fear as to their state and standing. I believe many sincere souls\nhesitate to claim the blessing, and say they have it, because they are\nafraid of deluding themselves or deceiving others by their testimonies.\n\nAfraid to do right for fear of doing wrong, they go on, sometimes\nhappy, sometimes sad, falling into discouragement and doubt, and\nallowing the Devil to get an advantage over them in this respect.\n\nNow, we cannot dispute the fact that in the experiences of good people\nthere are many points of difference. Temptations, surroundings,\nposition, and work are the cause of these differences. But in the midst\nof all, there is the possibility and blessed privilege of being sure\nabout one's own rightness before God.\n\nI saw a reference the other day to Charles Spurgeon's method of\ntreating this matter. He showed how disturbing and distressing it would\nbe if, in our domestic life, we had elements of uncertainty such as\nmany people have in regard to their spiritual relationships.\n\nAfter quoting the old verse:--\n\n    _'Tis a point I long to know,\n      Oft it causes anxious thought;\n    Do I love the Lord or no,\n      Am I His or am I not?_\n\nMr. Spurgeon made a humorous parody of the verse by making it read:--\n\n    _'Tis a point I long to know,\n      Oft it causes anxious thought;\n    Do I love my wife or no,\n      Am I hers or am I not?_\n\nUncertainty about our religious condition is quite as unsatisfactory as\nany doubt about our most sacred domestic relationships. Sureness is\nvital to peace, and the truly sanctified soul will live in the region\nof certainty, Divine things and Divine revelations becoming definite\nand real to him. Temptations to doubt and fear will arise; but, in\nspite of them, those who are sanctified realize that the Blood cleanses\nand the Holy Spirit dwells within.\n\nI will not ask whether you have any religion or not, because most of\nyou are professors of religion, but I do ask, Has your religion got\nthis element of 'sureness' in it? We must settle that point. You may\nsay, 'If I am to be sure, I must have evidence'. Quite so. We will,\ntherefore, glance together at several things about which you can either\nsay, 'It is so', or 'It is not so', and thus arrive at a reasonable\nconclusion as to where you are. I will classify the evidence in this\nway:--\n\nFirst, there is the testimony of one's own consciousness, or one's own\nspirit, as Paul puts it.\n\nSecond, there is the testimony of the Spirit of God--the Holy Ghost.\n\nThird, there will be the results manifest to ourselves and to others;\neffects which testify just as reliably as the hanging fruit indicates\nthe character and condition of any particular tree.\n\n1. By the first class of evidence I do not mean a set of fanciful\nsensations, or frames of feeling, but such an exercise of our judgment,\nwhen we examine the facts before us, as will enable us to come to a\nsound and reasonable conclusion.\n\n_The witness of one's own spirit_ is largely a matter of consciousness\nand faith, and it works like this: 'I am not only conscious of God's\nrevealed claims upon me, and my own duty to Him; but, as far as I\nunderstand, I have put myself in line with what He wants me to be and\ndo. For instance, I am told that whilst God will sanctify me I am able\nto sanctify myself. I therefore ask, \"Have I so far co-operated with\nHim as to come out and separate myself from evil?\" If I am right I can\nsay, \"Yes, I have\"; and as a further evidence of my sincerity I seek to\nabstain from all appearance of evil.'\n\nI am also commanded to present myself for practical and joyful service,\nand I am told that I must believe such a sacrifice is acceptable\nbecause whatever touches the Divine altar is holy. Now, I can be quite\nsure as to my compliance with these demands, and my willingness to live\nas a sanctified soul ought to live. I know whether or not in these\nthings I have done my part; and, if I know that I have, I can then\nreasonably trust God or reckon on Him to do His part. That is what Paul\ncalls 'a good conscience toward God', and there is no presumption in\nsuch a conclusion.\n\nIf we turn to John's Epistle we shall see how plainly he puts the truth\nabout assurance. 'If', says the Apostle, 'our heart condemn us, God is\ngreater than our heart, and knoweth all things'; but 'if our heart\ncondemn us not, then have we confidence toward God'. Without this\nconscious sincerity it is useless to pray for the blessing, for God\ncannot sanctify us whilst we are clinging to any known wrong or\ncompounding with some doubtful habit or folly. If, on the other hand,\nwe are conscious that we have no reserves, and accept by faith the\ncleansing Blood as the cure for our heart's plague, we may with all\nreasonableness say, 'I have the testimony of my own spirit'.\n\n2. Let us look at the second class of evidence, namely, _the testimony\nof the Spirit of God_--the assurance of the Holy Ghost.\n\nIf we are to be quite certain about the important things in relation to\nthe soul, we must have the expression of God's mind and approval.\nNothing is made clearer in the Apostolic writings than the fact that it\nis our blessed privilege to have this Divine testimony. Paul not only\ntells us that 'the Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are\nthe children of God', but speaks of the marvellous manifestations of\nGod in saved souls in subsequent revelations: 'We have received the\nSpirit, which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely\ngiven to us of God.'\n\nOn first thought we might say, perhaps, that the gift would speak for\nitself. But the Lord goes beyond that by giving us not only the\nblessing itself, but also the Spirit to assure us that we have got the\nblessing. John is on the same line when he says repeatedly about those\nspiritual blessings, 'we know', 'we know that we know', and the secret\nof sureness is made clear, 'we know by the Spirit which He hath given\nunto us'.\n\nWhen we speak of the witness of the Spirit, either to our conversion or\nour sanctification, we do not mean some audible voice or some\nmiraculous demonstration, but an inwrought conviction as to the\ncorrectness of our words when, in all sincerity, and to the glory of\nGod, we profess to have arrived at a certain point, or obtained a\ncertain blessing. It is a conviction which removes doubt, and satisfies\nthe soul on the question. The mode of this--the way in which the Holy\nGhost does it--may be quite beyond our comprehension; but the fact is\nthere, as far beyond dispute as with the assurance of the blind man,\nwho said, 'This one thing I know, that whereas once I was blind, now I\nsee'.\n\n3. Then I also used the word _'results', as indicating a class of\nevidence_ without which all other professed experiences are but passing\nsentiments and sensations. In the character and life there must be\nresults in the shape of those holy fruits of which I have so frequently\nspoken.\n\nIn a sense often described, and well understood, every child of God\nbecomes at conversion the temple of the Holy Ghost; we are born of the\nSpirit; enlightened by the Spirit; our spiritual life is sustained by\nthe Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are therefore manifest in a\ngreater or lesser degree, but the advantage to the entirely sanctified\nis that not only is the fruit-bearing power increased, but fruits of an\nopposite character are absent. In other words, the fully sanctified man\nis 'filled with the Spirit'. The fruits of righteousness, which are by\nJesus Christ, are abundant in him.\n\nTo illustrate my meaning, take one passage relating to that spiritual\nfruit described by the word _love_. 'We know that we have passed from\ndeath unto life, because we love the brethren.' Now, of course, that\ncomes into operation at conversion; but in the fully sanctified this is\nlove without admixture, pure love, without any feeling opposed to love.\nWe can soon test ourselves. Think of love in the forgiveness of injury;\nthe love which 'thinketh no evil', 'envieth not', the love which\n'worketh no ill to his neighbour'. Where does grudge-bearing,\nbackbiting, or uncharitableness come in? Pride, passion,\nself-assertion, and such things belong not to the results of\nsanctification; the opposites are found in those who bring forth\n'fruits unto Holiness'.\n\nI heard a good woman quote a passage with an application of her own\nwhich is true in point of fact, even if not the precise meaning of the\noriginal writer. 'Great peace have they which love Thy law, and nothing\nshall offend them.' She meant, literally, that, however she might be\npained by the words or actions of those about her, she would not be\n'offended'. This is a pretty high class of result, for nothing is more\ncommon than the readiness to take offence. But this refusal to take\noffence is, with the other fruits, clear proof that the heart and life\nare sanctified. So I might work out this law of results. These samples\nwill, however, indicate my line of teaching.\n\nNow, coming back to my thought at the beginning--the necessity for\n'Sureness' in regard to religion, and especially in the experience of\nHoliness--let me ask, Where are we found? Have the testings confirmed\nthat certainty of heart, or have my words disturbed self-satisfaction?\nDo not be afraid of facing the direct issue. If you have the evidences\nreferred to, then be sure to go about proclaiming what God has done.\nBut if not, then this unsatisfied and unsatisfactory condition cannot\nbe persisted in when the Fountain which cleanses is open for all, and\nwhen the Holy Spirit is here to apply the Blood, and to take full\npossession of every soul. Let this be the hour when you come to the\naltar round which the cleansing stream so freely flows.\n\n\n\n\nVII\n\nThe Pathway of the Holy\n\n'_ An highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way\nof holiness._' (Isaiah xxxv. 8.)\n\n\nOne would think that Isaiah was speaking of two separate roads, for his\nprophetic eye sees 'a highway and a way' along which the course of\nGod's people runs.\n\nPerhaps we may interpret the prophet's distinction as referring to the\nhigher and lower paths along some of the roadways in the Holy City; but\nhe makes it quite plain that the course of the truly godly may be\ncorrectly described as 'The way of Holiness'.\n\nNobody here would like to say there are two separate roads to Heaven,\nbut as we note the lives and experiences of many Christian professors\nit really does appear that there are two levels on which they run their\nvarious religious courses--one the lower, the other the higher path;\none lying oft in shadow, the other up in the open sunshine of Heaven;\none largely a profession of faith and repeated religious observances,\nthe other full of rich experiences and realizations of God's favour and\nspiritual gifts.\n\nSome people appear to step up and down according to seasons and\ninclinations, when, for instance, Holiness Conventions and Higher Life\nConferences are on or off--like the man we heard testifying, who\nthanked God that he had had no ins and outs, but admitted many ups and\ndowns. We want to help you to walk in what Isaiah calls 'The way of\nHoliness', or in modern terms, the pathway of the holy.\n\nThere are _three things about a way_. There is a beginning; a finishing\nplace; and the course between the two points.\n\nThis pathway of the holy may be said to have its beginning at the\ncleansing Fountain; it finishes, if it finishes at all, amid the\nglories of the Heavenly World; but between these two points lies the\nroad which must be trodden, the journey which has to be made.\n\nWe often dwell upon that moment where the soul, by an act of submission\nand trust, enters upon the highway, or 'gets the blessing', as we say;\nbut Holiness is, after all, a state, _a continuous experience_, a set\ncourse or way in life where the will of the Lord is supreme, and the\nfull-hearted love of God is the great moving force. It is in that\ncourse and along that path that you and I ought to travel continually.\n\nWe like testimonies from any who are in the way, but we appreciate\nand are helped still more by the words of those who have walked on\nin patient faith and obedience for long periods. Reading lately the\nlife of William Bramwell, I was encouraged by his testimony as to\nobtaining the blessing of Holiness and its enjoyment for many long\nyears. But I was the more delighted to find his words supported by his\nacquaintances, who bore testimony that Bramwell adorned the doctrine so\nbeautifully. Of himself this good man said, 'The Lord came suddenly to\nHis temple, and I had an immediate evidence that this was the blessing;\nmy soul was then all wonder, love, and praise. It is now twenty-six\nyears ago--I have walked in that liberty ever since.' You see, he _went\non_ in the way of Holiness because it had become his way of life.\n\nOne who was closely associated with this man said, 'I knew him\nintimately for twenty years. I lived in the same house with him in his\nseasons of relaxation as well as occupation, but never saw him in such\na temper that I could reprove. His soul was like a spring, continually\noverflowing with the most amiable, benevolent emotion. In his last\nyears, in particular, he was like a shock of corn fully ripe and fit\nfor the heavenly garner, or like a beautiful tree whose vigorous and\nluxuriant branches were weighted with a diversity of the richest\nfruit.' Bramwell trod consistently the pathway of the holy, a worthy\nsuccessor of Enoch, who 'walked with God', and was translated after\nreceiving the testimony that his way pleased God.\n\nI would like to refer to several features of this pathway of the holy\nwhich appeal strongly to me.\n\n1. The way of Holiness is a _pathway of the purified_. The prophet\nintimates plainly that nothing unclean can pass that way. The hearts of\nmen and women who are to walk there must be washed from their moral\ndefilements. I heard of a good man who said, 'Many years ago the Lord\ntook me out of the mire; some years after, He took the mire out of me'.\nI think you quite understand his meaning. Sin is a foul, slimy, miry\nthing, defiling whoever it touches. This must be purged away if you are\nto walk in the way of Holiness; and it can only be purged by the 'Blood\nof Jesus Christ which cleanseth us from all sin'.\n\n2. The way of Holiness is _a pathway of light and learning_. It is a\nway of advancing knowledge. There is a point where the path commences,\nwhen one knows for the first time that the Blood cleanses, and the Holy\nSpirit sheds abroad the love of God in the heart; but each succeeding\nstep brings fuller light, and things unknown are revealed.\n\nFamiliar intercourse with God brings deeper realizations and knowledge\nof Divine and spiritual things, so that yours does indeed become the\npath of the just 'which shineth more and more unto the perfect day'. As\na result, your own heart is enlarged, your spiritual capacities\nincreased, and, growing in grace, you advance in knowledge and favour\nwith God. Those who walk this pathway are they to whom the Lord\nwhispers His secrets, and whose souls He fills with heavenly delights.\nOh, that we could induce you to step up from the lower to this higher\nand better pathway!\n\nLet me give you a note from the personal experience of another of God's\nsaints who walked the higher way, one who habitually lived on that\nlevel, and who expressed himself thus: 'Let me say that my spiritual\nlife is no longer like a leaky suction pump, half the time dry, and\naffording scanty water only by desperate tugging of the handle, but it\nis like an artesian well of water springing up unto everlasting life.\nThe Scriptures are sweeter than honey. Prayer and praise are a delight,\nand it is like Paradise regained; the glory of Christ has become the\nall-absorbing passion of my soul.'\n\nThe sanctified life is not only a lengthening of the spiritual\nexperience, but a growth or advance in the knowledge of Divine\nrealities.\n\n3. Then, further, the way of Holiness is _a path of duty_, not a\npathway of ease and indulgence. We can never leave this practical\nthought out, whatever our topic may be, for Holiness and hard work are\ninseparable. The eyes being open to see the need, the hand is ever\nready to take up its task; and the labour of love being the sweetest of\nall occupations, work for God and souls becomes a delight.\n\nHe who is too holy to work for others will soon step to the lower path.\nThe willing soul will ever be crying, 'Lord, what wilt Thou have me to\ndo?' and the answer will come, 'Do this, do that, come here, go there'.\n\nThe way of Holiness is not free from temptation and suffering; but,\nthank God, it can be _the way of victory and safety_.\n\nEven the ordinary workaday life is full of circumstances which try and\ntempt and test you. The more you struggle towards living in God's way\nthe more the Devil will attack you. The path which the holy Saviour\ntrod was the way of the cross, and they who follow Him must share the\ncross-bearing. The ultimate crown is for the overcomer, and not for the\nuntempted one.\n\n    _Christ leads us through no darker rooms\n      Than He went through before;\n    He who into God's Kingdom comes\n      Must enter by this door._\n\nThere is no crown without a previous cross; but with trials and\ntemptations comes the way of escape and victory, 'these light\nafflictions ... work out an exceeding weight of glory'. The Book says,\n'All who will live godly ... shall suffer persecution'. And this will\nbe specially so with those who openly profess and live on the lines of\na Full Salvation.\n\nHere is a page from the personal experience of one who was determined\nto walk the King's highway:--\n\n'Perfect love', he says, 'will not go long untested. For a time I was\nnot called to suffer distinctly for Christ from that hostile spirit\nwhich nailed Him to the cross. The lion, however, was not dead, but\nasleep, and presently he awoke and glared at me. My soul was calm as a\nsummer's evening. When it pleased the Blessed Master that I should\nsuffer reproach and vilification for my testimony, then it was that the\nriver of joy which flows from the Throne flowed through my heart as\nnever before. It was a new experience--a quintessence of joy. The\nshouts of burning martyrs were no longer a mystery. I stagger no more\nat the account of the saints who took joyfully the spoiling of their\ngoods. My soul is bathed in an ocean of balm and ineffable joy.'\n\n4. But I spoke also of _the safety_ of the way of Holiness. I must\nspeak of that more fully another time, but what I mean is this: So long\nas you have the remains of sin in your heart you are exposed to a\ndouble danger--the enemy without and the responding traitor within. One\nreason why religion is so unsatisfactory to some people is that they\npersist in walking on the low level where doubts often spoil their\nworship and the allurements of the world pull very hard, and its siren\nsong makes discord in their hallelujahs. It is, of course, possible to\nbackslide from any level; but, believe me, the prospect of stability is\ninfinitely greater if you get a clean heart, and determine to walk in\nthe pathway of the holy.\n\nIn closing, let me quote a short prayer. David cried: 'Search me, O\nGod, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts: see if there be\nany wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting'. If, in\nsincerity and simplicity of intention to follow Christ fully, you offer\nthat prayer, God will not only lead you along the way, but to the Home\nof the holy.\n\nThere are, however, two little notes which you should compare in this\nconnexion. One refers to the passage now before us, 'The way of\nHoliness'. It is said, 'The unclean shall not pass over it'. The other\nrefers to Heaven, and says, 'There shall in no wise enter any thing\nthat defileth or maketh a lie'. By connecting these two you see that\nyou need to be not only led along the heavenly way, but to be made fit\nfor the heavenly courts; and David's prayer, sincerely offered, brings\nthat fitness--that purity of heart which sees God and delights in the\ncompletion of His holy will.\n\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nCircumstances and Consequences\n\n'_And fears shall be in the way._' (Ecclesiastes xii. 5.)\n\n\nThe man who wrote these words was specially emphasizing the importance\nof settling one's relationships to the great Creator before the coming\nof days when infirmities increase, and decay of natural powers sets in.\nThe practical outcome of that thought is, that postponement only adds\nto one's difficulties when the battle really has to be fought.\n\nAmongst those difficulties the sacred writer places that natural\nforeboding, physical shrinking and hesitation which paralyse men when,\nafter lives spent in sin and selfish indulgence, they desire to make\ntheir peace with God; for, says he, 'They shall be afraid of that which\nis high, and _fears shall be in the way_'. The imaginary obstacles\nwhich arise in people's minds, seeming to make holy living impossible,\nare varied in character, but I see that many are influenced by fears\nand feelings concerning things which I class under the headings of\n'Circumstances and Consequences'.\n\nHow often, when giving earnest advice, one gets the response, 'My\ncircumstances are against me', 'Placed as I am, it cannot be', or 'The\nconsequences are too serious', 'The price of the blessing is too high'.\nEven with persons who have no doubt as to the possibility of a clean\nheart and sanctification of life, these thoughts operate; and we find\nthe fear of circumstances hindering one, and the fear of consequences\ninfluencing another, so that they are held back from definitely seeking\nthe blessing. True, in many instances, the idea is a delusion, a snare\nof the Devil, by which souls are kept out of God's Full Salvation; but,\nthere is the fact--'fears are in the way'.\n\nFear is like a great magnifying-glass; or one of those mirrors which\ngive a distorted image of things reflected in them. This effect is\noften produced in persons both as regards their own circumstances and\nthe consequences of following the leadings of God's Spirit.\n\nYou may remember how Bunyan, in his 'Pilgrim's Progress', represents\nChristian desiring to enter the House Beautiful, but suddenly he espied\ntwo lions in the way, and was almost frightened out of his purpose\nuntil some one told him that, if he went boldly on, and kept in the\nmiddle of the path, he need not fear, seeing the lions were securely\nchained. What an illustration of the quaking fears which hinder\ndefinite action in regard to spiritual blessings!\n\n1. A few words as to _circumstances_ may be helpful to some one. Let\nme, however, first make one thing clear. With some people circumstances\nexist which are insurmountable barriers; there are positions in the\nworld which could not be held by a fully sanctified person any more\nthan fire can be carried in a man's bosom and he not be burned;\nsituations involving the practice of evil or resulting in gain through\nthe unjust sufferings of others. Such positions must be given up, if\nmen wish to enjoy God's sanctifying power. I am not, however, dealing\nnow with such positions or the circumstances connected with them; I am\nreferring to circumstances or conditions of life which are lawful in\nthemselves and in the light of the Word of God, but which may present\ndifficulties and involve serious trial to those determined to live\npurely and serve God faithfully.\n\nThe fear in some instances is that if they obtain the blessing the\nstrain of temptation would be such as to render a fall probable. 'I\ncould not _keep_ the blessing if I got it'; 'If I could change my\nposition, or surroundings, or connexions, then I would take the\nnecessary steps'. These are words we frequently hear. A married man or\nwoman says, 'Ah! if only I were single, then I could live a life of\nfull consecration'. With equal seriousness the single person says, 'Ah!\nif only I were married, then the life of purity and Holiness would be\npossible to me'. The mother, fearful about the strain which the care of\nthe children brings, often speaks in the same way. So it is with\nbusiness relationships and many other matters in which the\ncircumstances are presented as things making Holiness an impossibility.\n\nWhen I was a young man in business I yearned for a position in which I\ncould be separate from all worldly entanglements, so that I could\nobtain and enjoy the blessing. But, do you know, since I have been a\nSalvation Army Officer, I have often been tempted to think that the\nsanctified life is easier in the circumstances of commercial life, and\nthat if I was so placed the spiritual things would be more appreciated,\nand I should be able to live nearer to God. You see, it is the same old\ntemptation, 'My circumstances, my conditions of life, my work, my\nhome', and the fear of these things often becomes a snare.\n\nThat is a pathetic picture which the Psalmist gives us of these poor\nJews by the waters of Babylon, who, when urged to sing the songs of\nZion, answered, 'How shall we sing the Lord's songs in a strange land?'\nIs not that the feeling which bursts from many lips and many more\nhearts, 'How can you expect _me_, in _my_ circumstances, to get\nsanctified and live a holy life?'\n\nBut is not that just the point where the triumph of faith comes in? It\nis there that we see the value of those exceeding great and precious\npromises by which you are to become a partaker of the Divine nature,\nand on which your faith is to build. 'As thy days, so shall thy\nstrength be'; 'My God shall supply all your need'; and that includes\nyour need in cleansing, your need in keeping, and your need in blessing\nadapted to your circumstances. Remember, the Lord is the Master of\ncircumstances, and you must put yours into His hands, and trust Him not\nonly to sanctify you wholly, but to preserve you blameless unto the\nend. You must trust God to make you equal to your circumstances.\n\n2. But there is that second class of anxious persons to whom I\nreferred: those who are held back by _the fear of consequences_.\n\nOh, what crowds of enlightened souls might be walking triumphantly\nalong the King's highway, who are yet tramping on amidst doubts and\nfears and frequent condemnation, all because they dread the pressure of\nGod's claims upon them, and fear the consequences of making a\nwhole-hearted surrender to Him.\n\nThere is another point of view about which I must speak a word in\npassing. When looking at the consequences of fully yielding to God's\nclaims, and perhaps trembling and hesitating, do you ever think of the\nresults of holding back what you know God wants? Do not forget that\nthere are some consequences of saying 'No' to the Lord. When a child\nknows his father's wish, but, in answer to a reasonable request, says,\n'No', you call it disobedience. Is it not a still more serious thing to\nbe disobedient in the presence of more than a father's love? You must\ncount the cost of that, when resisting the light and influence of God's\nSpirit.\n\nSurely, you will not choose to be numbered among those who 'knew their\nLord's will, but did it not'. In the Gospel story such were 'beaten\nwith many stripes'; that means stripes of loss, stripes of pain,\nstripes of sorrow, perhaps even stripes of death. If we are to suffer,\nlet it be the result of following Him, rather than the consequence of\ndenying our Lord.\n\nNow, I do not want to mislead anybody, for, of course, there are\nconsequences of surrender and determination to live the holy life; but,\nunfortunately, these fearful ones look at the wrong side of the list.\nThey think of the separateness from the world involved in a life of\nHoliness; they think of the cold shoulder which some, even Christian\nfriends, would give them; they think of the toil after souls which the\nsanctified must maintain; of the money that they may have to give; of\nthe partnership in Christ's sufferings, and other self-denying\nexpressions of devotion to God and the Kingdom. 'Oh, I shall have to\nwear uniform!' or 'go to the Open-Air', or 'perhaps become an Army\nOfficer', and, as an Officer, 'may have to leave my native land'. The\nenemy holds these and many similar things before the eyes of a\nconvicted soul, very often magnifying the facts until the word\ndifficulty is changed to impossibility, and, like the young ruler of\nthe Gospel story, they 'go away sorrowful'.\n\nA man came across London to be present at one of our Thursday Meetings.\nWhen spoken to by an Officer, he admitted the force of all that had\nbeen said, but he found an insurmountable difficulty in his business as\na shopkeeper. He saw that the goods on his shelves and sold over the\ncounter were mixed, including what he realized to be bad and damaging\nto many others. His heart was full of conviction and desire, but\nanxiety about his wife and family prevented him closing down, while his\nconscience prevented him selling a business which he knew had wrong and\ndoubtful things connected with it. 'What is wrong for me', he said,\n'would be wrong for another'; and so he could not pay the price, and,\nlike the young ruler referred to, he has gone away sorrowful.\n\nIn the Meeting of the following week a man came to the table seeking\nthe blessing, and he cried out aloud, 'O Lord, give me a clean heart!\nTake the malice out which I have had towards these two persons! O Lord,\nI will go straight to them, and confess, and ask them to forgive me!'\nNeedless to add, the blessing came, and, rejoicing, he went off to his\nhome, fifty miles out of London, to fulfil his word. The contrast\nbetween this and the man previously mentioned teaches its own lesson.\n\nNow, it is quite right that seekers of Full Salvation should _look at\nthe cost, and count it well_; but, Oh, that they would also think of\nthe tremendous balance of joy and peace and blessing which more than\nmakes up for what has to be borne or done or given up! Instead of dim\ntwilight, or hazy doubts or forebodings, the sunshine of the Divine\nPresence makes all things bright and gladsome. Instead of depending for\nlight and peace on 'suns' which 'go down' and 'moons' which 'withdraw'\nthemselves, the fully sanctified man finds that God has become his\n'everlasting light, and the days of his mourning are ended'. As I have\nsaid, there will be sacrifice, but there also will be satisfaction;\nand, as with the mother in regard to her new-born babe, the fully saved\nsoul forgets the suffering and the sacrifice which has been made.\n\nSometimes we are tempted to look at sacrifice apart from love. I heard\nMr. Bramwell Booth say in a Meeting, 'Sacrifice is the flower of love';\nand you know full well that things which are otherwise impossible\nbecome comparatively easy to true love and faith. Men do not talk about\nsacrifices when they realize that they have received more--much\nmore--than that which they gave up.\n\nWhen I hear people dwelling on how much they have given up for God, I\nbegin to wonder whether those self-denying ones have realized the joy\nand satisfaction which God wants to give to the fully consecrated\nheart. If they have, it is strange for them to talk of rushlight\nsacrifices whilst they are bathed in the sunlight of the Divine\nPresence.\n\nSometimes distressing consequences do follow surrender and faith, but\nare there not also glorious consequences in the form of joy in the\nseasons of sorrow, light and guidance in the hours of perplexity,\nDivine approval and communion when others misunderstand and shun us?\nSurely the knowledge of this leads me to cry, 'O my Lord, let me have\nthe blessing with all its consequences!'\n\nOh, my friends, whilst counting the cost, look at both sides of God's\ngift, the crown as well as the cross; the delight as well as the\ndenial; the heavenly sunshine as well as the earthly shadows; and the\ngreat, glorious, everlasting reward in eternity. When you have looked\nat all these things, make your choice; and, having chosen aright, 'hold\nfast that which thou hast, that no man take thy crown'.\n\n\n\n\nIX\n\nBound to the Altar\n\n'_Bind the sacrifice with cords, even unto the horns of the altar._'\n(Psalm cxviii. 27.)\n\n\nPeriodically in our Halls we have had what we call Altar Services. At\nsuch times, and more especially during the Self-Denial and Harvest\nFestival efforts, Soldiers, friends, and others who are interested in\nGod's work are invited to come forward with gifts of money to lay upon\nthe special table which, for that occasion, serves the purpose of an\naltar. Those who have been present at these Meetings will not need to\nbe told that the 'gift' is irrevocable. The giver cannot honestly get\nit back--it has been deliberately parted with.\n\nThat is a very definite thing _done_, and it illustrates the central\nidea of the verse which I have read to you.\n\nSome time ago I went with The General to Stockholm, where the Swedish\nOfficers were gathered together for their annual Congress. At the close\nof the Councils I asked an Officer how he liked the Meetings, and what\nthe result would be. He replied, 'Commissioner, it's just like this. It\nis as if The General during these days builded an altar, and to-night\nwe all climbed upon that altar offering ourselves a sacrifice unto God,\nand the fire came down and sanctified the offering.'\n\n_The true worship and service of God_--it need not be told--_involves\nsacrifice_. If any one here feels that religion is all a question of\nhow much he can get out of God by saying so many prayers or offering so\nmany donations, he has a totally wrong conception of what it is. I know\nthat there are many who regard their vows to God very lightly. They\nseem to think they can get through their religion without much\nself-denial. Religion of that sort, however, is worth nothing either to\nthose who possess it or to the Lord whom they profess to serve. Without\nself-sacrifice, without self-denial, religion comes to nothing, or, at\nany rate, amounts to very little.\n\nI do not desire that you should imitate the senseless practices\nprevailing in some countries, where the people are allowed to build\ntheir hopes of Salvation upon penance and self-torture. And yet we are\nsometimes put to shame by the things we hear and see.\n\nA short time ago I received a letter from a young Officer in India.\nAfter describing some pleasing scenes, he said, 'One sees some awful\nthings out here. I saw a man the other day literally walking upon\nnails. It made me shiver. He imagined that by this he could save his\nsoul. With what passion I wished that man could only understand that\nother nails were pierced in other feet for him! But you see how in\nearnest the people here are about their religion, and in all these\nthings they are seeking for Salvation.'\n\nThere are not many who are prepared to do what that poor Indian devotee\ndid. They are a long way off that. But unless they are prepared to\ninclude sacrifice in their religion, they are not on the lines either\nof their Lord's example or their Lord's words. The cross, the\nfollowing, the denial of self, the Calvary path, cannot be excluded\nfrom the life of Christ's follower.\n\nWhilst true service must always be a spiritual thing, do not imagine it\nis something merely 'in the mind'. I have heard it talked about in the\nsame way as a doctor talked to a poor lad who had his thumb crushed in\na machine.\n\n'Don't shout, my poor boy', he said. 'Don't you know I feel it as truly\nas you do?'\n\n'Perhaps so,' replied the boy; 'but you feels it in your mind, and I\nfeels it in my thumb!'\n\nSacrifice is often talked about by some people who feel it perhaps as\nmuch as the doctor felt the crushed thumb, being largely a matter of\nsympathy, without the actual hurting.\n\nThis matter of sacrifice indicates a certain principle, a certain state\nof mind, which _expresses itself in two ways_. It is either a giving up\nof things which are against God's will, or the contribution of\nsomething which is valuable, to be surrendered or used in His service.\nShall I not say that sacrifice represents the heart saying, on the one\nhand, 'I will come out, and be separate, and touch not the unclean\nthing'? and, on the other hand, 'What shall I render unto the Lord for\nall His benefits toward me?' Not only singing, 'Where He leads I will\nfollow', 'Lord, I make a full surrender', but actually spending and\nbeing spent for Him.\n\nI need not dwell at any great length upon the word 'altar'. I referred\nto the table in our Altar Services as the place of gifts. It is also\nthe place of dedication, and the place of sacrifice. Thank God, it has\nbeen so to many, as well as the mercy-seat, where God has sealed the\nacceptance of the offering presented to Him.\n\nHow often have we been reminded of that altar of sacrifice in the shape\nof the accursed cross, where the Saviour made atonement for our sins!\nAnd it is in reality at that altar we bow when we sincerely sing--\n\n    _Were the whole realm of nature mine,\n      That were a present far too small;\n    Love so amazing, so divine,\n      Demands my soul, my life, my all!_\n\nNot only 'demands' the sacrifice, but 'shall have my soul, my life, my\nall'.\n\n_But what does the binding of the sacrifice to the altar mean?_ The\nphrase is very significant.\n\nThe horns were the corner posts, and sometimes the worshipper\npresenting a living creature would tether it with a cord to the altar's\nhorn, so that the gift could be used either for sacrifice or service.\nIn both cases the figure of speech seems to imply the possibility of\nthe consecration being reversed by the withdrawal of the offering, or\nbroken by its loss, the sacrifice slipping off or away from the altar,\nor being loosened by the person who had presented the offering.\n\nThe Psalmist therefore urges those to whom he is speaking to maintain\ntheir consecration, and to see to it that their sacrifice is not taken\noff the altar after being put on. These corner posts were not there for\nornament, but for use, and the cords were intended to hold the\nsacrifice to the altar, so that it could not be snatched away.\n\nHere is my Bible. If I turned away, and anybody were so minded, it\nwould be easy to make off with it while my back was turned. But if I\nhad some cord, and, by crossing it transversely from corner to corner,\ntied the Book to the table, that would make it secure. It was thus that\nthe sacrifices were bound to the Jewish altar.\n\nWhat I want to emphasize by this is, that those who come with gifts and\ndedications should bind themselves in terms of unalterable covenant.\nThey should stand to their consecration when loss or pain or temptation\ncome, as come they will in one form or another. It is just here where\nso many fail--they do not really maintain their sacrifice. That is to\nsay, having made a consecration they do not stand to it. The offering\nhas been made, but it has been taken back again; the vow has been\nregistered, but not paid; the promise has been made, but not fulfilled;\nthe consecration has been broken or reversed.\n\nTake that wonderful scene in the life of Abraham. At the command of God\nhe erected an altar, cut the sacrifice in pieces, and laid it there.\nThen Abraham waited for the coming of the fire. Before the fire came,\nor anything happened, the vultures, those unclean birds, were circling\naround his head, and around the altar, trying to defile the sacrifice\nor snatch it away or devour it. The story says that when the birds came\ndown Abraham drove them away, and he stood to his covenant until the\nfire came. The vultures of temptation will circle around you. They will\ntry to frighten you, and to remove the sacrifice wholly or partially,\nor to defile it in some way. Your business then is to drive them away,\nto bind and rebind the sacrifice to God's altar.\n\nIn the days of Queen Mary, a girl-martyr refused, when pressure was\nbrought upon her, to deny her Lord and renounce her faith. She was\ncondemned and taken to the seashore. There she was bound to a stake\nnear the low tide line, and, as the incoming waters gathered round her\nfeet, one of her persecutors rode out and offered to spare her life if\nshe would renounce her faith and turn her back upon her Lord.\n\nThe waters rose to her waist, and he rode out again, and, when half\nunconscious, she was dragged out, and urged to recant. Refusing to do\nthis, the girl was again bound to the stake.\n\nWhen the waters reached her shoulders the offer was repeated. To one\nand all she replied something like this: 'No, I will not draw back! I\nwill not deny my Lord!' And as the rising tide came in she bowed her\nhead, and poured her soul out unto death rather than deny her Master.\nShe bound her sacrifice to the altar, and died in the faith.\n\nSome of those who hear my words are disappointed and sad at heart, for\nthey have gone back on Jesus Christ; not perhaps to save their lives,\nbut for a mere trifle. Why these neglected vows? Why these defiled\nsacrifices? Why these broken consecrations? If they were ever really\nput on the altar they were not, I am afraid, bound there. Impulse,\nsentiment, desire, intention may have induced the offering, but it was\nnot bound with 'cords of submission, cords of determination'.\nCompanionships, some secret indulgence, some selfish pleasure, some act\nof reversal, carried off the sacrifice.\n\nAlas! how many have never seriously and sincerely approached the Divine\naltar to make the full surrender of themselves to God. The love of sin,\nthe selfish gratifications which are so precious to them, have kept\nthem back, though often convicted about their duty.\n\nBut the act of dedication is very simple, and can be made or renewed\nnow. While we bow before God around the altar of consecration, bring\nyourselves and the sacrifice again and put it on that altar in an\nunchangeable covenant, and with a simple faith that will bring from God\nthat holy fire which makes it possible to maintain it there for ever.\n\n    _A willing sacrifice at last\n      Myself to Thee I give;\n    The weary, painful strife is past--\n      I die that I may live._\n\n    _I yield Thee all my hallowed powers,\n      Thine only will I be,\n    Contented if I may but know\n      Thou giv'st Thyself to me._\n\n\n\n\nX\n\n'Why Should I?'\n\n'_Thou saidst, What advantage will it be? What profit shall I have, if\nI be cleansed from my sin? I will answer thee, and thy companions with\nthee._' (Job xxxv. 3, 4.)\n\n\nIn reading these words I have no wish to enter into the controversy\nbetween Job and his friends as to the relationship of physical\nsuffering to sin, but to emphasize a certain mental attitude which they\nindicate, and which often expresses itself in relation to other things.\n\nThe human mind is so constituted that men will not commit themselves to\na course suggested by another unless it is proved to be worth their\nwhile. When we want to move people to do that which does not at the\nmoment fit in with their desires, we have to urge motives upon their\nconsideration. Very few actions are performed without there being some\npersonal motive. It seems born in us to ask, 'Is it worth while? Why\nshould I do, or go and accept what I do not want?' and so we hang back\nuntil some motive carries our judgment or feelings.\n\nWe find the same attitude in men's minds towards Salvation and those\nspiritual blessings and conditions of life in which the Lord wants men\nto live. The immediate gratification of the flesh, or love of selfish\nindulgence, lies in the opposite direction to the Altar of\nConsecration; so that when the call to surrender and Holiness comes,\nnaturally, and at once, the cry springs up, 'Why should I? Where is the\nadvantage? What profit shall I have?' It seems, therefore, absolutely\nnecessary to find some personal motives by which to urge people to be\nsaved, or seek a clean heart, and pursue those lines of sacred duty to\nwhich redeemed men should be consecrated.\n\nSpeaking from personal experience, I would say that whilst soul-saving\nis hard work, it appears equally difficult to persuade professors of\nreligion to definitely seek deliverance from inward sin, and to attain\nthose spiritual realizations which we speak of as 'Full Salvation' or\n'The Blessing of Holiness'. As evidence of this difficulty, I may point\nto the state of soul and spiritual experience in which even some of you\nare now found: receiving light and instruction about Holiness, but\ncontinuing unsanctified; singing of the Cleansing Blood, but yet\nremaining uncleansed by it; praying, 'Baptize me with the Holy Ghost',\nand yet resisting His gracious leadings to the higher life of Holiness.\n\nIn one of my Meetings my subject was 'Out-and-Out Consecration'. I was\nattracted by a man who seemed intensely interested. I spoke with him\nafterwards, when he said, 'I was much pleased with your address--I\nentirely approve of the sentiments you expressed'. And yet I could not\ninduce the man to give himself to God. Thus we have to seek for motives\nby which to move the hearts of people in this vital matter.\n\n1. Let me again set before you those motives which should lead you to\nseek the blessing. I place first among them the fact which Paul stated\nthus, 'This is the will of God, even your sanctification'. I put this\nfirst because the highest motive stimulating the soul of the child of\nGod should be _the knowledge of his Father's will_. One would think\nthat to know God's will should be enough to provoke the determination\nto do it. To hear the Father's voice should stir the heart in\nresponsive desire and effort.\n\nWe had a little daughter who, before she went to Heaven, was the joy of\nour hearts and the light of our home. The child had a passion for\ncleanliness, and as the evening hour came on, she gave the maid no\npeace until she was washed and dressed in clean clothes. Then, running\nto her mother, she would ask, 'Mamma, am I clean, clean enough for\nfather?' Soon after my return from business, the child would climb on\nmy knee, put a little hand on each side of my face, to compel me to\nlook at her, and then ask, 'Am I clean, papa, am I clean?' Nothing\nwould delight that child more than for me to say, 'Yes, my darling, you\nare clean, even clean enough for father'.\n\nLet us ask ourselves, 'What does the will of God count for with us? We\nknow what He wants, and the claims of gratitude and sincere regard for\nHis glory should influence our attitude, and lead us to say, 'Lo! I\ncome to do Thy will, O my God!'\n\n    _He wills that I should holy be:\n      That Holiness I long to feel;\n    That full, Divine conformity\n      To all my Saviour's righteous will._\n\n2. A second motive to Holiness may be found in _the urgent need of the\npeople around us_. We all know something of God's plan for saving the\nworld. It is, broadly speaking, on the line of using one man to save\nanother. Co-operation on this line is rightly expected from all\nprofessing Christians.\n\nPersonally, I hold that professors of religion who are not moved by a\nconcern for the souls of others, and a willingness to use all possible\nefforts to seek their Salvation, can hardly claim to be properly saved\nthemselves. The need of saved men and women to act on these lines of\nconsecrated effort is, indeed, very great, and the knowledge of this\nfact should urge us to the fullest consecration. But we need to see\nmore clearly that unless we exhibit in our own characters and lives the\ntrue fruits of Holiness, we shall either fail in our own consecration,\nor our influence will be greatly reduced.\n\nWhat do you think will be the effect of a man's words about the\nChristian's 'separateness', and about Christ being the satisfying\nportion of the human heart, if people see him seeking satisfaction with\nthe multitude that go to do evil? How will the world be influenced by\nChristian talkers who sacrifice honour, truth, and perhaps honesty, in\ntheir daily associations? How often people's tongues are tied, when\nthey ought to speak and act? They are half paralysed through a sense of\ntheir personal inconsistency.\n\nHoliness is not only the inspiration to holy effort; it is a necessary\nqualification. The power of a holy life is the best evidence of what\nGod can do. Platform and Meeting-Holiness, or glass-case sanctity, are\nfeeble when compared with the exhibition of the blessing in daily\nassociation. Therefore, 'Let your light so shine before men, that they\nmay see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in Heaven'.\nThese words indicate my meaning when I urge you to seek and maintain\nthe blessing of Holiness in the interests of those around you. Holy\nlives are the most convincing sermons and testimonies. We often say\n'Holiness is power'; and I am sure that you need all the power which\ncan be obtained to influence the world around for God and Salvation.\n\n3. Then, as a last motive to stimulate you in the pursuit of Holiness,\nI will name _self-interest_. That may seem rather a low-down motive,\nseeing that Holiness, which is perfect love, is the extreme opposite of\nthat selfishness which is the essence or root of all sin. It seems like\na paradox or contradiction to say that self-denial can harmonize with\nenjoyment; and yet it is true. A man does advance his highest interests\nand truest well-being when he submits to the sanctifying conditions of\nthe Holy Ghost; for what the world counts loss, he finds to be gain.\n\nI would point out that we find God Himself appealing to men just at\nthat point of self-interest. What a chapter is that fifty-fifth of\nIsaiah, beginning, 'Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the\nwaters', and so on, the second verse finishing, 'Eat ye that which is\ngood, and let your soul delight itself in fatness'. As much as to say,\n'You will find it worth while to come into right relations with Me'.\n\nThere is no doubt that people are moved when they properly understand\nthe fact which Paul set forth in the words: 'Godliness is profitable\nunto all things, having the promise of the life that now is, and of\nthat which is to come'; 'Godliness with contentment is great gain'. And\nI want you to see that to have the blessing of Full Salvation will be\nworth your while, because it will meet the deep needs of your\nindividual life.\n\nIf I am asked to define what you must be in order that your religious\nlife may be happy and successful, I would state the case thus.\n\nFirst, you need to be in right and happy relationship with God. There\nmust be no enmity there; no clouds in that sky; no closed doors between\nyou and your Heavenly Father. Salvation does nothing for you if it does\nnot bring that.\n\nSecond, you need to be delivered from those inward evils which have\ndarkened your mind, polluted your soul, and will be like roots of\nbitterness springing up to trouble you if they are not removed.\n\nThird, you want power to live up to your own ideals; that is, up to the\nstandards of life upon which your consecrated heart will be set. You do\nnot want to be in the position of the man who exclaims, 'The good that\nI would I do not; but the evil which I would not, that I do'. You want\npower to live 'unspotted from the world', to walk in Divine fellowship,\nto triumph over temptation, and to have victory and success in your\nservice. These are the things you must have to meet your deepest need,\nand they are all secured to you in the blessing of Holiness which we\nurge you to seek.\n\nBelieve me, nothing spoils a man's happiness so much as sin in the\nheart, and nothing helps in human happiness so much as a holy,\nsanctified condition. You see the supreme advantage when you remember\nthe open fellowship possible to the fully sanctified; the perfect peace\nin which God keeps the man whose mind is stayed on Him; the perfect\nlove which casteth out fear, and the joy unspeakable and full of glory\nrealized by one filled with the Holy Ghost.\n\nOn the other hand, how much unhappiness and disappointment is caused by\nthe remains of sin in the heart! Look, for instance, at ill-tempers and\ntheir effect. You may have found a certain amount of gratification in\nletting your temper display itself; you have 'spoken your mind', and so\nforth, and, perhaps, caused pain to somebody in so doing; but you know\nhow unhappy and humiliated you have been upon reflection.\n\nTake also the case of the envious man. We all know that it is wrong to\nbe envious; but who is the chief sufferer? Why, the envious man\nhimself. So with grumbling and discontent: it is very unpleasant for\nthose around; but how unhappy are the grumblers themselves! Similarly\nwith pride; it may be very self-satisfying, until one sees somebody\nbetter, or something which cuts one out; then comes disappointment. And\nso I might go on with other illustrations, but I have said enough to\nshow what I mean.\n\nNow look at these motives which I have named; they all appeal to you in\nregard to Holiness. It is the will of God concerning you. It is\ndesirable and necessary to give your religion power with those around\nyou. It is also to your own happiness and interest to get your nature\nsanctified and your own heart and mind and life brought into harmony\nwith God. To those whose experience includes the enjoyment of the\nblessing, I say let these motives influence you in maintaining the\nconditions. And to those who have not got the blessing, let these\nmotives constrain you to seek the blessing without delay.\n\n    _Lord, my will I here present Thee\n      Gladly, now no longer mine;\n    Let no evil thing prevent me\n      Blending it with Thine.\n    Lord, my life I lay before Thee,\n      Hear this hour the sacred vow!\n    All Thine own I now restore Thee,\n      Thine for ever now._\n\n\n\n\nXI\n\nJudged by Fruit\n\n'_A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt\ntree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known by his own fruit.\nFor of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they\ngrapes._' (Luke vi. 43, 44.)\n\n\nJesus Christ, in the few sentences quoted, indicates the true secret or\nprinciple of holy living. They show that holy living works from the\nheart of things--beginning within--to the outside.\n\nMany judge their religion the other way about. They take up religious\nduties, attend religious Meetings, sing hymns, say prayers, put on what\nmay be called the outward things of religion. Perhaps they adopt a\ndress, make a profession, or assume a religious manner, and hope to\ngrow good in the process. But really it does not work out that way. I\ndo not say that the things are not good. Far from that; but what I want\nto make plain is this: in none of these things does the secret of true\nreligion lie, and you will be a failure if you rely upon the outward\nform.\n\nYou have the secret, the principle of religion, in the words of Jesus:\n'A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that\nwhich is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart\nbringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart\nhis mouth speaketh'. You see, that which is in will come out, and you\ncannot bring out that which is not in.\n\nIn these words Jesus tries to enforce a great truth in human life, by\nshowing how the principle works out in the action of a tree. Nature\ncannot teach us everything about God, nor everything about religion;\nbut Nature does supply us with a great many beautiful illustrations.\nJesus makes use of one when He says, 'Of thorns men do not gather figs,\nnor of a bramble bush gather they grapes. Every tree is known by his\nown fruit.' You see, not only is the fruit according to the tree, but\nthe quality of the tree is to be judged according to its fruits.\n\nThat is the way by which ordinary people identify a tree. There are\nsome who are highly skilled in forestry, who can tell you all about a\ntree by looking at the bark or the leaves or the blossoms, or even by\nits general appearance. But we cannot all do that. I have sometimes\nstood in a company, and listened to an argument as to what kind a\nparticular tree really was. But no arguments are required when the\nfruit hangs on the branches. Everybody can tell the apple tree then,\nand knows what a pear or a plum tree is when they see the fruit hanging\nupon it. You can see the bearing of this upon personal religion and\ncharacter. By our fruit, then, we shall be known and judged.\n\nIn the fifth chapter of Galatians you will find a commentary upon this\nnatural law. Shall we read it? 'Now the works of the flesh'--the fruit\nof the flesh, if you like to put it that way--'are manifest, which are\nthese: Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry,\nwitchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions,\nheresies, envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of\nthe which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that\nthey which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the\nfruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness,\ngoodness, faith, meekness, temperance', or self-control. The two sets\nof verses taken together not only show in detail a cluster of virtues\nwhich are like luscious fruit in a beautiful garden, but also a cluster\nof evils, which are like poisoned berries upon the roadside bushes.\n\nThe contrast between the two clusters indicates how great is the\ndifference when one is changed from being a proud, fleshly, corrupt man\ninto a clean, holy, spiritual person; but the contrast also marks the\ngrace of God as the transforming power. No matter what change was\nwrought in you at conversion, you cannot properly call yourselves fully\nsanctified until the transformation is complete; that is, until you are\ndelivered from the works or fruit of the flesh, and produce the fruit\nof the Spirit, and by your fruits you shall be known. Profession of\nHoliness without appropriate fruit is no good. That would be just like\nthe tree to which the Saviour turned on one occasion when He found\nnothing but leaves.\n\nLet me put the matter very simply, but very definitely. Here is a man,\nwe will suppose, who says, 'I am saved'. That is good. I like to hear\nmen who are able to stand up and say, 'I am saved'. But if in that\nman's dealings with those around him he tells lies--black ones or white\nones--well, then it is obvious that the man still needs Salvation.\n\nHere is another who stands up and says, 'I have a clean heart'. That is\na testimony in which I glory. But if you see that man's bodily\nappetites master him, or see him fall into uncleanness of speech or of\nact, you know very well what even those who want to be charitable will\nsay, 'Either that man fails to understand the meaning of the words he\nuses, or his profession of Holiness is a false one'.\n\nAnother person says, 'I love God with all my heart'--or as many do say,\n'There is nothing between my soul and God'. But if you see the same\nperson running after those things which he knows God is against,\nhowever charitable you may feel, you cannot help judging by what he\ndoes rather than by what he says.\n\nOne may stand up and speak about being sanctified; but if his actions\nindicate in some form or another that he is jealous, or ill-tempered,\nor selfish, everybody will say, 'No matter what that person may say\nabout himself, testimony or no testimony, profession or no profession,\nhe still needs the blessing of Full Salvation!'\n\nLet me, by an illustration or two, help you to see what I mean--the\nfruits of the sanctified heart.\n\nA university professor was afflicted with an ungovernable temper. One\nday he went to the house of a relative with a view to adjusting some\nproperty matters in dispute. Now, the man to whom he went not only made\nunjust claims, but put forth these claims in a way to provoke his\nChristian relative to anger. He did it on purpose; he was determined to\nshow that this man's religion made him no different from the people\nround about him. As a consequence, high words arose, and the professor\nleft the house in a rage, slamming the door behind him.\n\nWhen he got into the street calm reflection came, and in the place of\nanger and bitterness a sense of humiliation and shame and defeat. He\nwent straight home, up to his room, fastened the door, got down on his\nknees, and spent the night pleading that God would not only forgive him\nfor his display of temper, but would deliver him from those angry\npassions which made him such a discredit to his profession of religion.\nAs morning dawned, peace came to his soul, the power of the Holy Ghost\nfell upon him, and a sense of deliverance pervaded his whole being.\n\nHe went to the house of his relative, and found him at breakfast. With\ndeep humility, and in the presence of the family, he confessed his sin,\nsaid not a word about provocation, and only pleaded that they would\nforgive him for his display of anger. Thirty years subsequent to this\nthat professor, who became famous as a man of God, stated that no\ntemptation or provocation received had ever stirred the emotion of evil\ntemper within him since that memorable night. He had been delivered.\nInstead of the fruit of the flesh, there grew the fruit of the Spirit.\n\nTake the case of a certain mother with several unconverted children.\nShe was a fretting, chafing woman, and by her impatience,\nfault-finding, and nagging she fretted and vexed the whole family. When\nshe got the blessing she became so even in her disposition that she was\nkept in such 'perfect peace' that, by the power of the Holy Ghost, the\ndomestic circle became like a little heaven below.\n\nResentful and revengeful persons are so changed that the spirit of\nforgiveness and forbearance which they exhibit in their lives is the\nadmiration of all who know them. Self-seeking Christians are made into\nself-sacrificing, cross-bearing saints and soldiers, where formerly\nthey would only be content if they were having their own way.\n\nNow, what does this mean? This: that such open professors of religion\nas we are must justify our profession by bringing forth fruit unto\nHoliness. If the condition of your mind and heart, if the state of your\ndisposition (I will put it that way) is not such as brings forth this\nfruit, you must earnestly and sincerely ask the Lord to cleanse and\nsanctify and anoint you with the Holy Ghost, so that instead of\nbringing forth the fruit of the flesh, everybody shall see displayed\nand exhibited by you the fruit of the Spirit.\n\nDo not say the standard is too high, for it is simply a case of your\nexperience being too low. We want the whole thing not 'levelled down',\nbut 'levelled up'. Let God take full possession of you; let the Divine\npower be exerted upon your particular difficulty; and seek to be wholly\nanointed with that Holy Spirit who can not only cleanse, but keep you,\nmaking you fruitful in every good word and work.\n\n\n\n\nXII\n\nPerpetual Covenants\n\n'_Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant\nthat shall not be forgotten._' (Jeremiah 1. 5.)\n\n\nWe find in our Meetings persons who are perplexed by the doctrinal\nstatements about Holiness or entire Sanctification and equivalent\nterms. Some take our words to mean more than we intend; others think\nthe statements imply less than we mean; some put the standard too high,\nwhilst others put it altogether too low.\n\nAt the close of a recent Meeting a gentleman said to me, 'I greatly\nenjoyed your address, but I am sure you will never get people to follow\nthat line, because you advocate an abnormal life. It cannot be lived.'\nEqually I find men who in an indefinite way imagine that high states of\nemotion dispense with standards of morality such as truth, honour, and\nrectitude in business. And it is with great difficulty that we make the\nBible standard plainly understood.\n\nI think, however, that very few are perplexed as to what we mean by the\nconsecration side of Holiness. There is, in all who are moderately well\ninstructed in Bible truth, a living sense of God's claims, a\nrecognition of what I may call the law of consistency, and a feeling\nthat, as a matter of duty, we really ought to yield to those claims,\nand devote ourselves to doing His will. That is what Jeremiah meant\nwhen he called upon the people to join themselves unto the Lord in '_a\nperpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten_'.\n\nWe all recognize how right it is for buildings to be dedicated to God's\nservice; we call them the houses of God. We also see the rightness of\ncontributing gifts to help God's cause; and yet men and women are so\nslow to fully and definitely join themselves unto the Lord, that is, to\nput the sacred mark upon their entire lives, and recognize their duty\nin spending their lives for God alone. They are slow to regard their\nbodily, mental, and other powers and faculties as belonging to God, and\nslower still in yielding their hearts in supreme love to Him who loved\nthem, and gave Himself for them.\n\nI am often puzzled as to why religious people who, in their business\nlife, are regularly making covenants and contracts, either for labour\nor material, should so fail to follow on similar lines in their\nrelations to God. My duty called me lately to examine a contract, and I\nfound the basis expressed in terms like these: 'This is an agreement\nbetween So-and-so in the first part and So-and-so in the second part'.\nAnd then on each side there were pledges and responsibilities and\ncommitments; finally, the contract was 'signed, sealed, and delivered'\nby the two contracting parties. Now, that illustrates precisely what is\nmeant by a covenant with the Lord. He, on the one part, and we on the\nother part, uniting for a common purpose, and each undertaking definite\nresponsibilities to secure the purpose desired.\n\nMind, this covenanting with God is not a case of bargaining. I know\nthat it pays to be on right relationships with God, and to do His will;\nbut do not forget--He settles and dictates the terms, our part is to\ncomply and surrender.\n\nMoses puts this in a simple but beautiful way to his people when he\nsaid, '_Thou hast avouched_ the Lord this day to be thy God, and to\nwalk in His ways, and to keep His statutes, and His commandments, and\nHis judgments, and to hearken unto His voice: and _the Lord hath\navouched_ thee this day to be His peculiar people, as He hath promised\nthee, and that thou shouldst keep all His commandments'. The appeal of\nthe Apostle is also familiar to us all, 'I beseech you, therefore,\nbrethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living\nsacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable\nservice'.\n\nJesus always kept this before His disciples. He certainly talked of\ndaily cross-bearing, and following and confessing Him before the world;\nbut He was careful to say to them, 'There is no man that hath left\nhouse, or parents, or brethren, or wife, or children, for the kingdom\nof God's sake, who shall not receive manifold more in this present\ntime, and in the world to come life everlasting'.\n\nOur songs and prayers are full of the same ideas, and we are again face\nto face with the appeal expressed by Jeremiah: 'Come, let us join\nourselves unto the Lord in a perpetual covenant that shall not be\nforgotten'. Now, there are certain features of this covenant-making\nthat I should like to look at.\n\n1. To begin with, _it is to be an inward act, a thing of the heart_.\nI believe in outward tokens of religious life and feeling, such as\nstanding up, raising the hand, coming to the table, and similar modes\nof testimony; but if any of these outward acts are mere forms, they are\nnext to useless. The heart must be in it if the covenant is to be\nproperly made and maintained.\n\nOne frequently hears it said, 'Ah, yes, I do it in my heart. I can get\nthe blessing in my seat or at home quietly. I do not believe in this\npublic line of declaration, and this parade of one's sacred\nexperiences'. Well, I believe, in both the inward and the outward. If,\nhowever, we cannot have both, by all means let us have the covenant\nmade in sincerity of heart, for without that the whole thing is in\nvain.\n\nWe may learn much from an old Hebrew custom referred to in the\ntwenty-first chapter of Exodus, which shows that the Jewish people\nunderstood the nature of true devotion. Under the Mosaic law a\nbondservant could only be held by his master for six years; in the\nseventh he was 'to go out free for nothing'. But if the servant came to\nhis master, and said, 'I don't want to go; I love you; I will not go\nout free; I will serve you for ever', the master would reply, 'If you\nreally mean that, let us have it settled, and settled in public'. The\nmaster would then bring the servant to the judges to register the\nagreement, and would also take him to the doorpost, and with an awl\nbore a hole through the man's ear, fastening him to the post. This was\nthe sign of a perpetual covenant, and everybody who saw it knew that\nthe man's self-surrender to his master was real, binding, and\npermanent.\n\nWe have no such ceremony in our public Meetings, but we can have the\ndefinite declaration, 'I love Thee, O Lord, and I will serve Thee; and\nhere and now I bind myself in an everlasting covenant to serve Thee for\never'.\n\n2. Then, again, a true covenant is _a deed which commits you to active\nand definite service_. Some covenant-makings are largely sentimental; a\nkind of religious IOU or promise to pay, and I fear some are treated as\nthe Irishman treated his responsibility when, having signed a\npromissory note for a debt, he exclaimed, 'Thank God, that is done\nwith!'\n\nThe vows and covenant-making which God wants are those which will be\nfollowed by something practical. The states of emotion and high\nspiritual contemplation are right in so far as they assist men to\nrealize the presence of God and Divine things; but to answer their\npurpose they must carry men out to activity and self-denying service\nfor God and those around them. The highest type of religion is a\ncombination of the experimental and the practical, the inward and the\noutward, the personal and the relative. Our consecration must include\nwhat God can get out of us as well as what we obtain from Him.\n\nI found a parable the other day in a legend of the Greek Church which\nis worth repeating. That Church has two favourite saints--St.\nCassianus, the type of monastic asceticism, and St. Nicholas, the type\nof genial, active, unselfish, laborious Christianity. St. Cassianus\nenters Heaven, and Christ says to him, 'What hast thou seen on earth,\nCassianus?' 'I saw', he answered, 'a peasant floundering with his wagon\nin a marsh'. 'Didst thou help him?' 'No.' 'Why not?' 'I was coming\nbefore Thee,' said St. Cassianus, 'and I was afraid of soiling my white\nrobes'.\n\nJust then St. Nicholas enters Heaven, all covered with mud and mire.\n'Why so stained and soiled, St. Nicholas?' said the Lord. 'I saw a\npeasant floundering in a marsh,' said St. Nicholas, 'and I put my\nshoulder to the wheel, and helped him out'. 'Blessed art thou',\nanswered the Lord. 'Thou didst well; thou didst better than Cassianus.'\nAnd He blessed St. Nicholas with fourfold approval. The moral is so\nobvious that I need not labour the application of my parable.\n\n3. Let me also impress upon you that _covenant-making must be a\nbelieving act_. That is to say, when you come up to the altar of\nconsecration, and say, 'Here I give my all to Thee', you must believe\nthat if you are good for your word the Lord is also good for His. So\nthat what you give, God accepts; what you claim, God gives. That may\nappear a very simple way of putting the faith that saves and\nsanctifies, but in all its simplicity it is true, for 'He is faithful\nwho hath promised'.\n\n4. Then comes the all-important _necessity of standing to your\nconsecration at all costs_. 'Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a\nperpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten.' God wants men and\nwomen who stand to their covenant; who, having made their pledges and\npromises, are not turned aside by difficulties or temptations, but say\nand mean, as we sing sometimes--\n\n    _High Heaven, that heard the solemn vow,\n      That vow renewed shall daily hear,\n    Till in life's latest hour I bow,\n      And bless in death a bond so dear._\n\nIn the Book of Judges there is the story of a man named Jephthah. He\nmade a vow, and when the test came he found it involved the sacrifice\nof one who was all the world to him--his daughter, and she was his only\nchild. Jephthah rent his clothes, and almost broke his heart; and, no\ndoubt, everybody expected him to set aside his vow; but, no, he stood\nto it, declaring, 'I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I cannot\ngo back'. There are some, thank God, who equally stand to their\ncovenants with Him; but, alas! that so many open their mouths, and sing\nand say words of consecration, but when the temptation comes they do\nnot stand to their vows.\n\nOf all the people who hinder the cause of Jesus Christ, I think the\nmost lamentable cases are those who go back upon their Lord. Having\nspoken, they do not fulfil their word; having vowed, they do not\nperform their vows. They lack that decision which can be expressed in\nthe words, 'I will pay my vows unto the Lord now in the presence of His\npeople', and I want to urge all such to join with those of us who,\nbowing before the Divine altar, renew our covenant, resolving by His\ngrace to bind ourselves in perpetual devotion and service.\n\n    _Take my poor heart, and let it be\n    For ever closed to all but Thee;\n    Seal Thou my breast, and I shall wear\n    The pledge of love for ever there._\n\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nThe Baptism of the Spirit\n\n'_And suddenly there came a sound from Heaven as of a rushing mighty\nwind.... And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost._' (Acts ii.\n2, 4.)\n\n\nThe Holy Ghost is the active force in all spiritual life. It is,\ntherefore, important that we should realize the close connexion between\nthe experience of Holiness and that 'Promise of the Father' for which\nthe early disciples were to wait. All followers of Jesus should\nrealize, as truly as the disciples did on that historic day, that their\nday of Pentecost has fully come, and each of us should be able to say,\n'Not only was the Holy Ghost outpoured upon the waiting host in that\nJewish centre, but Pentecost has come to my heart. The Spirit of the\nliving God has come to me.'\n\nNow, whatever manifestations of the Holy Ghost there might have been in\nOld Testament times--and without question there were some wonderful\ndisplays--the age in which we live is the dispensation of the Holy\nGhost for us. Our Lord said that He should come to convince the world\nof sin, and to produce many other mighty effects.\n\nTo my mind, that Pentecostal event was like the launching of God's\ngreat campaign for the evangelization of the world. The world without\nthe Holy Ghost would be as dark, spiritually, as the material world was\nin the beginning before the Spirit moved upon the face of the waters,\nand God said, 'Let there be light'.\n\nGoing over Peter's sermon on that occasion, we find him quoting Joel's\nvery wonderful prophecy, claiming its fulfilment that day. And amongst\nall the glorious truths that have been proclaimed in our own time,\nthere is none grander than that God will dwell with men--yea, the\nSpirit of God will dwell _in_ men.\n\nYou cannot read your Bibles, nor look through the books of human\nexperience, without seeing that God's great purpose in the outpouring\nof the Spirit was the setting up of His Kingdom upon the earth. And we\nsee that as the Son of God humbled Himself to earth's poverty,\nignominy, and death, to redeem men, so the Holy Ghost is sent to be the\ngreat operating force in leading the world back to God. The hope of the\nworld is in the presence of the Holy Ghost through Jesus Christ.\n\n_It is so in relation to the individual soul._ The Holy Ghost stands at\nthe door of the Kingdom of God, either to bar the entrance or to fit\nthe soul to enter. You remember the Saviour's words to Nicodemus,\n'Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the\nkingdom of God'. There is, and can be, no entrance without conversion.\n\n'No man', says Paul, 'can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.' And\nwhen some would have put outward religion or the profession of it in\nthe place of this conversion, the deciding point was stated in\nunmistakable terms: 'If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is\nnone of His.' The Holy Ghost is the Spirit of Life, the Spirit of\nHealth, the Spirit of Love, the Spirit of Power, and there would be no\nhope for the human soul or the individual life apart from His gracious\npresence and influence.\n\nThis matter cannot be explained in terms of ordinary language, but it\nis none the less real and definite in human experience. To Nicodemus,\nJesus said, 'The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the\nsound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it\ngoeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit'. The Spirit, like\nthe wind, is mysterious in movement, uncontrolled by human restriction,\nand yet its influences are all-pervading. The courses of the wind are\nto be discerned by the effects; equally so will the Spirit's\noperations; mysterious, unfettered, unexplainable these operations may\nbe, but the effects are discernible in ourselves and others.\n\nAnalysing the purpose of God in the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, _we\nsee its application to ourselves in several ways_.\n\nThere is the rectification of our own hearts, the revealing of Divine\nthings within us, the transforming of our characters. All these are\nindications of the Holy Ghost's work in ourselves; and then comes the\npower to help and bless and save others, God making us channels of\nblessing, and instruments by which His Kingdom can be extended.\n\nIn this connexion there are two sayings of Jesus, which, although the\nfigure is changed, come up together in my mind. The first is in the\nstory of the woman at the well in Samaria. The Saviour said to her what\nis very applicable to you, 'Whosoever drinketh of the water that I\nshall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him\nshall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life'.\nLater, on the last day of the feast, Jesus said, 'He that believeth on\nMe, out of him shall flow rivers of living water'. Do you see what\nthose two sayings of Jesus set before us? The one shows how the Baptism\nof the Spirit provides the inward spring, the inward supply, bubbling\nup within, fresh, clean, sweet, and vitalizing like a 'fountain ever\nspringing'; the other indicates the outflow, from us to others, of this\nspiritual force and blessing.\n\nNow, you want both the inward spring and the outward flow. Some of you\nare very desirous about the second provision: 'Out of you shall flow\nrivers of living water'. It is good that you have such desires; but\nbefore you can become a channel through which the vital force can flow\nfor the Salvation of others, you must yourselves be the subject of the\nSpirit's operations within you. Not only as the great Revealer must the\nHoly Ghost make Divine things real to you, but as a purifying flame He\nmust change your nature, purging away the natural corruption and\nsinfulness of your heart.\n\nAn Eastern legend says that an angel once rested by a fair fountain. In\na favoured hour he infused it with a mysterious power, so that if only\nsome drops of its water were scattered in a barren plain, a fountain of\nsweet water would spring up. Any traveller who henceforth came to the\nspring might, after refreshing himself, take some portion from it, and\ncarry with him the secret of unfailing springs, and suffer no fear of\nthirst either for himself or those with him.\n\nWe are such travellers, and for us the water which Christ gives is\nbetter than that fabled fountain, for he who carries the precious water\nmay drop it in places where no spiritual water is, and so bring life\nand blessing to the multitudes of needy souls. Oh, note the words, 'The\nwater that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing\nup', and 'out of him shall flow rivers of living water'. This He spake\nof the Spirit which they that believe on Him should afterwards receive.\n\nThat is a very blessed promise, 'Ye shall receive power after that the\nHoly Ghost is come upon you'; and yet, so far as we understand the\nprevailing experience of Christian people, the promises of power are\nvery feebly realized, and very slowly acted upon. When we see the\nmanifest lack of the Holy Ghost in the experience, and ask, 'Why is\nthis?' we know that the cause may lie in certain easily defined facts.\n\nOne reason may be the actual _existence of sin in the heart_--some\nhidden or secret wrong. There are numbers in whose hearts there is\nsomething wrong. Is it so with you? Is there some inward love of or\ndesire for evil? Or the world spirit--is that there? Or anything of a\nsimilar character? Now, before the Holy Ghost can flow into you, to say\nnothing of Him flowing through and out of you, these wrong things must\nbe purged away by the cleansing stream; or, to change the figure, the\npurifying flame must\n\n    _Burn up the dross of base desire,\n    And make the mountains flow._\n\nOr the hindrance may lie in a _want of surrender and faith_, without\nwhich the Spirit cannot possess and use us. I am not speaking of some\nact of surrender or faith only, but also of that condition which must\nbe maintained. It is just that neglect or withdrawal which disturbs the\ntouch with God, and so the connexion is broken. You are all familiar\nwith the electric switch and the light. You know how slight is the\nthing which connects or disconnects the current. A child's finger can\ntouch a button which will turn on enough electricity to blast a rock or\nmove the machinery of a great factory.\n\nAnd so I tell you that little things which are held on to against God's\nwill switch off the Power. That unwillingness in some hearts to follow\nthe Lord, and do as He commands, will switch it off; that spirit which\nchooses to do this, but won't do that; which says, 'I will go here, but\nI won't go there', that sort of thing breaks the connexion.\n\nThis comes home very close to some of you, for, alas! it is just there\nthat your power fails. You must ask yourselves what are the hindrances,\nif any, in your hearts and lives? Some of you are weak, wavering,\nwobbling, and uncertain. If you look closely you will find the secret\nof that in your want of surrender and faith. Do not make a mistake; the\ninward experience is closely related to the outward service. God's plan\nis first to do the cleansing, and then the filling; first the inward\nspring, and then the outward flowing river.\n\nOne other important thing. If you have not got the Holy Spirit abiding\nwithin you, _no substitute will meet the need_. Many try to make other\nthings produce the same effects--religious talking, singing, energetic\nservice, or the memories of spiritual experiences. These are all very\ngood, but of themselves they will no more meet the necessities of your\nhearts and lives than a picture of a fire will warm the man who spreads\nout his hands before it. You must have the real thing--the power of the\nHoly Ghost.\n\nNow, the Lord is around and among us, saying, 'Receive ye the Holy\nGhost'; and whether you are an enslaved sinner, or a backslider in\nheart; or whether it is the assurance of Salvation, cleansing from sin,\nor power for service, which you lack, the Holy Ghost will meet your\nparticular need. Let God work His will in you, and in Jesus Christ's\nname I say, 'Receive ye the Holy Ghost'.\n\n    _'Tis fire we want, for fire we plead,\n                    Send the fire!\n    The fire will meet our every need,\n                    Send the fire!\n    For strength to ever do the right,\n    For grace to conquer in the fight,\n    For power to walk the world in white,\n                    Send the fire!_\n\n    _To make our weak hearts strong and brave,\n                    Send the fire!\n    To live a dying world to save,\n                    Send the fire!\n    Oh, see us on Thy altar lay\n    Our lives, our all, this very day--\n    To crown the offering now we pray,\n                    Send the fire!_\n\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nLost Earnings\n\n'_He that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with\nholes._' (Haggai i. 6.)\n\n\nIn our Holiness Meetings we often speak of Full Salvation as a blessing\nto be obtained, and also a blessing to be retained; but I want now to\nturn the truth the other way round, and speak about 'losing the\nblessing'. These words of Haggai about the man who lost his earnings\nthrough a faulty bag will serve me as a text, and are very significant.\n\nAs a figure of speech, the words are well understood. From the boy who,\nby holding a horse, or running errands, earns threepence, and puts it\ninto a pocket with a hole at the bottom, to the man or woman who puts\nthe savings of years into a rotten speculation, all know the literal\nmeaning of Haggai's text, 'He that earneth wages earneth wages to put\nit into a bag with holes'.\n\nThe central idea is that something gained by hard effort has been lost,\nand that the loss was due to the man's own fault. The man had earned\nhis wages, and then let what he had won by toil slip through holes in\nthe bag into which he put it. The possibility of this in relation to\nspiritual blessings is a danger we are warned against in God's Word,\nand the necessity for guarding against such losses is one of the\nimportant lessons to be learned.\n\nThis text reminds me of an incident and parable in the Book of Kings.\nDuring the progress of a battle one of the leaders, having captured a\nprisoner, called to a subordinate and placed the captive in his care,\nto be kept at the risk of his life. Later, the man had to give an\naccount, and when admitting the loss of the prisoner he said, 'As thy\nservant was busy here and there, he was gone'. Alas! there are many\nwhose spiritual acquisitions have slipped away like that.\n\nThe spiritual application of this thought is brought home to us by a\nverse in the Epistle to the Hebrews, 'Therefore we ought to give the\nmore earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time\nwe should let them slip'. If you look in the margin of your Bible, you\nwill see the words, 'run out as leaking vessels', and in the Revised\nVersion the words read, 'drift away from them'. You see the idea is,\nthat unless you are careful you will lose your blessing after having\nenjoyed it.\n\nLooking round my audiences I can with fitness use these figures, and\napply the idea to many who, after tears and agonies of heart, secured\nthe Salvation of their souls, and the heavenly treasure which only the\npardoned sinner knows; but, alas! through the faulty bag, or pocket\nwith holes, their earnings slipped away, and they are now spiritual\nbankrupts, their latter state being worse than the first. Thank God, if\nthose who have thus lost their Salvation and peace will truly repent\nand do their first works, they may again obtain heavenly treasure, and\nwith it grace and wisdom to prevent the repetition of past follies. Let\nothers learn and take heed lest they also drift away, as the Apostle\nputs it.\n\nMy chief purpose, however, relates to those who, though they once _had\nthe blessing of a clean heart, have lost it_. Their present lack is not\ndue to their having exhausted their earnings in lawful pursuits, or\nbecause they invested their treasure in sanctified enterprises, but\nbecause they have let the blessing slip; or, turning back to Haggai's\nwords, they have been as him 'that earneth wages to put it into a bag\nwith holes'. The experience is a thing of the past. At times they are\ntempted to say that they were deluded, and never had the blessing, or\nthat they were as a man who only dreamed that he had his wages; but\nthat is not so. The wages were earned, but lost.\n\nSo you must not regard your experience as the sensations of a dream.\nYou had the blessing right enough, and some of you had secured it at no\nsmall sacrifice; but, alas! you let it slip out of your possession, and\nyou woke up to find it gone.\n\nIt is remarkable how many sanctified people have to testify that before\nthey settled into the regular experience of Full Salvation they lost\nthe blessing which they had received; in fact, some eminent saints have\nrecorded repeated experiences of loss before they learned how to carry\nthemselves and guard against the dangers.\n\nPerhaps here I ought to say definitely, that the Bible does not tell us\nof any stage in our heavenward journey at which we can be saved from\nthe possibility of losing the blessing. This blessed treasure of\nperfect purity, peace which passeth all understanding, and joy\nunspeakable, is only ours so long as we maintain that entire\nconsecration and faith which are the conditions on which the blessing\nis received. There is no spot where the advice is not necessary--'Keep\nthy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life'.\nPaul put it clearly, 'Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest\nhe fall', and showed how seriously he regarded the matter when he\ndeclared that he had to keep his body under and in hand, lest after\npreaching to others he should himself become a castaway.\n\nI have called to mind two remarkable touches of Bunyan, in his\n'Pilgrim's Progress'. The first picture shows us Christian, weary with\nclimbing the Hill Difficulty, turning aside into a pleasant arbour\nwhere he sat down to rest. For the comfort of his own heart he pulled\nout his roll of assurance. He also began to examine with great\nsatisfaction the coat which had been given to him, and 'after pleasing\nhimself for a while' he fell into a slumber, and in his sleep let the\nroll fall from his hand.\n\nMercifully, Christian was awakened, and hasted along the road. Later,\nhe got into great temptation, and, desiring to reassure his own heart,\nhe put his hand into his bosom to find the roll, 'which was his pass to\nthe Celestial City'; but, to his horror, it was not there! After great\ndistress Christian remembered his sleeping in the arbour, and painfully\nretraced his steps 'bewailing his sinful sleep in the midst of\ndifficulty'. He reached the place of his loss, and at last espied the\nroll which had slipped out of his hand. He secured it once more, and\nafter giving thanks for his recovery, the Pilgrim betook himself again\nto his journey.\n\nBunyan's other picture of Vain-hope is even more pathetic. The vision\nshows the gate of the Celestial City, and the entrance of Christian and\nother pilgrims. But when this man, Vain-hope, came up, he had no roll\nor certificate, having lost it, if he ever had it; the poor wretch\npassed away to 'a door on the side of the hill', which caused the\ndreamer to write, 'Then I saw that there is a way to Hell even from the\nvery gates of Heaven'.\n\nHow true, therefore, it is, that at every stage of the heavenward\njourney, one has to guard against the loss of that spiritual treasure\nwhich has been secured at such a cost.\n\nI hope you see clearly that the Divine treasure is all right, and the\npossibility of its continued enjoyment is not in question. If lost, the\nfault is with the bag or carrier of the bag. But by pointing out some\nof the holes in the bag through which certain people have lost their\nblessing, we may help them and others.\n\nAs one hole through which spiritual loss is sustained, let me first\nspeak of _ignorance_. I do not say that in an unkind way. By ignorance\nI mean _lack of knowledge_. You cannot imagine a man putting his wages\ninto a faulty pocket if he knew there was a hole there.\n\nThere are traps and pitfalls for the newly sanctified. Some know of\nthem; others do not know, and are unprepared for dangers and the\ndevices of the Devil, who, if he cannot hinder a man getting the\nblessing will scheme to rob him of it. For instance, temptations to\ndoubt are pressed on a soul just entering the path of Holiness: 'Can it\nbe?' 'Have I been deceiving myself?' 'I thought I should have such and\nsuch sensations; where are the feelings of ecstasy which I expected?'\nThe uninstructed soul often confuses feelings with assurance,\nparticularly if in the moment of deliverance some special wave of\nfeeling swept over the soul. When this wave subsides the sensations are\ndifferent, and the soul is tempted to doubt the reality of the\ntransaction.\n\nPersonally, I am always thankful that both in the matter of conversion\nand getting a clean heart, the Lord left me to claim the blessing by\nnaked faith. I had little or no special feelings; I just had to go on\nbelieving. I stepped out, as upon thin air, and found my feet on the\nrock.\n\nFor lack of knowledge many souls imagine that Holiness will mean\necstasy, or that the sanctified soul will not feel temptation; and\nSatan feeds the anxious thought until sometimes the hand of faith is\nunclasped, and the blessing lost for the time being.\n\nLater on the faithful soul learns to hold on, to resist the enemy's\ninsidious attacks, and understands the meaning of the lines--\n\n    _Quick as the apple of the eye\n    The first approach of sin to feel_.\n\nAgain, _unwatchfulness_ is a hole, a danger against which I warn\nyou. Recently saved people, and those who have recently found Full\nSalvation, are tempted to say, 'Glory to God, now I am all right!'\nforgetting that, although on the right road, the journey is before\nthem, and that the rule of the road is, '_As_ ye received the Lord\nJesus, _so_ walk in Him'. Do not forget the relation between those two\nlittle words 'as' and 'so'.\n\nNow the word _unwatchfulness_, or I might change it for _carelessness_,\nis a very general term. I will touch upon two or three things in which\nit shows itself. Going where Jesus could not go with you; to do that is\nlike playing with pitch, or with fire. Keeping company with the wrong\npeople: some of you lose there; treating Meetings and prayer lightly;\nresenting little unkindnesses and persecution; carelessness of speech;\ngossiping, frivolity, forgetting that whilst the Holy Ghost is a Spirit\nof Joy, He is grieved by lightness and frivolous jesting. These are\nsome of the little holes through which the blessing drops out. You must\nwatch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation.\n\nThen, _holding back from testimony_ is a snare into which some of you\nhave fallen. Listen to me! Some of you have tried to testify, and your\nvery backwardness and fear have been holes in your bag through which\nthe blessing has been lost.\n\nMay I once more refer to myself. When, during a long course of years, I\nhave been bold and outspoken about my possession of the blessing of\nFull Salvation and my relations to God, sureness and confidence have\nfilled my heart; but when I have been tempted to modify and hedge and\nhesitate in the terms of my testimony, I have had reason to say, 'Is it\nso? Where am I?' Apply what I am saying to your own experience, and\njudge ye what I say.\n\n_Failure to walk in the light_ has been the cause of many professors of\nHoliness losing their blessing. The path of Holiness brings many\nsurprises and tests. Demands not previously thought of come upon one;\nduties not expected are presented; sacrifices are required: Do this, do\nthat. Let that go. Follow here, go there. I doubt whether any single\nday passes which does not bring its test of our consecration. If you\nfollow the light, you will be safe; but if you refuse it, you will go\nunder. Disobedience and a spirit of unwillingness knock holes in the\nbag. It has been so with some of you, and loss has been the result.\n\nI want to add a word about _personal prayer_ in this connexion, for I\nbelieve many owe their loss to a neglect of that essential. The lack of\nprayer shows over-confidence in oneself, and accounts for many falls.\n'Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and\nwatching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication.' This is\nindeed a necessary condition of keeping the blessing.\n\nMy closing question Is a very straight one. Have you got the blessing\nof a clean heart now? If you have had it and lost it, seek it once\nmore. Make haste to the altar; renew your consecration again, claiming\nthe blessing, and the Lord will restore you.\n\n\n\n\nXV\n\nFighting Holiness\n\n'_Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life._' (1 Timothy\nvi. 12.)\n\n\nMy object, in announcing 'Fighting Holiness' as my subject, is to make\nit quite clear that a Full Salvation does not mean a hot-house\nemotionalism or glass-case sanctity, but a vigorous, daring, aggressive\nreligion, on the lines of the Saviour's words, 'The Kingdom of Heaven\nsuffereth violence, and the violent take it by force'.\n\nIf this text, 'Fight the good fight of faith', means anything at all,\nit means you must struggle for the thing you believe in. If you do not\nfight for it, the inference is either that you have little love for and\nconfidence in your cause, or that you are indolent and unfaithful to\nthat cause.\n\nYou say you believe in the rightness of God's claims upon the hearts\nand lives of men; you believe in the humiliation and passion of Christ\nto redeem men; you believe in the necessity for and possibility of\nrescuing human souls from the curse of evil and the eternal penalty of\nsin; but, believe me, your faith is vain if you do not stand for, and\nlabour and fight to enforce, God's claims to proclaim Christ's\nredeeming grace, and to deliver men from going down to the pit.\n\nThe aspects of personal Holiness set out in terms such as 'perfect\npeace' and the 'rest of faith' are frequently before us, and I do not\ndesire to reduce their value, for it is a blessed truth that 'we which\nhave believed do enter into rest'. If by the 'rest of faith' is meant\nthat calm confidence in the power and grace of God by which the\nbelieving and obedient soul is kept in perfect peace, then, all right;\nthat, however, is very different from the only-believe-and-do-nothing\npolicy of some people who adopt the phrase. Let there be no mistake\nabout the fact that every consecrated man must take his place in God's\nfighting line.\n\nThe story of Mary of Bethany, 'who sat at the Lord's feet, and heard\nHis word', also appeals to me; but the emphasis is not quite as some\npeople put it. What Christ commended in Mary was not that she sat at\nHis feet whilst Martha did all the hard work, but that she had 'chosen\nthe good part--the one thing needful', which her anxious sister seems\nto have overlooked.\n\nThere is rest for the struggling soul who finds in Jesus a real\ndeliverer. There is rest for the soul tossed about on waves of doubt\nand fear, who, anchoring in the haven of the Saviour's love, finds\npeace in believing. For the faithful but tired servant of Christ who\n'works whilst it is called day', for the warrior also who has faced the\nenemy and braved the danger, there is rest; but the rest comes after\nthe working and fighting is over.\n\nI like the words 'fight' and 'fighting', because _they involve taking a\nside_, and devoting oneself to secure victory for the side one belongs\nto. I heard some one remark the other day, 'God wants fighting saints\nas well as kissing saints'; truly the phrase is not without its lesson\nfor us. This is the very opposite to the attitude known as 'sitting on\nthe fence', or that wretched fear which seems to possess some professed\nfollowers of Jesus Christ, who, outside a church or religious Meeting,\nare afraid to declare themselves for Him.' I am for Jesus Christ, and I\nwant everybody to know it'; that is the line of the true Soldier.\n\nOh, how the spirit of compromise curses and hinders the work of God! I\nthink the man who invented the phrase 'out-and-out consecration' was a\nbenefactor to the cause, seeing it is such a contradiction of the\nhalf-and-half spirit which characterizes so much religious profession\nand service.\n\nWhen reading the history of the American Civil War, I found instances\nof strange fraternizing on the part of the soldiers of contending\narmies. Sometimes the soldiers of the North would be on one side of a\nriver when the Southern troops were on the other side. With the evening\ncame suspension of hostilities, and under cover of darkness men of one\narmy would cross over to the enemy's camp to smoke and talk with men\nwho during the day had sought their destruction. That may have seemed\nvery fine, from a certain point of view, but is regrettable in\nreligious warfare. When the Soldiers of Jesus cross over to the Devil's\nforces for their pleasure and refreshment, it indicates little devotion\nto their King or enthusiasm for His cause.\n\nWhy should we be friends with the enemies of our Lord? If we have\nsincerely chosen His side, let all compromise cease, and each of us\ndeclare and stand for Him at all costs.\n\nThen this idea of Fighting Holiness implies that _the sanctified\nSoldier of Christ is an aggressor in the struggle for his Lord's\nsupremacy_. He cannot be content with following the line of the least\nresistance; he is rather in the spirit of the words already quoted,\n'The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by\nforce'.\n\nThe business of attack in Spiritual Soldier-ship is quite as important\nas the protection of your own soul or defence of your position. It may\ninvolve doing violence to your own feelings, and oft-times to the\nfeelings of others, but you cannot be faithful to your profession\nunless willing to attack the Devil's strongholds, and fight evil in its\nown entrenchments.\n\nI was much interested a few days ago in the story of a man connected\nwith a Corps where there has been a marvellous religious awakening. The\nman got truly saved, and became a Salvation Soldier. A month later he\nwas convinced of his need of a clean heart, his chief conviction being\nthat he ought to become 'a fisher of men'. He went to the mercy-seat,\nmade his consecration, claimed the blessing and power, and began\nfishing for souls. That was a little over a year ago; recently the\nresults of that man's personal fishing were ascertained, and it was\nseen that since his consecration he had personally induced over 300\npersons to go to the mercy-seat for Salvation. That is an illustration\nof the aggressive spirit included in Fighting Holiness.\n\nWe each find our own particular difficulties with which we should\ngrapple, and the enemies whom we ought to attack; but, speaking\ngenerally, I point to the evil influences which are around us, cursing\nthe people, the victims, alas! being multiplied by those who fatten on\nthe woes and vices and even ruin of their fellows. These influences\nmust be resisted, the fiends of Hell in human form must be grappled\nwith, and 'the prey be taken from the mighty'. People must be aroused\nfrom their indifference and selfishness; the cold-blooded carelessness\nand worldliness of formal religionists must be assailed as well as help\nrendered to those who are ready to perish. Our fighting programme must\ninclude all this, if we are to be consistent professors of holy\nconsecration to God and His Kingdom.\n\nThen, further, I recognize that _personal spiritual conflicts are\nincluded in Fighting Holiness_. That is to say, our battles and\nvictories relate not only to resistance of the Devil and the rescue of\nhis captives, but in the varying phases of personal experiences we have\nto fight this good fight of faith.\n\nSpiritual conflicts often have much mystery connected with them. If the\nfact had not been recorded, that Christ was tempted in all points like\nas we are, and learned obedience in the things which He suffered, we\nshould wonder whether some of our struggles of faith were not the\nresult of personal sin. We know, however, that there may be much\ntemptation without either contracting the guilt or stain of sin.\n\nIt is true that spiritual conflicts are all the more dangerous for\nthose who have not yet found deliverance from their own unsanctified\npassions and tendencies. A heart in which such things as pride and evil\ndesire, lust, worldly ambition, and ill-tempers remain, is like a\ncitadel in which traitors lurk to respond to the call of outward\nenemies. But when the heart is sanctified, and we are equipped with the\narmour of which Paul wrote to the Ephesians, the attacks of the enemy\ncan be continually resisted.\n\nI cannot cover the area of spiritual conflict. As varied as our\ncharacters are our temptations, and with all the changes in\ncircumstances and physical or mental condition come enticements to\nevil. We have never taught that Holiness of heart means freedom from\ntemptation. In one form or another temptation will come to the holiest\nof us, and the fight of faith has to be sustained even up to the very\ngates of Heaven.\n\nThe fully consecrated soul has not only to resist the temptations to\npositive sin, but must manifest its victory in the patient endurance of\nphysical ills and the trials of life; and that apostolic note of\ntriumph is also a word of guidance, 'This is the victory which\novercometh ... even your faith'.\n\nHuman nature, even with the best of us, is a marvellous combination. We\nhave nerves which sometimes vibrate like the wires of a highly-strung\nharp. Mental clouds at times seem to shut the sun out of the conditions\nof life, and dark shadows stretch across or along the pathway. Some of\nus have dispositions which, whilst capable of exquisite pleasure, also\nexpose us to the most acute pain and disappointment. Then comes the\ntemptation to charge against our spiritual condition weaknesses which\nare purely physical. To resist such temptations is indeed the fight of\nfaith.\n\nPhysical depression comes upon some people until, for the time being,\nlife is a burden and death would be a relief. Measured by their bodily\nand mental sensations, their experience is sometimes like a stretch of\narid desert, and in such hours the enemy assails the mind with\ndifficulties and suggestions to doubt, which can only be conquered by\nsteady confidence in the love and wisdom and prevailing grace of the\nliving God. That is the good fight of faith.\n\nI hope that what I have said will not discourage any soul. Remember, if\nwe are fully given up to God, and seeking to realize His will for us,\nwe are not fighting a losing battle; 'He that is with us is greater\nthan they that be against us'. The provision of Divine Grace is such\nthat, in spite of enemies and dangers, our life can be one of victory;\nwe can be more than conquerors through Him that loved us. The victor's\npalm and the overcomer's crown will more than compensate for the\nself-denial and loss of things which the world counts gain.\n\nMany of you know the story of a certain Indian conqueror who, in his\nonward march, came to a temple containing a specially sacred idol. This\nhe was proceeding to destroy, when the priests and others pleaded with\nhim, and offered a large sum of money if he would only spare that idol;\nbut, refusing the bribe, the conqueror demolished the image, and found\nwithin it the treasures of the temple, which for safety had been hidden\nthere. There are many things which we may lose by fighting our battles\nfaithfully, but the heavenly treasure will more than make up for it\nall.\n\n'Be thou faithful unto death' is a strong exhortation; but that which\nmakes it a positive inspiration to loving and enduring service and\nfighting is the added sentence, 'I will give thee a crown of life'.\n\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nSanctified Commonplaces\n\n'_In that day shall there be upon the bells of the horses, Holiness\nunto the Lord; and the pots in the Lord's house shall be like the bowls\nbefore the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah shall be\nholiness unto the Lord of hosts._' (Zechariah xiv. 20, 21.)\n\n\nWhat I have to say may not strike some of you as setting forth any very\nhigh or exalted truth, but I am satisfied as to its being a very\nimportant matter. I want to talk to you about the sanctification of the\ncommonplace things in life.\n\nHowever desirable it may seem, you cannot always be sitting at the\nMaster's feet in that contemplative, ecstatic mood sometimes attributed\nto Mary. Like Martha, we have to do a good deal of serving. Whether we\nare _encumbered_ by 'much serving' is a separate question; but if we\nare to fulfil the Divine tasks we have to do a great deal of serving as\nwell as praying and trusting. I may quote, with slight alteration, two\nlines of a poem:--\n\n    _Who sleeps and dreams that life is beauty,\n    Will wake to find that life is duty_.\n\nHow true that is in practical life many of us know full well.\n\nThe most attractive manifestation of God's power is seen in the fact\nthat He stoops to touch men at the points of their daily need. It is\nthat aspect of the grace of God--the meeting your need in the daily\nbattle of life--which makes it so supremely precious. In the same way,\nwhen we, who profess to be followers and imitators of our Heavenly\nFather, and to regulate our conduct by the principles of holy living,\nbring these principles to bear upon the ordinary relationships of life,\nwe are most accepted in our witness for Jesus Christ, and exert the\nbest, the most effective influence upon others.\n\nThese are the thoughts that have been in my mind, and which have led me\nto the subject upon which I wish to speak: the sanctification of the\ncommonplace things. My thoughts arise from reading this passage in the\nBook of Zechariah: 'In that day shall there be upon the bells of the\nhorses, _Holiness unto the Lord_; and the pots in the Lord's house\nshall be like the bowls before the altar. Yea, every pot in Jerusalem\nand in Judah shall be holiness unto the Lord of hosts'.\n\nNow, when we look at these things, these pots and pans and horses and\nbridles and things of that sort, having to do with our daily toil, our\ncooking and eating, our work at home and in the streets, and compare\nthem with the glories of the Temple, the golden candlesticks, the\ngolden vessels, the High Priest's wonderful garments, his breastplate,\nand, not least, with the Ark of the Covenant, we feel they are very\ncommonplace things. And yet, you see, according to this statement the\nsame stamp of holiness is to be put upon them all. Even the most\ncommonplace of them comes within the scope of this Divine sanctity, and\nthere is to be in relation to each of them this sacredness, this\nsanctification: 'Holiness unto the Lord', is the stamp for all alike.\n\nAs an illustration of how _Jesus did great things by the use of the\ncommonplace_, look at that narrative of the marriage in Cana of\nGalilee. We should probably never have heard of this marriage but for\nour Lord's miracle; and yet, apart from His Divine power, the process\nof turning the water into wine and transforming the character of the\nentire feast, that event was, indeed, a very common one.\n\nLook, first of all, at these clay pots--common enough--jars and jugs,\nstanding in a corner, or perhaps standing out on the veranda, near\nwhere the Saviour was sitting. These pots are easily broken, and no\ngreat value is attached to them. If Christ had intended to do this\ngreat thing you would have imagined that He would have called for the\nbest vessels in the house; but He did nothing of the kind. He took the\nvery meanest vessel of the whole household, and He consecrated and\nsanctified it to His Divine use.\n\nLook at the water--that is common enough. Wine is costly, but water is\ncheap; it is thrown about, slopped about, and the pails containing it\nare often upset because easily filled again. Ordinarily speaking, water\nis one of the commonest of the commonplace necessaries of life. And yet\nthat water was sanctified for a display of the Divine power.\n\nThen there are the servants--never a scarcity in the East, where often\nthere are three to do one man's work. Christ did not call the master of\nthe house to stand near and observe Him, or say, 'Ye highly-placed\nguests, come and see'. He left the head people, as we should say, and\ntook the common servants. 'Fill up the jars; draw it out; carry it to\nthe governor; pass it round', was His simple command. And the water was\nturned into wine. Some one has poetically said, 'The modest water saw\nits Lord, and blushed'; but it was more than that, for His was the best\nwine of the feast.\n\nChrist, you see, sanctified commonplace things and persons to display\nHis benevolence and power. Make some practical use of them in regard to\nyour own lives.\n\nIt is hardly needful for me to point out that life is very largely made\nup of commonplaces--commonplace engagements, commonplace relationships,\nand commonplace duties. There are some who are a little better off than\nothers, but even such people have common things to do before they get\nthrough the routine of life. With some of us it is altogether\nso--commonplace in the home, commonplace in the situation, commonplace\nin the workshop, commonplace in the office, commonplace in what we do\nfor our living, and commonplace in the persons with whom we are\nassociated. Nothing great or dignified about it. It is indeed a case of\n'the trivial round, the common task'.\n\nBut, whether you are a business man or a road-sweeper, you can live the\nsanctified life.\n\nSome of you may be heads of houses or domestic servants, horse-drivers\nor laundry-workers, factory hands or the owners of factories; but\nwhatever you are, as followers of Jesus Christ, God wants you to put\nthis label upon each and every section of your life--'Holiness unto the\nLord'. He wants you also to conduct yourselves in every way consistent\nwith that thought. The pots and the pans, and the bridles of the\nhorses, and whatever we may have to do, must be labelled with that.\n\n'Commissioner, can a man have a clean heart and drive a cab?' a man\nrecently asked me. 'Of course, he can,' I replied, 'and if you come\nwith me I will show you how to do it'.\n\nWhy, the way in which we use these things is to be a part of our\nconsecrated service to God. It does not sound very lofty, but that is\njust where the highest exhibition of Holiness can be given to the\nworld. It is not what you do--that may seem very important or may be\nvery trivial; but it is the manner of doing it and the motive behind it\nwhich is the main thing.\n\nYou have all heard the story of the servant-girl who had got the\nblessing, and who, when asked how she knew she had it, said that she\nknew it because she 'now swept under the mats'. What a very simple\nthing, and yet the blessing of Holiness just shows itself in that.\nSweeping round the mat and in the middle of the room only is not\n'Holiness'. The girl was quite right; she knew that the sanctifying\nGrace of God had made a change in her, because she wanted to clean\nwhere dirt would not have been seen even if left there.\n\nHow beautiful the lines of George Herbert, where, after speaking of\ndoing things 'for Christ's sake', he says:--\n\n    _A servant with this clause\n      Makes drudgery divine;\n    Who sweeps a room as for Thy laws\n      Makes that and the action fine._\n\nThe fact that you do your work in the spirit of your religion\nsanctifies your lives. It transforms them from secular to sacred. Your\nwork and your worship spring from the same motive, and those who see\nthis treat you and your work with respect. The Scripture puts it\nbeautifully in speaking of the Apostles, 'The people took knowledge of\nthem that they had been with Jesus'.\n\nObserve carefully how Zechariah combines the great and the commonplace.\nHe says not only that the pots in the Lord's house shall be as sacred\nas the bowls before the altar, but that every pot and pan in the city\nshall be sanctified. The great point to be learned is that the Holiness\nof the home is to be as the Holiness of the Temple. The dedication\nwhich makes the bowls before the altar holy is also to sanctify the\npots of the household, and the bells and trappings of the horses; the\nlabel which was written upon the priest's forehead, 'Holiness unto the\nLord', is to be stamped upon the common things, in the street, in the\nshop, in the house--in fact, upon everything.\n\nGet rid for ever of the idea that the affairs of human life are divided\ninto things secular and things sacred; that business is separate from\nreligion, and religion separate from business; that the consecration of\ncertain hours to Meetings, to Bible-reading, or to religious work, is a\ndifferent sort of thing from the devotion of other hours to labour, or\neating, or physical necessities. Now, such a division may exist with\nsome, but it cannot be allowed to exist in the lives of those who\nprofess to have consecrated themselves to God.\n\nIn that case there is only _one label for everything_. For the meanest\nact, the commonest duty, the personal and private habits, there is only\none motive, 'Holiness unto the Lord'. God's will, God's honour, God's\nservice--these are on the labels. And--\n\n    _The trivial round, the common task,\n    Will furnish all we ought to ask,\n    Room to deny ourselves--a road\n    To bring us daily nearer God._\n\nSome have not got there yet. They have not made a dedication such as\nZechariah spoke of, one which governs the whole life, the big and the\nlittle, the work and the worship, their associations and pleasures and\nmethods of business. There are things in their daily work and personal\nhabits, little indulgences or selfishnesses, to which that label,\n'Holiness unto the Lord', cannot be attached.\n\nOh, I beseech you, make no distinctions. Let there be no reserves.\nBody, soul, spirit, as we sometimes sing, lay upon the altar.\nConsecrate yourselves to your Lord in simplicity and sincerity, with a\nsimple faith that God will baptize you, and give you His Holy Spirit to\nmaintain this consecration.\n\n    _What e'er pursuits my time employ,\n    One thought shall fill my soul with joy;\n    That silent, secret thought shall be\n    That all my hopes are fixed on Thee._\n\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nSpiritual Growth\n\n'_Thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring whose waters\nfail not._' (Isaiah lviii. 11.)\n\n'_Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus\nChrist._' (2 Peter iii. 18.)\n\n\nThe truths of the Bible exist in counterpart, having at least two\naspects, each of which must be considered in relation to the other, if\ntheir full meaning is to be understood. That is a very necessary\nstatement in regard to the aspect of truth which we emphasize under the\ngeneral heading of 'Spiritual Growth', or 'Growth in the Divine Life'.\nOn the one hand, we know that spiritual experience is marked by certain\ncrises which are in some cases like earthquakes or tidal waves; whilst,\non the other hand, the law of progression must be in constant\noperation.\n\nWe speak of conversion as a crisis, because a man in a moment 'passes\nfrom death unto life'; or, in the Saviour's words, is 'born again'.\nWhatever happens before or after, there must be that definite change\nbefore any man can enter the Kingdom of God. Then, happily, many have\nexperienced another crisis which we speak of as 'getting a clean\nheart'. This happens when an enlightened soul fully and absolutely\nconsecrates itself to God, and, by faith, claims and realizes that 'the\nBlood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin'. A man may be a long\ntime, in coming to that point; but, sooner or later, he must reach and\npass it if he is to secure that 'holiness, without which no man shall\nsee the Lord'.\n\nBut whilst no amount of improvement in moral character can dispense\nwith the crises referred to, we cannot rightly magnify the definite\ntransactions at conversion or cleansing, or any other remarkable point\nof religious life, to the detraction of spiritual growth. Each aspect\nof the truth, as I have already said, is the counterpart of the other,\nand must be viewed in its natural perspective.\n\nPeople sometimes express themselves in exaggerated language as regards\nboth aspects of truth. A lady friend, referring to a young person of\nbeautiful disposition, said to me, 'Ah, you see, in her case there is\nno need of conversion. She was born sanctified like her mother.' Quite\na false notion. But it is equally foolish for persons to exclaim, 'I\nam converted, and a child of God; now I am all right'; or, 'Now I have\ngot a clean heart; it is all done'. As a matter of fact, there is no\nmore important principle to be cultivated than the law of progression\nor advance in the Divine life. That principle is certainly in perfect\nharmony with Scripture teaching, and is expressed in Peter's\nexhortation, 'Grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and\nSaviour Jesus Christ'.\n\nPaul's words about 'growing up unto Him in all things which is the head\neven Christ', express the same thought; whilst John shows the ascending\ngrades of spiritual experience in directing his words to 'little\nchildren', 'young men', and 'fathers'. These grades are not measured by\nyears, but by progress in spiritual life and vigour and personal\nknowledge of God.\n\nThe Bible contains many figures illustrating this idea of growth or\nprogress, whether applied to character or service. For example, it\nrefers to the garden as a place where things grow, and thus illustrates\nthe garden of the soul; to the development of a building in course of\nerection, 'all fitly framed together' and growing; to the growth of a\nfortune by wise investment, in the use of talents, two becoming four,\nfive becoming ten, and so forth. The growth of the human body is also\nreferred to, with its limbs, muscles, and parts developing with the\nhead; and the growth of the student, as exemplified in the text, 'Add\nto your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge\ntemperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and\nto godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity'.\n\nThen the ideas associated with a garden or the field are also used as\nillustrations. The Bible parables from nature are very significant and\npowerful. They embrace the vine and its branches, the sower and the\nseed, the lily among thorns, the trees planted by the rivers of water;\nand thus the facts of the spiritual realm are made clear to us.\n\nI often speak of _the garden of the soul_. If I widen the figure, and\napply it to our personal character and general make-up, we shall see\nthe similitude of a garden which is a place where all sorts of things\ngrow; things related to the body, and to the mind, and to life\ngenerally.\n\nThe gardener studies his ground, and the possible products and\navailable seed. He seeks to get rid of the weeds and briers and\npoisonous plants, in order that the desired products may grow to\nperfection. So the ground of our hearts and characters must be purged\nfrom the weeds and hindering things which grow with the affections and\ndisposition generally. Evil things flourish apace in the garden of\nhuman nature; but if they are removed, sanctified seed may be sown, and\nholy plants may be cultivated.\n\nThe Bible also speaks of God's saints as being in '_the garden of the\nLord_', as trees which His right hand planted, or growing from seed\nwhich He has sown, blossoming as the rose, fragrant as the honeysuckle\nand almond, and bringing forth the fruits of righteousness to the glory\nof His name. But whether you look at your souls as a garden, from which\nevil plants are to be removed, and in which the plants of God's grace\nare to flourish instead, or regard yourselves as trees in God's garden,\nthe ideas are always connected with growth, enlargement, and\nproductiveness.\n\nIsaiah gives an illustration which is in striking contrast. Speaking of\nGod's idea concerning His saints, he says, 'Thou shalt be like a\nwatered garden, and a spring whose waters fail not'; but he supplies\nanother picture of those 'who forsake the Lord' after having known Him,\nGod saying to them, 'Ye shall be as an oak whose leaf fadeth, and as a\ngarden that hath no water'. Let us look well at ourselves, and find out\nto which class we belong.\n\nThe religion of Jesus Christ is pre-eminently good because it marks\nthings of evil growth as things to be rooted out, and it produces\nqualities in the soul and character which are Christ-like, such as\nlove, forgiveness of injuries, patience, devotion, and self-sacrifice\nfor the good of others. These are all things which grow, and must grow,\nif we are to be as God wants us to be. Cleansing from evil things we\nmust definitely seek and secure; but growth in grace and peace and\nDivine knowledge, and skill in service, must be sought and cultivated\nby us continually.\n\nIt may help our understanding of this truth if we study carefully the\nprocess in the growth of a good tree. If there is satisfactory\ndevelopment, three things in the tree will be discovered; namely,\ngrowth in the root, growth in the branches, and growth in the form of\nflowers and fruit.\n\n1. I said _growth in the root_. This means that the tree must strike\ndeep, deeper, and deeper still, so as to get an increasingly firm grip\non the earth below, from which it draws much of its support. Without\nthis the tree will fall of its own top-weight, or be uprooted by the\nstorms which will rage about it. So, in the individual soul and\ncharacter there must, below the surface, be a deepening and spreading\nand gripping of the spiritual forces and principles and realizations,\nthose hidden connexions with the Divine Unseen without which one cannot\nstand before the storms and scorching tests of life.\n\nOne of the sacred writers speaks of a section of God's people in\ntrouble, and in danger of being wiped out, but reveals God's purpose\nfor them in these words, 'They shall yet again take root downward, and\nbear fruit upward'. It is not difficult to grasp the principle\nillustrated; we must cultivate _a religion with roots_, otherwise our\nexperience will be superficial and shallow, and, like the seed in the\nparable, with no depth of earth, and having little root, will\nultimately become dried up.\n\nThis really means growth in secret, growth out of sight, and reminds us\nof the beautiful words of Jesus: 'When thou prayest, enter into thy\ncloset; and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is\nin secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall Himself reward\nthee openly'. There are many kinds of prayer, but here is one that\nhelps growth in the very roots of our religion. It fits in with the\nPsalmist's word, 'He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High\nshall abide under the shadow of the Almighty'.\n\n2. I also spoke of _growth in the branches_. It is easy to understand\nwhat the growth of trunk and branches means in a tree; it grows higher,\ndevelops strength, and reaches out farther. It means the same when\napplied to growth in grace and character; getting power to grow\nstronger in resisting evil and standing for the right; stronger to say\n'Yes' and 'No'; stronger to discharge our duty, and to endure hardness\nas good soldiers of Christ. Equally it means reaching out, stretching\nfarther, and extending our efforts to reach and help and bless.\n\nThe banyan tree of the East affords us an apt illustration in this\nconnexion. Its stem shoots up, its branches dip, touch the earth, and\ntake root, repeating the process of extension until a great area is\ncovered, and crowds may shelter beneath it. In like manner the extent\nof one's influence may at first be small, and the circle affected by\nour power be limited; but if it is wisely used and cultivated, it will\nstretch and grow, reaching farther and farther, and touching new people\nwith new power and blessing.\n\nYou know the old preacher's reproach to the people who sang, 'Oh, for a\nthousand tongues!' and yet would not use the one they each possessed to\nwitness for their Lord. I knew a man who wanted to go to China as a\nmissionary, who would not testify for Christ in the neighbourhood where\nhe lived. That meant declension, not growth. Growth comes by using the\ngrace, stretching out and reaching forth; the power increases by reason\nof use.\n\n3. Finally, there is _growth in the form of flowers and fruit_. God\nno more intended His creatures to be barren and unfruitful in religion,\nthan He intended plants to fail in bloom and fruit. How perfectly clear\nJesus makes this in His Parable of the Vine and the Branches! Of the\nbranch which abideth in the Vine He says that when purged it shall\nexperience a certain progression. Observe the order, 'bear fruit--more\nfruit--much fruit', and 'fruit which shall remain'. Let us ask\nourselves to which of these stages we have attained, and go on\nearnestly to a fuller fruitfulness.\n\nIf I had space to speak of the various kinds of Nature's growth, I\nshould point out how some fruit is for human food, such as apples,\noranges, grain, and vegetables. Some blossoms are for beauty and\nfragrance, and in other cases flowers and fruit appear to be chiefly\nfor seed purposes; but with almost every plant and tree the best\nfeature is its reproductive power; that is, fruit is produced whose\nseed is in itself, and so multiplies its own kind.\n\nIs not that what God wants with us? Beauty and grace and gratification,\ncertainly, for we must adorn the doctrine; but your sanctified fruit\nmust have the seed in itself, which drops and takes root, and\nreproduces itself in the world around you. Remember my last word,\n'Herein is your Father glorified that ye bear much fruit'; fruit now\nand fruit always; so that, like the trees planted by rivers of water,\nyou shall 'bring forth fruit even in old age'.\n\n    _Oh, help us, Lord, throughout our time\n    To test ourselves, by help divine,\n      To see what fruit we bear;\n    What promise are we making Thee,\n    As ripened souls we wish to be,\n      When harvest home draws near._\n\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\nThe Inward Laws\n\n'_I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write\nthem. Their sins and iniquities will I remember no more._' (Hebrews x.\n16, 17.)\n\n\nThe beginnings of religion lie in the desire to have our sins forgiven,\nand to be enabled to avoid doing the wrong things again. It was so with\nDavid when, in the fifty-first Psalm, he not only cried, 'Have mercy\nupon me, O God, and blot out my transgressions', but 'Wash me, cleanse\nme from my sin'.\n\nSin is a double evil. On the one hand, it creates a record of\nwrongdoing which has to be faced; on the other, it creates a disease in\nthe moral system and spiritual make-up of a man. This disease creates\ndesires for the evil thing, and so warps and weakens a man's force of\nresistance that when the temptation is presented, the inward craving\nasserts itself, and makes the man _want_ to go into the temptation.\n\nTo deal with this complex character of sin is a greater problem than\nhuman ingenuity and skill are equal to. God, however, has solved the\nproblem Himself, and His plan of Salvation is addressed to both aspects\nof evil. It includes, first, the forgiveness of sins; and then the\nintroduction of a new governing force and the power to live according\nto the will of God. Both these things are set out in the verses quoted,\nalthough the order of statement is reversed.\n\nLet me use two stories to illustrate the separate points. The one\nrelates to a little boy who, having done wrong in his home, had been\ndealt with by his mother. Referring to it afterwards, the boy said,\n'Yes, I knew mother had forgiven me for the wrong; but I saw in her\nface, although she did not frown, that she remembered all day what I\ndid in the morning'. There are many, no doubt, who forgive in that\nfashion; but it is not God's way. He says, 'Their sins and their\niniquities will I remember no more'. He forgets as well as forgives.\n\nAn illustration of the other point came out in the personal testimony\nof an eminently religious man who, before his conversion, was addicted\nto horse-racing. He said that after his conversion he did not go to the\nrace-meeting, but very much wanted to do so. Later, when the light came\nto him, he got his heart and mind sanctified; and 'Then', said he, 'I\nnot only did not go, but I had no desires to be there; the Lord had\ntaken _the want to_ out of my heart'.\n\nIt is the knowledge of these two aspects of evil, and of the necessity\nfor having the double problem dealt with, which causes us to lay such\nemphasis upon the 'clean heart' teaching. First, the forgiveness of the\nsins; then cleansing from the evil desire, and getting the power to\nlive the holy life. This is the essence of our Holiness doctrine.\n\nThere are, as I have frequently pointed out, other things besides inner\nexperiences connected with true religion; for instance, we read in this\nchapter of its outward tokens, such as witnessing for Christ, holding\nfast the profession or confession of our faith without wavering. That\nis very important. There is also the association with others who are of\nthe same mind; 'not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together'.\nCombination and outward union seem to be within the Divine plan for\nextending religion. Stirring one another up to duty is also emphasized,\n'exhorting one another', 'provoking one another to love and good\nworks'; that is, helping each other in the things which make for the\ngodly life. All these must be in us and abound, if we are to justify\nour religion.\n\nBut, after all, _the vital thing about religion is its inward springs\nand connexions_; the outer life inspired and regulated by the laws of\nGod put into our hearts and written in our minds, reproducing\nthemselves in the activities and relations of daily life.\n\nWe would not undervalue the tables of stone, on which God with His own\nfinger wrote the Commandments, and delivered them to Moses. We would\never prize the Blessed Bible, with its sacred records of the wonderful\nrevelations of the Divine mind and purposes concerning men; for, in\nproducing these, 'holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy\nGhost'. How much more highly, however, do we value the Spirit of God\nwriting upon the fleshly tables of the heart, bringing the heart and\nmind, not only into the knowledge of God's will, but into harmony with\nit, and planting and feeding the living principles which produce the\nfruit of good living!\n\nIt is worth while to inquire what are the laws which God undertakes\nto put into the hearts and minds of His willing children. In this\nconnexion we think of _the law of submission and obedience_. Religion\nbegins there. When seeking Salvation, either at the penitent-form or\nelsewhere, we went down, submitted ourselves to God, so far as we knew\nit, and declared that we would do what He wanted us to do.\n\nWe saw, felt, and accepted it as the settled thing for us that His will\nshould be the governing law; that must go on operating all along life's\nway. Continuing to follow Him is as important as beginning to do\nso--'If any man will deny himself, let him take up his cross, and\nfollow Me' That means continued submission to His government and\nconditions of service.\n\nIn the days of Christ's ministry a large number of people gathered\naround Him, but when they saw what was involved, 'they went back from\nfollowing Him'. We must see that the surrenders of the sanctified life\nare not matters of a moment. There is a supreme moment when\nconsecration lays its all upon the altar, but every day brings its own\ntests even to the most advanced among us. As in Abraham's experience,\nthe birds of temptation and beasts of prey seek to destroy or defile\nthe offering, and we have to hold on in our obedience, binding the\nsacrifice with fresh cords to the altar.\n\nNow, we must not miss the point of the Apostle's teaching, which is,\nthat when the law of God is stamped in the heart and mind, the spirit\nof the law prevailing within us makes us desire to obey and serve, and\nso we are empowered to sustain the claims of the consecrated life.\n\nThen, there is _the law of faith_. It is spoken of in these verses. 'We\nare to draw near in the full assurance of faith'; that is, with the\nconfidence that our approaches will not be in vain, because Christ has\nopened the way by His own Blood; and we believe that the provisions are\nat our disposal.\n\nNow, faith is a law for the mind as well as for the heart. It is with\nthe heart that a man 'believeth unto righteousness'; but there must be\nan intelligent perception of the facts and of the rightness of the\ntruth; there must be an apprehension of the reasonableness of God's\nrequirements before a man will happily submit, obey, and follow.\n\nMay I touch upon our own family sorrow in the death of a beloved son\nand Officer in India? Before my heart could rest in the will of God as\nexhibited in that bereavement, I had to reach the point of believing\nthat a Father's hand prepared that cup, and that His will is the best,\nand His power and grace will make all things work together for good.\nThe heart cried out in its agonizing pain and sense of loss; but,\ntrusting in the Divine Love, rest and peace came to my bereaved soul.\n\nAnd so, all along the consecrated way and line of service, it is when\nthe law of faith is written in the mind, and becomes a settled\nperception or conviction, that the sanctified heart is able to find\nrest. 'By grace are ye saved through faith', is true at the beginning;\nbut equally true is the word, 'Kept by the power of God through faith';\nand the principle is that the law in the mind and heart constantly\noperates as we tread the appointed path of life and service.\n\nI cannot leave the subject without touching specially upon one among\nother important laws which deserve our consideration; _the law of\nlove_. Paul was quite right when, comparing the various qualities of\nChristian character he declared, 'The greatest of these is love'. 'Love\nis the bond of perfectness.'\n\nEven submission and sacrifice are acts of joy when it is a case of\nlove's surrender. The blessedness of service is great when love is the\ninspiration of that service, and great is the enduring power of true\nGod-given love. The human will at best is weak; human supports are like\nreeds which bend or break when most needed; intellectual capacity or\nnatural talents are valuable; but, after all, they only stand for so\nmuch in one's life; but 'love never faileth'. I cannot sufficiently\ncommend to you this law of love in the heart; but, believe me, it\nsweetens life's sorrow, lightens life's burdens, and strengthens our\npowers of service and endurance.\n\nHow far does our experience harmonize with what has been said about the\nnature and conditions of true religion? which is only another way of\npresenting the blessing of Holiness. The new and living way of which\nthe Apostle speaks as opened through the Blood of Jesus, is the only\nway to the cleansing fountain and the sanctifying grace. Let his words,\ntherefore, encourage you to 'enter with boldness', to 'draw near with a\ntrue heart', a heart knowing its need, but believing the promises of\nGod, and He will meet you and make these inward laws of Holiness and\nservice your abiding experience.\n\n\n\n\nXIX\n\nWorry _versus_ Peace\n\n'_Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication\nwith thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the\npeace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts\nand minds through Christ Jesus._' (Philippians iv. 6, 7.)\n\n\nBefore the full bearing and value of these verses can be realized, I\nthink they require to be read several times over. Even if the sentences\nare read through slowly, just as they stand, a deep sense of blessing\nand rest steals into the soul; but the more deeply they are considered,\nthe richer will the words be found. It would be almost correct for me\nto call this a New Testament commentary on Isaiah's beautiful verse,\n'Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee,\nbecause he trusteth in Thee', for the ideas and their relation are very\nsimilar.\n\nIf we look at the various phases of this message, we shall see that\nthey are very important. They imply, first, a perfect surrender or\ncommittal of oneself to God, based on a perfect trust; second, open\naccess to God; freedom of intercourse; telling Him all about things\nwhich try and burden and distress us. We have also perfect peace; that\nis, quietness of spirit, rest of soul, deliverance from inward\nconflict, consequent upon God's keeping power through Jesus Christ.\nRead carefully this Apostolic message, and observe not only the\ndifferent sections, but how they are connected, and how, in their\ncompleteness, they express a most desirable spiritual experience.\n\nIncluded or connected with Full Salvation are certain blessings to\nwhich we generally refer, such as perfect love and purity, also that\npeace to which the Apostle here alludes, as well as a deep, settled\nfaith in the saving purposes and power of God. But we do not always see\nthat we may equally include deliverance from that undue anxiety which\nwe call worry; and yet these verses certainly prescribe a cure for\nworry as well as other evils, and it may be helpful for us to look at\nthat aspect of truth.\n\nMany are tempted to regard this as an ideal condition, something to\nlong for, and perhaps to aim at; whereas if the teaching of Paul\nhere--in fact, of the Bible generally--is not a delusion, this is\nintended to be a realized experience; and I remind any who say that\nSalvation from worry is too high for us, that they have said just the\nsame when we have talked about a clean heart, and Salvation from sin\nand sinning.\n\nA thoughtful author has recently written a book bearing the title of\n'Worry, the Disease of the Age'. He takes trouble to show that, owing\nto commercial competition, the increased desire for luxurious living,\nkeeping up appearances, and other developments of modern days, heads of\nfamilies and persons in responsible positions do a great deal of\nworrying. This writer then goes on to say: 'It is, however, more than a\ncertainty that true religion is a cure for worry, a preventative of\nworry, and is utterly incomparable in its performance of these\nfunctions'. 'The religion which Jesus Christ taught in Galilee', says\nthe same writer, 'is a casting of one's care upon the Lord, an\nacceptance of the ills and lashes of life with a settled faith that God\nis too good and wise to err or to be unkind, and that He will make all\nthings work together for good to them that love Him'.\n\nI know that a state of worry may arise from physical causes. Inflamed\nnerves, mental depressions, or hysterical fears, are, in many\ninstances, quite beyond the control of the sufferer. With others there\nis an intense desire to do something or get something done; but I also\nknow that, as with bad tempers, a good deal is put down to physical and\nnervous disorders which ought to be put down to lack of spiritual life\nand power.\n\nNow, when I speak of Salvation from worry, I do not mean deliverance\nfrom nervous agitation or shrinking from physical suffering, although I\ndo not know how to fix a point where God's gracious power is exhausted,\neven as regards these things; but 'worry' is that carking care, that\nundue anxiety about one's personal affairs which destroys peace of\nmind, burdens the heart, and often leads to distrust of God's love and\npower. From such things God's grace is sufficient to deliver.\n\nLet me be plain, however, on one point. I think carelessness,\nrecklessness, and indifference to possible happenings, is wrong. You\nhear persons say, 'Oh, never mind; what does it matter? Don't fash or\nbother yourself.' But such expressions often spring from pure\nselfishness, and sometimes exhibit a sinful disregard for the happiness\nof other people. Nothing makes it right to ease yourself at the expense\nof others, or to shirk burdens by shifting them to other shoulders.\nSome are clever at that, but such action may be positively sinful. On\nthe other hand, God can deliver us from that anxious care and\nforeboding and unrest with which so many good people are afflicted.\n\nOh, my friends, can you not learn to come to God as the Apostle\ndirects, making known your requests in 'prayer and supplication with\nthanksgiving'? for then 'the peace of God which passeth all\nunderstanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ'.\n\nWe need far more trust in the providence of our Heavenly Father. What\nneedless pain we suffer! what agonies of mind we endure! what clouds\nhang above and around us! because we do not trust Him in respect of the\ncircumstances of life.\n\nThere are those even who are trusting God to forgive their sins and\nsave their souls, who yet will not trust Him to carry them through a\ndifficulty in ordinary life and association, or help them with their\nbread and butter. The fact is, they doubt God's personal interposition\nin the affairs of men; consequently, their affairs get muddled, and\ntheir hearts and minds are disturbed, often to distraction. No truth is\nmore plainly taught than that God does interpose. 'In all thy ways\nacknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.' 'The steps of a good\nman are ordered by the Lord.' 'Who is he that shall harm you if ye be\nfollowers of that which is good?' 'No weapon that is formed against\nthee shall prosper.'\n\nI know that distrust and doubt can erect all sorts of difficulties, and\nperhaps none is more common and specious than what is called by the\nsceptical men 'the logic of proportion'. This argument says, 'In a\nuniverse so vast, what is man? As a speck of dust is to a planet, and\nas a star is to the vast universe, so is man to the world in which he\nlives'. Well, it certainly is not strange that the mind should stagger\nat the thought of the Creator of the universe putting His hand to the\nmanagement of the details of a human life. And yet God's truth in the\nBible completely wipes out this so-called 'logic of proportion'.\n\nLet us look at a familiar illustration used by our Master of God's\nminute care for those who fully trust and follow Him. One able man has\ncalled what I am referring to 'the doctrine of the odd sparrow'.\nMatthew records how, on one occasion, Jesus said, 'Are not two sparrows\nsold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall to the ground\nwithout your Father'. But, turning to Luke, we find a slight variation\nin what Jesus said, 'Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and\nnot one of them is forgotten before God'. Now, do you see the point of\nLuke's putting of it? It is as if the dealer had said to the buyer,\n'Look here, you want a farthing's worth of sparrows. Well, you can have\ntwo; but, if you will buy two farthingsworth, I will _throw the odd\none in for nothing_'. Two for a farthing; five for a halfpenny.\n\nBut see; of that odd sparrow thrown in as hardly worth counting, Jesus\nsaid, 'Not one of them is forgotten before God. Not one shall fall to\nthe ground without your Father. Are ye not of more value than many\nsparrows?' Now, in the light of that illustration, turn once more to\nthe Apostolic message, 'Be careful for nothing', and I think you will\nfind good reason for believing the promise, 'The peace of God shall\nkeep your hearts through Jesus Christ'.\n\nBefore leaving this matter of worry, I suggest that we look well to\nfind the cause of the trouble; for, alas! it is not unfrequently the\ncase that care or undue anxiety arises from positive sin in the heart.\nSome of you worry in respect of your position in life as compared with\nother people's; but are you sure that some of this fratch and distress\ndoes not arise from feelings of envy, or jealousy, or discontent?\nOthers may worry because of comparative poverty, but is it not often\npride or ambition concerning yourselves or your children, and a desire\nto be level with your neighbours, which causes the trouble? You worry,\nperhaps, because people cross your purposes and upset your plans and\nirritate you needlessly; but is not the secret really that you resent\ninterference, and want to have your own way? Now, before blaming your\ncircumstances, I suggest you have a thorough self-examination, for it\nmay be that the inward trouble is due to unbelief, selfishness,\nambition, pride, or some other form of heart sin, and that evil must be\ndealt with before perfect peace can prevail.\n\nMay I come very close to you, and ask, Is it not true of some that, far\nfrom being kept by the peace of God which passeth all understanding,\nyou are in a condition, an attitude of mind, which distinctly hinders\nthe enjoyment of such a blessing? Some, I fear, have not got even as\nfar as saying, 'Being justified by faith, I have peace with God'. There\nis some sin, some indulgence, which God is against; and as rebellion\nand peace are opposed to each other, you cannot have guidance and peace\nand spiritual blessings until you cast yourselves at the mercy-seat,\nand take Christ as your Saviour.\n\nAgain, it may be some point of controversy. Something in regard to your\ncircumstances, or your consecration, or even your inward condition; you\nrefuse or hesitate to obey God's call, and follow the light. God has\nnot left you to yourselves, but the Spirit is grieved by your\nunwillingness; and the result is, that you have conflict in your\nhearts, clouds in your sky, and failure in your lives.\n\nTake it from me, that you cannot have this deliverance which the\nApostle describes, this keeping power and peace, unless the will of God\nis supreme in your heart. Controversy must be given up, the full\nsurrender made, and then you must trust yourselves and your lives in\nGod's hands. If this is done, and the Apostolic direction followed,\nthen you will be able to sing--\n\n    _Careless through outward cares I go,\n      From all distraction free;\n    My hands are but engaged below,\n      My heart is still with Thee._\n\n\n\n\nXX\n\nAn Appeal and a Response\n\n'_I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who\nwill go for Us? Then said I, Here am I; send me! And He said, Go._'\n(Isaiah vi. 8, 9.)\n\n\nThe incident with which these words are connected was a real mosaic in\nsacred history. You have the record of a vision which was not a dream\nbut a revelation--a panorama of actualities. The background of this\nvision might well absorb our attention. The temple and the glory which\nfilled it; the throne and Him who sat thereon; the seraphim, with their\nwings and ascriptions of Holiness. The atmosphere was, indeed, electric\nwith the presence of God and the angelic host.\n\nIsaiah, the solitary human figure in the scene, was overawed with the\nglorious majesty of the Divine character; shame at the revelation of\nhis own impurity overwhelmed him. He rightly felt that he was a blot\nupon this temple scene, but the Divine touch of the living fire\ntransformed him, and prepared him for that which was to follow.\n\nAnalyse this conversation, and you see three things standing in a most\nnatural order:--\n\nFirst. An Appeal sounds out: 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for\nUs?'\n\nSecond. A Response is made to that Appeal: 'Here am I; send me'.\n\nThird. A Commission was given: 'And He said, \"Go\"'.\n\nNow this conversation was not only important and imperative as regards\nIsaiah and his circumstances, but in its application to ourselves and\nour surroundings. I think we shall get some blessing and inspiration\nfor duty if we consider the three facts as they stand.\n\n1. _The nature of the appeal was a very simple one._ The Lord wanted a\nsuitable representative to stand for Him among a sinful, backslidden\npeople.\n\nIsaiah was already supposed to fill that position--at any rate, on\nspecial occasions; but he was so much like the people themselves that\nin the ordinary way his religion had little weight with them. No doubt\nhe felt the honour and privilege of being a prophet when a special\nmessage had to be sent, but he hardly realized the high purpose of his\nmission, and maybe his cry, 'Here am I; send me', was a pleading for\nanother chance to better represent His Lord.\n\nThe same appeal, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?' is\nsounded in our ears to-day. There are certain aspects which I would\nlike you to note. _It was an appeal based upon a great need._ Then,\nas now, the people were without God; indifferent to His claims, few\nof them with any experimental knowledge of His Salvation, and,\nconsequently, having no hope in the world. And in these respects God\nwanted a man who would arouse the people, assert His claims, and lead\nthem back to His service.\n\nBelieve me, the world's need to-day is a deep and terrible one. I need\nhardly enlarge upon it. You know it, because samples of it are at your\ndoor and around you. But do not forget that the deepest need of the\npeople lies in their lack of knowledge of God and that Salvation which,\nafter all, is the panacea for human woe.\n\nWe live in days when the practical aspects of religion are most\nemphasized. The social conditions and physical needs of the poor people\nare regarded as affording a sphere for Christ-like effort quite as much\nas is the preaching of the Gospel. Bread, not creed; relief as well as\npity; material improvements in place of missions and Gospel addresses\nand such-like are demanded on every hand. God forbid, however, that the\ndoing of these things should be regarded as quite sufficient.\n\nThere are humanitarian considerations, and we must not ignore them.\nSqualor, poverty, debauchery, harlotry, oppression, war, and ignorance\nare existing evils which must have attention. We must not be so taken\nup with the souls as to neglect the temporal, social, and physical\nneeds of our fellows. But the deepest wail of want and woe which comes\nfrom the world is not to be met by bread, or sovereigns, or sanitation,\nor education, or more equal conditions of life. It is the absence of\nGod and eternal hope which gives the deepest and most sorrowful tone to\nthe world's bitter cry.\n\nThis was also _an appeal for human help_. I do not know why God has so\ntied Himself up as He has, but it is a fact. Although angels are\navailable, and the direct operations of His Spirit would be almighty,\nHis plan is to get His will made known by one man telling another. Men\nto save men; men to help men; that seems to be God's method, and He\nappeals now, as before, 'Who will go for Us?'\n\n2. The second point I named was _the response to the Divine appeal_:\n'Here am I; send me'. Cannot that be repeated in various directions\namong us? Thank God for the responses already made, and but for which\ndark and hopeless, indeed, would be human hearts and places which have\nbeen illuminated by the light of God's Salvation. But, Oh, for more\nready and larger responses to the appeal which is ever sounding in our\nears!\n\nIsaiah's response was a _voluntary_ one. Some people are like the horse\nwhom his owner said had only two faults; one, that he 'took such a lot\nof catching', and the other that 'he would not work when he was\ncaught'. Others have to be disciplined and broken by trouble before\nthey fall in line with God's will. But why should not every one who\nnames our Lord's name cry out with a ready spirit, 'Here am I, Lord;\nsend me'?\n\nThis was also _a response without conditions_; or, as we put it, an\nunreserved surrender, an unconditional consecration. It is a matter to\nrejoice over when men and women express willingness to do any service,\nbut it is infinitely better when, coming up to the Divine altar, they\nsay, 'Here am I, Lord; have your own way; do as you will with me;\nanything for Jesus--anywhere for Thee'. Have you got there yet? If not,\nlet that be the advance which you make now, without further bargaining\nand reserves.\n\nBut _this response came from a heart qualified to make it good_. Ah!\nthat is the secret of all successful service. Isaiah, cleansed,\nsanctified, and touched with Divine Fire, was a different person from\nthe one who lay grovelling in the dust, and crying, 'Woe is me!' Up to\nthat moment he was too much like those around him; but now, touched,\nbaptized, and qualified, he was fit to be God's witness and agent.\n\nThat just touches the point where some of you are lacking. You need\nthis cleansing, this 'unction of the Holy One', or you need it afresh\nin the face of the world's crying need. You hold back, you stumble and\noften fail; but why? The answer is, you need just what Isaiah got to\nqualify him for his mission. You must get this so as to be able to\nrespond to God's appeal as he did.\n\n3. Then I also spoke of the _Divine commission which followed the\nresponse_. Observe the process, 'Who will go?' 'Here am I.' '_And He\nsaid, Go_'. That is still the line upon which our Lord acts in sending\nout His representatives.\n\nWe sometimes dwell upon the 'Come's' of the Bible, quoting the Divine\ninvitations for the encouragement of hesitating souls. May we not with\nequal force quote the 'Go's' of the Book as indicating the will of God\nconcerning our duty?\n\nYou remember the Lord's 'Go' to Moses, when, appearing to him in the\nburning bush, God set out His plan for Israel's deliverance: 'I will\nsend thee to bring My people out'. In the same manner the Lord gave\nJoshua his marching orders to 'Go over Jordan, and possess the land'.\nPaul had a similar experience when the Lord bade him rise and receive\nhis commission to go to the Gentiles.\n\nChrist's Parable of the Great Feast strikes the same note when the\nliberal host sent out his servants, saying, 'Go out into the highways\nand hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled'.\nBut the grand chord was sounded out by our Risen Lord when He said to\nHis disciples, 'Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to\nevery creature'. That is the commission given to us.\n\nDuring successive years I have, on behalf of The General, had the\nprivilege of commissioning from our International Training Homes\nbatches of 400 or 500 young men and women who have been trained to be\nOfficers of The Salvation Army. That is a grand annual contribution\ntowards the world's Salvation. But the word comes not only to the\nleaders of God's hosts, but to every Soldier and follower of Jesus\nChrist who is consecrated to His service.\n\n_The Lord's 'Go' means different things to different people._ To some,\nthe Divine finger points one way; perhaps to a distant field, where\nmillions lie in the darkness of heathendom, or to Army Officership\nsomewhere. To others it points to spheres of testimony and work near at\nhand. The kinds of places and labour are varied, but the purpose is the\nsame, and all who go out in obedience in God's name will find His\nalmighty power behind them and blessings in their train.\n\nI cannot direct you in detail, but in general terms I can say, _Go\nwhere you know God wants you_. Where the streams of sin are sweeping\nthe people down to damnation and dark despair--go there. Where the poor\npeople are being ruined by that cup which not only curses now, but at\nthe last 'biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder'--go there.\nWhere struggling souls are crying for sympathy and help--go there.\nWhere the youth of our land are being polluted by depraved men and\nwomen among whom they earn their daily bread--go there. Where God seems\nunknown, or His claims unheeded for lack of living witnesses--go there.\nGo where you may lift up your voice for your Master; go where a helping\nhand or kindly words can minister comfort to depressed and hopeless\nhearts.\n\n    _Hark! for the Master calls,\n      Child, I have need of thee;\n    Man in thy pride of strength,\n      Youth in thy beauteous glee,\n    Aged and young, and rich and poor,\n      Trifles and toys no more pursue;\n    The world is wide, and time is short;\n      There's work for all to do._\n\nThese thoughts have revived in my memory Scott's poem in which he\nrecords an ancient custom found amongst the traditions of Scottish\nhistory. A chieftain desired to summon his clansmen to war in great\nurgency. The shrill blast of the bugle called together his immediate\nfollowers, but those at a distance must be summoned by other means.\nBefore sending out a swift and trusty messenger, the priest was called\nand certain rites which had been observed from time immemorial\nperformed.\n\nA cross was constructed from the branches of the yew tree, and then\nheld aloft by the priest, whilst he pronounced awful curses on the men\nwho, at the sight of the signal, failed to obey the summons of their\nchief. The cross was then held in the fire until it blazed, was again\nuplifted and fresh curses added; then it was plunged in the blood of a\nnewly-slain sacrifice, and, smoking and reeking with gore, the charred\nand bloody cross was given into the hands of a swift messenger, who\nleaping away as an arrow sped from a bow, flies along the\nmountain-path, and, holding the crimson sign before the eyes of the\nclansmen, names the place of assembly, and passes the signal on\nthroughout the borders.\n\nI have no yew-tree cross, no bleeding sacrifice visible to outward\neyes, but before the eyes of your souls, I lift up the cross of\nCalvary, charred by the fires of sin, and reeking with the Blood of the\nDivine Victim, and in God's name I charge you to go forth to rescue the\nneedy souls of men.\n\n    _See the brazen hosts of Hell\n      Art and power employing,\n    More than human tongue can tell\n      Blood-bought souls destroying;\n    Hark! from ruin's ghastly road\n    Victims groan beneath their load,\n    Forward, O ye sons of God,\n      And dare or die for Jesus._\n\n\n\n\nSALVATION ARMY PUBLICATIONS\n\n\nBY THE GENERAL\n\nSalvation Soldiery. Stirring Addresses on the Requirements of Jesus\nChrist's Service. Every page full of Burning Truths. 156 pages.\nIllustrated. Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s.\n\nThe General's Letters. Remarkable series of Letters published in 'The\nWar Cry' of 1885, dealing with Neutrality, Courage, Realities, etc. 204\npages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.\n\nThe Training of Children. Important to Parents. This book shows how to\nmake Children into Saints and Soldiers. 260 pages. Cloth, Bevelled\nEdges, 2s. 6d.; Limp Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 6d.\n\nThe Doctrines of The Salvation Army. 119 pages. Limp Cloth, 6d.\n\nPurity of Heart.  A Valuable Collection of Letters to Salvationists on\nPersonal Holiness. 118 pages. Cloth, 1s.; Paper, 6d.\n\nReligion for Every Day. Vol. I. An Invaluable Work for every\nSalvationist, dealing with matters affecting Soul, Body, Family,\nBusiness, etc. 190 pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s.\n\nLove, Marriage, and Home. Being Vol. II of RELIGION FOR EVERY DAY. 190\npages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s.\n\nReligion for Every Day. Two Vols. in one; 370 pages. Cloth, 3s.\n\nVisions. A Reprint of Interesting Articles from 'The War Cry'. 160\npages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Paper, 1s.\n\nSergeant-Major Do-Your-Best; or, Sketches of the Inner Life of a\nSalvation Army Corps. 287 pages. Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.\n\nThe Seven Spirits; or, What I Teach my Officers. 112 pages. Cloth, 1s.\n6d.; Paper, 1s.\n\n\nBY THE LATE MRS. GENERAL BOOTH\n\nLife and Death. Stirring Addresses to the Unsaved. Thoughtful and\nPowerful Appeals. 206 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt, 2s. 6d.;\nCloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.\n\nGodliness. Searching Disquisitions on Important Phases of the Spiritual\nGrowth. 177 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth,\n2s.; Paper, 1s.\n\nPractical Religion. One of the grandest books of the age. Invaluable\nfor Teachers of Sanctification. 214 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt\nEdges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.\n\nPopular Christianity. All Seekers after True Religion should read this\nbook. 198 pages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper, 1s.; Special Cheap\nEdition, 6d.\n\nAggressive Christianity. Series of Papers on Christian Warfare. 193\npages. Half Calf, 5s.; Cloth, Gilt Edges, 2s. 6d.; Cloth, 2s.; Paper,\n1s.\n\n\nBY THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF\n\nOn the Banks of the River. A Brief History of the Last Days of MRS.\nGENERAL BOOTH. Cloth, 1s.; Paper, 6d.\n\nBooks that Bless. A Series of Pungent Reviews, reprinted, by request,\nfrom 'The War Cry'. 191 pages. Cloth, 1s. 6d.; Linen, 1s.\n\nServants of All. A description of the Officers of The Army and their\nWork. 167 pages. Cloth, Bevelled Boards, 1s. 6d.; Cloth, 1s.; Paper,\n6d.\n\nSocial Reparation; or, Personal Impressions of Work for Darkest\nEngland. 124 pages. Cloth, 1s.\n\nBible Battle-Axes. A reprint of Short Scripture Studies from 'The Field\nOfficer' magazine. Carefully revised. 178 pages. Cloth, 1s.\n\nOur Master. Thoughts for Salvationists about their Lord. 168 pages.\nCloth, 2s.\n\n\nTHE RED-HOT LIBRARY\n\n_Cloth Boards_, 1s.; _Paper_, 6d. _per volume_.\n\nNo. 1.--Francis the Saint, or, Less than the Least. By Brigadier EILEEN\nDOUGLAS.\n\nNo. 2.--On the Banks of the River. A Brief History of the Last Days of\nMRS. GENERAL BOOTH. By THE CHIEF OF THE STAFF.\n\nNo. 3.--George Fox, the Red-Hot Quaker. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\nNo. 4--Helps to Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE.\n\nNo. 5--David Stoner; or, The Shy Preacher. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\nNo. 6.--Red Flowers of Martyrdom. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\nNo. 7.--Heart-Talks on Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE.\n\nNo. 8.--Commissioner Dowdle, the Saved Railway Guard. By Commissioner\nRAILTON.\n\nNo. 9.--Peter Cartwright, God's Rough-rider. By Commissioner RAILTON.\n\nNo. 10.--Lieut.-Colonel Junker. By Commissioner RAILTON.\n\nNo. 11.--The Soul-Winner's Secret. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE.\n\nNo. 12.--The Life of Gideon Ouseley. By Commissioner RAILTON.\n\nNo. 13.--Fletcher of Madeley. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN.\n\nNo. 14.--The Cross our Comfort. Selections from the Writings of the\nlate CONSUL EMMA BOOTH-TUCKER.\n\nNo. 15.--Sighs from Hell. By JOHN BUNYAN.\n\nNo. 16.--What Hinders You? By Mrs. Colonel BRENGLE.\n\nNo. 17.--The Fruits of the Spirit, and The Whole Armour of God. By\nBrigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\n\nTHE WARRIORS' LIBRARY\n\n_Cloth Boards_, 8d. _net; Half Cloth Boards_, 6d. _net per volume_.\n\n No. 1.--Catherine Booth: A Sketch. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF.\n\n No. 2.--A School of the Prophets. A Sketch of Training Home Life. By\n ONE OF THE SCHOLARS.\n\n No. 3.--Our War in South Africa. By Commissioner RAILTON.\n\n No. 4.--The Warrior's Daily Portion.--I. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\n No. 5.--The Way of Holiness. By Colonel S. L. BRENGLE.\n\n No. 6.--Kingdom-Makers in Shelter, Street, and Slum. By Brigadier\nMARGARET ALLEN.\n\n No. 7.--Three Coronations. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF.\n\n No. 8.--The Life of Oberlin. By Commissioner W. ELWIN OLIPHANT.\n\n No. 9.--Farmer Abbott. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN.\n\nNo. 10.--The Warrior's Daily Portion.--II. By Brigadier EILEEN DOUGLAS.\n\nNo. 11.--The Life of Hedwig von Haartman. By Colonel MILDRED DUFF.\n\nNo. 12.--The Life of Gerhard Tersteegen. By Commissioner W. ELWIN\nOLIPHANT.\n\nNo. 13.--The Life of Colonel Weerasooriya. By Commissioner\nBOOTH-TUCKER.\n\nNo. 14.--Bernard of Clairvaux. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN.\n\nNo. 15.--Harvests of the East. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN.\n\nNo. 16.--A Kindled Flame. By Brigadier MARGARET ALLEN.\n\n                     *      *      *      *      *\n\n_Order from THE MANAGER, Publishing Department,\n79 & 81 Fortess Road, London, N.W._","title":"Standards of Life and Service","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":39382}