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important; } + .top2 {padding-top: 2em ! important; } + .topii {margin-top: 2em ! important; } + .rt {text-align: right; + padding-right: 2em; } + .sprd {line-height: 2; } + cite, em {font-style: italic; } + +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Holy in Christ, by Andrew Murray + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Holy in Christ + Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children to be Holy as He is Holy + +Author: Andrew Murray + +Release Date: October 22, 2008 [EBook #26990] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOLY IN CHRIST *** + + + + +Produced by Free Elf, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<hr class="pg" /> + +<p class="ctr pgbrk newpg"><a name="png.001" id="png.001"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">2</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><small>MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH</small></p> + + + + +<h1><a name="png.002" id="png.002"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">3</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>HOLY IN CHRIST:</h1> + +<h3><img src="images/thoughts.png" width="503" height="69" + alt="Thoughts on the Calling of God’s Children +to be Holy as He is Holy." title="" /></h3> + +<p class="author"><small>BY</small><br + /><br /><big>REV. ANDREW MURRAY,</big><br + /><small>AUTHOR OF ‘ABIDE IN CHRIST,’ ‘LIKE CHRIST,’ ETC.</small></p> + +<p class="motto"><small><i>‘I am holy:<br + />ye shall be holy.’</i></small></p> + + + +<p class="ctr pgbrk sprd"><big class="so"><ins class="TN" title="Transcriber's note: + original reads 'FELMING'">FLEMING</ins> H. REVELL COMPANY,</big><br + /><span class="padrt">CHICAGO,</span> <span class="padrt">NEW YORK,</span> TORONTO,<br + /><img src="images/publishers.png" width="268" height="20" + alt="Publishers of Evangelical Literature." title="" /></p> + + +<div class="main"> +<h2 class="chap top4"><a name="png.004" id="png.004"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">5</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>PREFACE.</h2> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<p class="first top2"><span class="smc">There</span> is not in Scripture a word more distinctly +Divine in its origin and meaning than the word +holy. There is not a word that leads us higher +into the mystery of Deity, nor deeper into the +privilege and the blessedness of God’s children. +And yet it is a word that many a Christian has +never studied or understood.</p> + +<p>There are not a few who can praise God that +during the past twenty years the watchword <span class="smc">Be +Holy</span> has been taken up in many a church and +Christian circle with greater earnestness than +before. In books and magazines, in conventions +and conferences, in the testimonies and the lives +of believers, we have abundant tokens that what is +called the Holiness-movement is a reality.</p> + +<p>And yet how much is still wanting! What +multitudes of believing Christians there are who +have none but the very vaguest thoughts of what +holiness is! And of those who are seeking after it +<a name="png.005" id="png.005"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">6</span><span class="ns">] + </span>how many who have hardly learnt what it is to +come to God’s Word and to God Himself for the +teaching that can alone reveal this part of the +mystery of Christ and of God! To many, holiness +has simply been a general expression for the +Christian life in its more earnest form, without +much thought of what the term really means.</p> + +<p>In writing this little book, my object has been to +discover in what sense God uses the word, that so +it may mean to us what it means to Him. I have +sought to trace the word through some of the most +important passages of Holy Scripture where it +occurs, there to learn what God’s holiness is, what +ours is to be, and what the way by which we attain +it. I have been specially anxious to point out how +many and various the elements are that go to make +up true holiness as the Divine expression of the +Christian life in all its fulness and perfection. I +have at the same time striven continually to keep +in mind the wonderful unity and simplicity there +is in it, as centred in the person of Jesus. As I +proceeded in my work, I felt ever more deeply how +high the task was I had undertaken in offering to +guide others even into the outer courts of the Holy +Place of the Most High. And yet the very difficulty +of the task convinced me of how needful it was.</p> + +<p>I fear there are some to whom the book may +<a name="png.006" id="png.006"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">7</span><span class="ns">] + </span>be a disappointment. They have heard that the +entrance to the life of holiness is often but a +step. They have heard of or seen believers who +could tell of the blessed change that has come over +their lives since they found the wonderful secret of +holiness by faith. And now they are seeking for +this secret. They cannot understand that the +secret comes to those who seek it not, but only seek +Jesus. They might fain have a book in which all +they need to know of Holiness and the way to it is +gathered into a few simple lessons, easy to learn, to +remember, and to practise. This they will not find. +There is such a thing as a Pentecost still to the +disciples of Jesus; but it comes to him who has +forsaken all to follow Jesus only, and in following +fully has allowed the Master to reprove and instruct +him. There are often very blessed revelations of +Christ, as a Saviour from sin, both in the secret +chamber and in the meetings of the saints; but +these are given to those for whom they have been +prepared, and who have been prepared to receive. +Let all learn to trust in Jesus, and rejoice in Him, +even though their experience be not what they +would wish. He will make us holy. But whether +we have entered the blessed life of faith in Jesus +as our sanctification, or are still longing for it from +afar, we all need one thing, the simple, believing, +<a name="png.007" id="png.007"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">8</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and obedient acceptance of each word that our God +has spoken. It has been my earnest desire that I +might be a helper of the faith of my brethren in +seeking to trace with them the wondrous revelation +of God’s Holiness through the ages as recorded in +His blessed Word. It has been my continual +prayer that God might use what is written to +increase in His children the conviction that we +must be holy, the knowledge of how we are to be +holy, the joy that we may be holy, the faith that +we can be holy. And may He stir us all to cry +day and night to Him for a visitation of the Spirit +and the Power of Holiness upon all His people, +that the name of Christian and of saint may be +synonymous, and every believer be a vessel made +holy and meet for the Master’s use.</p> + +<p class="rt">A. M.</p> + +<p class="pgbrk"><small><span class="smc">Wellington</span>, 16<i>th November</i> 1887.</small></p> + +<h2 class="chap top4"><a name="png.008" id="png.008"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">9</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="toc">CONTENTS.</a></h2> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<table class="toc top2" summary="Table of Contents"> + +<tr><td><small>DAY</small></td><td></td><td class="pg"><small>PAGE</small></td></tr> + +<tr><td>1.</td><td class="chap">God’s Call to Holiness—1 Pet. i. 15, 16,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.010">11</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>2.</td><td class="chap">God’s Provision for Holiness—1 Cor. i. 2,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.018">19</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>3.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Creation—Gen. ii. 3,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.027">28</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>4.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Revelation—Ex. iii. 4–6,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.035">36</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>5.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Redemption—Ex. xiii. 2,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.045">46</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>6.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Glory—Ex. xv. 11–17,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.054">55</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>7.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Obedience—Ex. xix. 5, 6,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.063">64</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>8.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Indwelling—Ex. xxv. 8,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.072">73</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>9.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Meditation—Ex. xxviii. 36–38,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.080">81</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>10.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Separation—Lev. xx. 24, 26,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.088">89</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>11.</td><td class="chap">The Holy One of Israel—Lev. xi. 45,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.097">98</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>12.</td><td class="chap">The Thrice Holy One—Isa. vi. 1–3,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.106">107</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>13.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Humility—Isa. lvii. 15,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.116">117</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>14.</td><td class="chap">The Holy One of God—John vi. 69,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.124">125</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>15.</td><td class="chap">The Holy Spirit—John vii. 39,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.132">133</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>16.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Truth—John xvii. 17,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.141">142</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>17.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Crucifixion—John xvii. 19,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.149">150</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>18.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Faith—Acts xxvi. 18,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.157">158</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>19.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Resurrection—Rom. i. 4,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.166">167</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>20.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Liberty—Rom. vi. 18–22,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.174">175</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>21.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Happiness—Rom. xiv. 17,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.183">184</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td><a name="png.009" id="png.009"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">10</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>22.</td><td class="chap">In Christ our Sanctification—1 Cor. i. 30, 31,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.191">192</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>23.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and the Body—1 Cor. iii. 16,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.200">201</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>24.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Cleansing—2 Cor. vii. 1,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.209">210</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>25.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Blamelessness—1 Thess. iii. 12, 13,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.218">219</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>26.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and the Will of God—1 Thess. iv. 3,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.226">227</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>27.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Service—2 Tim. ii. 21,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.234">235</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>28.</td><td class="chap">The Way into the Holiest—Heb. x. 19,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.242">243</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>29.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Chastisement—Heb. xii. 10, 14,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.252">253</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>30.</td><td class="chap">The Unction from the Holy One—1 John ii. 20, 27,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.261">262</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td>31.</td><td class="chap">Holiness and Heaven—2 Pet. iii. 11,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.270">271</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td></td><td class="chap dbl"><span class="smc">Notes</span>,</td> + <td class="pg"><a href="#png.280">281</a></td></tr> +</table> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.010" id="png.010"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">11</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>First Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap1.png" width="272" height="29" + alt="God’s Call to Holiness." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Like as He which called you is <em>holy</em>, be ye yourselves also +<em>holy</em> in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be +<em>holy</em>, for I am <em>holy</em>.’—1 <span class="smc">Pet.</span> i. 15, 16.</p> +</div> + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">The</span> call of God is the manifestation in time of +the purpose of eternity: ‘Whom He predestinated, +them He also <em>called</em>.’ Believers are ‘the +<em>called</em> according to His purpose.’ In His call He +reveals to us what His thoughts and His will concerning +us are, and what the life to which He +invites us. In His call He makes clear to us what +the hope of our calling is; as we spiritually apprehend +and enter into this, our life on earth will be +the reflection of His purpose in eternity.</p> + +<p>Holy Scripture uses more than one word to +indicate the object or aim of our calling, but none +more frequently than what Peter speaks of here—God +has called us <em>to be holy</em> as He is holy. Paul +addresses believers twice as ‘called to be <em>holy</em>’ +(Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2). ‘God called us’, he says, +‘not for uncleanness, but <em>in sanctification</em>’ (1 Thess. +<a name="png.011" id="png.011"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">12</span><span class="ns">] + </span>iv. 7). When he writes, ‘The God of peace <em>sanctify</em> +you wholly,’ he adds, ‘Faithful is He which <em>calleth</em> +you, who also will do it’ (1 Thess. v. 24). The +calling itself is spoken of as ‘a <em>holy</em> calling.’ The +eternal purpose of which the calling is the outcome, +is continually also connected with holiness as its +aim. ‘He hath <em>chosen</em> us in Him, that we should +be <em>holy</em> and without blame’ (Eph. i. 4). ‘Whom +God <em>chose</em> from the beginning unto <em>salvation in +sanctification</em>’ (2 Thess. ii. 12). ‘<em>Elect</em> according +to the foreknowledge of the Father, through <em>sanctification</em> +of the Spirit’ (1 Pet. i. 2). The call is the +unveiling of the purpose that the Father from +eternity had set His heart upon: that we should be +holy.</p> + +<p>It needs no proof that it is of infinite importance +to know aright what God has called us to. A +misunderstanding here may have fatal results. +You may have heard that God calls you to salvation +or to happiness, to receive pardon or to obtain +heaven, and never noticed that all these were subordinate. +It was to ‘salvation <em>in sanctification</em>,’ it +was to Holiness in the first place, as the element in +which salvation and heaven are to be found. The +complaints of many Christians as to lack of joy and +strength, as to failure and want of growth, are +simply owing to this—the place God gave Holiness +in His call they have not given it in their response. +God and they have never yet come to an agreement +on this.</p> + +<p>No wonder that Paul, in the chapter in which he +<a name="png.012" id="png.012"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">13</span><span class="ns">] + </span>had spoken to the Ephesians of their being ‘chosen to +be holy’ prays for the spirit of wisdom and revelation +in the knowledge of God to be given to believers, +that they might know ‘the hope of their <em>calling</em>’ +(i. 17, 18). Let all of us, who feel that we have too +little realized that we are called to Holiness, pray +this prayer. It is just what we need. Let us ask +God to show us how, as He who hath called us is +Himself holy, so we are to be holy too; our calling +is a holy calling, a calling before and above everything, +to Holiness. Let us ask Him to show us +what Holiness is, His Holiness first, and then our +Holiness; to show us how He has set His heart +upon it as the one thing He wants to see in us, as +being His own image and likeness; to show us too +the unutterable blessedness and glory of sharing +with Christ in His Holiness. Oh! that God by +His Spirit would teach us what it means that we +are called to be holy as He is holy. We can easily +conceive what a mighty influence it would exert.</p> + +<p>‘Like as He which called you is holy, be ye +yourselves also holy’. How this call of God shows +us the true <em>motive</em> to Holiness. ‘Be ye holy, for I +am holy.’ It is as if God said, Holiness is my +blessedness and my glory: without this you cannot, +in the very nature of things, see me or enjoy +me. Holiness is my blessedness and my glory: +there is nothing higher to be conceived; I invite +you to share with me in it, I invite you to likeness +to myself: ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy.’ Is it not +enough, has it no attraction, does it not move and +<a name="png.013" id="png.013"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">14</span><span class="ns">] + </span>draw you mightily, the hope of being with me, +partakers of my Holiness? I have nothing better +to offer—I offer you myself: ‘Be holy, for I am +holy.’ Shall we not cry earnestly to God to show +us the glory of His Holiness, that our souls may +be made willing to give everything in response to +this wondrous call?</p> + +<p>As we listen to the call, it shows also the <em>nature</em> +of true Holiness. ‘<em>Like as</em> He is holy, so be ye +also holy.’ To be holy is to be Godlike, to have +a disposition, a will, a character like God. The +thought almost looks like blasphemy, until we +listen again, ‘He hath chosen us <em>in Christ</em> to +be holy.’ In Christ the Holiness of God appeared +in a human life: in Christ’s example, in His mind +and Spirit, we have the Holiness of the Invisible +One translated into the forms of human life and +conduct. To be Christlike is to be Godlike; to be +Christlike is to be holy as God is holy.</p> + +<p>The call equally reveals the <em>power</em> of Holiness. +‘There is none holy but the Lord;’ there is no +Holiness but what He has, or rather what He is, +and gives. Holiness is not something we do or +attain: it is the communication of the Divine life, +the inbreathing of the Divine nature, the power of the +Divine Presence resting on us. And our power to +become holy is to be found in the call of God: the +Holy One calls us to Himself, that He may make +us holy in possessing Himself. He not only says +‘I am holy,’ but ‘I am the Lord, who make holy.’ +It is because the call to Holiness comes from the +<a name="png.014" id="png.014"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">15</span><span class="ns">] + </span>God of infinite Power and Love that we may have +the confidence: we can be holy.</p> + +<p>The call no less reveals the <em>standard</em> of Holiness. +‘<em>Like as He</em> is holy, <em>so ye also</em> yourselves,’ or (as in +margin, R.V.), ‘Like the Holy One, which calleth +you, be ye yourselves also holy.’ There is not one +standard of Holiness for God and another for man. +The nature of light is the same, whether we see it +in the sun or in a candle: the nature of Holiness +remains unchanged, whether it be God or man in +whom it dwells. The Lord Jesus could say +nothing less than, ‘Be perfect, even as your Father +in heaven is perfect.’ When God calls us to Holiness, +He calls us to Himself and His own life: +the more carefully we listen to the voice, and let it +sink into our hearts, the more will all human +standards fall away, and only the words be heard, +Holy, as I am holy.</p> + +<p>And the call shows us the <em>path</em> to Holiness. +The calling of God is one of mighty efficacy, an +effectual calling. Oh! let us but listen to it, let +us but listen to Him, and the call will with Divine +power work what it offers. He calleth the things +that are not as though they were: His call gives +life to the dead, and holiness to those whom He has +made alive. He calls us to listen as He speaks of +His Holiness, and of our holiness like His. He calls +us to Himself, to study, to fear, to love, to claim His +Holiness. He calls us to Christ, in whom Divine +Holiness became human Holiness, to see and admire, +to desire and accept what is all for us. He calls us +<a name="png.015" id="png.015"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">16</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to the indwelling and the teaching of the Spirit of +Holiness, to yield ourselves that He may bring +home to us and breathe within us what is ours in +Christ. Christian! listen to God calling thee to +Holiness. Come and learn what His Holiness is, +and what thine is and must be.</p> + +<p>Yes, be very silent and listen. When God +called Abraham, he answered, Here am I. When +God called Moses from the bush, he answered, Here +am I, and he hid his face, for he was afraid to look +upon God. God is calling thee to Holiness, to +Himself the Holy One, that He may make thee +holy. Let thy whole soul answer, Here am I, +Lord! Speak, Lord! Show Thyself, Lord! Here +am I. As you listen, the voice will sound ever +deeper and ever stiller: Be holy, <em>as</em> I am holy. Be +holy, <em>for</em> I am holy. You will hear a voice coming +out of the great eternity, from the council-chamber +of redemption, and as you catch its distant whisper, +it will be, Be holy, I am holy. You will hear a +voice from Paradise, the Creator making the seventh +day holy for man whom He had created, and saying, +Be holy. You will hear the voice from Sinai, amid +thunderings and lightnings, and still it is, Be holy, +as I am holy. You will hear a voice from Calvary, +and there above all it is, Be holy, for I am holy.</p> + +<p>Child of God, have you ever realized it, our +Father is calling us to Himself, to be holy as +He is holy? Must we not confess that happiness +has been to us more than holiness, salvation than +sanctification? Oh! it is not too late to redeem +<a name="png.016" id="png.016"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">17</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the error. Let us now band ourselves together to +listen to the voice that calls, to draw nigh, and find +out and know what Holiness is, or rather, find out +and know Himself the Holy One. And if the first +approach to Him fill us with shame and confusion, +make us fear and shrink back, let us still listen to +the Voice and the Call, ‘Be holy, as I am holy.’ +‘Faithful is He which <em>calleth</em>, who also <em>will do it</em>.’ +All our fears and questions will be met by the Holy +One who has revealed His Holiness, with this one +purpose in view, that we might share it with Him. +As we yield ourselves in deep stillness of soul to +listen to the Holy Voice that calls us, it will waken +within us new desire and strong faith, and the +most precious of all promises will be to us this +word of Divine command:</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O Lord! the alone Holy One, Thou hast called +us to be holy, even as Thou art holy. Lord! how +can we, unless Thou reveal to us Thy Holiness. +Show us, we pray Thee, how Thou art holy, how +holy Thou art, what Thy holiness is, that we may +know how we are to be holy, how holy we are to +be. And when the sight of Thy Holiness only +shows us the more how unholy we are, teach us +that Thou makest partakers of Thy own Holiness +those who come to Thee for it.</p> + +<p>O God! we come to Thee, the Holy One. It is +in knowing and finding and having Thyself, that +<a name="png.017" id="png.017"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">18</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the soul finds Holiness. We do beseech Thee, as +we now come to Thee, establish it in the thoughts +of our heart, that the one object of Thy calling us, +and of our coming to Thee, is Holiness. Thou +wouldst have us like Thyself, partakers of Thy +Holiness. If ever our heart becomes afraid, as if +it were too high, or rests content with a salvation +less than Holiness, Blessed God! let us hear Thy +voice calling again, Be holy, I am holy. Let that +call be our motive and our strength, because faithful +is He that calleth, who also will do it. Let that +call mark our standard and our path; oh! let our +life be such as Thou art able to make it.</p> + +<p>Holy Father! I bow in lowly worship and silence +before Thee. Let now Thine own voice sound in +the depths of my heart calling me, Be holy, as I +am holy. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Let me press it upon every reader of this little book, that if it is to help +him in the pursuit of Holiness, he must begin <strong>with God Himself</strong>. You must +go <strong>to Him who calls you</strong>. It is only in the personal revelation of God to +you, as He speaks, I am holy, that the command, Be ye holy, can have life or +power.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Remember, as a believer, you have already accepted God’s call, even +though you did not fully understand it. Let it be a settled matter, that whatever +you see to be the meaning of the call, you will at once accept and carry +out. If God calls me to be holy, holy I will be.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Take fast hold of the word: ‘The God of peace sanctify you wholly: +faithful is He which <strong>calleth</strong> you, <strong>who also will do it</strong>.’ In that faith listen +to God calling you.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Do be still now, and listen to your Father calling you. Ask for and count +upon the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness, to open your heart to understand +this holy calling. And then speak out the answer you have to give to +this call.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.018" id="png.018"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">19</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:2" id="day:2">Second Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap2.png" width="349" height="29" + alt="God’s Provision for Holiness." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘To those that are <em>made holy</em> in Christ Jesus, called to be +<em>holy</em>.’—1 <span class="smc">Cor.</span> i. 2.</p> + +<p>‘To all the <em>holy ones</em> in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi. +Salute every <em>holy one</em> in Christ Jesus.’<sup><a name="fna.1" id="fna.1" + href="#fn.1">1</a></sup>—<span class="smc">Phil.</span> i. 1, iv. 21.</p> +</div> + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Holy</span>! <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! In these two expressions +we have perhaps the most wonderful words +of all the Bible.</p> + +<p><span class="smc">Holy</span>! the word of unfathomable meaning, which +the Seraphs utter with veiled faces. <span class="smc">Holy</span>! the +<a name="png.019" id="png.019"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">20</span><span class="ns">] + </span>word in which all God’s perfections centre, and of +which His glory is but the streaming forth. <span class="smc">Holy</span>! +the word which reveals the purpose with which +God from eternity thought of man, and tells what +man’s highest glory in the coming eternity is to be; +to be partaker of His Holiness!</p> + +<p><span class="smc">In Christ</span>! the word in which all the wisdom +and love of God are unveiled! The Father giving +His Son to be one with us! the Son dying on the +cross to make us one with Himself! the Holy Spirit +of the Father dwelling in us to establish and maintain +that union! <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! what a summary of +what redemption has done, and of the inconceivably +blessed life in which the child of God is permitted +to dwell. <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! the one lesson we have to +study on earth. God’s one answer to all our needs +and prayers. <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! the guarantee and the +foretaste of eternal glory.</p> + +<p>What wealth of meaning and blessing in the two +words combined: <span class="smc">Holy in Christ</span>! Here is God’s +provision for our holiness, God’s response to our question, +How to be holy? Often and often as we hear +the call, Be <em>ye</em> holy, <em>even as I</em> am holy, it is as if there +is and ever must be a great gulf between the holiness +of God and man. <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! is the bridge that +crosses the gulf; nay rather, His fulness has filled it +up. <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! God and man meet; <span class="smc">In Christ</span>! +the Holiness of God has found us, and made us its +own; has become human, and can indeed become +our very own. To the anxious cries and the heart-yearnings +of thousands of thirsty souls who have +<a name="png.020" id="png.020"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">21</span><span class="ns">] + </span>believed in Jesus and yet know not how to be holy, +here is God’s answer: <span class="smc">Ye are Holy in Christ +Jesus</span>. Would they but hearken, and believe; +would they but take these Divine words, and say +them over, if need be, a thousand times, how God’s +light would shine, and fill their hearts with joy and +love as they echo them back: Yes, now I see it. +Holy in Christ! Made holy in Christ Jesus!</p> + +<p>As we set ourselves to study these wondrous +words, let us remember that it is only God Himself +who can reveal to us what Holiness truly is. Let +us fear our own thoughts, and crucify our own +wisdom. Let us give up ourselves to receive, in +the power of the life of God Himself, working +in us by the Holy Spirit, that which is deeper and +truer than human thought, Christ Himself as our +Holiness. In this dependence upon the teaching of +the Spirit of Holiness, let us seek simply to accept +what Holy Scripture sets before us; as the revelation +of the Holy One of old was a very slow and +gradual one, so let us be content patiently to follow +step by step the path of the shining light through +the Word; it will shine more and more unto the +perfect day.</p> + +<p>We shall first have to study the word Holy in +the Old Testament. In Israel as the holy people, +the type of us who now are holy in Christ, we shall +see with what fulness of symbol God sought to +work into the very constitution of the people some +apprehension of what He would have them be. +In the law we shall see how <span class="smc">Holy</span> is the great keyword +<a name="png.021" id="png.021"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">22</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the redemption which it was meant to +serve and prepare for. In the prophets we shall +hear how the Holiness of God is revealed as the +source whence the coming redemption should spring: +it is not so much Holiness as the Holy One they +speak of, who would, in redeeming love and saving +righteousness, make Himself known as the God of +His people.</p> + +<p>And when the meaning of the word has been +somewhat opened up, and the deep need of the +blessing made manifest in the Old Testament, we +shall come to the New to find how that need was +fulfilled. In Christ, the Holy One of God, Divine +Holiness will be found in human life and human +nature; a truly human will being made perfect and +growing up through obedience into complete union +with all the Holy Will of God. In the sacrifice of +Himself on the cross, that holy nature gave itself +up to the death, that, like the seed-corn, it might +through death live again and reproduce itself in us. +In the gift from the throne of the Spirit of God’s +Holiness, representing and revealing and communicating +the unseen Christ, the holy life of Christ +descends and takes possession of His people, and +they become one with Him. As the Old Testament +had no higher word than that <span class="smc">Holy</span>, the New has +none deeper than this, <span class="smc">in Christ</span>. The being in +Him, the abiding in Him, the being rooted in Him, +the growing up in Him and into Him in all things, +are the Divine expressions in which the wonderful +and complete oneness between us and our Saviour +<a name="png.022" id="png.022"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">23</span><span class="ns">] + </span>are brought as near us as human language +can do.</p> + +<p>And when Old and New Testament have each +given their message, the one in teaching us what +<em>Holy</em>, the other what <em>in Christ</em> means, we have in +the word of God, that unites the two, the most +complete summary of the Great Redemption that +God’s love has provided. The everlasting certainty, +the wonderful sufficiency, the infinite efficacy of the +Holiness that God has prepared for us in His Son, +are all revealed in this blessed, <span class="smc">Holy in Christ</span>.</p> + +<p>‘The Holy Ones in Christ Jesus!’ Such is the +name, beloved fellow-believers, which we bear in +Holy Scripture, in the language of the Holy Spirit. +It is no mere statement of doctrine, that we are +holy in Christ: it is no deep theological discussion +to which we are invited; but out of the depths +of God’s loving heart, there comes a voice thus +addressing His beloved children. It is the name +by which the Father calls His children. That +name tells us of God’s provision for our being holy. +It is the revelation of what God has given us, and +what we already are; of what God waits to work +in us, and what can be ours in personal practical +possession. That name, gratefully accepted, joyfully +confessed, trustfully pleaded, will be the pledge and +the power of our attainment of the Holiness to +which we have been called.</p> + +<p>And so we shall find that as we go along, all our +study and all God’s teaching will be comprised in +three great lessons. The first a revelation, ‘<em>I am</em> +<a name="png.023" id="png.023"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">24</span><span class="ns">] + </span><em>holy</em>;’ the second a command, ‘<em>Be ye holy</em>;’ the +third a gift, the link between the two, ‘<em>Ye are holy +in Christ</em>.’</p> + +<p>First comes the revelation, ‘I am holy.’ Our +study must be on bended knee, in the spirit of +worship and deep humility. God must reveal +Himself to us, if we are to know what Holy is. +The deep unholiness of our nature and all that is +of nature must be shown us; with Moses and +Isaiah, when the Holy One revealed Himself to +them, we must fear and tremble, and confess how +utterly unfit we are for the revelation or the fellowship, +without the cleansing of fire. In the consciousness +of the utter impotence of our own +wisdom or understanding to know God, our souls +must in contrition, brokenness from ourselves and +our power or efforts, yield to God’s Spirit, the Spirit +of Holiness, to reveal God as the Holy One. And +as we begin to know Him in His infinite righteousness, +in His fiery burning zeal against all that is +sin, and His infinite self-sacrificing love to free the +sinner from his sin, and to bring him to His own +perfection, we shall learn to wonder at and worship +this glorious God, to feel and deplore our terrible +unlikeness to Him, to long and cry for some share +in the Divine beauty and blessedness of this +Holiness.</p> + +<p>And then will come with new meaning the +command, ‘Be holy, as I am holy.’ Oh, my +brethren! ye who profess to obey the commands +of your God, do give this all-surpassing and all-including +<a name="png.024" id="png.024"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">25</span><span class="ns">] + </span>command that first place in your heart +and life which it claims. Do be holy with the +likeness of God’s Holiness. Do be holy as He is +holy. And if you find that the more you meditate +and study, the less you can grasp this infinite +holiness; that the more you at moments grasp of +it, the more you despair of a holiness so Divine; +remember that such breaking down and such +despair is just what the command was meant to +work. Learn to cease from your own wisdom as +well as your own goodness; draw near in poverty +of spirit to let the Holy One show you how utterly +above human knowledge or human power is the +holiness He demands; to the soul that ceases from +self, and has no confidence in the flesh, He will +show and give the holiness He calls us to.</p> + +<p>It is to such that the great gift of Holiness in +Christ becomes intelligible and acceptable. Christ +brings the Holiness of God nigh by showing it in +human conduct and intercourse. He brings it nigh +by removing the barrier between it and us, between +God and us. He brings it nigh, because He makes +us one with Himself. ‘Holy in Christ:’ our holiness +is a Divine bestowment, held for us, communicated +to us, working mightily in us because we are +<em>in Him</em>. ‘In Christ!’ oh, that wonderful <em>in</em>! our +very life rooted in the life of Christ. That holy +Son and Servant of the Father, beautiful in His life +of love and obedience on earth, sanctifying Himself +for us—that life of Christ, the ground in which I +am planted and rooted, the soil from which I draw +<a name="png.025" id="png.025"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">26</span><span class="ns">] + </span>as my nourishment its every quality and its very +nature. How that word sheds its light both on the +revelation, ‘I am holy,’ and on the command, ‘Be +ye holy, as I am,’ and binds them in one! In +Christ I see what God’s Holiness is, and what my +holiness is. In Him both are one, and both are +mine. In Him I am holy; abiding and growing up +in Him, I can be holy in all manner of living, as God +is holy.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O Most Holy God! we do beseech Thee, reveal +Thou to Thy children what it meaneth that Thou +hast not only called them to holiness, but even +called them by this name, ‘the holy ones in Christ +Jesus.’ Oh that every child of Thine might know +that He bears this name, might know what it +means, and what power there is in it to make Him +what it calls him. Holy Lord God! oh that the +time of Thy visitation might speedily come, and +each child of Thine on earth be known as a holy +one!</p> + +<p>To this end we pray Thee to reveal to Thy saints +what Thy Holiness is. Teach us to worship and to +wait until Thou hast spoken unto our souls with +Divine Power Thy word, ‘I am holy.’ Oh that it +may search out and convict us of our unholiness!</p> + +<p>And reveal to us, we pray Thee, that as holy as +Thou art, even a consuming fire, so holy is Thy +command in its determined and uncompromising purpose +<a name="png.026" id="png.026"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">27</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to have us holy. O God! let Thy voice sound +through the depth of our being, with a power from +which there is no escape: Be holy, be holy.</p> + +<p>And let us thus, between Thine infinite Holiness +on the one hand and our unholiness on the other, +be driven and be drawn to accept of Christ as our +sanctification, to abide in Him as our life and our +power to be what Thou wouldst have us—‘Holy in +Christ Jesus.’</p> + +<p>O Father! let Thy Spirit make this precious +word life and truth within us. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. You are entering anew on the study of a Divine mystery. ‘Trust not to +your own understanding;’ wait for the teaching of the Spirit of truth.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. <strong>In Christ.</strong> A commentator says, ‘The phrase denotes two moral facts—first, +the act of faith whereby a man lays hold of Christ; second, the +community of life with Him contracted by means of this faith.’ There is still +another fact, the greatest of all: that it is by an act of Divine power that I +am in Christ and am kept in Him. It is this I want to realize: the Divineness +of my position in Jesus.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Grasp the two sides of the truth. <strong>You are</strong> holy in Christ with a Divine +holiness. In the faith of that, you are to <strong>be holy</strong>, to <strong>become holy</strong> with a +human holiness, the Divine Holiness manifest in all the conduct of a human +life.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. This Christ is a Living Person, a Loving Saviour: how He will delight to +get complete possession, and do all the work in you! Keep hold of this all +along as we go on: you have a claim on Christ, on His Love and Power, to +make you holy. As His redeemed one, you are at this moment, whatever and +wherever you be, <strong>in Him</strong>. His Holy Presence and Love are around you. You +are <strong>in Him</strong>, in the enclosure of that tender love, which ever encircles you with +His Holy Presence. <strong>In that Presence, accepted and realized, is your +holiness.</strong></i></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.1" id="fn.1" + href="#fna.1">1</a> There is one disadvantage in English in our having synonyms +of which some are derived from Saxon and others from Latin. +Ordinary readers are apt to forget that in our translation of the +Bible we may use two different words for what in the original is +expressed by one term. This is the case with the words <em>holy</em>, +<em>holiness</em>, <em>keep holy</em>, <em>hallow</em>, <em>saint</em>, <em>sanctify</em>, and <em>sanctification</em>. +When God or Christ is called the Holy One, the word in Hebrew +and Greek is exactly the same that is used when the believer is +called a saint: he too is a holy one. So the three words <em>hallow</em>, +<em>keep holy</em>, <em>sanctify</em>, all represent but one term in the original, of +which the real meaning is to make holy, as it is in Dutch, +<em>heiliging</em> (holying), and <em>heiligmaking</em> (holy-making).</p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.027" id="png.027"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">28</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:3" id="day:3">Third Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap3.png" width="263" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Creation." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘And God blessed the Sabbath day, and <em>sanctified</em> it, because +that in it He had rested from all the work which God created +and made.’—<span class="smc">Gen.</span> ii. 3.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">In</span> Genesis we have the Book of Beginnings. To +its first three chapters we are specially indebted +for a Divine light shining on the many +questions to which human wisdom never could find +an answer. In our search after Holiness, we are +led thither too. In the whole book of Genesis the +word Holy occurs but once. But that once in +such a connection as to open to us the secret +spring whence flows all that the Bible has to teach +or to give us of this heavenly blessing. The full +meaning of the precious word we want to master, +of the priceless blessing we want to get possession +of, ‘<em>Sanctified in Christ</em>,’ takes its rise in what is +here written of that wondrous act of God, by which +He closed His creation work, and revealed how +wonderfully it would be continued and perfected. +When God blessed the seventh day, and <em>sanctified</em> +<a name="png.028" id="png.028"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">29</span><span class="ns">] + </span>it, He lifted it above the other days, and set it +apart to a work and a revelation of Himself, +excelling in glory all that had preceded. In this +simple expression, Scripture reveals to us the +character of God as the Holy One, who <em>makes holy</em>; +the way in which He makes holy, by entering in +and <em>resting</em>; and the power of <em>blessing</em> with which +God’s making holy is ever accompanied. These +three lessons we shall find it of the deepest importance +to study well, as containing the root-principles +of all the Scripture will have to teach +us in our pursuit of Holiness.</p> + +<p>1. God <em>sanctified</em> the Sabbath day. Of the +previous six days the keyword was, from the first +calling into existence of the heaven and the earth, +down to the making of man: <em>God created</em>. All at +once a new word and a new work of God, is introduced: +<em>God sanctified</em>. Something higher than +creation, that for which creation is to exist, is now +to be revealed; God Almighty is now to be known +as God Most Holy. And just as the work of +creation shows His Power, without that Power +being mentioned, so His making holy the seventh +day reveals His character as the Holy One. As +Omnipotence is the chief of His natural, so Holiness +is the first of His moral attributes. And just as +He alone is Creator, so He alone is Sanctifier; to +make holy is His work as truly and exclusively as +to create. Blessed is the child of God who truly +and fully believes this!</p> + +<p>God sanctified the Sabbath day. The word can +<a name="png.029" id="png.029"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">30</span><span class="ns">] + </span>teach us what the nature is of the work God does +when He makes holy. Sanctification in Paradise +cannot be essentially different from Sanctification +in Redemption. God had pronounced all His works, +and man the chief of them, very good. And yet +they were not holy. The six days’ work had nought +of defilement or sin, and yet it was not holy. The +seventh day needed to be specially made holy, for +the great work of making holy man, who was +already very good. In Exodus, God says distinctly +that He sanctified the Sabbath day, with a view to +man’s sanctification. ‘That ye may know that I +am the Lord that doth <em>sanctify you</em>.’ Goodness, +innocence, purity, freedom from sin, is not Holiness. +Goodness is the work of omnipotence, an attribute +of nature, as God creates it: holiness is something +infinitely higher. We speak of the holiness of God +as His infinite moral perfection; man’s moral +perfection could only come in the use of his will, +consenting freely to and abiding in the will of God. +Thus alone could he become holy. The seventh day +was made holy by God as a pledge that He would +make man holy. In the ages that preceded the +seventh day, the Creation period, God’s Power, +Wisdom, and Goodness had been displayed. The +age to come, in the seventh day period, is to be the +dispensation of holiness: God made holy the seventh +day.</p> + +<p>2. God sanctified the Sabbath day, <em>because in it +He rested</em> from all His work. This rest was something +real. In Creation, God had, as it were, gone +<a name="png.030" id="png.030"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">31</span><span class="ns">] + </span>out of Himself to bring forth something new: in +resting He now returns from His creating work +into Himself, to rejoice in His love over the man +He has created, and communicate Himself to him. +This opens up to us the way in which God makes +holy. The connection between the resting and +making holy was no arbitrary one; the making +holy was no after-thought; in the very nature of +things it could not be otherwise: He sanctified +<em>because</em> He rested in it; He sanctified by resting. +As He regards His finished work, more especially +man, rejoices in it, and, as we have it in Exodus, +‘is refreshed,’ this time of His Divine rest is the +time in which He will carry on unto perfection +what He has begun, and make man, created in His +image, in very deed partaker of His highest glory, +His Holiness.</p> + +<p><em>Where God rests in complacency and love, He makes +holy.</em> The Presence of God revealing itself, entering +in, and taking possession, is what constitutes true +Holiness. As we go down the ages, studying the +progressive unfolding of what Holiness is, this truth +will continually meet us. In God’s indwelling in +heaven, in His temple on earth, in His beloved Son, +in the person of the believer through the Holy +Spirit, we shall everywhere find that Holiness is not +something that man is or does, but that it always +comes where God comes. In the deepest meaning +of the words: where God enters to rest, there He +sanctifies. And when we come to study the New +Testament revelation of the way in which we are +<a name="png.031" id="png.031"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">32</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to be holy, we shall find in this one of our earliest +and deepest lessons. It is as we enter into the +rest of God that we become partakers of His +Holiness. ‘We which have believed do enter into +that rest;’ ‘He that hath entered into his rest hath +himself also rested from his works, as God did from +His.’ It is as the soul ceases from its own efforts, +and rests in Him who has finished all for us, and will +finish all in us, as the soul yields itself in the quiet +confidence of true faith to rest in God, that it will +know what true Holiness is. Where the soul enters +into the Sabbath stillness of perfect trust, God +comes to keep His Sabbath holy; and the soul +where He rests He sanctifies. Whether we speak +of His own day, ‘He sanctified it,’ or His own +people ‘sanctified in Christ,’ the secret of Holiness +is ever the same: ‘He sanctified because he rested.’</p> + +<p>3. And then we read, ‘<em>He blessed</em> and sanctified +it.’ As used in the first chapter and throughout +the book of Genesis, the word ‘God blessed’ is one +of great significance. ‘Be fruitful and multiply’ +was, as to Adam, so later to Noah and Abraham, +the Divine exposition of its meaning. The blessing +with which God blessed Adam and Noah and +Abraham was that of fruitfulness and increase, the +power to reproduce and multiply. When God +blessed the seventh day, He filled it so with the +living power of His Holiness, that in it that Holiness +might increase and reproduce itself in those who, +like Him, seek to enter into its rest and sanctify it. +The seventh day is that in which we are still living. +<a name="png.032" id="png.032"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">33</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Of each of the creation days it is written, up to the last, +‘There was evening, and there was morning, the +sixth day.’ Of the seventh the record has not yet +been made; we are living in it now, God’s own +day of rest and holiness and blessing. Entering +into it in a very special manner, and taking possession +of it, as the time for His rejoicing in His creature, +and manifesting the fulness of His love in sanctifying +him, He has made the dispensation we +now live in one of Divine and mighty blessing. +And He has at the same time taught us what the +blessing is. Holiness is blessedness. Fellowship +with God in His holy rest is blessedness. And as +all God’s blessings in Christ have but one fountain, +God’s Holiness, so they all have but one aim, making +us partakers of that Holiness. God created, <em>and +blessed</em>; with the creation blessing. God sanctified, +<em>and blessed</em>; with the Sabbath blessing of His rest. +The Creation blessing, of goodness and fruitfulness +and dominion, is to be crowned by the Sabbath +blessing of rest in God and holiness in fellowship +with Him.</p> + +<p>God’s finished work of Creation was marred by +sin, and our fellowship with Him in the blessing of +His holy rest cut off. The finished work of redemption +opened for us a truer rest and a surer entrance +into the Holiness of God. As He rested in His +holy day, so He now rests in His Holy Son. In +Him we now can enter fully into the rest of God. +‘Made holy in Christ,’ let us rest in Him. Let us +rest, because we see that as wonderfully as God by +<a name="png.033" id="png.033"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">34</span><span class="ns">] + </span>His mighty power finished His work of Creation, +will He complete and perfect His work of sanctification. +Let us yield ourselves to God in Christ, to +rest where He rested, to be made holy with His +own holiness, and to be blessed with God’s own +blessing. God the Sanctifier is the name now +inscribed upon the throne of God the Creator. At +the threshold of the history of the human race there +shines this word of infinite promise and hope: +‘God blessed and sanctified the seventh day because +in it He rested.’</p> + + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord God! I bow before Thee in lowly +worship. I adore Thee as God the Creator, and +God the Sanctifier. Thou hast revealed Thyself +as God Almighty and God Most Holy. I beseech +Thee, teach me to know and to trust Thee as such.</p> + +<p>I humbly ask Thee for grace to learn and hold +fast the deep spiritual truths Thou hast revealed in +making holy the Sabbath day. Thy purpose in +man’s creation is to show forth Thy Holiness, and +make him partaker of it. Oh, teach me to believe +in Thee as God my Creator and Sanctifier, to believe +with my whole heart that the same Almighty power +which gave the sixth-day blessing of creation, +secures to us the seventh-day blessing of sanctification. +Thy will is our sanctification.</p> + +<p>And teach me, Lord, to understand better how +this blessing comes. It is where Thou enterest to +<a name="png.034" id="png.034"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">35</span><span class="ns">] + </span>rest, to refresh and reveal Thyself, that Thou +makest holy. O my God! may my heart be Thy +resting-place. I would, in the stillness and confidence +of a restful faith, rest in Thee, believing that +Thou doest all in me. Let such fellowship with +Thee, and Thy love, and Thy will be to me the +secret of a life of holiness. I ask it in the name of +our Lord Jesus, in whom Thou hast sanctified us. +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. God the Creator is God the Sanctifier. The Omnipotence that did the first +work does the second too. I can trust God Almighty to make me holy. God is +holy: if God is everything to me, His presence will be my holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Rest is ceasing from work, not to work no more, but to begin a new work. +God rests and begins at once to make holy that in which He rests. He +created by the word of His power; He rests in His love. Creation was the +building of the temple; sanctification is the entering in and taking possession. +Oh, that wonderful entering into human nature!</i></p> + +<p><i>3. God rests only in what is restful, wholly at His disposal. It is in the +restfulness of faith that we must look to God the Sanctifier; He will come in +and keep His holy Sabbath in the restful soul. We rest in God’s rest; God +rests in our rest.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The God that rests in man whom He made, and in resting sanctifies, and +in sanctifying blesses: this is our God; praise and worship Him. <strong>And trust +Him to do His work.</strong></i></p> + +<p><i>5. Rest! what a simple word. The Rest of God! what an inconceivable +fulness of Life and Love in that word. Let us meditate on it and worship +before Him, until it overshadow us and we enter into it—the Rest of God. +<strong>Rest</strong> belongeth unto God: He alone can give it, by making us share His own.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.035" id="png.035"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">36</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:4" id="day:4">Fourth Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap4.png" width="286" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Revelation." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘And when the Lord saw that Moses turned aside to see, He +called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, +Moses. And he said, Here am I. And He said, Draw not nigh +hither; put off thy shoes from thy feet, for the place where +thou standest is <em>holy</em> ground. And Moses hid his face, for He +was afraid to look upon God.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> iii. 4–6.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">And</span> why was it holy ground? Because God +had come there and occupied it. Where +God is, there is holiness; it is the presence of God +makes holy. This is the truth we met with in +Paradise when man was just created; here, where +Scripture uses the word <em>Holy</em> for the second time, it +is repeated and enforced. A careful study of the +word in the light of the burning bush will further +open its deep significance. Let us see what the +sacred history, what the revelation of God, and +what Moses teaches us of this holy ground.</p> + +<p>1. Note the place this first direct revelation of +God to man as the Holy One takes in sacred +history. In Paradise we found the word <em>Holy</em> +used of the seventh day. Since that time twenty-five +<a name="png.036" id="png.036"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">37</span><span class="ns">] + </span>centuries have elapsed. We found in God’s +sanctifying the day of rest a promise of a new +dispensation—the revelation of the Almighty +Creator to be followed by that of the Holy One +making holy. And yet throughout the book of +Genesis the word never occurs again; it is as if +God’s Holiness is in abeyance; only in Exodus, with +the calling of Moses, does it make its appearance +again. This is a fact of deep import. Just as a +parent or teacher seeks, in early childhood, to impress +one lesson at a time, so God deals in the education +of the human race. After having in the flood +exhibited His righteous judgment against sin, He +calls Abraham to be the father of a chosen people. +And as the foundation of all His dealings with that +people, He teaches him and his seed first of all the +lesson of <em>childlike trust</em>—trust in Him as the +Almighty, with whom nothing is too wonderful, and +trust in Him as the Faithful One, whose oath could +not be broken. With the growth of Israel to a +people we see the revelation advancing to a new +stage. The simplicity of childhood gives way to +the waywardness of youth, and God must now +interfere with the discipline and restriction of law. +Having gained a right to a place in their confidence +as the God of their fathers, He prepares them for a +further revelation. Of the God of Abraham the +chief attribute was that He was the Almighty One; +of the God of Israel, Jehovah, that He is the Holy One.</p> + +<p>And what is to be the special mark of the new +period that is now about to be inaugurated, and +<a name="png.037" id="png.037"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">38</span><span class="ns">] + </span>which is introduced by the word holy? God tells +Moses that He is now about to reveal Himself in a +new character. He had been known to Abraham +as God Almighty, the God of Promise (Ex. vi. 3). +He would now manifest Himself as Jehovah, the +God of Fulfilment, especially in the redemption +and deliverance of His people from the oppression +He had foretold to Abraham. God Almighty is +the God of Creation: Abraham believed in God, +‘who quickeneth the dead, and calleth the things +that are not as though they were.’ Jehovah is +the God of Redemption and of Holiness. With +Abraham there was not a word of sin or guilt, and +therefore not of redemption or holiness. To Israel +the law is to be given, to convince of sin and prepare +the way for holiness; it is Jehovah, the Holy +One of Israel, the Redeemer, who now appears. +And it is the presence of this Holy One that +makes the holy ground.</p> + +<p>2. And how does this Presence reveal itself? In +the burning bush God makes Himself known as +dwelling in the midst of the fire. Elsewhere in +Holy Scripture the connection between fire and the +Holiness of God is clearly expressed: ‘The light +of Israel shall be for a fire, and the Holy One for a +flame.’ The nature of fire may be either beneficent +or destructive. The sun, the great central fire, may +give life and fruitfulness, or may scorch to death. +All depends upon occupying the right position, +upon the relation in which we stand to it. And +so wherever God the Holy One reveals Himself, +<a name="png.038" id="png.038"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">39</span><span class="ns">] + </span>we shall find the two sides together: God’s +Holiness as judgment against sin, destroying the +sinner who remains in it, and as Mercy freeing His +people from it. Judgment and Mercy ever go +together. Of the elements of nature there is none +of such spiritual and mighty energy as Fire: what +it consumes it takes and changes into its own +spiritual nature, rejecting as smoke and ashes what +cannot be assimilated. And so the Holiness of +God is that infinite Perfection by which He keeps +Himself free from all that is not Divine, and yet +has fellowship with the creature, and takes it up +into union with Himself, destroying and casting out +all that will not yield itself to Him.</p> + +<p>It is thus as One who dwells in the fire, who is +a fire, that God reveals Himself at the opening of +this new redemption period. With Abraham and +the patriarchs, as we have said, there had been little +teaching about sin or redemption; the nearness and +friendship of God had been revealed. Now the law +will be given, sin will be made manifest, the distance +from God will be felt, that man, in learning to +know himself and his sinfulness, may learn to know +and long for God to make him holy. In all God’s +revelation of Himself we shall find the combination +of the two elements, the one repelling, the other +attracting. In His house He will dwell in the +midst of Israel, and yet it will be in the awful unapproachable +solitude and darkness of the holiest +of all within the veil. He will come near to them, +and yet keep them at a distance. As we study the +<a name="png.039" id="png.039"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">40</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Holiness of God, we shall see in increasing clearness +how, like fire, it repels and attracts, how it combines +into one His infinite distance and His infinite nearness.</p> + +<p>3. But the distance will be that which comes out +first and most strongly. This we see in Moses: he hid +his face, for He feared to look upon God. The first +impression which God’s Holiness produces is that of +fear and awe. Until man, both as a creature and a +sinner, learns how high God is above him, how +different and distant he is from God, the Holiness +of God will have little real value or attraction. +Moses hiding his face shows us the effect of the +drawing nigh of the Holy One, and the path to His +further revelation.</p> + +<p>How distinctly this comes out in God’s own +words: ‘Draw not nigh hither; put off thy shoes +from off thy feet.’ Yes, God had drawn nigh, but +Moses may not. God comes near: man must stand +back. In the same breath God says, Draw nigh, +and, Draw not nigh. There can be no knowledge +of God or nearness to Him, where we have not first +heard His, Draw not nigh. The sense of sin, of +unfitness for God’s presence, is the groundwork of +true knowledge or worship of Him as the Holy One. +‘Put off thy shoes from off thy feet.’ The shoes +are the means of intercourse with the world, the +aids through which the flesh or nature does its will, +moves about and does its work. In standing upon +holy ground, all this must be put away. It is with +naked feet, naked and stript of every covering, that +man must bow before a holy God. Our utter unfitness +<a name="png.040" id="png.040"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">41</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to draw nigh or have any dealings with the +Holy One, is the very first lesson we have to learn, +if ever we are to participate in His Holiness. That +<em>Put off!</em> must exercise its condemning power through +our whole being, until we come to realize the full +extent of its meaning in the great, ‘<em>Put off</em> the old +man; put on the Lord Jesus,’ and what ‘the <em>putting +off</em> of the body of the flesh, in the circumcision of +Christ,’ is. Yes, all that is of nature and the flesh, all +that is of our own doing or willing or working—our +very life, must be put off and given unto the death, if +God, as the Holy One, is to make Himself known to us.</p> + +<p>We have seen before that Holiness is more than +goodness or freedom from sin: even unfallen nature +is not holy. Holiness is that awful glory by which +Divinity is separated from all that is created. +Therefore even the seraphs veil their faces with +their wings when they sing the Thrice Holy. But +oh! when the distance and the difference is not that +of the creature only, but of the sinner, who can express, +who can realize, the humiliation, the fear, the +shame with which we ought to bow before the voice +of the Holy One? Alas! this is one of the most +terrible effects of sin, that it blinds us. We know +not how unholy, how abominable, sin and the sinful +nature are in God’s sight. We have lost the +power of recognising the Holiness of God: heathen +philosophy had not even the idea of using the word +as expressive of the moral character of its gods. +In losing the light of the glory of God, we have +lost the power of knowing what sin is. And now +<a name="png.041" id="png.041"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">42</span><span class="ns">] + </span>God’s first work in drawing nigh to us is to make +us feel that we may not draw nigh as we are; that +there will have to be a very real and a very solemn +putting off, and even giving up to the death, of all +that appears most lawful and most needful. Not +only our shoes are soiled with contact with this +unholy earth; even our face must be covered and +our eyes closed, in token that the eyes of our heart, +all our human wisdom and understanding, are incapable +of beholding the Holy One. The first +lesson in the school of personal holiness is, to fear +and hide our face before the Holiness of God. ‘Thus +saith the High and Lofty One, whose name is holy, +I dwell in the High and Holy Place, and with him +that is of a contrite and humble spirit.’ Contrition, +brokenness of spirit, fear and trembling are +God’s first demand of those who would see His +Holiness.</p> + +<p>Moses was to be the first preacher of the Holiness +of God. Of the full communication of God’s +Holiness to us in Christ, His first revelation to +Moses was the type and the pledge. From Moses’ +lips the people of Israel, from his pen the Church of +Christ, was to receive the message, ‘Be holy: I am +holy: I make holy.’ His preparation for being the +messenger of the Holy One was here, where he hid +his face, because he was afraid to look upon God. +It is with the face in the dust, it is in the putting +off not only of the shoes, but of all that has been +in contact with the world and self and sin, that +the soul draws nigh to the fire, in which God dwells, +<a name="png.042" id="png.042"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">43</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and which burns, but does not consume. Oh that +every believer, who seeks to witness for God as the +Holy One, might thus learn how the fulfilment of +the type of the Burning Bush is the Crucified +Christ, and how, as we die with Him, we receive +that Baptism of Fire, which reveals in each of us +what it means: the Holy One dwelling in a +Burning Bush. Only so can we learn what it is to +be holy, as He is holy.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! I have seen Thee, who dwellest +in the fire. I have heard Thy voice, Draw not +nigh hither; put thy shoes off from thy feet. And +my soul has feared to look upon God, the Holy +One.</p> + +<p>And yet, O my God! I must see Thee. Thou +didst create me for Thy likeness. Thou hast taught +that this likeness is Thy Holiness: ‘Be holy, as I +am holy.’ O my God! how shall I know to be holy, +unless I may see Thee, the Holy One? To be holy, +I must look upon God.</p> + +<p>I bless Thee for the revelation of Thyself in the +flames of the thorn-bush, in the fire of the accursed +tree. I bow in amazement and deep abasement at +the great sight: Thy Son in the weakness of His +human nature, in the fire, burning but not consumed. +O my God! in fear and trembling I have +yielded myself as a sinner to die like Him. Oh, let +the fire consume all that is unholy in me! Let me +<a name="png.043" id="png.043"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">44</span><span class="ns">] + </span>too know Thee as the God that dwelleth in the fire, +to melt down and purge out and destroy what is +not of Thee, to save and take up into Thine own +Holiness what is Thine own.</p> + +<p>O Holy Lord God! I bow in the dust before +this great mystery. Reveal to me Thy Holiness, +that I too may be its witness and its messenger on +earth. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. <strong>Holiness as the fire of God.</strong> Praise God that there is a Power that can +consume the vile and the dross, a Power that will not leave it undisturbed. +‘The bush burning but not consumed’ is not only the motto of the Church in +time of persecution; it is the watchword of every soul in God’s sanctifying +work.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. There is a new Theology, which only speaks of the love of God as seen in +the cross. It sees not the glory of His Righteousness, and His righteous judgment. +This is not the God of Scripture. ‘Our God is a consuming fire,’ is +New Testament Theology. To ‘offer service with reverence and awe,’ is New +Testament religion. In Holiness, Judgment and Mercy meet.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. <strong>Holiness as the fear of God.</strong> Hiding the face before God for fear, not +daring to look or speak,—this is the beginning of rest in God. It is not yet +the true rest, but on the way to it. May God give us a deep fear of whatever +could grieve or anger Him. May we have a deep fear of ourselves, and all that +is of the old, the condemned nature, lest it rise again. ‘The spirit of the fear +of the Lord’ is the first manifestation of the spirit of holiness, and prepares +the way for the joy of holiness. ‘Walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the +comfort of the Holy Ghost;’ these are the two sides of the Christian life.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The Holiness of God was revealed to Moses that he might be its messenger. +The Church needs nothing so much to-day as men and women who +can testify for the Holiness of God. Will you be one?</i></p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="note">NOTE.</h3> + +<p class="pgbrk">The connection between the fear of God and holiness is +most intimate. There are some who seek most earnestly +for holiness, and yet never exhibit it in a light that +will attract the world or even believers, because this +element is wanting. It is the fear of the Lord that +works that meekness and gentleness, that deliverance +<a name="png.044" id="png.044"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">45</span><span class="ns">] + </span>from self-confidence and self-consciousness, which form the +true groundwork of a saintly character. The passages of +God’s Word in which the two words are linked together +are well worthy of a careful study. ‘Who is like unto +Thee, glorious in <em>holiness</em>, <em>fearful</em> in praises?’ ‘In Thy +<em>fear</em> will I worship towards Thy <em>holy</em> temple.’ ‘O <em>fear</em> +the Lord, ye His <em>holy ones</em>.’ ‘O worship the Lord, in +the beauty of <em>holiness</em>; <em>fear</em> before Him, all the earth.’ +‘Let them praise Thy great and <em>terrible</em> name; <em>holy</em> is He.’ +‘The <em>fear</em> of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and +the knowledge of the <em>Holy One</em> is understanding.’ ‘The +Lord of hosts, Him shall ye <em>sanctify</em>; let Him be your +<em>fear</em>, and let Him be your dread.’ ‘Perfecting <em>holiness</em> in +the <em>fear</em> of the Lord.’ ‘Like as He which <em>called you</em> is +holy, be ye yourselves also <em>holy</em>; and if ye <em>call on Him</em> +as father, pass the time of your sojourning in <em>fear</em>.’ And +so on through the whole of Scripture, from the Song of +Moses on to the Song of the Lamb: ‘Who shall not +<em>fear</em> Thee, O Lord! and glorify Thy name, for Thou only +art <em>holy</em>.’ If we yield ourselves to the impression of such +passages, we shall feel more deeply that the fear of God, +the tender fear of in any way offending Him, the fear +especially of entering into His holy presence with what is +human and carnal, with aught of our own wisdom and +effort, is of the very essence of the holiness we are to +follow after. It is this fear of God will make us, like +Moses, fall down and hide our face in God’s presence, +and wait for His own Holy Spirit to open in us the eyes, +and breathe in us the thoughts and the worship, with +which we draw nigh to Him, the Holy One. It is in +this holy fear that that stillness of soul is wrought which +leads it to rest in God, and opens the way for what we +saw in Paradise to be the secret of holiness: God keeping +His Sabbath, and sanctifying the soul in which He rests.</p> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.045" id="png.045"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">46</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:5" id="day:5">Fifth Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap5.png" width="300" height="30" + alt="Holiness and Redemption." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘<em>Sanctify</em> unto <em>me</em> all the first-born.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> xiii. 2.</p> + +<p>‘All the first-born <em>are mine</em>; for on the day I smote all the +first-born in the land of Egypt <em>I sanctified</em> unto <em>me</em> all the first-born +in Israel: <em>mine</em> they shall be: I am the Lord.’—<span class="smc">Num.</span> iii. +13, viii. 17.</p> + +<p>‘For I am the Lord your God that bringeth you up out of the +land of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore <em>be holy</em>, for I +am <em>holy</em>.’—<span class="smc">Lev.</span> xi. 45.</p> + +<p>‘I have redeemed thee; thou art mine.’—<span class="smc">Isa.</span> xliii. 1.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">At</span> Horeb we saw how the first mention of the +word holy in the history of fallen man was +connected with the inauguration of a new period in +the revelation of God, that of Redemption. In the +passover we have the first manifestation of what +Redemption is; and here the more frequent use of +the word holy begins. In the feast of unleavened +bread we have the symbol of the putting off of the +old and the putting on of the new, to which redemption +through blood is to lead. Of the seven +days we read: ‘In the first day there shall be an +<em>holy</em> convocation, and in the seventh day there shall +<a name="png.046" id="png.046"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">47</span><span class="ns">] + </span>be an <em>holy</em> convocation;’ the meeting of the redeemed +people to commemorate its deliverance is a +holy gathering; they meet under the covering of +their Redeemer, the Holy One. As soon as the +people had been redeemed from Egypt, God’s very +first word to them was, ‘Sanctify—make holy +unto me all the first-born: it is mine.’ (See Ex. +xiii. 2.) The word reveals how proprietorship is +one of the central thoughts both in redemption and +in sanctification, the link that binds them together. +And though the word is here only used of the first-born, +they are regarded as the type of the whole +people. We know how all growth and organization +commence from a centre, around which in ever-widening +circles the life of the organism spreads. +If holiness in the human race is to be true and real, +free as that of God, it must be the result of a self-appropriating +development. And so the first-born +are sanctified, and afterwards the priests in their +place, as the type of what the whole people is to be +as God’s first-born among the nations, His peculiar +treasure, ‘an holy nation.’ This idea of proprietorship +as related to redemption and sanctification +comes out with especial clearness when God speaks +of the exchange of the priests for the first-born +(Num. iii. 12, 13, viii. 16, 17): ‘The Levites are +<em>wholly given unto me</em>; instead of the first-born have +I <em>taken them unto me</em>; for all the first-born <em>are +mine</em>; in the day that I smote every first-born in +the land of Egypt <em>I sanctified them for myself</em>.’</p> + +<p>Let us try and realize the relation existing +<a name="png.047" id="png.047"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">48</span><span class="ns">] + </span>between redemption and holiness. In Paradise we +saw what God’s sanctifying the seventh day was: +He took possession of it, He blessed it, He rested in +it and refreshed Himself. Where God enters and +rests, there is holiness: the more perfectly the +object is fitted for Him to enter and dwell, the +more perfect the holiness. The seventh day was +sanctified as the period for man’s sanctification. +At the very first step God took to lead him to His +Holiness—the command not to eat of the tree—man +fell. God did not give up His plan, but had +now to pursue a different and slower path. After +twenty-five centuries’ slow but needful preparation, +He now reveals Himself as the Redeemer. A people +whom He had chosen and formed for Himself He +gives up to oppression and slavery, that their hearts +may be prepared to long for and welcome a Deliverer. +In a series of mighty wonders He proves +Himself the Conqueror of their enemies, and then, +in the blood of the Paschal Lamb on their doors, +teaches them what redemption is, not only from +an unjust oppressor here on earth, but from the +righteous judgment their sins had deserved. The +Passover is to be to them the transition from the +seen and temporal to the unseen and spiritual, +revealing God not only as the Mighty but as the +Holy One, freeing them not only from the house +of bondage but the Destroying Angel.</p> + +<p>And having thus redeemed them, He tells them +that they are now His own. During their stay at Sinai +and in the wilderness, the thought is continually +<a name="png.048" id="png.048"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">49</span><span class="ns">] + </span>pressed upon them that they are now the Lord’s +people, whom He has made His own by the strength +of His arm, that He may make them holy for Himself, +even as He is holy. The purpose of redemption +is Possession, and the purpose of Possession is +likeness to Him who is Redeemer and Owner, is +Holiness.</p> + +<p>In regard to this Holiness, and the way it is to +be attained as the result of redemption, there is +more than one lesson the sanctifying of the first-born +will teach us.</p> + +<p>First of all, we want to realize how inseparable +redemption and holiness are. Neither can exist +without the other. <em>Only redemption leads to holiness.</em> +If I am seeking holiness, I must abide in the clear +and full experience of being a redeemed one, and as +such of being owned and possessed by God. Redemption +is too often looked at from its negative side +as deliverance from: its real glory is the positive +element of being redeemed unto Himself. Full +possession of a house means occupation: if I own a +house without occupying it, it may be the home of +all that is foul and evil. God has redeemed me +and made me His own with the view of getting +complete possession of me. He says of my soul, +‘It is mine,’ and seeks to have His right of ownership +acknowledged and made fully manifest. That +will be perfect holiness, where God has entered in +and taken complete and entire possession.<sup><a name="fna.2" id="fna.2" + href="#fn.2">2</a></sup> It is +redemption gives God His right and power over me; +<a name="png.049" id="png.049"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">50</span><span class="ns">] + </span>it is redemption sets me free for God now to possess +and bless: it is redemption realized and filling my +soul, that will bring me the assurance and experience +of all His power will work in me. In God, +redemption and sanctification are one: the more redemption +as a Divine reality possesses me, the closer +am I linked to the Redeemer-God, the Holy One.</p> + +<p>And just so, <em>only holiness brings the assurance and +enjoyment of redemption</em>. If I am seeking to hold +fast redemption on lower ground, I may be deceived. +If I have become unwatchful or careless, I should +tremble at the very idea of trusting in redemption +apart from holiness as its object. To Israel God +spake, ‘I brought you up out of the land of Egypt: +<em>therefore</em> ye shall be holy, for I am holy.’ It is God +the Redeemer who made us His own, who calls us +too to be holy: let Holiness be to us the most +essential, the most precious part of redemption: the +yielding of ourselves to Him who has <em>taken</em> us as +His own, and has undertaken to <em>make</em> us His own +entirely.</p> + +<p>A second lesson suggested is the connection +between God’s and man’s working in sanctification. +To Moses the Lord speaks, ‘<em>Sanctify</em> unto me all the +first-born.’ He afterwards says, ‘<em>I sanctified</em> all +the first-born for myself.’ What God does He does +to be carried out and appropriated through us. +When He tells us that we are made holy in Christ +Jesus, that we are His holy ones, He speaks not +only of His purpose, but of what He has really +done; we have been sanctified in the one offering +<a name="png.050" id="png.050"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">51</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of Christ, and in our being created anew in Him. +But this work has a human side. To us comes +the call to be holy, to follow after holiness, to perfect +holiness. God has made us His own, and +allows us to say that we are His: but He waits for +us now to yield Him an enlarged entrance into the +secret places of our inner being, for Him to fill it all +with His fulness. Holiness is not something we +bring to God or do for Him. Holiness is what there +is of God in us. God has made us His own in +redemption, that He might make Himself our own in +sanctification. And our work in becoming holy is +the bringing our whole life, and every part of it, into +subjection to the rule of this holy God, putting every +member and every power upon His altar.</p> + +<p>And this teaches us the answer to the question +as to the connection between the sudden and the +gradual in sanctification: between its being a thing +once for all complete, and yet imperfect and needing +to be perfected. What God sanctifies is holy with +a Divine and perfect holiness as His gift: man has +to sanctify by acknowledging and maintaining and +carrying out that holiness in relation to what God +has made holy. God sanctified the Sabbath day: +man has to sanctify it, that is, to keep it holy. +God sanctified the first-born as His own: Israel had +to sanctify them, to treat them and give them up to +God as holy. God is holy: we are to sanctify Him +in acknowledging and adoring and honouring that +holiness. God has sanctified His great name, His +name is Holy: we sanctify or hallow that name as +<a name="png.051" id="png.051"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">52</span><span class="ns">] + </span>we fear and trust and use it as the revelation of +His Holiness. God sanctified Christ: Christ sanctified +Himself, manifesting in His personal will and +action perfect conformity to the Holiness with which +God had made Him holy. God has sanctified us in +Christ Jesus: we are to be holy by yielding ourselves +to the power of that holiness, by acting it out, and +manifesting it in all our life and walk. The objective +Divine gift, bestowed once for all and completely, +must be appropriated as a subjective personal +possession; we must cleanse ourselves, perfecting +holiness. Redeemed unto holiness: as the two +thoughts are linked in the mind and work of God, +they must be linked in our heart and life.</p> + +<p>When Isaiah announced the second, the true redemption, +it was given to him, even more clearly +and fully than to Moses, to reveal the name of God +as ‘The Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.’ The +more we study this name, and hallow it, and worship +God by it, the more inseparably will the words +become connected, and we shall see how, as the +Redeemer is the Holy One, the redeemed are holy +ones too. Isaiah says of ‘the way of holiness,’ the +‘redeemed shall walk therein.’ The redemption that +comes out from the Holiness of God must lead up into +it too. We shall understand that to be redeemed in +Christ is to be holy in Christ, and the call of our +redeeming God will acquire new meaning: ‘I am +<em>holy</em>: <em>be ye holy</em>.’</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p><a name="png.052" id="png.052"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">53</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>O Lord God! the Holy One of Israel and his +Redeemer! I worship before Thee in deep humility. +I confess with shame that I so long sought Thee +more as the Redeemer than as the Holy One. I +knew not that it was as the Holy One Thou hadst +redeemed, that redemption was the outcome and the +fruit of Thy Holiness; that a participation in Thy +Holiness was its one purpose and its highest beauty. +I only thought of being redeemed from bondage and +death: like Israel, I understood not that without +fellowship and conformity to Thyself redemption +would lose its value.</p> + +<p>Most holy God! I praise Thee for the patience +with which Thou bearest with the selfishness and +the slowness of Thy redeemed ones. I praise Thee +for the teaching of the Spirit of Thy Holiness, +leading Thy saints, and me too, to see how it is Thy +Holiness, and the call to become partaker of it, that +gives redemption its value; how it is for Thyself as +the Holy One, to be Thine own, possessed and +sanctified of Thee, that we are redeemed.</p> + +<p>O my God! with a love and a joy and a thanksgiving +that cannot be uttered, I praise Thee for +Christ, who has been made unto us of Thee sanctification +and redemption. In Him Thou art my +Redeemer, my Holy One. In Him I am Thy redeemed, +Thy holy one. O God! in speechless +adoration I fall down to worship the love that +passeth knowledge, that hath done this for us, +and to believe that in one who is now before +Thee, holy in Christ, Thou wilt fulfil all Thy +<a name="png.053" id="png.053"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">54</span><span class="ns">] + </span>glorious purposes according to the greatness of Thy +power. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. ‘Redemption through His blood.’ The blood we meet at the threshold of +the pathway of Holiness. For it is the blood of the sacrifice which the fire +of God consumed, and yet could not consume. That blood has such power +of holiness in it, that we read, ‘Sanctified by His own blood.’ Always think +of holiness, or pray for it, as one redeemed by blood. Live under the covering +of the blood in its daily cleansing power.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. It is only as we know the Holiness of God as Fire, and bow before His +righteous judgment, that we can appreciate the preciousness of the blood or +the reality of the redemption. As long as we only think of the love of God as +goodness, we may aim at being good; faith in God who redeems will waken in +us the need and the joy of being <strong>holy in Christ</strong>.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Have you understood the right of property God has in what He has redeemed? +Have you heard a voice say, <strong>Mine. Thou art Mine.</strong> Ask God +very humbly to speak it to you. Listen very gently for it.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The holiness of the creature has its origin in the Divine will, in the Divine +election, redemption, and possession. Give yourself up to this will of God and +rejoice in it.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. As God created, so He redeemed, to sanctify. Have great faith in Him +for this.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. Let God have the entire possession and disposal of you. Holiness is +His; our holiness is to let Him, the Holy One, be all.</i></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.2" id="fn.2" + href="#fna.2">2</a> See <a href="#note:A">Note A</a> on Holiness as Proprietorship.</p> + +</div> + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.054" id="png.054"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">55</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:6" id="day:6">Sixth Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap6.png" width="231" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Glory." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p class="hang">‘Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! among the gods?</p> +<p class="hang">Who is like unto Thee, <em>glorious in holiness</em>,</p> +<p class="hang">Fearful in praises, doing wonders?</p> +<p class="hang">Thou in Thy mercy hast led Thy people which Thou hast redeemed:</p> +<p class="hang">Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to the habitation of <em>Thy holiness</em> …</p> +<p class="hang"><em>The holy place</em>, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.’</p> + +<p class="rt">—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> xv. 11–17.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">In</span> these words we have another step in advance +in the revelation of Holiness. We have here +for the first time Holiness predicated of God Himself. +<em>He is</em> glorious in holiness: and it is to the +dwelling-place of <em>His Holiness</em> that He is guiding +His people.</p> + +<p>Let us first note the expression used here: +glorious in holiness. Throughout Scripture we +find the glory and the holiness of God mentioned +together. In Ex. xxix. 43 we read, ‘And the +tent shall be <em>made holy</em> by my <em>glory</em>,’ that glory of +the Lord of which we afterwards read that it filled +<a name="png.055" id="png.055"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">56</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the house. The glory of an object, of a thing or +person, is its intrinsic worth or excellence: to +glorify is to remove everything that could hinder +the full revelation of that excellence. In the Holiness +of God His glory is hidden; in the glory of +God His Holiness is manifested: His glory, the +revelation of Himself as the Holy One, would make +the house holy. In the same way the two are +connected in Lev. x. 3, ‘I will be <em>sanctified</em> in them +that come nigh unto me, and before all the people +I will be <em>glorified</em>.’ The acknowledgment of His +Holiness in the priests would be the manifestation +of His glory to the people. So, too, in the song of +the Seraphim (Isa. vi. 3), ‘<em>Holy, holy, holy</em>, Lord +God of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His +<em>glory</em>.’ God is He who dwelleth in a light that is +unapproachable, whom no man hath seen or can +see: it is the <em>light</em> of the knowledge of the <em>glory</em> +of God that He gives into our hearts. The glory +is that which can be seen and known of the +invisible and unapproachable light: that light +itself, and the glorious fire of which that light is +the shining out, that light is the Holiness of +God. Holiness is not so much an attribute of +God, as the comprehensive summary of all His +perfections.</p> + +<p>It is on the shore of the Red Sea that Israel +thus praises God: ‘Who is like unto Thee, O +Lord! Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness?’ +He is the Incomparable One, there is none +like Him. And wherein has He proved this, and +<a name="png.056" id="png.056"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">57</span><span class="ns">] + </span>revealed the glory of His Holiness? With Moses +in Horeb we saw God’s glory in the fire, in its +double aspect of salvation and destruction: consuming +what could not be purified, purifying what +was not consumed. We see it here too in the song +of Moses: Israel sings of judgment and of mercy. +The pillar of fire and of the cloud came between +the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel: +it was a cloud and darkness to those, but it gave +light by night to these. The two thoughts run +through the whole song. But in the two verses +that follow the ascription of holiness, we find the +sum of the whole. ‘Thou stretchedst out Thy right +hand: the earth swallowed them.’ ‘The Lord looked +forth upon the host of the Egyptians from the pillar +of fire and discomfited them.’ This is the glory of +Holiness as judgment and destruction of the enemy. +‘Thou in Thy mercy hast led <em>Thy people</em> which +thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided <em>them</em> in +Thy strength to the habitation of Thy Holiness.’ +This is the glory of Holiness in mercy and redemption—a +Holiness that not only delivers but guides +to the habitation of holiness, where the Holy One +is to dwell with and in His people. In the inspiration +of the hour of triumph it is thus early revealed +that the great object and fruit of redemption, as +wrought out by the Holy One, is to be His indwelling: +with nothing short of this can the Holy One +rest content, or the full glory of His Holiness be +made manifest.</p> + +<p>And now, observe further, how, as it is in the +<a name="png.057" id="png.057"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">58</span><span class="ns">] + </span>redemption of His people that God’s Holiness is +revealed, so it is in the song of redemption that +the personal ascription of Holiness to God is found. +We know how in Scripture, after some striking +special interposition of God as Redeemer, the +special influence of the Spirit is manifested in some +song of praise. It is remarkable how it is in these +outbursts of holy enthusiasm, God is praised as the +Holy One. See it in the song of Hannah (1 Sam. +ii. 2), ‘There is none holy as the Lord.’ The +language of the Seraphim (Isa. vi.) is that of a song +of adoration. In the great day of Israel’s deliverance +the song will be, ‘The Lord Jehovah is become +my strength and song. Sing unto the Lord, for +He hath done excellent things. Cry aloud and +shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is <em>the Holy +One</em> of Israel in the midst of thee.’ Mary sings, +‘For He that is mighty hath done great things to +me: and <em>holy</em> is His name.’ The book of Revelation +reveals the living creatures giving glory and +honour and thanks to Him that sitteth on the +throne; ‘and they have no rest day and night, +saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the +Almighty, which was, and which is, and which +is to come.’ And when the song of Moses and +of the Lamb is sung by the sea of glass, it +will still be, ‘Who shall not fear, O Lord, and +glorify Thy name? for Thou only art holy.’ It is +in the moments of highest inspiration, under the +fullest manifestation of God’s redeeming power, +that His servants speak of His Holiness. In Ps. +<a name="png.058" id="png.058"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">59</span><span class="ns">] + </span>xcvii. we read, ‘Rejoice in the Lord, ye righteous, +and give thanks at the remembrance of His Holiness.’ +And in Ps. xcix., which has, with its thrice +repeated holy, been called the echo on earth of the +Thrice Holy of heaven, we sing—</p> + +<div class="poem"> +<div class="stanza"> +<div>Let them praise Thy great and terrible name.</div> +<div><span class="smc">Holy is He</span>.</div> +<br class="ns" /></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<div>Exalt ye the Lord our God,</div> +<div>and worship at His footstool:</div> +<div><span class="smc">Holy is He</span>.</div> +<br class="ns" /></div> + +<div class="stanza"> +<div>Exalt ye the Lord our God,</div> +<div>and worship at His holy hill:</div> +<div>For the Lord our God is <span class="allsc">HOLY</span>.</div> +</div> +</div> + +<p>It is only under the influence of high spiritual +elevation and joy that God’s holiness can be fully +apprehended or rightly worshipped. The sentiment +that becomes us as we worship the Holy One, that +fits us for knowing and worshipping Him aright, +is the spirit of praise that sings and shouts for joy +in the experience of His full salvation.</p> + +<p>But is not this at variance with the lesson we +learnt at Horeb, when God spake, ‘Draw not nigh +hither: put off thy shoes,’ and where Moses feared +and hid his face? And is not this in very deed +the posture that becomes us as creatures and +sinners? It is indeed: and yet the two sentiments +are not at variance: rather they are indispensable +to each other; the fear is the preparation for the +praise and the glory. Or is it not that same Moses +<a name="png.059" id="png.059"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">60</span><span class="ns">] + </span>who hid his face and feared to look upon God, who +afterwards beheld His glory until his own face shone +with a brightness that men could not bear to look +upon? And is not the song that sings here of +God as glorious in holiness, also the song of Moses +who feared and hid his face? Have we not seen +in the fire, and in God, and specially in His Holiness, +the twofold aspect; consuming and purifying, +repelling and attracting, judging and saving, with +the latter in each case not only the accompaniment +but the result of the former? And so we shall find +that the deeper the humbling and the fear in God’s +Holy Presence, and the more real and complete the +putting off of all that is of self and of nature, even +to the putting off, the complete death of the old +man and his will, the more hearty the giving up +to be consumed of what is sinful, the deeper and +fuller will be the praise and joy with which we +daily sing our song of redemption: ‘Who is like +unto Thee, O Lord, glorious in holiness, fearful in +praises, doing wonders?’</p> + +<p>‘<em>Glorious</em> in holiness; <em>fearful</em> in praises:’ the +song itself harmonizes the apparently conflicting +elements. Yes, I will sing of judgment and of +mercy. I will rejoice with trembling as I praise +the Holy One. As I look upon the two sides of +His Holiness, as revealed to the Egyptians and +the Israelites, I remember that what was there +separated is in me united. By nature I am the +Egyptian, an enemy doomed to destruction; by +grace, an Israelite chosen for redemption. In me +<a name="png.060" id="png.060"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">61</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the fire must consume and destroy; only as judgment +does its work, can mercy fully save. It is +only as I tremble before the Searching Light and the +Burning Fire and the Consuming Heat of the Holy +One, as I yield the Egyptian nature to be judged +and condemned and slain, that the Israelite will +be redeemed to know aright his God as the God +of salvation, and to rejoice in Him.</p> + +<p>Blessed be God! the judgment is past. In +Christ, the burning bush, the fire of the Divine +Holiness did its double work: in Him sin was condemned +in the flesh; in Him we are free. In +giving up His will to the death, and doing God’s +will, Christ sanctified Himself; and in that will we +are sanctified too. His crucifixion, with its judgment +of the flesh, His death, with its entire putting +off of what is of nature, is not only for us, but is +really ours; a life and a power working within us +by His Spirit. Day by day we abide in Him. +Tremblingly but rejoicingly we take our stand in +Him, for the Power of Holiness as Judgment to +vindicate within us its fierce vengeance against what +is sin and flesh, and so to let the Power of Holiness +as Redemption accomplish that glorious work that +makes us give thanks at the remembrance of His +Holiness. And so the shout of Salvation rings +ever deeper and truer and louder through our life, +‘Who is like unto Thee, O Lord, among the gods? +Who is like unto Thee, glorious in holiness, fearful +in praises, doing wonders?’</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p><a name="png.061" id="png.061"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">62</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>‘<em>Who</em> is like unto Thee, O Lord! glorious in +holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?’ With +my whole heart would I join in this song of +redemption, and rejoice in Thee as the God of my +salvation.</p> + +<p>O my God! let Thy Spirit, from whom these +words of holy joy and triumph came, so reveal within +me the great redemption as a personal experience, +that my whole life may be one song of trembling +and adoring wonder.</p> + +<p>I beseech Thee especially, let my whole heart +be filled with Thyself, glorious in holiness, fearful +in praises, who alone doest wonders. Let the fear +of Thy Holiness make me tremble at all there is in +me of self and flesh, and lead me in my worship to +deny and crucify my own wisdom, that the Spirit +of Thy Holiness may breathe in me. Let the fear +of the Lord give its deep undertone to all my +coming in and going out in Thy Holy Presence. +Prepare me thus for giving praise without ceasing +at the remembrance of Thy holiness. O my God! +I would rejoice in Thee as my Redeemer, <span class="smc">my Holy +One</span>, with a joy unspeakable and full of glory. As +my Redeemer, Thou makest me holy. With my +whole heart do I trust Thee to do it, to sanctify +me wholly. I do believe in Thy promise. I do +believe in Thyself, and believing I receive Thee, the +Holy One, my Redeemer.</p> + +<p>Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! glorious in +holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> + +<p><a name="png.062" id="png.062"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">63</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><i>1. <strong>God’s Holiness as Glory.</strong> God is glorified in the holiness of His people. +True holiness always gives glory to God alone. Live to the glory of God: that +is holiness. Live holily: that will glorify God. To lose sight of self, and +seek only God’s glory, is holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. <strong>Our Holiness as Praise.</strong> Praise gives glory to God, and is thus an +element of holiness. ‘Thou art holy, Thou that inhabitest the praises of +Israel.’</i></p> + +<p><i>3. God’s Holiness, His holy redeeming love, is cause of unceasing joy and +praise. Praise God every day for it. But you cannot do this unless you live +in it. May God’s holiness become so glorious to us, as we understand that +whatever we see of His glory is just the outshining of His holiness, that we +cannot help rejoicing in it, and in Him the Holy One.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The spirit of the fear of the Lord and the spirit of praise may, at first +sight, appear to be at variance. But it is not so. The humility that fears the +Holy One will also praise Him: ‘Ye that fear the Lord: praise the Lord.’ +The lower we lie in the fear of God, and the fear of self, the more surely will +He lift us up in due time to praise Him.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.063" id="png.063"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">64</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:7" id="day:7">Seventh Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap7.png" width="278" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Obedience." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you +on eagles’ wings, and brought you <em>unto myself</em>. Now therefore, +if ye will <em>obey my voice indeed</em>, and keep my covenant, ye shall +be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: ye shall be +unto me an <em>holy</em> nation.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> xix. 4–6.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Israel</span> has reached Horeb. The law is to be +given and the covenant made. Here are God’s +first words to the people; He speaks of redemption +and its blessing, fellowship with Himself: ‘Ye have +seen how I brought you <em>unto myself</em>.’ He speaks of +holiness as His purpose in redemption: ‘Ye shall be +unto me an <em>holy</em> nation.’ And as the link between +the two He places obedience: ‘If ye will indeed <em>obey</em> +my voice, ye shall be unto me an <em>holy</em> nation.’ God’s +will is the expression of His holiness; as we do His +will, we come into contact with His holiness. The +link between Redemption and Holiness is Obedience.</p> + +<p>This takes us back to what we saw in Paradise. +God sanctified the seventh day as the time for +sanctifying man. And what was the first thing +<a name="png.064" id="png.064"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">65</span><span class="ns">] + </span>He did with this purpose? He gave him a commandment. +Obedience to that commandment would +have opened the door, would have been the entrance, +into the Holiness of God. Holiness is a moral attribute; +and moral is that which a free will chooses and +determines for itself. What God creates and gives +is only naturally good; what man wills to have of +God and His will, and really appropriates, has moral +worth, and leads to holiness. In creation God +manifested His wise and good will. His holy will +He speaks in His commands. As that holy will +enters man’s will, as man’s will accepts and unites +itself with God’s will, he becomes holy. After +creation, in the seventh day, God took man up into +His work of sanctification to make him holy. +Obedience is the path to holiness, because it is the +path to union with God’s holy will; with man unfallen, +as with fallen man, in redemption here and +in glory above, in all the holy angels, in Christ the +Holy One of God Himself, obedience is the path +of holiness. It is not itself holiness: but as the +will opens itself to accept and to do the will of +God, God communicates Himself and His Holiness. +To obey His voice is to follow Him as He leads in +the way to the full revelation and communication +of Himself and His blessed nature as the Holy +One.</p> + +<p>Obedience. Not knowledge of the will of God, +not even approval, not even the will to do it, but +the doing of it. Knowledge, and approval, and will +must lead to action; the will of God must be <em>done</em>. +<a name="png.065" id="png.065"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">66</span><span class="ns">] + </span>‘If ye indeed obey my voice, ye shall be unto me +an holy nation.’ It is not faith, and not worship, +and not profession, that God here asks in the first +place from His people when He speaks of holiness; +it is obedience. God’s will must be <em>done</em> on earth, +as in heaven. ‘Remember <em>and do</em> all my commandments, +that ye may be holy to your God’ +(Num. xv. 40). ‘Sanctify yourselves therefore, and +be ye holy; and ye shall keep my statutes <em>and do</em> +them. I am the Lord which sanctify you’ (Lev. +xx. 7, 8). ‘Therefore shall ye keep my commandments +<em>and do</em> them: I am the Lord: I will be +hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the +Lord which hallow you, that brought you up out of +the land of Egypt’ (xxii 21, 33).</p> + +<p>A moment’s reflection will make the reason of +this clear to us. It is in a man’s work that he +manifests what he is. I may know what is good, +and yet not approve it. I may approve, and yet +not will it. I may in a certain sense will it, and +yet be wanting in the energy, or the self-sacrifice, or +the power that will rouse and do the thing. Thinking +is easier than willing, and willing is easier than +doing. Action alone proves whether the object of +my interest has complete mastery over me. God +wants His will <em>done</em>. This alone is obedience. In +this alone it is seen whether the whole heart, with +all its strength and will, has given itself over to the +will of God; whether we live it, and are ready at +any sacrifice to make it our own by doing it. God +has no other way for making us holy. ‘Ye shall +<a name="png.066" id="png.066"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">67</span><span class="ns">] + </span>keep my statutes <em>and do</em> them: I am the Lord +which make you holy.’</p> + +<p>To all seekers after holiness this is a lesson of deep +importance. Obedience is not holiness; holiness is +something far higher, something that comes from +God to us, or rather, something of God coming into +us. But obedience is <em>indispensable</em> to holiness: it +cannot exist without it. While, therefore, your +heart seeks to follow the teaching of God’s word, +and looks in faith to what God has done, as He has +made you <em>holy in Christ</em>, and to what God is still to +do through the Spirit of Holiness as He fulfils the +promise, ‘The very God of peace sanctify you +wholly,’ never for one moment forget to be obedient. +‘If ye shall indeed obey my voice, ye shall be an +holy nation to me.’ Begin by doing at once whatever +appears right to do. Give up at once whatever +conscience tells that you dare not say is +according to the will of God. Not only pray for +light and strength, but <em>act</em>; do what God says. +‘He that <em>doeth</em> the will of God is my brother,’ +Jesus says. Every son of God has been begotten +of the will of God: in it he has his life. To do +the Father’s will is the meat, the strength, the +mark, of every son of God.</p> + +<p>It is nothing less than the surrender to such a +life of simple and entire obedience that is implied +in becoming a Christian. There are, alas! too +many Christians who, from the want either of +proper instruction, or of proper attention to the +teaching of God’s word, have never realized the +<a name="png.067" id="png.067"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">68</span><span class="ns">] + </span>place of supreme importance that obedience takes in +the Christian life. They know not that Christ, and +redemption, and faith all lead to it, because through +it alone is the way to the fellowship of the Love, +and the Likeness, and the Glory of God. We have +all, possibly, suffered from it ourselves: in our +prayers and efforts after the perfect peace and the +rest of faith, after the abiding joy and the increasing +power of the Christian life, there has been a +secret something hindering the blessing, or causing +the speedy loss of what had been apprehended. A +wrong impression as to the absolute necessity of +obedience was probably the cause. It cannot too +earnestly be insisted on that the freeness and +mighty power of grace has this for its object from +our conversion onwards, the restoring us to the active +obedience and harmony with God’s will from which +we had fallen through the first sin in Paradise. +Obedience leads to God and His Holiness. It +is in obedience that the will is moulded, and the +character fashioned, and an inner man built up +which God can clothe and adorn with the beauty +of holiness.</p> + +<p>When a Christian discovers that this has been +the missing link, the cause of failure and darkness, +there is nothing for it but, in a grand act of +surrender, deliberately to choose obedience, universal, +whole-hearted obedience, as the law of his life in +the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him not fear +to make his own the words of Israel at Sinai, in +answer to the message of God we are considering: +<a name="png.068" id="png.068"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">69</span><span class="ns">] + </span>‘All that the Lord hath spoken, <em>we will do</em>;’ ‘All +that the Lord hath said <em>will we do</em>, and be obedient.’ +What the law could not do, in that it was weak +through the flesh, God hath done by the gift of His +Son and Spirit. The law-giving of Sinai on tables +of stone has been succeeded by the law-giving of +the Spirit on the table of the heart: the Holy +Spirit is the power of obedience, and is so the +Spirit of Holiness, who, in obedience, prepares our +hearts for being the dwelling of the Holy One. +Let us in this faith yield ourselves to a life of +obedience: it is the New Testament path to the +realization of the promise: ‘If ye will <em>obey</em> my +voice indeed, ye shall be unto me an <em>holy</em> nation.’</p> + +<p>We have already seen how holiness in its very +nature supposes the personal relation to God, His +personal presence. ‘I have brought you <em>unto myself</em>; +if ye obey, ye shall be <em>unto me</em> an holy +nation.’ It is as we understand and hold fast this +personal element that obedience will become possible, +and will lead to holiness. Mark well God’s +words: ‘If ye will obey my <em>voice</em>, and keep my +covenant.’ The voice is more than a law or a book; +it always implies a living person and intercourse +with him. It is this that is the secret of gospel +obedience: hearing the voice and following the +lead of Jesus as a personal friend, a living Saviour. +It is being led by the Spirit of God, having Him to +reveal the Presence, and the Will, and the Love of +the Father, that will work in us that personal +relation which the New Testament means when it +<a name="png.069" id="png.069"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">70</span><span class="ns">] + </span>speaks of doing everything unto the Lord, as +pleasing God.</p> + +<p>Such obedience is the pathway of holiness. Its +every act is a link to the living God, a surrender +of the being for God’s will, for God Himself to take +possession. In the process of assimilation, slow but +sure, by which the will of God, as the meat of our +souls, is taken up into our inmost being, our +spiritual nature is strengthened, is spiritualized, +growing up into an holy temple in which God can +reveal Himself and take up His abode.</p> + +<p>Let every believer study to realize this. When +God sanctified the seventh day as His period of +making holy, He taught us that He could not do +it at once. The revelation and communication of +holiness must be gradual, as man is prepared to +receive it. God’s sanctifying work with each of us, +as with the race, needs time. The time it needs +and seeks is the life of daily, hourly obedience. +All that is spent in self-will, and not in the living +relation to the Lord, is lost. But when the heart +seeks day by day to hearken to the voice and to +obey it, the Holy One Himself watches over His +words to fulfil them: ‘Ye shall be unto me an holy +nation.’ In a way of which the soul beforehand +can have but little conception, God will overshadow +and make His abode in the obedient heart. The +habit of always listening for the voice and obeying +it will only be the building of the temple: the +Living God Himself, the Holy One, will come to +take up His abode. The glory of the Lord will fill +<a name="png.070" id="png.070"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">71</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the house, and the promise be made true, ‘I will +sanctify it by my glory.’</p> + +<p>‘I brought you <em>unto myself</em>; if ye will obey <em>my +voice</em> in deed, ye shall be <em>unto me</em> an holy nation.’ +Seekers after holiness! God has brought you to +Himself. And now His voice speaks to you all the +thoughts of His heart, that as you take them in, +and make them your own, and make His will your +own by living and doing it, you may enter into +the most complete union with Himself, the union +of will as well as of life, and so become a holy +people unto Him. Let obedience, the listening to +and the doing the will of God, be the joy and the +glory of your life; it will give you access unto the +Holiness of God.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O my God! Thou hast redeemed me for Thyself, +that Thou mightest have me wholly as Thine own, +possessing, filling my inmost being with Thy own +likeness, Thy perfect will, and the glory of Thy +Holiness. And Thou seekest to train me, in the +power of a free and loving will, to take Thy will +and make it my own, that in the very centre of my +being I may have Thine own perfection dwelling in +me. And in Thy words Thou revealest Thy will, +that as I accept and keep them I may master their +Divine contents, and will all that Thou willest.</p> + +<p>O my God! let me live day by day in such +fellowship with Thee, that I may indeed in everything +<a name="png.071" id="png.071"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">72</span><span class="ns">] + </span>hear Thy voice, the living voice of the living +God speaking to me. Let the Holy Spirit, the +Spirit of Thy Holiness, be to me Thy voice guiding +me in the path of simple, childlike obedience. I +do bless Thee that I have seen that Christ, in whom +I am holy, was the obedient one, that in obedience +He sanctified Himself to become my sanctification, +and that abiding in Him, Thy obedient, holy Child, +is abiding in Thy will as once done by Him, and +now to be done by me. O my God! I will indeed +obey Thy will: make Thou me one of Thy holy +nation, a peculiar treasure above all people. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. ‘He became obedient unto death.’ ‘Though He was a Son, yet He learned +obedience by the things which He suffered.’ ‘I come to do Thy will.’ ‘In which +will we are sanctified.’ Christ’s example teaches us that obedience is the +only path to the Holiness or the glory of God. Be this your consecration: a +surrender in everything to seek and do the will of God.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. We are ‘holy in Christ’—in this Christ who did the will of God and was +obedient to the death. In Him it is we are; in Him we are holy. His obedience +is the soil in which we are planted, and must be rooted. ‘It is my meat +to do His will;’ obedience was the sustenance of His life; in doing God’s will +He drew down Divine nourishment; it must be so with us too.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. As you study what it is to be and abide in Christ, as you rejoice you are in +Him, always remember it is Christ who obeyed in whom God has planted you.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. If ever you feel perplexed about holiness, just yield yourself again to do +God’s will, and go and do it. It is ours to obey, it is God’s to sanctify.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. <strong>Holy in Christ.</strong> Christ sanctified Himself by obedience, by doing the +will of God, and in that will, as done by Him, we have been sanctified. In +accepting that will as done by Him, in accepting Him, <strong>I am holy</strong>. In accepting +that will of God, as to be done by me, <strong>I become holy</strong>. I am in Him; in every +act of living obedience, I enter into living fellowship with Him, and draw the +power of His life into mine.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. Obedience depends upon hearing the voice. Do not imagine you know the +will of God. Pray and wait for the inward teaching of the Spirit.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.072" id="png.072"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">73</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><a name="day:8" id="day:8">Eighth Day.</a><br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap8.png" width="291" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Indwelling." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘And let them make me <em>a holy place</em>, that I may <em>dwell</em> among +them.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> xxv. 8.</p> + +<p>‘And the tent shall be <em>sanctified</em> by my glory, and I will <em>dwell</em> +among the children of Israel, and will be their God.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> +xxix. 43, 45.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">The</span> Presence of God makes holy, even when it +descends but for a little while, as at Horeb, +in the burning bush. How much more must that +Presence make holy the place where it dwells, where +it fixes its permanent abode! So much is this the +case, that the place where God dwells came to be +called <em>the</em> holy place, ‘the holy place of the habitation +of the Most High.’ All around where God +dwelt was holy: the holy city, the mountain of +God’s Holiness, His holy house, till we come within +the veil, to the most holy place, the holy of holies. +It is as <em>the indwelling God</em> that He sanctifies His +house, that He reveals Himself as the Holy One in +Israel, that He makes us holy too.</p> + +<p>Because God is holy, <em>the house</em> in which He +<a name="png.073" id="png.073"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">74</span><span class="ns">] + </span>dwells is holy too. This is the only attribute of +God which He can communicate to His house; but +this one He can and does communicate. Among men +there is a very close link between the character of a +house and its occupants. When there is no obstacle +to prevent it, the house unintentionally reflects the +master‘s likeness. Holiness expresses not so much +an attribute as the very being of God in His +infinite perfection, and His house testifies to this +one truth, that He is holy, that where He dwells +He must have holiness, that His indwelling makes +holy. In His first command to His people to build +Him a holy place, God distinctly said that it was +that He might dwell among them: the dwelling in +the house was to be the shadowing forth of His +dwelling in the midst of His people. The house +with its holiness thus leads us on to the holiness of +His dwelling among His redeemed ones.</p> + +<p>The holy place, the habitation of God’s Holiness, +was the centre of all God’s work in making <em>Israel</em> +holy. Everything connected with it was holy. The +altar, the priests, the sacrifices, the oil, the bread, +the vessels, all were holy, because they belonged to +God. From the house there issued the twofold voice—God’s +call to be holy, God’s promise to make holy. +God’s claim was manifested in the demand for +cleansing, for atonement, for holiness, in all who +were to draw near, whether as priests or worshippers. +And God’s promise shone forth from His house in +the provision for making holy, in the sanctifying +power of the altar, of the blood and the oil. The +<a name="png.074" id="png.074"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">75</span><span class="ns">] + </span>house embodied the two sides that are united in +holiness, the repelling and the attracting, the condemning +and the saving. Now by keeping the +people at a distance, then by inviting and bringing +them nigh, God’s house was the great symbol of +His own Holiness. He had come nigh even to +dwell among them; and yet they might not come +nigh, they might never enter the secret place of His +presence.</p> + +<p>All these things are written on our behalf. It +is as the Indwelling One that God is the sanctifier +of <em>His people</em> still: the Indwelling Presence alone +makes us holy. This comes out with special clearness +if we note how, the nearer the Presence was, +the greater the degree of holiness. Because God +dwelt among them, the camp was holy: all +uncleanness was to be removed from it. But the +holiness of the court of the tabernacle was greater: +uncleanness which did not exclude from the camp +would not be tolerated there. Then the holy +place was still holier, because still nearer God. +And the inner sanctuary, where the Presence dwelt +on the mercy-seat, was the Holiest of All, was +most holy. The principle still holds good: holiness +is measured by nearness to God; the more of His +Presence, the more of true holiness; perfect indwelling +will be perfect holiness. There is none +holy but the Lord; there is no holiness but in Him. +He cannot part with somewhat of His holiness, and +give it to us apart from Himself; we have only so +much of holiness as we have of God Himself. And +<a name="png.075" id="png.075"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">76</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to have Himself truly and fully, we must have Him +as the Indwelling One. And His indwelling in a +house or locality, without life or spirit, is only a +faint shadow of the true indwelling as the Living One, +when He enters into and penetrates our very being, +and fills us, our very selves, with His own life.</p> + +<p>There is no union so intimate, so real, so perfect, +as that of an indwelling life. Think of the life +that circulates through a large and fruitful tree. +How it penetrates and fills every portion; how +inseparably it unites the whole as long as it +really is to exist!—in wood and leaf, in flower and +fruit, everywhere the indwelling life flows and +fills. This life is the life of nature, the life +of the Spirit of God which dwells in nature. +It is the same life that animates our bodies, the +spirit of nature pervading every portion of them +with the power of sensibility and action.</p> + +<p>Not less intimate, yea rather, far more wonderful +and real, is the indwelling of the Spirit of the New +Life, through whom God dwells in the heart of the +believer. And it is as this indwelling becomes a +matter of conscious longing and faith, that the soul +obeys the command, ‘Let them make me a holy +place, that I may dwell among them,’ and experiences +the truth of the promise, ‘The tent shall be sanctified +by my glory, and I will dwell among the children +of Israel.’</p> + +<p>It was as the Indwelling One that God revealed +Himself in the Son, whom He sanctified and sent +into the world. More than once our Lord insisted +<a name="png.076" id="png.076"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">77</span><span class="ns">] + </span>upon it, ‘Believe me, that I am in the Father and +<em>the Father in me</em>; the Father <em>abiding in me</em> doeth +the works.’ It is specially as the temple of God +that believers are more than once called holy in the +New Testament: ‘The temple of God is <em>holy</em>, which +temple ye are.’ ‘Your body is a temple of the +<em>Holy</em> Spirit.’ ‘All the building groweth unto an +holy temple in the Lord.’ It is—we shall later on +learn to understand this better—just because it is +through the Spirit that the heart is prepared for +the indwelling, and the indwelling effected and +maintained, that the Spirit so peculiarly takes the +attribute of Holy. The Indwelling Spirit is the +Holy Spirit. The measure of His indwelling, or +rather of His revealing the Indwelling Christ, is +the measure of holiness.</p> + +<p>We have seen what the various degrees of +nearness to God’s Presence in Israel were. They +are still to be found. You have Christians who +dwell in the camp, but know little of drawing nigh +to the Holy One. Then you have outer court +Christians: they long for pardon and peace, they +come ever again to the altar of atonement; but +they know little of true nearness or holiness; of +their privilege as priests to enter the holy place. +Others there are who have learnt that this is their +calling, and long to draw near, and yet hardly +understand the boldness they have to enter into +the Holiest of all, and to dwell there. Blessed +they to whom this, the secret of the Lord, has been +revealed. <em>They know</em> what the rent veil means, +<a name="png.077" id="png.077"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">78</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and the access into the immediate Presence. The +veil hath been taken away from their hearts: they +have found the secret of true holiness in the Indwelling +of the Holy One, the God who is holy and +makes holy.</p> + +<p>Believer! the God who calls you to holiness is +the God of the Indwelling Life. The tabernacle +typifies it, the Son reveals it, the Spirit communicates +it, the eternal glory will fully manifest it. And +you may experience it. It is your calling as a +believer to be God’s Holy Temple. Oh, do but yield +yourself to His full indwelling! seek not holiness +in the first place in what you are or do; seek it in +God. Seek it not even as a gift from God, seek it in +God Himself, in His indwelling Presence. Worship +Him in the beauty of holiness, as He dwells in the +high and holy place. And as you worship, listen +to His voice: ‘Thus saith the high and lofty One, +that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy: I +dwell in the high and holy place, <em>with him also</em> that +is of a contrite and humble spirit.’ It is as the +Spirit strengthens us mightily in the inward man, +so that Christ dwells in our heart by faith, and the +Father comes and makes with Him His abode in us, +that we are truly holy. Oh, let us but, in true, +true-hearted consecration, yield ourselves to be, as +distinctly as was the tabernacle or the temple, given +up entirely to be the dwelling of the Most High, the +habitation of His Holiness. A house filled with +the glory of God, a heart filled with all the fulness +of God, is God’s promise, is our portion. Let us +<a name="png.078" id="png.078"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">79</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in faith claim and accept and hold fast the blessing: +Christ, the Holy One of God, will in His Father’s +Name, enter and take possession. Then faith will +bring the solution of all our difficulties, the victory +over all our failures, the fulfilment of all our +desires: ‘The tent, the heart, shall be sanctified by +my glory; and I will dwell among them.’ The +open secret of true holiness, the secret of the joy +unspeakable, is Christ dwelling in the heart by +faith.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>We bow our knees to the Father of our Lord +Jesus, that He would grant unto us, according to the +riches of His glory, what He Himself has taught +us to ask for. We ask nothing less than this, that +Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith. We long for +that most blessed, permanent, conscious indwelling +of the Lord Jesus in the heart, which He so +distinctly promised as the fruit of the Holy Spirit’s +coming. Father! we ask for what He meant when +He spake of the loving, obedient disciple: ‘I will +come and manifest myself to him. We will come +and take up our abode with him.’ Oh, grant unto +us this indwelling of Christ in the heart by faith!</p> + +<p>And for this, we beseech Thee, grant us to be +strengthened with might by Thy Spirit in the inner +man. O Most Mighty God! let the spirit of Thy +Divine Power work mightily within us, renewing +our mind, and will, and affections, so that the heart +<a name="png.079" id="png.079"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">80</span><span class="ns">] + </span>be all prepared and furnished as a temple, as a +home, for Jesus. Let that Blessed Spirit strengthen +us to the faith that receives the Blessed Saviour +and His indwelling Presence.</p> + +<p>O Most Gracious Father! hear our cry. We +do bow our knee to Thee. We plead the riches +of Thy glory. We praise Thee who art mighty +to do above what we can ask or think. We wait +on Thee, O our Father: oh, grant us a mighty +strengthening by the Spirit in the inner man, that +this bliss may be ours in its full blessedness, our +Lord Jesus dwelling in the heart.</p> + +<p>We ask it in His Name. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. God’s dwelling in the midst of Israel was the great central fact to which all +the commands concerning holiness were but preparatory and subordinate. So +the work of the Holy Spirit also culminates in the personal indwelling of +Christ. (John xiv. 21, 23. Eph. iii. 16, 17.) Aim at this and expect it.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. The tabernacle with its three divisions was, as of other spiritual truths, +so the image of man’s threefold nature. Our spirit is the Holiest of all, where +God is meant to dwell, where the Holy Spirit is given. The life of the soul, +with its powers of feeling, knowing, and willing, is the holy place. And the +outer life of the body, of conduct and action, is the outer court. Begin by +believing that the Spirit dwells in the inmost sanctuary, where His workings +are secret and hidden. Honour Him by trusting Him to work, by yielding to +Him in silent worship before God. From within He will take possession of +thought and will; He will even fill the outer court, the body, with the Holiness +of God. ‘The God of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit, +and soul, and body, be preserved entire, without blame. Faithful is He which +calleth you, who will also do it.’</i></p> + +<p><i>3. God’s indwelling was within the veil, in the unseen, the secret place. +Faith knew it, and served Him with holy fear. Our faith knows that God +the Holy Spirit has His abode in the hidden place of our inner life. Set +open your inmost being to Him; bow in lowly reverence before the Holy +One as you yield yourself to His working. Holiness is the presence of the +Indwelling One.</i></p> +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.080" id="png.080"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">81</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Ninth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap9.png" width="280" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Mediation." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, +<span class="smc">Holiness to the Lord</span>. And it shall be upon Aaron’s forehead, +that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the <em>holy</em> things, +which the children of Israel shall <em>hallow</em> in all their <em>holy</em> gifts; +and it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be +accepted before the Lord.’—<span class="smc">Ex.</span> xxviii. 36, 38.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">God</span>’<span class="start">s</span> house was to be the dwelling-place of His +Holiness, the place where He was to reveal +Himself; as the Holy One, not to be approached but +with fear and trembling; as the Holy-making One, +drawing to Himself all who would be made partakers +of His Holiness. Of the revelation of His +Holy and His Holy-making Presence, the centre is +found in the person of the high priest, in his double +capacity of representing God with man, and man +with God. He is the embodiment of the Divine +Holiness in human form, and of human holiness as +a Divine gift, as far as the dispensation of symbol +and shadow could offer and express it. In him +God came near to sanctify and bless the people. In +<a name="png.081" id="png.081"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">82</span><span class="ns">] + </span>him the people came their very nearest to God. And +yet the very Day of Atonement, in which he might +enter into the Most Holy, was but the proof of how +unholy man was, and how unfit to abide in God’s +Presence. In himself a proof of Israel’s unholiness, +he yet was a type and picture of the coming Saviour, +our blessed Lord Jesus, a wondrous exhibition of the +way in which hereafter the holiness of God should +become the portion of His people.</p> + +<p>Among the many points in which the high priest +typified Christ as our sanctification, there is, perhaps, +none more suggestive or beautiful than <em>the holy +crown</em> he wore on his forehead. Everything about +him was to be holy. His garments were holy garments. +But there was to be one thing in which +this holiness reached its fullest manifestation. On +his forehead he was always to wear a plate of gold, +with the words engraved on it, <span class="smc">Holiness to the +Lord</span>. Every one was to read there that the whole +object of his existence, the one thing he lived for, +was, to be the embodiment and the bearer of the +Divine holiness, the chosen one through whom +God’s holiness might flow out in blessing upon the +people.</p> + +<p>The way in which the blessing of the holy crown +was to act was a most remarkable one. In bearing +<span class="smc">Holiness to the Lord</span> on his forehead, he is, we +read, ‘to bear the iniquity of the holy things which +the children of Israel hallow; that they may be +accepted before the Lord.’ For every sin some +sacrifice or way of atonement had been devised. +<a name="png.082" id="png.082"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">83</span><span class="ns">] + </span>But how about the sin that cleaves to the very +sacrifice and religious service itself? ‘Thou desirest +truth in the inward parts.’ How painfully the worshipper +might be oppressed by the consciousness +that his penitence, his faith, his love, his obedience, +his consecration, were all imperfect and defiled! For +this need, too, of the worshipper, God had provided. +The holiness of the high priest covered the sin and +the unholiness of his holy things. The holy crown +was God’s pledge that the holiness of the high priest +rendered the worshipper acceptable. If he was unholy, +there was one among his brethren who was +holy, who had a holiness that could avail for him +too, a holiness he could trust in. He could look to +the high priest not only to effect atonement by his +blood-sprinkling, but in his person to secure a holiness +too that made him and his gifts most acceptable. +In the consciousness of personal unholiness +he might rejoice in a mediator, in the holiness +of Another than himself, the priest whom God had +provided.</p> + +<p>Have we not here a most precious lesson, leading +us a step farther on in the way of holiness? To our +question, How God makes holy, we have the Divine +answer: Through a man whom the Divine Holiness +has chosen to rest upon, and whose holiness belongs +to us, as His brethren, the very members of His own +body. Through a holiness which is of such efficacy, +that the very sins of our holy things disappear, and +we can enter the Holy Presence with the assurance +of being altogether well-pleasing.</p> + +<p><a name="png.083" id="png.083"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">84</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>And is not just this the lesson that many +earnest seekers after holiness need? They know +all that the Word teaches of the blessed Atonement, +and the full pardon it has brought. They believe +in the Father’s wonderful love, and what He is +ready to do for them. And yet, when they hear of +the childlike simplicity, the assurance of faith, the +loving obedience, and the blessed surrender with +which the Father expects them to come and receive +the blessing, their heart fails for fear. It is as if +the blessing were all beyond their reach. What +avails that the Holy One is said to come so nigh? +their unholiness renders them incapable of claiming +or grasping the Presence that offers itself to them. +Just see how the Holy One here reveals His way of +making holy, and preparing for the fellowship of +His Holiness. In His Elect One as Mediator, holiness +is prepared and treasured up enough for all +who come through Him. As I bow to pray or worship, +and feel how much there is still wanting of +that humility, and fervency, and faith, that God has +a right to demand, I may look up to the High Priest +in His Holiness, to the holy crown upon His forehead, +and believe that the iniquity of my holy things +is borne and taken away. I may, with all my deficiency +and unworthiness, know most assuredly that +my prayer is acceptable, a sweet-smelling savour. +I may look up to the Holy One to see Him smiling +on me, for the sake of His Anointed One. ‘The +holy crown shall always be on His forehead, that +they may be accepted before the Lord.’ It is the +<a name="png.084" id="png.084"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">85</span><span class="ns">] + </span>blessed truth of Substitution—One for all—of Mediatorship; +God’s way of making us holy. The +sacrifice of the worshipping Israelite is holy and +acceptable in virtue of the holiness of Another.</p> + +<p>The Old Testament shadow can never adequately +set forth the New Testament reality with its fulness +of grace and truth. As we proceed in our study, +we shall find that the holiness of Jesus our sanctification +is not only imputed but imparted, because +we are <em>in Him</em>; the new man we have put on is +created in true holiness. We are not only counted +holy; we are holy, we have received a new holy +nature in Christ Jesus. ‘He that sanctifieth and +they who are sanctified are all <em>of One</em>; therefore +He is not ashamed to call them brethren.’ It is +our living union with Jesus, God’s Holy One, that +has given us the new and holy nature, and with +that a claim and a share in all the holiness there is +in Jesus. And so, as often as we are conscious of +how unholy we are, we have only to come under +the covering of the Holiness of Jesus, to enjoy the +full assurance that we and our gifts are most acceptable. +However great be the weakness of our +faith, the shortcoming in our desire for God’s glory, +the lack in our love or zeal, as we see Jesus, with +Holiness to the Lord on His forehead, we lift up +our faces to receive the Divine smile of full approval +and perfect acceptance.</p> + +<p>This is God’s way of making holy. Not only +with the holy place, as we have seen, but with the +holy persons too, He begins with a centre, and +<a name="png.085" id="png.085"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">86</span><span class="ns">] + </span>from that in ever-widening circle makes holy. +And that this Divine method will be crowned with +success we may be sure. In the Word we find a +most remarkable illustration of the extent to which +it will be realized. We find the words on the holy +crown once again in the Old Testament at its close. +In the day of the Lord, ‘there shall be upon the +bells of the horses, <span class="smc">Holiness to the Lord</span>.’ The +high priest’s motto shall then have become the +watchword of daily life; every article of beauty or +of service shall be holy too; from the head it shall +have extended to the skirts of the garments. Let +us begin with realizing the Holiness of Jesus in +its power to cover the iniquity of our holy things; +let us make proof of it, and no longer suffer our +unworthiness to keep us back or make us doubt; +let us believe that we and our holy things are +acceptable, because in Christ holy to the Lord; let +us live in this consciousness of acceptance, and +enter into fellowship with the Holy One. As we +enter in and abide in the holiness of Jesus, it will +enter in and abide in us. It will take possession +and spread its conquering power through our whole +life, until with us too upon everything that belongs +to us the word shall shine, <span class="smc">Holiness to the Lord</span>. +And we shall again find how God’s way of holiness +is ever from a centre, here the centre of our renewed +nature, throughout the whole circumference of our +being, to make His Holiness prove its power. Let +us but dwell under the covering of the Holiness of +Jesus, as He takes away the iniquity of our holy +<a name="png.086" id="png.086"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">87</span><span class="ns">] + </span>things, He will make us and our life holy to the +Lord.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O my God and Father! my soul doth bless Thee +for this wondrous revelation of what Thy way and +Thy grace is with those whom Thou hast called +‘Holy in Christ.’ Thou knowest, O Lord, how +continually our hearts have limited our acceptance +with Thee by our attainments, and conscious shortcoming +has wrought condemnation. We knew too +little how, in the Holiness of Him who makes us +holy, there is a Divinely infinite efficacy to cover +our iniquities, and give us the assurance of perfect +acceptance. Blessed Father! open our eyes to see, +and our hearts to understand this holy crown of our +blessed Jesus, with its wondrous and most blessed, +<span class="smc">Holiness to the Lord</span>.</p> + +<p>And when our hearts condemn us, because our +prayers are so little consciously according to the +will or to the glory of God, or truly in the name of +Jesus, O most Holy Father, be pleased by Thy Spirit +to show us how bright the smile and how hearty the +welcome is we still have with Thee. Teach us to +come in the Holiness of our High Priest, and enter +into Thine, until it take possession of us, and permeate +our whole being, and all that is in us be +holy to the Lord. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Holiness is not something I can see or admire in myself: it is covering +myself, losing myself, in the Holiness of Jesus. How wonderfully this is +typified in Aaron and the holy crown. And the more I see and have apprehended +<a name="png.087" id="png.087"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">88</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the Holiness of Jesus, the less shall I see or seek of holiness in +myself.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. He will make me holy: my tempers and dispositions will be renewed; my +heart and mind cleansed and sanctified; holiness will be a new nature; and +yet there will be all along the consciousness, humbling and yet full of joy: it +is not I; Christ liveth in me.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Let us lie very low and tender before God, that the Holy Spirit may +reveal to us what it is to be holy in the Holiness of Another, in the Holiness of +Jesus, that is, in the Holiness of God.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Do not trouble or weary too much to grasp this with the intellect. Just +believe it, and look in simplicity and trust to Jesus to make it all right for +you.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. <strong>Holy in Christ.</strong> In childlike faith I take Christ’s holiness afresh as my +covering before God. In loving obedience I take it into my will and life. I +trust and I follow Jesus: this is the path of holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. If we gather up the lessons we have found in the Word from Paradise +downward, we see that the elements of holiness in us are these, each corresponding +to some special aspect of God’s holiness: deep Restfulness (<a href="#day:3">ch. 3</a>), +humble Reverence (<a href="#day:4">ch. 4</a>), entire Surrender (<a href="#day:5">ch. 5</a>), joyful Adoration (<a href="#day:6">ch. 6</a>), +simple Obedience (<a href="#day:7">ch. 7</a>). These all prepare for the Divine Indwelling (<a href="#day:8">ch. 8</a>), +and this again we have through the Abiding in Jesus with the Crown of +Holiness on His head.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.088" id="png.088"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">89</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Tenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap10.png" width="289" height="30" + alt="Holiness and Separation." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘I am the Lord your God, which have <em>separated</em> you from +other people. And ye shall be <em>holy</em> unto me, for I the Lord am +<em>holy</em>, and have <em>separated</em> you from other people that ye should +be <em>Mine</em>.’—<span class="smc">Lev.</span> xx. 24, 26.</p> + +<p>‘Until the days be fulfilled, in the which he <em>separateth</em> himself +unto the Lord, he shall be <em>holy</em>…. All the days of his +<em>separation</em> he is <em>holy</em> unto the Lord.’—<span class="smc">Num.</span> vi. 5, 8.</p> + +<p>‘Wherefore Jesus also, that He might <em>sanctify</em> the people +through His own blood, suffered <em>without the gate</em>. Let us +therefore go forth unto Him <em>without the camp</em>, bearing His +reproach.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> xiii. 12, 13.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Separation</span> is not holiness, but is the way to +it. Though there can be no holiness without +separation, there can be separation that does not +lead to holiness. It is of deep importance to understand +both the difference and the connection, that +we may be kept from the right-hand error of +counting separation alone as holiness, as well as +the left-hand error of seeking holiness without +separation.</p> + +<p>The Hebrew word for holiness possibly comes from +a root that means to separate. But where we +<a name="png.089" id="png.089"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">90</span><span class="ns">] + </span>have in our translation ‘separate’ or ‘sever’ or ‘set +apart,’ we have quite different words.<sup><a name="fna.3" id="fna.3" + href="#fn.3">3</a></sup> The word for +holy is used exclusively to express that special idea. +And though the idea of holy always includes that of +separation, it is itself something infinitely higher. +It is of great importance to understand this well, +because the being set apart to God, the surrender to +His claim, the devotion or consecration to His service, +is often spoken of as if this constituted holiness. +We cannot too earnestly press the thought that +this is only the beginning, the presupposition: holiness +itself is infinitely more; not what I am, or do, +or give, is holiness, but what God is, and gives, and +does to me. It is God’s taking possession of me that +makes me holy; it is the Presence and the glory of +God that really makes holy. A careful study of +God’s words to Israel will make this clear to us. +Eight times we find the expression in Leviticus, ‘Ye +shall be holy, for I am holy.’ Holiness is the +highest attribute of God, expressive not only of His +relation to Israel, but of His very being and nature, +His infinite moral perfection. And though it is +by very slow and gradual steps that He can teach +the carnal darkened mind of man what this means, +yet from the very commencement He tells His +people that His purpose is that they should be +like Himself—holy because and as He is holy. +To tell me that God separates men for Himself +to be His, even as He gives Himself to be theirs, +tells me of a relation that exists, but tells me +<a name="png.090" id="png.090"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">91</span><span class="ns">] + </span>nothing of the real nature of this Holy Being, or of +the essential worth of the holiness He will communicate +to me. Separation is only the setting apart +and taking possession of the vessel to be cleansed +and used; it is the filling of it with the precious +contents we entrust to it that gives it its real value. +Holiness is the Divine filling without which the +separation leaves us empty. Separation is not +holiness.</p> + +<p>But separation is essential to holiness. ‘I have +separated you from other people, and ye shall be +holy.’ Until I have chosen out and separated a +vessel from those around it, and, if need be, cleansed +it, I cannot fill or use it. I must have it in my +hand, full and exclusive command of it for the time +being, or I will not pour into it the precious milk +or wine. And just so God separated His people +when He brought them up out of Egypt, separated +them <em>unto Himself</em> when He gave them His +covenant and His law, that He might have them +under His control and power, to work out His +purpose of making them holy. This He could not +do until He had them apart, and had wakened in +them the consciousness that they were His peculiar +people, wholly and only His, until He had so taught +them also to separate themselves to Him. Separation +is essential to holiness.</p> + +<p>The institution of the Nazarite will confirm this, +and will also bring out very clearly what separation +means. Israel was meant to be a holy nation. Its +holiness was specially typified in its priests. With +<a name="png.091" id="png.091"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">92</span><span class="ns">] + </span>regard to the individual Israelite, we nowhere read +in the books of Moses of his being holy. But there +were ordinances through which the Israelite, who +would fain prove his desire to be entirely holy, +could do so. He might separate himself from the +ordinary life of the nation around him, and live the +life of a Nazarite, a separated one. This separation +was accepted, in those days of shadow and type, as +holiness. ‘All the days of his separation he is holy +unto the Lord.’</p> + +<p>The separation consisted specially in three +things—temperance, in abstinence from the fruit of +the vine; humiliation, in not cutting or shaving his +hair (‘it is a shame for a man if he have long hair’); +self-sacrifice, in not defiling himself for even father +or mother, on their death. What we must specially +note is that the separation was not from things +unlawful, but things lawful. There was nothing +sinful in itself in Abraham living in his father’s +house, or in Israel dwelling in Egypt. It is in +giving up, not only what can be proved to be sin, +but all that may hinder the full intensity of our +surrender into God’s hands to make us holy, that +the spirit of separation is manifested.</p> + +<p>Let us learn the lessons this truth suggests. We +must know <em>the need</em> for separation. It is no arbitrary +demand of God, but has its ground in the +very nature of things. To separate a thing is to +set it free for one special use or purpose, that it +may with undivided power fulfil the will of him who +chose it, and so realize its destiny. It is the principle +<a name="png.092" id="png.092"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">93</span><span class="ns">] + </span>that lies at the root of all division of labour; +complete separation to one branch of study or +labour is the way to success and perfection. I have +before me an oak forest with the trees all shooting +up straight and close to each other. On the outskirts +there is one tree separated from his fellows; +its heavy trunk and wide-spreading branches prove +how its being separated, and having a large piece of +ground separated to its own use, over which roots +and branches can spread, is the secret of growth +and greatness. Our human powers are limited; if +God is to take full possession, if we are fully to +enjoy Him, separation to Him is nothing but the +simple, natural, indispensable requisite. God wants +us all to Himself, that He may give Himself all +to us.</p> + +<p>We must know the <em>purpose</em> of separation. It is +to be found in what God has said, ‘Ye shall be holy +unto me, for I the Lord am holy, and have separated +you from the people, that ye should be <span class="smc">Mine</span>.’ God +has separated us <em>for Himself</em> in the deepest sense of +the word; that He might enter into us, and show +forth Himself in us. His holiness is the sum and +the centre of all His perfections; it is that He may +make us holy like Himself that He has separated +us. Separation never has any value in itself; it +may become most wrong or hurtful; everything +depends upon the object proposed. It is as God +gets and takes full possession of us, as the eternal +life in Christ has the mastery of our whole being, as +the Holy Spirit flows fully and freely through us, +<a name="png.093" id="png.093"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">94</span><span class="ns">] + </span>so that we dwell in God, and God in us, that +separation will be, not a thing of ordinances and +observances, but a spiritual reality. And it is as +this purpose of God is seen and accepted and +followed after, that difficult questions as to what we +must be separated from, and how much sacrifice +separation demands, will find an easy answer. God +separates from all that does not lead us into His +holiness and fellowship.</p> + +<p>We need, above all, to know <em>the power</em> of separation, +the power that leads us into it in the spirit of desire +and of joy, of liberty and of love. The great +separating word in human language is the word <em>Mine</em>. +In this we have the great spring of effort and of +happiness: in the child with its toys, in labour with +its gains and rewards, in the patriot who dies for his +country, it is this <em>Mine</em> that lays its hand on what +it sets apart from all else. It is the great word that +love uses. Be it the child that says to its mother, +My own mamma, and calls forth the response, My +own child; the bridegroom who draws the daughter +from her beloved home and parents to become his; +or the Holy God who speaks: ‘I have separated you +from the people, that ye should be <em>Mine</em>;’ it is always +with that <em>Mine</em> that love exerts its mighty power, and +draws from all else to itself. God Himself knows no +mightier argument, can put forth no more powerful +attraction than this, ‘that ye should be <em>Mine</em>.’ And +the power of separation will come to us, and work +in us, just as we yield ourselves to study and realize +that holy purpose, to listen to and appropriate that +<a name="png.094" id="png.094"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">95</span><span class="ns">] + </span>wondrous <em>Mine</em>, to be apprehended and possessed of +that Almighty Love.</p> + +<p>Let us study step by step the wondrous path +in which Divine Love does it separating work. +In redemption it prepares the way. Israel is +separated from Egypt by the blood of the Lamb +and the guiding pillar of fire. In its command, +‘Come out and be separate,’ it wakens man to +action; in its promises, ‘I will be your God,’ it +stirs desire and strengthens faith. In all the +holy saints and servants of God, and at last in +Him who was holy, harmless, undefiled, separate +from sinners, it points the way. In the power of +the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Holiness, it seals the +separation by the Presence of the Indwelling God. +This is indeed the power of separation. <em>The separating +power of the Presence of God</em>; this it is we need +to know. ‘Wherein now shall it be known that I +have found grace in Thy sight, I and Thy people?’ +said Moses: ‘is it not in <em>that Thou goest with us</em>? <em>so</em> +shall we be <em>separated</em>, I and Thy people, from all the +people that are upon the face of the earth.’ It is +the consciousness of God’s Indwelling Presence, +making and keeping us His very own, that works +the true separateness from the world and its spirit, +from ourselves and our own will. And it is as this +separation is accepted and prized and persevered in +by us, that the holiness of God will enter in and +take possession. And we shall realize that to be +the Lord’s property, a people of His own, is infinitely +more than merely to be accounted or acknowledged as +<a name="png.095" id="png.095"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">96</span><span class="ns">] + </span>His, that it means nothing less than that God, in the +power and indwelling of the Holy Ghost, fills our +being, our affections, and our will with His own life +and holiness. He separates us for Himself, and +sanctifies us to be His dwelling. He comes Himself +to take personal possession by the indwelling of +Christ in the heart. And we are then truly separate, +and kept separate, by the presence of God within us.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye Holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O my God! who hast separated me for Thyself, +I beseech Thee, by Thy mighty power, to make +this Divine separation deed and truth to me. May +within, in the depths of my own spirit, and without, +in all my intercourse, the crown of separation +of my God be upon me.</p> + +<p>I pray Thee especially, O my God, to perfect +in power the separation from self! Let Thy +Presence in the indwelling of my Lord Jesus be +the power that banishes self from the throne. I +have turned from it with abhorrence; oh, my +Father, reveal Thy Son fully in me! it is His +enthronement in my heart can keep me as Thy +own, as Himself takes the place of myself.</p> + +<p>And give me grace, Lord, in my outward life to +wait for a Divine wisdom, that I may know to +witness, for Thy glory and for what Thy people +need, to the blessedness of an entire giving up of +everything for God, a separation that holds back +nothing, to be His and His alone.</p> + +<p><a name="png.096" id="png.096"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">97</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Holy Lord God! visit Thy people. Oh, withdraw +Thou them from the world and conformity +to it. Separate, Lord, separate Thine own for +Thyself. Separate, Lord, the wheat from the +chaff; separate, as by fire, the gold from the +dross; that it may be seen who are the Lord’s, +even His holy ones. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. Love separates effectually. With what jealousy a husband claims his wife, +a mother her children, a miser his possessions! Pray that the Holy Spirit +may show how God brought you to Himself, that you should be His. ‘He is +a holy God; He is a Jealous God.’ God’s love shed abroad in the heart makes +separation easy.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Death separates effectually. If I reckon myself to be indeed dead in +Christ, I am separated from self by the power of Christ’s death. Life separates +still more mightily. As I say, ‘Not I, but Christ liveth in me,’ I am lifted up +out of the life of self.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Separation must be manifest; it is meant as a witness to others and +ourselves; it must find expression in the external, if internally it is to be real +and strong. It is the characteristic of a symbolic action that it not merely +expresses a feeling, but nourishes and strengthens the feeling to which it +corresponds. When the soul enters the fellowship of God, it feels the need of +external separation, sometimes even from what appears to others harmless. +If animated by the spirit of lowly consecration to God, the external may be a +great strengthening of the true separateness.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Separation to God and appropriation by Him go together. This has been +the blessing that has come to martyrs, confessors, missionaries,—all who +have given distinct expression to the forsaking all.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. Separation begins in love, and ends in love. The spirit of separation +is the spirit of self-sacrifice, of surrender to the love of God; the truly +separate one will be the most loving and love-winning, given up to serve God +and man. Is not what separates, what distinguishes Jesus from all others, +His self-sacrificing love? This is His separateness, in which we are to be +made like Him.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. God’s holiness is His separateness; let us enter into <strong>His</strong> separateness +from the world; that will be our holiness. Unite thyself to God. Then art +thou separate and holy. God separates for Himself, not by an act from +without, but as His Will and Presence take possession of us.</i></p> + +</div> + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.3" id="fn.3" + href="#fna.3">3</a> See <a href="#note:B">Note B</a>.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.097" id="png.097"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">98</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Eleventh Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap11.png" width="280" height="29" + alt="The Holy One of Israel." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, +to be <em>your God</em>; ye shall therefore <em>be holy</em>, for <em>I am holy</em>. I +the Lord which <em>make you holy, am holy</em>.’—<span class="smc">Lev.</span> xi. 45, xxi. 8.</p> + +<p>‘I am the Lord Thy God, <em>the Holy One of Israel</em>, Thy Saviour. +Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, <em>the Holy One of Israel</em>: +I am the Lord, <em>your Holy One</em>, the Creator of Israel, your +King.’—<span class="smc">Isa.</span> xliii. 3, 14, 15.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">In</span> the book of Exodus we found God making +provision for the Holiness of His people. In +the holy times and holy places, holy persons, holy +things, and holy services, He had taught His people +that everything around Him, that all that would +come near Him, must be holy. He would only +dwell in the midst of holiness; His people must be +a holy people. But there is no direct mention of +God Himself as holy. In the book of Leviticus we +are led on a step further. Here first we have God +speaking of His own holiness, and making it the +plea for the holiness of His people, as well as its +pledge and power. Without this the revelation of +<a name="png.098" id="png.098"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">99</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holiness were incomplete, and the call to holiness +powerless. True holiness will come to us as we +learn that God Himself alone is holy. It is He +alone makes holy; it is as we come to Himself, and +in obedience and love are linked to Himself, that +His Holiness can rest on us.<sup><a name="fna.4" id="fna.4" + href="#fn.4">4</a></sup></p> + +<p>From the books of Moses onwards we shall find +that the name of God as holy is found but seldom +in the inspired writings, until we come to Isaiah, +the evangelist prophet. There it occurs twenty-six +times, and has its true meaning opened up in the +way in which it is linked with the name of Saviour +and Redeemer. The sentiments of joy and trust +and praise, with which a redeemed people would +look upon their Deliverer, are all mentioned in +connection with the name of the Holy One. ‘Cry +<a name="png.099" id="png.099"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">100</span><span class="ns">] + </span>aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great +is <em>the Holy One of Israel</em> in the midst of thee.’ +‘The poor among men shall rejoice in <em>the Holy One +of Israel</em>.’ ‘Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and +shalt glory in <em>the Holy One of Israel</em>.’ In Paradise +we saw that God the Creator was God the Sanctifier, +perfecting the work of His hands. In Israel we +saw that God the Redeemer was ever God the +Sanctifier, making holy the people He had chosen +for Himself. Here in Isaiah we see how it is God +the Sanctifier, the Holy One, who is to bring about +the great redemption of the New Testament: as +the Holy One, He is the Redeemer. God redeems +because He is holy, and loves to make holy: Holiness +will be Redemption perfected. Redemption +and Holiness together are to be found in the +personal relation to God. The key to the secret +of holiness is offered to each believer in that word: +‘Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, the Holy +One of Israel: I am the Lord, your Holy One.’ +To come near, to know, to possess the Holy One, +and be possessed of Him, is Holiness.</p> + +<p>If God’s Holiness is thus the only hope for ours, +it is right that we seek to know what that Holiness +is. And though we may find it indeed to be something +that passeth knowledge, it will not be in vain +to gather up what has been revealed in the Word concerning +it. Let us do so in the spirit of holy fear and +worship, trusting to the Holy Spirit to be our teacher.</p> + +<p>And let us first notice how this Holiness of God, +though it is often mentioned as one of the Divine +<a name="png.100" id="png.100"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">101</span><span class="ns">] + </span>attributes, can hardly be counted such, on a level +with the others. The other attributes all refer to +some special aspect or characteristic of the Divine +Nature; Holiness appears to express what is the +very essence or perfection of the Divine Being +Himself. None of the attributes can be predicated +of all that belongs to God; but Scripture speaks of +His Holy Name, His Holy Day, His Holy Habitation, +His Holy Word. In the word Holy we have +the nearest possible approach to a summary of all +the Divine perfections, the description of what +Divinity is. We speak of the other attributes as +Divine perfections, but in this we have the only +human expression for the Divine Perfection itself. +It is for this reason that theologians have found +such difficulty in framing a definition that can +express all the word means.<sup><a name="fna.5" id="fna.5" + href="#fn.5">5</a></sup></p> + +<p>The original Hebrew word, whether derived +from a root signifying to separate, or another with +the idea of shining, expressed the idea of something +distinguished from others, separate from them by +superior excellence. God is Separate and different +from all that is created, keeps Himself separate +from all that is not God; as the Holy One He +maintains His Divine glory and perfection against +whatever might interfere with it: ‘There is none +holy, but the Lord;’ ‘To whom will you liken me? +or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One.’ As +Holy, God is indeed the Incomparable One; Holiness +<a name="png.101" id="png.101"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">102</span><span class="ns">] + </span>is His alone; there is nothing like it in heaven +or earth, except when He gives it. And so our +holiness will consist, not in a human separation in +which we attempt to imitate God’s,—no, but in +entering into His separateness; belonging entirely +to Him; set apart by Him and for Himself.</p> + +<p>Closely connected with this is the idea of Exaltation: +‘Thus saith the High and Holy One, whose +name is Holy.’ It was the Holy One who was seen +sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, the object +of the worship of the seraphim. In Psalm xcix. +God’s Holiness is specially spoken of in connection +with His exaltation. For this reason, too, His +Holiness is so often connected with His Glory and +Majesty (see ‘<a href="#day:6">Sixth Day</a>’). And here our holiness +will be seen to be nothing but the poverty and +humility which comes when ‘the loftiness of man is +brought low, and the Lord alone is exalted.’</p> + +<p>If we inquire more closely wherein the infinite +excellence of this Separateness and Exaltation consists, +we are led to think of the Divine Purity, and +that not only in its negative aspect—as hatred of +sin—but with the more positive element of perfect +beauty. Because we are sinners, and the revelation +of God’s Holiness is in a world of sin, it is natural, +it is right and meet, that the first, that the abiding +impression of God’s Holiness should be that of +an Infinite Purity that cannot look upon sin, in +whose Presence it becomes the sinner to hide his +face and tremble. The Righteousness of God, forbidding +and condemning and punishing sin, has its +<a name="png.102" id="png.102"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">103</span><span class="ns">] + </span>root in His Holiness, is one of its two elements—the +devouring and destroying power of the consuming +fire. ‘God the Holy One is sanctified in +righteousness’ (Isa. v. 16); in righteousness the +Holiness of the Holy One is maintained and revealed. +But Light not only discovers what is impure, that it +may be purified, but is in itself a thing of infinite +beauty. And so some of our holiest men have not +hesitated to speak of God’s Holiness as the infinite +Pulchritude or Beauty of the Divine Being, the +Perfect Purity and Beauty of that Light in which +God dwelleth. And if the Holiness of God is to +become ours, to rest upon us, and enter into us, +there must be, without ceasing, the holy fear that +trembles at the thought of grieving the infinite sensitiveness +of this Holy One by our sins, and yet side +by side, and in perfect harmony with it, the deep +longing to behold the Beauty of the Lord, an admiration +of its Divine glory, and a joyful surrender to +be His alone.</p> + +<p>We must go one step further. When God says, +‘I am holy: <em>I make holy</em>,’ we see that one of the +chief elements of His Holiness is this, that it seeks +to communicate itself, to make partaker of its own +perfection and blessedness. This is nought but +Love. In the wonderful revelation in Isaiah of +what the Holy One is to His people, we must +beware of misreading God’s precious Word. It is +not said, that <em>though</em> God is the Holy One, and +hates sin, and ought to punish and destroy, that +notwithstanding this He will save. By no means. +<a name="png.103" id="png.103"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">104</span><span class="ns">] + </span>But we are taught that <em>as</em> the Holy One, <em>just because</em> +He is the Holy One, who delights to make holy, He +will be the Deliverer of His people. (See Hos. +xi. 9.) It is Holiness above everything else that +we are invited to look to, to trust in, to rejoice in. +The Holy One is the Holy-making One: He redeems +and saves that He may win our confidence for +Himself, that He may draw us to Himself as the +Holy One, that in the personal attachment to Himself +we may learn to obey, to become of one mind +with Him, to be holy as He is holy.</p> + +<p>The Divine Holiness is thus that infinite Perfection +of Divinity in which Righteousness and Love +are in perfect harmony, out of which they proceed, +and which together they reveal. It is that Energy +of the Divine life in the power of which God not +only keeps Himself free from all creature weakness +or sin, but unceasingly seeks to lift the creature into +union with Himself and the full participation of +His own purity and perfection. The glory of God +as God, as the God of Creation and Redemption, is +His Holiness. It is in this that the Separateness +and Exaltation of God, even above all thought of +man, really consists. ‘God is Light;’ in His infinite +Purity He reveals all darkness, and yet has no +fellowship with it. He judges and condemns it; +He saves out of it, and lifts up into the fellowship +of His own purity and blessedness. This is the +Holy One of Israel.</p> + +<p>It is this God who speaks to us, ‘I am the +Lord your God: I am holy: I make holy.’ It is +<a name="png.104" id="png.104"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">105</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in the adoring contemplation of His Holiness, in the +trustful surrender to it, in the loving fellowship +with Himself, the Holy One, that we can be made +holy. My brother! would you be holy? listen again, +and let, in the deep silence of trust, God’s words +sink into your heart—‘Your Holy One.’ Come to +Himself and claim Him as your God, and claim all +that He, as the Holy One who makes holy, can do +for you. Just remember that Holiness is Himself. +Come to <em>Him</em>; worship <em>Him</em>; give <em>Him</em> the glory. +Seek not, even from Him, holiness in yourself; let +self be abased, and be content that the Holiness is +His. As <em>His</em> presence fills your heart, as <em>His</em> Holiness +and Glory are your one desire, as <em>His</em> holy +Will and Love are your delight,—as the Holy One +becomes all in all to you,—you will be holy with +the holiness He loves to see. And as, to the end, +you see nothing to admire in self, and only Beauty in +Him, you will know that He has laid of His glory +on you; and your holiness will be found in the +song, There is none holy, but the Lord.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O God! we have again heard the wonderful +revelation of Thyself, ‘I am holy.’ And as we felt +how infinitely exalted above all our conceptions +Thy Holiness is, we heard Thy call, almost still +more wonderful, ‘Be ye holy, as I am holy.’ And +as every thought of how we were to be holy, as Thou +art holy, failed us, we heard Thy voice once again, +<a name="png.105" id="png.105"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">106</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in this most wonderful word of all, ‘I make you +holy.’ I am ‘your Holy One.’</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! we do beseech Thee, give us in +some due measure to realize how unholy we are, +and so to take the place that becomes us in Thy +presence. Oh that the sinfulness of our nature, +and all that is of self, may be so discovered to us, +that it may be no longer possible to live in it! +May the Light that reveals this, reveal too, how +Thy Holiness is our only hope, our sure refuge, our +complete deliverance. O Lord! speak into our +souls the word, ‘The Holy One, your Redeemer,’ +‘Your Holy One,’ with such power by Thy Spirit, +that our faith may grow into the assured confidence +that we can be holy as Thou art holy.</p> + +<p>Holy Lord God! we wait for Thee. Reveal +Thyself in power within us, and fit us to be the +messengers of Thy Holiness, to tell Thy people how +holy Thou art, and how holy we must be, and how +holy Thou dost make us. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. This Holy One is God Almighty. Before He revealed Himself to Israel +as the Holy One, He made Himself known to Abraham as the Almighty, ‘who +quickeneth the dead.’ In all your dealings with God for holiness, remember +He is the Almighty One, who can do wonders in you. Say often, ‘Glory to +Him who is mighty to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think.’</i></p> + +<p><i>2. This Holy One is the Righteous God, a consuming fire. Cast yourself +into it, that all that is sinful may be destroyed. As you lay yourself upon +the altar, expect the fire. ‘And yield your members unto God as instruments +of Righteousness.’</i></p> + +<p><i>3. This Holy One is the God of Love. He is your Father; yield yourself +to let the Holy Spirit cry in you, Abba Father! that is, to let Him +shed abroad and fill your heart with God’s father-love. God’s Holiness is +His fatherliness; our holiness is childlikeness. Be simple, loving, trustful.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. This Holy One is God. Let Him be God to you; ruling all, filling all, +working all. Worship Him, come near to Him, live with and in and for +Him: He will be your holiness.</i></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.4" id="fn.4" + href="#fna.4">4</a> ‘I am the Lord your God; ye shall therefore <em>make holy</em> yourselves, +and <em>be holy, for I am holy</em>’ (Lev. xi. 44).</p> + +<p class="c">‘I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt +to be your God: ye shall therefore <em>be holy, for I am holy</em>’ (Lev. +xi. 45).</p> + +<p class="c">‘Ye shall <em>be holy</em>, for <em>I the Lord your God am holy</em>’ (Lev. xix. 2).</p> + +<p class="c">‘<em>Make holy</em> yourselves therefore, and <em>be ye holy</em>, for I am the +Lord your God; ye shall keep my statutes and do them: I am the +Lord which <em>make you holy</em>’ (Lev. xx. 7, 8).</p> + +<p class="c">‘Ye shall <em>be holy</em> unto me, for <em>I the Lord am holy</em>, and have +separated you from other people, that ye should be mine’ (Lev. +xx. 26).</p> + +<p class="c">‘The priest shall be <em>holy</em> unto thee, for <em>I the Lord which make +you holy, am holy</em>’ (Lev. xxi. 8).</p> + +<p class="c">‘I will be <em>hallowed</em> among the children of Israel; I am the Lord +<em>which make you holy</em>’ (Lev. xxii. 32).</p> + +<p class="c">‘I am the Lord <em>which make them holy</em>’ (Lev. xxi. 15, 23; xxii. +9, 16).</p> + +<p><a name="fn.5" id="fn.5" + href="#fna.5">5</a> See <a href="#note:C">Note C</a> for some account of the different definitions that +have been given.</p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.106" id="png.106"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">107</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twelfth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap12.png" width="255" height="29" + alt="The Thrice Holy One." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. +Above Him stood the seraphim. And one cried to another, +and said, <em>Holy, holy, holy</em> is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth +is full of His glory.’—<span class="smc">Isa.</span> vi. 1–3.</p> + +<p>‘And the four living creatures, they have no rest day and +night, saying, <em>Holy, holy, holy</em> is the Lord God, the Almighty, +which was, and which is, and which is to come.’—<span class="smc">Rev.</span> iv. 8.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">It</span> is not only on earth, but in heaven too, that +the Holiness of God is His chief and most +glorious attribute. It is not only on earth, but in +heaven too, that the highest inspiration of adoration +and praise makes mention of His Holiness. The +brightest of living beings, they who are ever before +and around and above the throne, find their glory +in adoring and proclaiming the Holiness of God: +surely there can be for us no higher honour than +to study and to know, to worship and adore, to +proclaim and show forth the glory of the Thrice +Holy One.</p> + +<p>After Moses, as we know, Isaiah was the chief +<a name="png.107" id="png.107"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">108</span><span class="ns">] + </span>messenger of the Holiness of God. Each had a +special preparation for his commission to make +known the Holy One. Moses saw the Holy One +in the fire, and hid his face and feared to look upon +God, and so was prepared for being His messenger, +and for praising Him as ‘glorious in holiness.’ +Isaiah, as he heard the song of the seraphim, and +saw the fire on the altar, and the house filled with +the smoke, cried out, ‘Woe is me.’ It was not till, +in the deep sense of the need of cleansing, he had +received the touch of the fire and the purging of his +sin, that he might bear to Israel the Gospel of the +Holy One as its Redeemer. May it be in the spirit +of fear and lowly worship that we listen to the song +of the seraphim, and seek to know and worship +the Thrice Holy One. And may ours too be the +cleansing with the fire, that we may be found fit +to tell God’s people that He is the Holy One of +Israel, their Redeemer.</p> + +<p>The threefold repetition of the <span class="smc">Holy</span> has at all +times by the Church of Christ been connected with +the Holy Trinity. The song of the living creatures +around the throne (Rev. iv.) is evidence of the truth +of this thought. We there find it followed by the +adoration of Him who was, and is, and is to come, +the Almighty: the Eternal Source, the present +manifestation in the Son, the future perfecting of +the revelation of God in the Spirit’s work in His +Church. The truth of the Holy Trinity is often +regarded as an abstract doctrine, with little direct +bearing on practical life. So far is this from being +<a name="png.108" id="png.108"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">109</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the case, that a living faith must root in it: some +spiritual insight into the relation and the operation +of each of the Three, and the reality of their living +Oneness, is an essential element of true growth in +knowledge and spiritual understanding.<sup><a name="fna.6" id="fna.6" + href="#fn.6">6</a></sup> Let us +here regard the Trinity specially in its relation to +God’s Holiness and as the source of ours. What +does it mean that we adore the Thrice Holy One? +God is not only holy, but makes holy: in the +revelation of the Three Persons we have the revelation +of the way in which God makes holy.</p> + +<p>The Trinity teaches us that God has revealed +Himself in two ways. The Son is <em>the Form of God</em>, +His manifestation as He shows Himself to man, the +Image in which His unseen glory is embodied, and +to which man is to be conformed. The Spirit is +<em>the Power of God</em>, working in man, and leading him +up to that Image. In Jesus, He who had been in +the form of God took the form of man; and the +Divine Holiness was literally manifested in the +<a name="png.109" id="png.109"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">110</span><span class="ns">] + </span>form of a human life and the members of a human +body. A new holy human nature was formed in +Christ, to be communicated to us. In His death +His own personal holiness was perfected as human +obedience, and so the power of sin conquered and +broken. Therefore in the resurrection, through +the Spirit of Holiness, He was declared to be the +Son of God with power to impart His life to us. +There the Spirit of Holiness was set free from the +veil of the flesh, the trammels that hindered it, and +obtained power to enter and dwell in man. The +Holy Spirit was poured out as the fruit of Resurrection +and Ascension. And the Spirit is now the +Power of God in us, working upwards towards +Christ, to reproduce His life and Holiness in us, to +fit us for fully receiving and showing forth Him in +our lives. Christ from above comes to us as the +embodiment of the Unseen Holiness of God: the +Spirit from within lifts us up to meet Him, and fits +us to receive and make our own all that is in Him.</p> + +<p>The Triune God whom we adore is the Thrice +Holy One: the mystery of the Trinity is the +mystery of Holiness: the Glory and the Power of +the Trinity is the Glory and Power of God who +makes us holy. There is God dwelling in light +inaccessible, a consuming fire of Holy Love, destroying +all that resists, glorifying into its own purity all +that yields. There is the Son, casting Himself into +that consuming fire, whether in its eternal blessedness +in heaven, or its angry wrath on earth, a +willing sacrifice, to be its food and its satisfaction, +<a name="png.110" id="png.110"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">111</span><span class="ns">] + </span>as well as the revelation of its power to destroy and +to save. And there is the Spirit of Holiness, the +flames of that mighty fire spreading on every side, +convicting and judging as the Spirit of Burning, and +then transforming into its own brightness and holiness +all that it can reach. All the relations of the +Three Persons to each other and to us have their +root and their meaning in the revelation of God as +the Holy One. As we know and partake of Him, +we shall know and partake of Holiness.</p> + +<p>And how shall we know Him? Let us learn to +know the Holiness of God as the seraphs do: in the +worship of the Thrice Holy One. Let us with veiled +faces join in the ceaseless song of adoration: ‘Holy, +holy, holy is the Lord of hosts.’ Each time we meditate +on the Word, each prayer to the Holy God, each +act of faith in Christ the Holy One, each exercise +of waiting dependence on the Holy Spirit, let it be +in the spirit of worship: Holy, holy, holy. Let us +learn to know the Holiness of God as Isaiah did. +He was to be the chosen messenger to reveal and +interpret to the people the name, the Holy One of +Israel. His preparation was the vision that made +him cry out, ‘Woe is me! for mine eyes have seen +the King, the Lord of hosts.’ Let us bow in +silence before the Holy One, until our comeliness +too be turned into corruption. And then let us +believe in the cleansing fire from the altar, the +touch of the live coals of the burning holiness, +which not only consumes, but purges lips and heart +to say, ‘Here am I, send me.’ Yes, let us worship, +<a name="png.111" id="png.111"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">112</span><span class="ns">] + </span>whether like the adoring seraphim, or like the +trembling prophet, until we know that our service +too is accepted, to tell forth the praise of the Thrice +Holy One.</p> + +<p>Holy, holy, holy: if we are indeed to be the +messengers of the Holy One, let us seek to enter +fully into what this Thrice Holy means. <span class="smc">Holy</span>, the +Father, <em>God above us</em>, High and Lifted up, whom no +man hath seen or can see, whose Holiness none dare +approach, but who doth Himself in His Holiness +draw nigh to make holy. <span class="smc">Holy</span>, the Son, <em>God +with us</em>, revealing Divine Holiness in human life, +maintaining it amid the suffering of death for us, +and preparing a holy life and nature for His people. +<span class="smc">Holy</span>, the Spirit, <em>God in us</em>, the Power of Holiness +within us, reaching out to and embracing Christ, +and transforming our inner life into the union and +communion of Him in whom we are holy. Holy, +holy, holy! it is all holiness. It is only holiness—perfect +holiness. This is Divine holiness: holiness +hidden and unapproachable; holiness manifested +and maintained in human nature; holiness +communicated and made our very own.</p> + +<p>The mystery of the Holy Trinity is the mystery +of the Christian life, the mystery of Holiness. The +Three are One, and we need to enter ever more +deeply into the truth that neither of the Three +ever works separate or independent of the other. +The Son reveals the Father, and the Father reveals +the Son. The Father gives not Himself, but the +Spirit: the Spirit speaks not of Himself, but cries +<a name="png.112" id="png.112"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">113</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Abba Father! The Son is our Sanctification, our Life, +our All: the fulness is in Him. And yet we have ever +to bow our knees to the Father for Him to reveal +Christ in us, for Him to establish us in Christ. +And the Father does not this without the Spirit: +so that we have to ask to be strengthened mightily +by the Spirit, that Christ may dwell in us. Christ +gives the Spirit to them that believe and love and +obey; the Spirit again gives Christ, formed within +and dwelling in the heart. And so in each act of +worship, and each step of growth, and each blessed +experience of grace, all the Three Persons are +actively engaged: the One is ever Three, the Three +are ever One.</p> + +<p>Would you apply this in the life of holiness, +let faith in the Holy Trinity be a living practical +reality. In every prayer to <em>the Father</em> to sanctify +you, take up your position <em>in Christ</em>, and do it in +the power of <em>the Spirit within you</em>. In every +exercise of faith <em>in Christ</em> as your Sanctification, let +your posture be that of prayer to <em>the Father</em> and +trust in Him as He delights to honour the Son, and +of quiet expectancy of <em>the Spirit’s</em> working, through +whom the Father glorifies the Son. In every surrender +of the soul to the sanctification of <em>the Spirit</em>, +to His leading as the Spirit of Holiness, look to <em>the +Father</em> who grants His mighty working, and who +sanctifies through faith in <em>the Son</em>, and expect the +Spirit’s power to manifest itself in showing the will +of God, and Jesus as your Sanctification. If for a +time this appears at variance with the simplicity of +<a name="png.113" id="png.113"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">114</span><span class="ns">] + </span>childlike faith and prayer, be assured that as God +has thus revealed Himself, He will teach you so to +worship and believe. And so the Holy, holy, holy +will become the deep undertone of all our worship +and all our life.</p> + +<p>Children of God! called to be holy as He is +holy, oh, come let us bow down and worship in +His holy presence! Come and veil the face: withdraw +eye and mind from gazing on what passes +knowledge, and let the soul be gathered into that +inner stillness, in which the worship of the heavenly +Sanctuary alone can be heard. Come and cover +the feet: withdraw from the rush of work and +haste, be it worldly or religious, and learn to +worship. Come, and as you fall down in self-abasement, +the glory of the Holy One will shine upon +you. And as you hear and take up and sing the +song, <span class="smc">Holy, Holy, Holy</span>, you will find how in such +knowledge and worship of the Thrice Holy One is +the power that makes you holy.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty! +which wast, and art, and art to come! I worship +Thee as the Triune God. With face veiled and +feet covered, I would bow in deep humility and +silence, till Thy mercy lift me as on eagles’ wings +to behold Thy glory.</p> + +<p>Most merciful God! who hast called me to be +<a name="png.114" id="png.114"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">115</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holy as Thou art holy, oh, reveal to me somewhat +of Thy Holiness! As it shines upon me and +strikes death into the creature and the flesh, may +even the most involuntary taint of sin, and its +slightest movement, become unbearable. As it +shines and revives the hope of being partaker of +Thy Holiness, may the confidence grow strong that +Thou Thyself art making me holy, wilt even make +me a messenger of Thy Holiness.</p> + +<p>Thrice Holy God! I worship Thee as my God. +<span class="smc">Holy</span>! <span class="smc">the Father</span>; holy and making holy; making +holy His own Son and sending Him into the world, +that we might behold the very glory of God in a human +face, the face of Jesus Christ. <span class="smc">Holy</span>! <span class="smc">the Son</span>; the +Holy One of God, fulfilling the will of the Father, and +so making holy Himself that He might be our holiness. +<span class="smc">Holy</span>! <span class="smc">the Spirit</span>; the Spirit of Holiness, dwelling +within us, making the Son and His Holiness our own, +and so making us partakers of the Holiness of God. +O my God! I bow down, and worship, and adore.</p> + +<p>May even now the worship of heaven that rests +not day or night be the worship my soul renders +Thee without ceasing. May its song be, down in the +depths of the heart, the keynote of my life: <span class="smc">Holy, +Holy, Holy</span>, Lord God Almighty! which wast, and +art, and art to come. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. Thought always needs to distinguish and separate: in life alone there is +perfect unity. The more we know the living God, the more we shall realize how +truly the Three are One. In each act of One Person the other Two are present. +There is not a prayer rises but the Presence of the Holy Three is needed +through Christ, in the Spirit, we speak to the Father.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. In faith to apprehend this is to have the secret of holiness. The Holy +<a name="png.115" id="png.115"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">116</span><span class="ns">] + </span>God above us, ever giving and working; the Holy One of God, the living gift, +who has possession of us, in whom we are; the Holy Spirit, God within us, +through whom the Father works, and the Son is revealed: this is the God who +says, I am holy, I make holy. In the perfect unity of the work of the Three, +holiness is found.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. No wonder that the love of the Father and the grace of the Son do not +accomplish more, when the fellowship of the Holy Spirit is little understood +or sought or accepted. The Holy Spirit is the fruit and crown of the Divine +Revelation, through whom the Son and the Father come to us. If you would +know God, if you would be holy, you must be taught and led of the Spirit.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. As often as you worship the Thrice Holy One, hearken if no voice be +heard: Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Let the answer rise, Here +am I, send me, and offer yourself to be <strong>a messenger of the holiness of God</strong> +to those around you.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. When in meditation and worship you have sought to take in and express +what God’s word has taught, then comes the time for confessing how you +know nothing, and for waiting on God <strong>to reveal Himself</strong>.</i></p> + +</div> + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.6" id="fn.6" + href="#fna.6">6</a> The Divine necessity and meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity +is seen from the counterpart we have of it in nature. In every +living object that exists we distinguish first <em>the life</em>, then <em>the form</em> +or <em>shape</em> in which that life manifests itself, then <em>the power</em> or +<em>effect</em> as seen in the result which the life acting in its form or +manifestation produces. And so we have God as the Unseen One, +the Fountain of life; the Son as the Form or Image of God, the +manifestation of the Unseen Life; and the Holy Spirit as the +Power of that life proceeding from the Father and the Son, and +working out the purpose of God’s will in the Church. Applying +this thought to God as the Holy One, we shall understand better +the place of the Son and the Spirit as they bring to us the Holiness +of God.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.116" id="png.116"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">117</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Thirteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap13.png" width="269" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Humility." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, +whose name is <em>Holy</em>: I dwell in the High and <em>Holy</em> place, with +him that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit +of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones.’—<span class="smc">Isa.</span> +lvii. 15.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Very</span> wonderful is the revelation we have in +Isaiah of God, the Holy One, as the Redeemer +and the Saviour of His people. In the midst of +the people whom He created and formed for Himself, +He will as the Holy One dwell, showing +forth His power and His glory, filling them with +joy and gladness. All these promises have, however, +reference to the people as a whole. Our +text to-day reveals a new and specially beautiful +feature of the Divine Holiness in its relation to the +individual. The High and Lofty One, whose name +is Holy, and whose only fit dwelling-place is +eternity, He looks to the man who is of a humble +and contrite heart; with him will He dwell. God’s +Holiness is His condescending Love. As it is a +<a name="png.117" id="png.117"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">118</span><span class="ns">] + </span>consuming fire against all who exalt themselves +before Him, it is to the spirit of the humble like +the shining of the sun, heart-reviving and life-giving.</p> + +<p>The deep significance of this promise comes out +clearly when we connect it with the other promises +of New Testament times. The great feature of the +New Covenant, in its superiority to the old, is this, +that whereas in the law and its institution all was +external, in the New the kingdom of God would +be within. God’s laws given and written into the +heart, a new spirit put within us, God’s own Spirit +given to dwell within our spirit, and so the heart and +the inner life fitted to be the temple and home of +God; it is this constitutes the peculiar privilege of the +ministration of the Spirit. Our text is perhaps the +only one in the Old Testament in which this indwelling +of the Holy One, not among the people only, +but in the heart of the individual believer, is +clearly brought out. In this the two aspects of the +Divine Holiness would reach their full manifestation: +I dwell in the High and Holy place, and with +him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit. +In His heaven above, the high and lofty place, +and in our heart, contrite and humble, God has +His home. God’s Holiness is His glory that +separates Him by an infinite distance, not only +from sin, but even from the creature, lifting Him +high above it. God’s Holiness is His Love, drawing +Him down to the sinner, that He may lift him into +His fellowship and likeness, and make him holy as +He is holy. The Holy One seeks the humble; the +<a name="png.118" id="png.118"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">119</span><span class="ns">] + </span>humble find the Holy One: such are the two +lessons we have to learn to-day.</p> + +<p><em>The Holy One seeks the humble.</em> There is nothing +that has such an attraction for God, that has such +affinity with holiness, as a contrite and humble +spirit. The reason is evident. There is no law in +the natural and the spiritual world more simple, +than that two bodies cannot at the same moment +occupy the same space. Only so much as the +new occupant can expel of what the space was filled +with can it really possess. In man, self has possession, +and self-will the mastery, and there is no room +for God. It is simply impossible for God to dwell +or rule when self is on the throne. As long as, +through the blinding influence of sin and self-love, +even the believer is not truly conscious of the extent +to which this self-will reigns, there can be no true +contrition or humility. But as it is discovered by +God’s Spirit, and the soul sees how it has just been +self that has been secretly keeping out God, with +what shame it is broken down, and how it longs to +break utterly away from self, that God may have +His place! It is this brokenness, and continued +breaking down, that is expressed by the word +contrition. And as the soul sees what folly and +guilt it has been, by its secret honouring of self, to +keep the Holy One from the place which He alone +has a right to, and which He would so blessedly +have filled, it casts itself down in utter self-abasement, +with the one desire to be nothing, and to give +God the place and the praise that is His due.</p> + +<p><a name="png.119" id="png.119"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">120</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Such breaking down and humiliation is painful. +Its intense reality consists in this, that the soul can +see nothing in itself to trust or hope in. And +least of all can it imagine that it should be an +object of Divine complacency, or a fit vessel for +the Divine blessing. And yet just this is the +message which the Word of the Lord brings to our +faith. It tells us that the Holy One, who dwells in +the High and Lofty place, is seeking and preparing +for Himself a dwelling here on this earth. It tells +us, just what the truly contrite and humble never +could imagine, and even now can hardly believe, +that it is even, that it is only, with such that He +will dwell. These are they in whom God can be +glorified, in whom there is room for Him to take +the place of self and to fill the emptied place with +Himself. The Holy One seeks the humble. Just +when we see that there is nothing in us to admire +or rest in, God sees in us everything to admire +and to rest in, because there is room for Himself. +The lowly one is the home of the Holy One.</p> + +<p><em>The humble find the Holy One.</em> Just when the +consciousness of sin and weakness, and the discovery +of how much of self there is, makes you fear that +you can never be holy, the Holy One gives Himself. +Not as you look at self, and seek to know whether +now you are contrite and humble enough—no, but +when no longer looking at self, because you have +given up all hope of seeing anything in it but sin, +you look up to the Holy One, you will see how +His promise is your only hope. It is in faith that +<a name="png.120" id="png.120"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">121</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the Holy One is revealed to the contrite soul. +Faith is ever the opposite of what we see and feel; +it looks to God alone. And it believes that in its +deepest consciousness of unholiness, and its fear that +it never can be holy, God, the Holy One, who +makes holy, is near as Redeemer and Saviour. +And it is content to be low, in the consciousness +of unworthiness and emptiness, and yet to rejoice +in the assurance that God Himself does take +possession and revive the heart of the contrite one. +Happy the soul who is willing at once to learn the +lesson that, all along, it is going to be the simultaneous +experience of weakness and power, of emptiness +and filling, of deep, real humiliation, and the as real +and most wonderful indwelling of the Holy One.</p> + +<p>This is indeed the deep mystery of the Divine +life. To human reason it is a paradox. When +Paul says of himself, ‘as dying, and behold we live; +as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as having nothing, +yet possessing all things,’ he only gives expression +to the law of the kingdom, that as self is displaced +and man becomes nothing, God will become all. +Side by side with deepest sense of nothingness and +weakness, the sense of infinite riches and the joy +unspeakable can fill the heart. However deep and +blessed the experience becomes of the nearness, the +blessing, the love, the actual indwelling of the Holy +One, it is never an indwelling in the old self; it is +ever a Divine Presence humbling self to make place +for God alone to be exalted. The power of Christ’s +death, the fellowship of His cross, works each +<a name="png.121" id="png.121"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">122</span><span class="ns">] + </span>moment side by side with the power and the joy of +His resurrection. ‘He that humbleth himself shall +be exalted;’ in the blessed life of faith the humiliation +and the exaltation are simultaneous, each +dependent on the other.</p> + +<p>The humble find the Holy One; and when they +have found, the possession only humbles all the more. +Not that there is no danger or temptation of the +flesh exalting itself in the possession, but, once +knowing the danger, the humble soul seeks for +grace to fear continually, with a fear that only +clings more firmly to God alone. Never for a moment +imagine that you attain a state in which self +or the flesh are absolutely dead. No; by faith you +enter into and abide in a fellowship with Jesus, in +whom they are crucified; abiding in Him, you are +free from their power, but only as you believe, and, +in believing, have gone out of self and dwell in +Jesus. Therefore, the more abundant God’s grace +becomes, and the more blessed the indwelling of the +Holy One, keep so much the lower. Your danger is +greater, but your Help is now nearer: be content in +trembling to confess the danger, it will make you +bold in faith to claim the victory.</p> + +<p>Believers, who profess to be nothing, and to trust +in grace alone, I pray you, do listen to the wondrous +message. The High and Lofty One, whose name is +Holy, and who dwells in the Holy Place, and who +can dwell nowhere but in a Holy Place, seeks a +dwelling here on earth. Will you give it Him? +Will you not fall down in the dust, that He may +<a name="png.122" id="png.122"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">123</span><span class="ns">] + </span>find in you the humble heart He loves to dwell in? +Will you not now believe that even in you, however +low and broken you feel, He doth delight to make +His dwelling? ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit: for +theirs is the Kingdom;’ with them the King dwells. +Oh, this is the path to holiness! be humble, and the +holy nearness and presence of God in you will be +your holiness. As you hear the command, Be holy, +as I am holy, let faith claim the promise, and +answer, I will be holy, O Most Holy God! if +Thou, the Holy One, wilt dwell with me.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O Lord! Thou art the High and Lofty One, whose +Name is Holy. And yet Thou speakest, ‘I dwell +in the high and holy place, and with him that is of +a contrite and humble spirit.’ Yes, Lord! when the +soul takes the low place, and has low thoughts of +itself, that it feels it is nothing, Thou dost love to +come and comfort, to dwell with it and revive it.</p> + +<p>O my God! my creature nothingness humbles +me; my many transgressions humble me; my innate +sinfulness humbles me; but this humbles me most +of all, Thine infinite condescension, and the ineffable +indwelling Thou dost vouchsafe. It is Thy Holiness, +in Christ bearing our sin, Thy Holy Love bearing +with our sin, and consenting to dwell in us; O +God! it is this love that passeth knowledge that +humbles me. I do beseech Thee, let it do its +work, until self hides its head and flees away at the +presence of Thy glory, and Thou alone art all.</p> + +<p>Holy Lord God! I pray Thee to humble me. +<a name="png.123" id="png.123"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">124</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Didst Thou not of old meet Thy servants, and show +Thyself unto them until they fell upon their faces +and feared? Thou knowest, my God! I have no +humility which I can bring Thee. In my blessed +Saviour, who humbled Himself in the form of a +servant, and unto the death of the cross, I hide +myself. In Him, in His spirit and likeness, I +would live before Thee. Work Thou it in me, by +the Holy Spirit dwelling in me, and as I am dead +to self in Him, and His cross makes me nothing, let +Thy holy indwelling revive and quicken me. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Lowliness and holiness. Keep fast hold of the intimate connection. +Lowliness is taking the place that becomes me; holiness, giving God the +place that becomes Him. If I be nothing before Him, and God be all to me, I +am in the sure path of holiness. Lowliness is holiness, because it gives all +the glory to God.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ +These first words of the Master when He opened His lips to proclaim the +Kingdom, are often the last in the hearts of His disciples. ‘The Kingdom is +in the Holy Ghost:’ to the poor in spirit, those who know they have nothing +that is really spiritual, the Holy Spirit comes to be their life. The poor in +spirit are the Kingdom of the Saints: in them the Holy Spirit reveals the +King.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Many strive hard to be humble with God, but with men they maintain their +rights, and nourish self. Remember that the great school of humility before +God, is to accept the humbling of man. Christ sanctified Himself in accepting +the humiliation and injustice which evil men laid upon Him.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Humility never sees its own beauty, because it refuses to look to itself: +It only wonders at the condescension of the Holy God, and rejoices in the +humility of Jesus, God’s Holy One, our Holy One.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. The link between holiness and humility is indwelling. The Lofty One, +whose name is Holy, <strong>dwells</strong> with the contrite one. And where He dwells is +<strong>the Holy Place</strong>.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.124" id="png.124"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">125</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Fourteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap14.png" width="256" height="29" + alt="The Holy One of God." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Therefore also that <em>holy</em> thing which shall be born of thee +shall be called the Son of God.’—<span class="smc">Luke</span> i. 35.</p> + +<p>‘We have believed and know that Thou art <em>the Holy One of +God</em>.’—<span class="smc">John</span> vi. 69.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstartq"><small>‘</small><span class="drop">T</span><span class="start">he</span> holy one of the Lord’—only once (Ps. cvi. +16) the expression is found in the Old +Testament. It is spoken of Aaron, in whom +holiness, as far as it could then be revealed, had +found its most complete embodiment. The title +waited for its fulfilment in Him who alone, in His +own person, could perfectly show forth the holiness of +God on earth—Jesus the Son of the Father. In Him +we see holiness, as Divine, as human, as our very own.</p> + +<p>1. In Him we see wherein that Incomparable +Excellence of the Divine Nature consists. ‘Thou +lovest righteousness, and hatest iniquity, therefore +God, even Thy God, hath anointed Thee with the +oil of gladness above Thy fellows.’ God’s infinite +hatred of sin, and His maintenance of the Right, +might appear to have little moral worth, as being a +<a name="png.125" id="png.125"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">126</span><span class="ns">] + </span>necessity of His nature. In the Son we see Divine +Holiness tested. He is tried and tempted. He +suffers, being tempted. He proves that Holiness +has indeed a moral worth: it is ready to make +any sacrifice, yea to give up life and cease to be, +rather than consent to sin. In giving Himself to +die, rather than yield to the temptation of sin; in +giving Himself to die, that the Father’s righteous +judgment may be honoured; Jesus proved how +Righteousness is an element of the Divine Holiness, +and how the Holy One is sanctified in Righteousness.</p> + +<p>But this is only one side of Holiness. The fire +that consumes also purifies: it makes partakers of +its own beautiful Light-nature all that is capable of +assimilation. So Divine Holiness not only maintains +its own purity; it communicates it too. Herein +was Jesus indeed seen to be the Holy One of God, +that He never said, ‘Stand by, for I am holier than +thou.’ His holiness proved itself to be the very +incarnation of Him who had spoken, ‘Thus saith +the High and Lofty One, whose Name is Holy: +I dwell in the High and Holy place, and with him +who is of a contrite spirit.’ In Him was seen +the affinity holiness has for all that is lost and +helpless and sinful. He proved that holiness is not +only the energy which in holy anger separates +itself from all that is impure, but which in holy +love separates to itself even what is most sinful, to +save and to bless. In Him we see how the Divine +Holiness is the harmony of Infinite Righteousness +with Infinite Love.</p> + +<p><a name="png.126" id="png.126"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">127</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>2. Such is the Divine aspect of the character of +Christ, as He shows in human form what God’s +Holiness is. But there is another aspect, to us no +less interesting and important. We not only want +to know how God is holy, but how man must act +to be holy as God is holy. Jesus came to teach +us that it is possible to be men, and yet to have +the life of God dwelling in us. We ordinarily +think that the glory and the infinite Perfection of +Deity are the proper setting in which the beauty +of holiness is to be seen: Jesus proved the perfect +adaptation and suitability of human nature for +showing forth that which is the essential glory of +Deity. He showed us how, in choosing and doing +the will of God, and making it his own will, man +may truly be holy as God is holy.</p> + +<p>The value of this aspect of the Incarnation +depends upon our realizing intensely the true +humanity of our Lord. The awful separating and +purifying process that is ever being carried on in +the fiery furnace of the Divine Holiness, ever consuming +and ever assimilating, we expect to see in +Him in the struggles of a truly human will. +Holiness, to be truly human, must not only be a +gift, but an acquirement. Coming from God, it +must be accepted and personally appropriated, in +the voluntary surrender of all that is not in +accordance with it. In Jesus, as He distinctly +gave up His own will, and did and suffered +the Father’s will, we have the revelation of +what human holiness is, and how truly man, +<a name="png.127" id="png.127"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">128</span><span class="ns">] + </span>through the unity of will, can be holy as God is +holy.</p> + +<p>3. But what avails that we have seen in Jesus +that a man can be holy? His example were +indeed a mockery if He show us not the way, and +give us not the power, to become like Himself. To +bring us this, was indeed the supreme object of the +Incarnation. The Divine nature of Christ did not +simply make <em>His</em> humanity partaker of its holiness, +leaving Him still nothing more than an individual +man. His Divinity gave the human holiness He +wrought out, the holy human nature which He +perfected, an infinite value and power of communication. +With Him a new life, the Eternal Life, was +grafted into the stem of humanity. For all who +believe in Him, He sanctified Himself, that they +themselves might also be sanctified in truth. +Because His death was the great triumph of His +obedience to the will of the Father, it broke for +ever the dominion of sin, it atoned for our guilt, +and won for Him from the Father the power to +make His people partakers of His own life and +holiness. In His Resurrection and Ascension +the power of the New Life, and its right to +universal dominion, were made manifest, and He +is now in full truth the Holy One of God, holding +in Himself as Head the power of a Holiness, at +once Divine and human, to communicate to every +member of His body.</p> + +<p><span class="smc">The Holy One of God</span>! in a fulness of meaning +that passeth knowledge, in spirit and in truth, Jesus +<a name="png.128" id="png.128"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">129</span><span class="ns">] + </span>now bears this title. He is now the One Holy +One whom God sees, of such an infinite compass +and power of holiness, that He can be holiness to +each of His brethren. And even as He is to God +the Holy One, in whom He delights, and for whose +sake He delights in all who are in Him, so Christ +may now be to us too the One Holy One in whom +we delight, in whom the Holiness of God is become +ours. ‘We have believed and know that Thou +art <em>the Holy One of God</em>,’—blessed they who +can say this, and know themselves to be holy in +Christ.</p> + +<p>In speaking of the mystery of the Holy Trinity, +we saw how Christ stands midway between the +Father and the Spirit, as the point of union in which +they meet. In the Son, ‘the very image of His +substance’ (Heb. i. 3), we have the objective revelation +of Deity, the Divine Holiness embodied and +brought nigh. In the Holy Spirit we have the same +revelation subjectively, <em>the Divine Holiness entering +our inmost being and revealing itself there</em>. The +work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal and glorify +Christ as the Holy One of God, as He takes of His +Holiness and makes it ours. He shows us how all +is in Christ; how Christ is all for us; how we are +in Christ; and how, as a living Saviour, Christ +through His Spirit takes and keeps charge of us and +our life of holiness. He makes Christ indeed to +be to us <em>the Holy One of God</em>.</p> + +<p>My Brother! wouldst thou be holy, wouldst thou +know God’s way of holiness—learn to know Christ +<a name="png.129" id="png.129"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">130</span><span class="ns">] + </span>as the Holy One of God. Thou art <em>in Him</em>, ‘holy in +Christ.’ Thou hast been placed, by an act of Divine +Power, in Christ, and that same Power keeps thee +there, planted and rooted in that Divine fulness +of life and holiness which there is in Him. His +Holy Presence, and the power of His eternal life, +surround thee: let the Holy Spirit reveal this to +thee. The Holy Spirit is within thee as the power +of Christ and His life. Secretly, silently, but +mightily, if thou wilt look to the Father for His +working, will He strengthen the faith that thou +art in Christ, and that the Divine life, which thus +encircles thee on every side, will enter in and take +possession of thee. Study and pray to believe and +realize that it is in Christ as the Holy One of God, in +Christ in whom the Holiness of God is prepared for +thee as a holy nature and holy living, that thou +art, and that thou mayest abide.</p> + +<p>And then remember, also, that this Christ is thy +Saviour, the most patient and compassionate of +teachers. Study holiness in the light of His +countenance, looking up into His face. <em>He came +from heaven for the very purpose of making thee holy.</em> +His love and power are more than thy slowness and +sinfulness. Do learn to think of holiness as the +inheritance prepared for thee, as the power of a new +life which Jesus waits and lives to dispense. Just +think of it as all in Him, and of its possession as +being dependent upon the possession of Himself. +And as the disciples, though they scarce understood +what they confessed, or knew whither the Lord was +<a name="png.130" id="png.130"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">131</span><span class="ns">] + </span>leading them, became His saints, His holy ones, in +virtue of their intense attachment to Him, so wilt +thou find that to love Jesus fervently, and obey +Him simply, is the sure path to holiness and the +fulness of the Holy Spirit.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Holy Lord God! I do bless Thee that Thy +beloved Son, whom Thou didst sanctify and send +into the world, is now to us <em>the Holy One of God</em>. +I beseech Thee that my inner life may so be enlightened +by the Spirit that I may in faith fully +know what this means.</p> + +<p>May I know Him as the revelation of Thy Holiness, +the incarnation in human nature, even unto +the death, of Thine infinite and unconquerable +hatred of sin, as of Thy amazing love to the sinner. +May my soul be filled with great fear and trust of +Thee.</p> + +<p>May I know Him as the exhibition of the +Holiness in which we are now to walk before Thee. +He lived in Thy holy will. May I know Him as +He wrought out that holiness, to be communicated +to us in a new human nature, making it possible for +us to live a holy life.</p> + +<p>May I know Him as Thou hast placed me in +Him in heaven, holy in Christ, and as I may abide +in Him by faith.</p> + +<p>May I know Him, as He dwells in me, the Holy +One of God on the throne of my heart, breathing +<a name="png.131" id="png.131"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">132</span><span class="ns">] + </span>His Holy Spirit and maintaining His holy rule. So +shall I live holy in Christ.</p> + +<p>O my Father! it pleased Thee that in Thy Son +should all the fulness dwell. In Him are hid all +the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in Him +dwell the unsearchable riches of grace and holiness. +I beseech Thee, reveal Him to me, reveal Him in +me, that I may not have to satisfy myself with +thoughts and desires, without the reality, but that +in the power of an endless life I may know Him, +and be known of Him, the Holy One of God. +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. In the holiness of Jesus we see what ours must be: righteousness, that +hates sin and gives everything to have it destroyed; love, that seeks the +sinner and gives everything to have him saved. ‘Whosoever doeth not +righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.’</i></p> + +<p><i>2. It is a solemn thought that we may be studying earnestly to know what +holiness is, and yet have little of it, because we have little of Jesus. It is a +blessed thought that a man may directly be little occupied with the thought of +holiness, and yet have much of it, because he is full of Jesus.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. We need the whole of what God teaches in His Word in regard to +holiness in all its different aspects. We need still more to be ever returning +to the living centre where God imparts holiness. Jesus is <strong>the Holy One of +God</strong>: to have <strong>Him</strong> truly, to love <strong>Him</strong> fervently, to trust and obey <strong>Him</strong>, to be +<strong>in Him</strong>—this makes us holy.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Your holiness is thus treasured up in this Divine, Almighty, and most +gentle Saviour—surely there need to be no fear that He will not be ready or +able to make you holy.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. With such a Sanctifier, how comes it that so many seekers after holiness +fail so sadly, and know so little of the joy of a holy life?</i></p> + +<p><i>I am sure it is with very many this one thing: they seek to grasp and hold +this Christ in their own strength, and know not how it is the Holy Spirit +within them who must be waited for to reveal this Divine Being, the Holy One +of God, in their hearts.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.132" id="png.132"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">133</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Fifteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap15.png" width="195" height="30" + alt="The Holy Spirit." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on +Him were to receive: for <em>the Holy Spirit</em> was not yet: because +Jesus was not yet glorified.’—<span class="smc">John</span> vii. 39.</p> + +<p>‘The Comforter, even <em>the Holy Spirit</em>, whom the Father +will send in my name, He shall teach you all things.’—<span class="smc">John</span> +xiv. 26.</p> + +<p>‘God chose you to salvation <em>in sanctification of the Spirit</em>, +and belief of the truth.’—2 <span class="smc">Thess.</span> ii. 13. (See 1 Pet. i. 2.)</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">It</span> has sometimes been said, that while the Holiness +of God stands out more prominently in the Old +Testament, in the New it has to give way to the +revelation of His love. The remark could hardly +be made if it were fully realized that the Spirit is +God, and that when He takes up the epithet Holy +as His own proper name, it is to teach us that now +the Holiness of God is to come nearer than ever, +and to be specially revealed as the power that +makes us holy. In the Holy Spirit, God the Holy +One of Israel, and He who was the Holy One of +God, come nigh for the fulfilment of the promise, +‘I am the Lord that make you holy.’ The unseen +<a name="png.133" id="png.133"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">134</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and unapproachable holiness of God had been +revealed and brought near in the life of Christ +Jesus; all that hindered our participation in it had +been removed by His death. The name of Holy +Spirit teaches us that it is specially the Spirit’s +work to impart it to us and make it our own.</p> + +<p>Try and realize the meaning of this; the epithet +that through the whole Old Testament has belonged +to the Holy God, is now appropriated to that Spirit +which is within you. The Holiness of God in +Christ becomes holiness <em>in you</em>, because this Spirit +is in you. The words, and the Divine realities the +words express, <em>Holy</em> and <em>Spirit</em>, are now inseparably +and eternally united. You can only have as much +of the Spirit as you are willing to have of holiness. +You can only have as much holiness as you have +of the indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>There are some who pray for the Spirit because +they long to have His light and joy and strength. +And yet their prayers bring little increase of blessing +or power. It is because they do not rightly know +or desire Him as the <em>Holy</em> Spirit. His burning +purity, His searching and convicting light, His +making dead of the deeds of the body, of self with +its will and its power, His leading into the fellowship +of Jesus as He gave up His will and His life +to the Father,—of all this they have not thought. +The Spirit cannot work in power in them because +they receive Him not as the <em>Holy</em> Spirit, in <em>sanctification</em> +of the Spirit. At times, in seasons of revival, +as among the Corinthians and Galatians, He may +indeed come with His gifts and mighty workings, +<a name="png.134" id="png.134"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">135</span><span class="ns">] + </span>while His sanctifying power is but little manifest. +(1 Cor. xiv. 4, xiii. 8, iii. 1–3; Gal. iii. 3, v. 15–26.) +But unless that sanctifying power be acknowledged +and accepted, His gifts will be lost. His gifts coming +on us are but meant to prepare the way for the +sanctifying power within us. We must take the +lesson to heart; we can have as much of the Spirit +as we are willing to have of His Holiness. Be +full of the Spirit, must mean to us, Be fully holy.</p> + +<p>The converse is equally true. We can only have +so much holiness as we have of the Spirit. Some +souls do very earnestly seek to be holy, but it is +very much in their own strength. They will read +books and listen to addresses most earnestly; they +will use every effort to lay hold of every thought, +and act out every advice. And yet they must +confess that they are still very much strangers to +the true, deep rest and joy and power of abiding in +Christ, and being holy in Him. They sought for +holiness more than for the Spirit. They must learn +how even all the holiness which is so near and clear +in Christ, is beyond our reach, except as the Holy +Spirit dwells within and imparts it. They must +learn to pray for Him and His mighty strengthening +(Eph. iii. 16), to believe for Him (John iv. 14, +vii. 37), in faith to yield to Him as indwelling +(1 Cor. iii. 14, vi. 19). They must learn to cease +from self-effort in thinking and believing, in willing +and in running; to hope in God, and wait patiently +for Him. He will by His Holy Spirit make us +holy. Be holy means, Be filled with the Spirit.</p> + +<p>If we inquire more closely how it is that this +<a name="png.135" id="png.135"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">136</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Holy Spirit makes holy, the answer is,—He reveals +and imparts the Holiness of Christ. Scripture tells +us: Christ is made unto us sanctification. He +sanctified Himself for us, that we ourselves might +also be sanctified in truth. We have been sanctified +through the offering of the body of Jesus +Christ once for all. We are sanctified in Christ +Jesus. The whole living Christ is just a treasury +of holiness for man. In His life on earth He +exchanged the Divine Holiness He possessed into +the current coin needed for this human earthly life, +obedience to the Father, and humility, and love, +and zeal. As God, He has a sufficiency of it for +every moment of the life of every believer.</p> + +<p>And yet, it is all beyond our reach, except as the +Holy Spirit brings it to us and inwardly communicates +it. But this is the very work for which He +bears the Divine Name, the <em>Holy</em> Spirit, to glorify +Jesus, the Holy One of God, within us, and so make +us partakers of His Holiness. He does it by revealing +Christ, so that we begin to see what is in Him. He +does it by discovering the deep unholiness of our +nature (Rom. vii. 14–23). He does it by mightily +strengthening us to believe, to receive Jesus +Himself as our life. He does it by leading us +to utter despair of self, to absolute surrender of +obedience to Jesus as Lord, to the assured confidence +of faith in the power of an indwelling Christ. He +does it by, in the secret silent depths of the heart +and life, imparting the dispositions and graces of +Christ, so that from the inner centre of our life, +which has been renewed and sanctified in Christ, +<a name="png.136" id="png.136"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">137</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holiness should flow out and pervade all to the utmost +circumference. Where the desire has once been +awakened, and the delight in the law of God after +the inward man been created, there, as the Spirit of +this life in Christ Jesus, He makes free from the +law of sin and death in the members, he leads into +the glorious liberty of the sons of God. As God +within us, He communicates what God in Christ +has prepared.</p> + +<p>And if we ask once more how the working of this +Holy Spirit, who thus makes holy, is to be secured, +the answer is very simple and clear. He is the +Spirit of the Holy Father, and of Christ, the Holy +One of God: from them He must be received. +‘He showed me a river of water of life proceeding +out of the throne of God and the Lamb.’ Jesus +speaks of ‘the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will +send in my Name.’ He taught us to ask the +Father. Paul prays for the Ephesians: ‘I bow +my knees to the Father, that He may grant unto +you, according to the riches of His glory, that ye +may be strengthened with might by His Spirit in +the inner man.’ It is as we look to God in His +Holiness, and all its revelation from Creation downward, +and see how the Spirit now flows out from +the throne of His Holiness as the water of life, +that our hope will be awakened that God will give +Him to work mightily in us. And as we then see +Jesus revealing that holiness in human nature, +rending the veil in His atoning death, that the +Spirit from the Holiest of all may come forth and, +as the Holy Spirit, be His representative, making +<a name="png.137" id="png.137"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">138</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Him present within us, we shall become confident +that faith in Jesus will bring the fulness of the +Spirit. As He told us to ask the Father, He told +us to believe in Himself. ‘He that believeth in +me, rivers of living water shall flow out of him.’ +Let us bow to the Father in the name of Christ, +His Son; let us believe very simply in the Son as +Him in whom we are well-pleasing to the Father, +and through whom the Father’s love and blessing +reach us, and we may be sure the Spirit, who is +already within us, will, as the Holy Spirit, do His +work in ever-increasing power. The mystery of +holiness is the mystery of the Trinity: as we bow +to the Father, believing in the Son, the Holy +Spirit will work. And we shall see the true +meaning of what God spake in Israel: ‘<em>I am holy</em>,’ +thus speaks the Father; ‘<em>Be holy</em>,’ as my Son and in +my Son; ‘<em>I make holy</em>,’ through the Spirit of my +Son dwelling in you. Let our souls worship and +cry out, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts.’</p> + +<p>The Holy Spirit. All true knowledge of the +Father in His adorable Holiness, and of the Son in +His, which is meant to be ours, and all participation +of it, depend upon our life in the Spirit, upon our +knowing and owning Him as abiding in us as our +Life. Oh, what can it be that, with such a Thrice +Holy God, His Holiness does not more cover +His Church and children? The Holy Spirit is +among us, is in us: it must be we grieve and resist +Him. If <em>you</em> would not do so, at once bow the knee +to the Father, that He may grant you the Spirit’s +<a name="png.138" id="png.138"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">139</span><span class="ns">] + </span>mighty workings in the inner man. Believe that +the Holy Spirit, bearer to you of all the Holiness of +God and of Jesus, is indeed in you. Let Him take +the place of self, with its thoughts and efforts. Set +your soul still before God in holy silence, for Him +to give you wisdom; rest, in emptiness and poverty +of spirit, in the faith that He will work in His own +way. As Divine as is the holiness that Jesus brings, +so Divine is the power in which the Holy Spirit +communicates it. Yield yourself day by day in +growing dependence and obedience, to wait on and +be led of Him. Let the fear of the Holy One be on +you: sanctify the Lord God in your heart: let Him +be your fear and dread. Fear not only sin: fear +above all self, as it thrusts itself in before God with +its service. Let self die, in refusing and denying its +work: let the Holy Spirit, in quietness, and dependence, +in the surrender of obedience and trust, have +the rule, the free disposal of every faculty. Wait +for Him—He can, He will in power reveal and +impart the Holiness of the Father and the Son.<sup><a name="fna.7" id="fna.7" + href="#fn.7">7</a></sup></p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! the whole +earth is full of Thy glory! Let that glory fill the +<a name="png.139" id="png.139"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">140</span><span class="ns">] + </span>heart of Thy child, as he bows before Thee. I +come now to drink of the river of the water of life +that flows from under the throne of God and of the +Lamb. Glory be to God and to the Lamb for the +gift that hath not entered into the heart of man +to conceive—the gift of the Holy indwelling Spirit.</p> + +<p>O my Father! in the name of Jesus I ask Thee +that I may be strengthened with might by Thy +Spirit in the inner man. Teach me, I pray Thee, +to believe that Thou hast given Him, to accept and +expect Him to fill and rule my whole inner being. +Teach me to give up to Him; not to will or to run, +not to think or to work in my strength, but in +quiet confidence to wait and to know that He +works in me. Teach me what it is to have +no confidence in the flesh, and to serve Thee +in the Spirit. Teach me what it is in all things +to be led by Thy Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Thy +Holiness.</p> + +<p>And grant, gracious Father, that through Him I +may hear Thee speak and reveal Thyself to me in +power: <span class="smc">I am holy</span>. May He glorify to me and in +me, Jesus, in whom Thy command ‘<span class="smc">Be holy</span>’ hath +been so blessedly fulfilled on my behalf. And let +the Holy Spirit give me the anointing and the sealing +which bring the perfect assurance that in Him +Thy promise is being gloriously fulfilled, ‘<span class="smc">I make +you holy</span>.’ Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. It it universally admitted that the Holy Spirit has not, in the teaching of +the Church or the faith of believers, that place of honour and power, which +becomes Him as the Revealer of the Father and the Son. Seek a deep conviction +<a name="png.140" id="png.140"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">141</span><span class="ns">] + </span>that without the Holy Spirit the clearest teaching on holiness, +the most fervent desires, the most blessed experiences even, will only be +temporary, will produce no permanent result, will bring no abiding rest.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. The Holy Spirit dwells within, and works within, in the hidden deep of +your nature. Seek above everything the clear and habitual assurance that He +is within you, doing His work.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. To this end, deny self and its work in serving God. Your own power to +think and pray and believe and strive—lay it all down expressly and distinctly +in God’s presence; claim, accept, and believe in the hidden workings of +the indwelling Spirit.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. As the Son ever spake of the Father, so the Spirit ever points to +Christ. The soul that yields itself to the Spirit will of Him learn to know +how Christ is our holiness, how we can always abide in Christ our Sanctification. +What a vain effort it has often been without the Spirit! ‘<strong>As the +anointing taught you</strong>, ye abide in Him.’</i></p> + +<p><i>5. In the temple of thine heart, beloved believer, there is a secret place, +within the veil, where dwells, often all unknown, the Spirit of God. Do bow +in deep reverence before the Father, and ask that He may work mightily. +Expect the Spirit to do His work: He will make Thy inner man a fit home, Thy +heart a throne, for Jesus, and reveal Him there.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.7" id="fn.7" + href="#fna.7">7</a> I cannot say how deeply I feel that one of the great wants of +believers is that they do not <em>know</em> the Holy Spirit, who is within +them, and thereby lose the blessed life He would work in them. +If it please God, I hope that the next volume of this series may +be on <em>The Spirit of Christ</em>. May the Father give me a message that +shall help His children to know what the Holy Spirit can be to +them.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.141" id="png.141"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">142</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Sixteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap16.png" width="234" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Truth." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘<em>Make them holy</em> in <em>the Truth</em>: Thy word is <em>Truth</em>.’—<span class="smc">John</span> +xvii. 17.</p> + +<p>‘God chose you unto salvation in <em>sanctification</em> and belief of +<em>the Truth</em>.’—2 <span class="smc">Thess.</span> ii. 12.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">The</span> chief means of sanctification that God uses +is His word. And yet how much there is +of reading and studying, of teaching and preaching +the word, that has almost no effect in making men +holy. It is not the word that sanctifies; it is +God Himself who alone can sanctify. Nor is it +simply through the word that God does it, but +through the Truth which is in the word. As a +means the word is of unspeakable value, as the +vessel which contains the truth, if God use it; as +a means it is of no value, if God does not use it. +Let us strive to connect God’s Holy Word with the +Holy God Himself. God sanctifies in the Truth +through His word.</p> + +<p>Jesus had just said, ‘The words which Thou +gavest me, I have given them.’ Let us try and +<a name="png.142" id="png.142"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">143</span><span class="ns">] + </span>realize what that means. Think of that great +transaction in eternity: the Infinite Being, whom +we call God, <em>giving His words</em> to His Son; in His +words opening up His heart, communicating His +mind and will, revealing Himself and all His +purpose and love. In a Divine power and reality +passing all conception, God gave Christ His words. +In the same living power Christ gave them to His +disciples, all full of a Divine life and energy to +work in their hearts, as they were able to receive +them. And just as in the words of a man on +earth we expect to find all the wisdom or all the +goodness there is in him, so the word of the Thrice +Holy One is all alive with the Holiness of God. +All the holy fire, alike of His burning zeal and +His burning love, dwells in His words.</p> + +<p>And yet men can handle these words, and study +them, and speak them, and be entire strangers +to their holiness, or their power to make holy. It +is God Himself, the Holy One, who must make +holy through the word. Every seed, in which the +life of a tree is contained, has around it a husk or +shell, which protects and hides the inner life. Only +where the seed finds a place in congenial soil, and +the husk is burst and removed, can the seed germinate +and grow up. And it is only where there is a +heart in harmony with God’s Holiness, longing for it, +yielding itself to it, that the word will really make +holy. It is the heart that is not content with the +word, but seeks the Living, Holy One in the word, +to which He will reveal the truth, and in it Himself. +<a name="png.143" id="png.143"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">144</span><span class="ns">] + </span>It is the word given to us by Christ as God gave it +Him, and received by us as it was by Him, to rule +and fill our life, which has power to make holy.</p> + +<p>But we must notice very specially how our Saviour +says, Sanctify them, not in the word, but in the truth. +Just as in man there is body, soul, and spirit, so in +truth too. There is first <em>word-truth</em>; a man may +have the correct form of words while he does not +really apprehend the truth they contain. Then there +is <em>thought-truth</em>; there may be a clear intellectual +apprehension of truth without the experience of +its power. The Bible speaks of truth as a living +reality: this is the <em>life-truth</em>, in which the very +Spirit of the truth we profess has entered and +possessed our inner being. Christ calls Himself +<em>the Truth</em>: He is said to be full of grace and +truth. The Divine life and grace are in Him as +an actually substantial existence and reality. He +not only acts upon us by thoughts and motives, +but communicates, as a <em>reality</em>, the eternal life He +brought for us from the Father. The Holy Spirit +is called the Spirit of Truth; what He imparts is all +real and actual, the very substance of unseen things; +He guides into the Truth, not thought-truth or +doctrine only, but life-truth, the personal possession +of the Truth as it is in Jesus. As the Spirit of Truth +He is the Spirit of Holiness; the life of God, which is +His Holiness, He brings to us as an actual possession.</p> + +<p>It is now of this living Truth, which dwells in +the word, as the seed-life dwells in the husk, that +Jesus says, ‘Make them holy in the Truth: Thy +word is Truth.’ He would have us mark the intimate +<a name="png.144" id="png.144"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">145</span><span class="ns">] + </span>connection, as well as the wide difference, +between the word and the truth. The connection +is one willed by God and meant to be inseparable. +‘Thy word is truth;’ with God they are one. But +not with man. Just as there were men in close +contact and continual intercourse with Jesus, to +whom He was only a man, and nothing more, so +there are Christians who know and understand the +word, and yet are strangers to its true spiritual +power. They have the letter but not the spirit; +the Truth comes to them in word but not in power. +The word does not make them holy, because they +hold it not in Spirit and in Truth. To others, on the +contrary, who know what it is to receive the truth +in the love of it, who yield themselves, in all their +dealings with the word, to the Spirit of Truth who +dwells in it and in them too, the word comes indeed +as Truth, as a Divine reality, communicating and +working what it speaks of. And it is of such a use +of the word that the Saviour says, ‘Make them +holy in the truth: Thy word is truth.’ As the +words, which God gave Him, were all in the power +of the eternal Life and Love and Will of God, the +revelation and communication of the Father’s purpose, +as God’s word was Truth to Him and in Him, +so it can be in us. And as we thus receive it, we +are made holy in the Truth.</p> + +<p>And what now are the lessons we have to learn +here for the path of Holiness? The first is: Let us +see to it that in all our intercourse with God’s +Blessed Word we rest content with nothing short of +<a name="png.145" id="png.145"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">146</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the experience of it, as truth of God, as spirit and +as power. Jesus said, ‘If ye abide in my word, ye +shall know the truth.’ No analysis can ever find +or prove the life of a seed: plant it in its proper +soil, and the growth will testify to the life. It is +only as the word of God is received in the love +of it, as it grows and works in us, that we can +know its truth, can know that it is the Truth of +God. It is as we live in the words of Jesus, in +love and obedience, keeping and doing them, that +the Truth from heaven, the Power of the Divine +Life which there is in them, will unfold itself to us. +Christ is the Truth; in Him the love and grace, +the very life of God, has come to earth as a substantial +existence, a Living, Mighty Power, something +new that was never on earth before (John i. +17); let us yield ourselves to the Living Christ to +possess us and to rule us as the Living Truth, then +will God’s word be Truth to us and in us.</p> + +<p>The Spirit of Christ is the Spirit of Truth; that +actual heavenly reality of Divine life and love in +Christ, the Truth, has a Spirit, who comes to communicate +and impart it. Let us beware of trying to +study or understand or take possession of God’s word +without that Spirit through whom the word was +spoken of old; we shall find only the husk, the truth +or thought and sentiment, very beautiful perhaps, +but with no power to make us holy. We must have +<em>the Spirit</em> of the Truth within us. He will lead us +<em>into</em> the Truth; when we are in the Truth, God makes +us holy in it and by it. The Truth must be in us, +and we in it. God desires truth in the inward +<a name="png.146" id="png.146"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">147</span><span class="ns">] + </span>parts: we must be of the people of whom Christ +says, ‘If ye were of the truth,’ ‘he that is of the +truth knoweth me.’ In the lower sphere of daily +life and conduct, of thought and action, there must +be an intense love of truth, and a willingness to +sacrifice everything for it; in the spiritual life, a +deep hungering to have all our religion every day, +every moment, stand fully in the truth of God. +It is to the simple, humble, childlike spirit that +the truth of the word will be unsealed and revealed. +In such the Spirit of truth comes to dwell. In +such, as they daily wait before the Holy One in +silence and emptiness, in reverence and holy fear, +His Holy Spirit works and gives the truth within. +In thus imparting Christ as revealed in the word, +in His Divine life and love, as their own life, He +makes them holy with the holiness of Christ.</p> + +<p>There is another lesson. Listen to that prayer, +the earthly echo of the prayer which He ever liveth +to pray, ‘Holy Father! make them holy in the +truth.’ Would you be holy, child of God? cast +yourself into that mighty current of intercession +ever flowing into, ever reaching, the Father’s bosom. +Let yourself be borne upon it until your whole soul +cries, with the unutterable groanings, too deep and +too intense for human speech, ‘Holy Father! make +me holy in the truth.’ As you trust in Christ as +the truth, the reality of what you long for, and +in His all-prevailing intercession; as you wait for +the Spirit within as the Spirit of truth; look up +to the Father, and expect His own direct and +almighty working to make you holy. The mystery +<a name="png.147" id="png.147"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">148</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of holiness is the mystery of the Triune One. The +deeper entrance into the holy life rests in the fellowship +of the Three in One. It is the Father who +establishes us in Christ, who gives, in a daily fresh +giving, the Holy Spirit; it is to the Father, the +Holy Father, the soul must look up continually in +the prayer, ‘Make me holy in the truth.’</p> + +<p>It has been well said that in the word Holy we +have the central thought of the high-priestly prayer. +As the Father’s attribute (John xvii. 11), as the +Son’s work for Himself and us (ver. 19), as the direct +work of the Father through the Spirit (vers. 17, 20), +it is the revelation of the glory of God in Himself +and in us. Let us enter into the Holiest of all, and +as we bow with our Great High Priest, let the deep, +unceasing cry go up for all the Church of God, +‘Holy Father! make them holy in the truth: Thy +word is truth.’ The word in which God makes +holy is summed up in this, <span class="smc">Holy in Christ</span>. May +God make it truth in us!</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Blessed Father! to Israel Thou didst say, I the +Lord am holy and make holy. But it is only in +Thy beloved Son that the full glory of Thy Holiness, +as making us holy, has been revealed. Thou art our +Holy Father, who makest us holy in Thy truth.</p> + +<p>We thank Thee that Thy Son hath given us the +words Thou gavest Him, and that as He received +them from Thee in life and power, we may receive +them too. O Father! with our whole heart we do +<a name="png.148" id="png.148"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">149</span><span class="ns">] + </span>receive them; let the Spirit make them truth and +life within us. So shall we know Thee as the Holy +One, consuming the sin, renewing the sinner.</p> + +<p>We bless Thee most for Thy Blessed Son, the +Holy One of God, the Living Word in whom the +Truth dwelleth. We thank Thee that in His never-ceasing +intercession, this cry ever reacheth Thee, +‘Father, sanctify them in Thy truth,’ and that the +answer is ever streaming forth from Thy glory. +Holy Father! make us holy in Thy truth, in Thy +wonderful revelation of Thyself in Him who is the +truth. Let Thy Holy Spirit so have dominion in +our hearts that Thy Holy Child Jesus, sanctifying +Himself for us that we may be sanctified in the +truth, may be to us the Way, the Truth, and the +Life. May we know that we are in Him in Thy +presence, and that Thy one word in answer to our +prayer to make us holy is—Holy in Christ. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. God is the God of truth—not truth in speaking only, or truth of doctrine—but +truth of existence, or life in its Divine reality. And Christ is <strong>the truth</strong>; +the actual embodiment of this Divine life. And there is a kingdom of truth, +of Divine Spiritual realities, of which Christ is King. And of all this truth +of God in Christ, the very essence is, the Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth: +He leads us into it, so that we are of the truth and walk in it. Of the truth, +the reality there is in God, Holiness, is the deepest root; the Spirit of <strong>truth</strong> +is the <strong>Holy</strong> Spirit.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. It is the work of <strong>the Father</strong> to make us holy in the truth: let us bow +very low in childlike trust as we breathe the prayer: ‘Holy Father! make us +holy in the truth.’ <strong>He will do it.</strong></i></p> + +<p><i>3. It is the intercession of <strong>the Son</strong> that asks and obtains this blessing: +let us take our place <strong>in Him</strong>, and rejoice in the assurance of an answer.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. It is <strong>the Spirit of truth</strong> through whom the Father does this work, so +that we dwell in the truth, and the truth in us. Let us yield very freely and +very fully to the leading of the Spirit, in our intercourse with God’s Word, that, +as the Son prays, the Father may make us holy in the truth.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. Let us, in the light of this work of the Three-One, never read the Word +but with this aim: to be made holy in the truth by God.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.149" id="png.149"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">150</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Seventeenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap17.png" width="293" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Crucifixion." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘For their sakes I <em>sanctify</em> myself, that they themselves also +may be <em>sanctified</em> in truth.’—<span class="smc">John</span> xvii. 19.</p> + +<p>‘He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will. In which will we +have been <em>sanctified</em> through the offering of the body of Jesus +once for all. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever +them that are <em>sanctified</em>.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> x. 9, 10, 14.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">It</span> was in His High-priestly prayer, on His way +to Gethsemane and Calvary, that Jesus thus +spake to the Father: ‘I sanctify myself.’ He had +not long before spoken of Himself as ‘the Son +whom the Father hath sanctified and sent into the +world.’ From the language of Holy Scripture we +are familiar with the thought that, what God has +sanctified, man has to sanctify too. The work of +the Father, in sanctifying the Son, is the basis and +groundwork of the work of the Son in sanctifying +Himself. If His Holiness as man was to be a free +and personal possession, accepted and assimilated in +voluntary and conscious self-determination, it was +not enough that the Father sanctify Him: He +must sanctify Himself too.</p> + +<p><a name="png.150" id="png.150"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">151</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>This self-sanctifying of our Lord found place +through His whole life, but culminates and comes +out in special distinctness in His crucifixion. Wherein +it consists is made clear by the words from the +Epistle to the Hebrews. The Messiah spake: ‘Lo, +I come to do Thy will.’ And then it is added, ‘In +the which will we have been sanctified through the +offering of the body of Christ.’ It was the offering +of the body of Christ that was the will of God: in +doing that will He sanctified us. It was of the +doing that will in the offering His body that He +spake, ‘I sanctify myself, that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth.’ The giving up of +His will to God’s will in the agony of Gethsemane, +and then the doing of that will in the obedience +unto death, this was Christ’s sanctifying Himself +and us too. Let us try and understand this.</p> + +<p>The Holiness of God is revealed in His will. +Holiness even in the Divine Being has no moral +value except as it is freely willed. In speaking of +the Trinity, theologians have pointed out how, as +the Father represents the absolute necessity of +Everlasting Goodness, the Son proves its liberty: +within the Divine Being it is willed in love. And +this now was the work of the Son on earth, amid the +trials and temptations of a human life, to accept +and hold fast at any sacrifice, with His whole heart +to will, the will of the Father. ‘Though He was a +Son, yet He learned obedience in that He suffered.’ +In Gethsemane the conflict between the will of +human nature and the Divine will reached its +<a name="png.151" id="png.151"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">152</span><span class="ns">] + </span>height: it manifests itself in language which almost +makes us tremble for His sinlessness, as He speaks +of His will in antithesis to God’s will. But the +struggle is a victory, because in presence of the +clearest consciousness of what it means to have His +own will, He gives it up, and says, ‘Thy will be +done.’ To enter into the will of God He gives up His +very life. In His crucifixion He thus reveals the +law of sanctification. Holiness is the full entrance +of our will into God’s will. Or rather, Holiness is +the entrance of God’s will to be the death of our +will. The only end of our will and deliverance +from it, is death to it under the righteous judgment +of God. It was in the surrender to the death of the +cross that Christ sanctified Himself, and sanctified +us, that we also might be sanctified in truth.</p> + +<p>And now, just as the Father sanctified Him, and +He in virtue thereof appropriated it and sanctified +Himself, so we, whom He has sanctified, have to +appropriate it to ourselves. In no other way than +crucifixion, the giving up of Himself to the death, +could Christ realize the sanctification He had from +the Father. And in no other way can we realize +the sanctification we have in Him. His own and +our sanctification bears the common stamp of the +cross. We have seen before that obedience is the +path to holiness. In Christ we see that the path +to perfect holiness is perfect obedience. And that +is obedience unto death, even to the giving up of +life, even the death of the cross. As the sanctification +which Christ wrought out for us, even unto +the offering of His body, bears the death mark, we +<a name="png.152" id="png.152"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">153</span><span class="ns">] + </span>cannot partake of it, we cannot enter it, except as +we die to self and its will. Crucifixion is the path +to sanctification.</p> + +<p>This lesson is in harmony with all we have seen. +The first revelation of God’s Holiness to Moses was +accompanied with the command, Put off. God’s +praise, as Glorious in Holiness, Fearful in Praises, +was sounded over the dead bodies of the Egyptians. +When Moses on Sinai was commanded to sanctify +the Mount, it was said, ‘If any touch it, man or +beast, it shall not live.’ The Holiness of God is +death to all that is in contact with sin. Only +through death, through blood-shedding, was there +access to the Holiest of all. Christ chose death, +even death as a curse, that He might sanctify Himself +for us, and open to us the path to Holiness, to +the Holiest of all, to the Holy One. And so it is +still. No man can see God and live. It is only in +death, the death of self and of nature, that we can +draw near and behold God. Christ led the way. +No man can see God and live. ‘Then let me die, +Lord,’ one has cried, ‘but see Thee I must.’ Yes, +blessed be God, so real is our interest in Christ and +our union to Him, that we may live in His death; +as day by day self is kept in the place of death, +the life and the holiness of Christ can be ours.<sup><a name="fna.8" id="fna.8" + href="#fn.8">8</a></sup></p> + +<p>And where is the place of death? And how can +the crucifixion which leads to Holiness and to God +be accomplished in us? Thank God! it is no work +of our own, no weary process of self-crucifixion. +The crucifixion that is to sanctify us is an +<a name="png.153" id="png.153"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">154</span><span class="ns">] + </span>accomplished fact. The cross bears the banner, ‘It is +finished.’ On it Christ sanctified Himself for us, +that we might be sanctified in truth. Our crucifixion, +as our sanctification, is something that in +Christ has been completely and perfectly finished. +‘We have been sanctified through the offering of +the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ ‘By one +offering He hath perfected for ever them that are +sanctified.’ In that fulness, which it is the Father’s +good pleasure should dwell in Christ, the crucifixion +of our old man, of the flesh, of the world, of ourselves, +is all a spiritual reality; he that desires +and knows and accepts Christ, fully receives all this +in Him. And as the Christ, who had previously +been known more in His pardoning, quickening, and +saving grace, is again sought after as a real deliverer +from the power of sin, as a sanctifier, He comes and +takes up the soul into the fellowship of the sacrifice +of His will. ‘He put away sin <em>by the sacrifice of +Himself</em>,’ must become true of us as it is of Him. +He reveals how it is a part of His salvation to +make us partakers of a will entirely given up to +the will of God, of a life that had yielded itself +to the death, and had then been given back from +the dead by the power of God, a life of which the +crucifixion of self-will was the spirit and the +power. He reveals this, and the soul that sees it, +and consents to it, and yields its will and its life, +and believes in Jesus as its death and its life, and +in His crucifixion as its possession and its inheritance, +enters into the enjoyment and experience of +it. The language is now, ‘I died that I might +<a name="png.154" id="png.154"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">155</span><span class="ns">] + </span>live: I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no +longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me.’ +And the life it now lives is by the faith on the Son +of God, the daily acceptance in faith of Him who +lives within us in the power of a death that has +been passed through and for ever finished.</p> + +<p>‘I sanctify myself for them, that they themselves +also may be sanctified in truth.’ ‘I come to do +Thy will, O God. In the which will,’ the will of +God accomplished by Christ, ‘we have been sanctified +through the one offering of the body of Christ.’ +Let us understand and hold it fast: Christ’s giving +up His will in Gethsemane and accepting God’s will +in dying; Christ’s doing that will in the obedience +to the death of the cross, this is His sanctifying +Himself, and this is our being sanctified in truth. +‘In the which will we have been sanctified.’ The +death to self, the utter and most absolute giving up +of our own life, with its will and its power and its +aims, to the cross, and into the crucifixion of Christ, +the daily bearing the cross—not a cross on which +we are yet to be crucified, but the cross of the +crucified Christ in its power to kill and make dead—this +is the secret of the life of holiness—this is +true sanctification.</p> + +<p>Believer! is this the holiness which you are +seeking? Have you seen and consented that God +alone is holy, that self is all unholy, and that there +is no way to be made holy but for the fire of the +Divine Holiness to come in and be the death of self? +‘Always bearing about in the body the dying of +Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested +<a name="png.155" id="png.155"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">156</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in our mortal body’—is the pathway for each one +who seeks to be sanctified in truth, even as He +sanctified Himself; sanctified just like Jesus.</p> + +<p>He sanctified Himself for us, that we ourselves +also might be sanctified in truth. Yes, our sanctification +rests and roots in His, in Himself. And we +are in Him. The secret roots of our being are +planted into Jesus: deeper down than we can see +or feel, there is He our Vine, bearing and quickening +us. Let us by faith understand that, in a manner +and a measure which are far beyond our comprehension, +intensely Divine and real, we are in Him +who sanctified Himself for us. Let us dwell there, +where we have been placed of God. And let us +bow our knees to the Father, that He would grant +us to be mightily strengthened by His Spirit, that +Christ as our Sanctification may dwell in our hearts, +that the power of His death and His life may be +revealed in us, and God’s will be done in us as +it was in Him.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Holy Father! I do bless Thee for this precious +blessed word, for this precious blessed work of Thy +beloved Son. In His never-ceasing intercession +Thou ever hearest the wonderful prayer, ‘I sanctify +myself for them, that they themselves also may be +sanctified in truth.’</p> + +<p>Blessed Father! I beseech Thee to strengthen me +mightily by Thy Spirit, that in living faith I may +<a name="png.156" id="png.156"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">157</span><span class="ns">] + </span>be able to accept and live the holiness prepared for +me in my Lord Jesus. Give me spiritual understanding +to know what it means that He sanctified +Himself, that my sanctification is secured in His, +that as by faith I abide in Him, its power will cover +my whole life. Let His sanctification indeed be the +law as it is the life of mine. Let His surrender to +Thy fatherly will, His continual dependence and +obedience, be its root and its strength. Let His +death to the world and to sin be its daily rule. +Above all, <em>let Himself</em>, O my Father! <em>let Himself</em>, +as sanctified for me, the living Jesus, be my only +trust and stay. He sanctified Himself for me, that +I myself also may be sanctified in truth.</p> + +<p>Beloved Saviour! how shall I rightly bless and +love and glorify Thee for this wondrous grace! +Thou didst give Thyself, so that now I am holy in +Thee. I give myself, that in Thee I myself may be +made holy in truth. Amen. Lord Jesus! Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, and take up +his cross, and follow me.’ Jesus means that our life shall be the exact +counterpart of His, including even the crucifixion. The beginning of such a +life is the denial of self, to give Christ its place. The Jews would not deny +self, but ‘<strong>denied</strong> the Holy One, and killed the Prince of Life.’ The choice +is still between Christ and self. Let us deny the unholy one, and give him +to the death.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. The steps in this path are these: First, the deliberate decision that self +shall be given up to the death; then, the surrender to Christ crucified to make +us partakers of His crucifixion; then, ‘knowing that our old man is crucified,’ +the faith that says, ‘I am crucified with Christ;’ and then, the power +to live as a crucified one, to glory in the cross of Christ.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. This is God’s way of holiness, a Divine mystery, which the Holy Spirit +alone can daily maintain in us. Blessed be God, it is the life which a Christian +can live, because Christ lives in us.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The central thought is: We are in Christ, who gave up His will and did +the will of God. By the Holy Spirit the mind that was in Him is in us, the +will of self is crucified, and we live in the will of God.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.8" id="fn.8" + href="#fna.8">8</a> See <a href="#note:D">Note D</a>.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.157" id="png.157"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">158</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Eighteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap18.png" width="229" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Faith." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘That they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance +among them that are <em>sanctified by faith in me</em>.’—<span class="smc">Acts</span> +xxvi. 18.</p> +</div> + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">The</span> more we study Scripture in the light of the +Holy Spirit, or practise the Christian life in +His power, the deeper becomes our conviction of the +unique and central place faith has in God’s plan of +salvation. And we learn, too, to see that it is meet +and right that it should be so: the very nature of +things demands it. Because God is a Spiritual and +Invisible Being, every revelation of Himself, whether +in His works, His word, or His Son, calls for faith. +Faith is the spiritual sense of the soul, being to it +what the senses are to the body; by it alone we +enter into communication and contact with God.</p> + +<p>Faith is that meekness of soul which waits in +stillness to hear, to understand, to accept what God +says; to receive, to retain, to possess what God gives +or works. By faith we allow, we welcome God +Himself, the Living Person, to enter in to make +<a name="png.158" id="png.158"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">159</span><span class="ns">] + </span>His abode with us, to become our very life. However +well we think we know it, we always have to +learn the truth afresh, for a deeper and fuller +application of it, that in the Christian life faith is +the first thing, the one thing that pleases God, and +brings blessing to us. And because Holiness is +God’s highest glory, and the highest blessing He has +for us, it is especially in the life of holiness that we +need to live by faith alone.</p> + +<p>Our Lord speaks here of ‘them that are sanctified +by faith in me.’<sup><a name="fna.9" id="fna.9" + href="#fn.9">9</a></sup> He Himself is our Sanctification +as He is our Justification: for the one as for +the other it is faith that God asks, and both are +equally given at once. The participle used here is not +the present, denoting a process or work that is being +carried on, but the aorist, indicating an act done +once for all. When we believe in Christ, we receive +the whole Christ, our justification and our sanctification: +we are at once accepted by God as righteous +in Him, and as holy in Him. God counts and calls +us, what we really are, sanctified ones in Christ. +It is as we are led to see what God sees, as our +faith grasps that the holy life of Christ is ours in +actual possession, to be accepted and appropriated for +daily use, that we shall really be able to live the +<a name="png.159" id="png.159"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">160</span><span class="ns">] + </span>life God calls us to, the life of holy ones in Christ +Jesus. We shall then be in the right position in +which what is called our progressive sanctification +can be worked out. It will be, the acceptance and +application in daily life of the power of a holy life +which has been prepared in Jesus, which has in the +union with Him become our present and permanent +possession, and which works in us according to the +measure of our faith.<sup><a name="fna.10" id="fna.10" + href="#fn.10">10</a></sup></p> + +<p>From this point of view it is evident that faith +has a twofold operation. Faith is the evidence of +things not seen, though <em>now actually existing</em>, the +substance of things hoped for, but <em>not yet present</em>. +It deals with the unseen present, as well as with +the unseen future. As the evidence of things not +seen, it rejoices in Christ our complete sanctification, +as a present possession. Through faith I +simply look to what Christ is, as revealed in the +Word by the Holy Spirit. Claiming all He is as +my own, I know that His Holiness, His holy nature +and life, are mine; I am a holy one: by faith in +Him I have been sanctified. This is the first aspect +of sanctification: it looks to what is a complete and +finished thing, an absolute reality. As the substance +of things hoped for, this faith reaches out in the +assurance of hope to the future, to things I do not +yet see or experience, and claims, day by day, out of +Christ our sanctification, what it needs for practical +holiness, ‘to be holy in all manner of living.’ This +is the second aspect of sanctification: I depend upon +Jesus to supply, in personal experience, gradually +<a name="png.160" id="png.160"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">161</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and unceasingly, for the need of each moment, what +has been treasured up in His fulness. ‘Of God are +ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us +sanctification.’ Under its first aspect faith says, I +know I am in Him, and all His Holiness is mine; +in its second aspect it speaks, I trust in Him for +the grace and the strength I need each moment to +live a holy life.</p> + +<p>And yet, it need hardly be said, these two are +one. It is one Jesus who is our sanctification, +whether we look at it in the light of what He is +made for us once for all, or what, as the fruit of +that, He becomes to our experience day by day. +And so it is one faith which, the more it studies +and adores and rejoices in Jesus as made of God +unto us sanctification, as Him in whom we have +been sanctified, becomes the bolder to expect the +fulfilment of every promise for daily life, and the +stronger to claim the victory over every sin. Faith +in Jesus is the secret of a holy life: all holy +conduct, all really holy deeds, are the fruit of faith +in Jesus as our holiness.</p> + +<p>We know how faith acts, and what its great +hindrances are, in the matter of justification. It +is well that we remind ourselves that there are the +same dangers in the exercise of sanctifying as of +justifying faith. Faith <em>in God</em> stands opposed to +trust <em>in self</em>: specially to its willing and working. +Faith is hindered by every effort to do something +ourselves. Faith looks to God working, and yields +itself to His strength, as revealed in Christ through +<a name="png.161" id="png.161"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">162</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the Spirit; it allows God to work both to will and +to do. Faith must work; without works it is +dead, by works alone can it be perfected; in Jesus +Christ, as Paul says, nothing avails but ‘faith +<em>working</em> by love.’ But these works, which faith +in God’s working inspires and performs, are very +different from the works in which a believer often +puts forth his best efforts, only to find that he fails. +The true life of holiness, the life of them who are +sanctified in Christ, has its root and its strength in +an abiding sense of utter impotence, in the deep +restfulness which trusts to the working of a Divine +power and life, in the entire personal surrender to +the loving Saviour, in that faith which consents to +be nothing, that He may be all. It may appear +impossible to discern or describe the difference +between the working that is of self and the working +that is of Christ through faith: if we but know +that there is such a difference, if we learn to +distrust ourselves, and to count on Christ working, +the Holy Spirit will lead us into this secret of the +Lord too. Faith’s works are Christ’s works.</p> + +<p>And as by effort, so faith is also hindered by +the desire to see and feel. ‘If thou believest, thou +shalt see;’ the Holy Spirit will seal our faith with +a Divine experience; we shall see the glory of God. +But this is His work: ours is, when all appears +dark and cold, in the face of all that nature or +experience testifies, still each moment to believe +in Jesus as our all-sufficient sanctification, in whom +we are perfected before God. Complaints as to +<a name="png.162" id="png.162"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">163</span><span class="ns">] + </span>want of feeling, as to weakness or deadness, seldom +profit: it is the soul that refuses to occupy itself +with itself, either with its own weakness or the +strength of the enemy, but only looks to what +Jesus is, and has promised to do, to whom progress +in holiness will be a joyful march from victory to +victory. ‘The Lord Himself doth fight for you;’ +this thought, so often repeated in connection with +Israel’s possession of the promised land, is the food +of faith: in conscious weakness, in presence of mighty +enemies, it sings the conqueror’s song. When God +appears to be <em>not doing</em> what we trusted Him for, +then is just the time for faith to glory in Him.</p> + +<p>There is perhaps nothing that more reveals the +true character of faith than joy and praise. You +give a child the promise of a present to-morrow: +at once it says, Thank you, and is glad. The +joyful thanks are the proof of how really your +promise has entered the heart. You are told by a +friend of a rich legacy he has left you in his will: +it may not come true for years, but even now it +makes you glad. We have already seen what an +element of holiness joy is: it is especially an +element of holiness by faith. Each time I really +see how beautiful and how perfect God’s provision +is, by which my holiness is in Jesus, and by which +I am to allow Him to work in me, my heart ought +to rise up in praise and thanks. Instead of allowing +the thought that it is, after all, a life of such +difficult attainment and such continual self-denial, +this life of holiness through faith, we ought to +praise Him exceedingly that He has made it +<a name="png.163" id="png.163"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">164</span><span class="ns">] + </span>possible and sure for us: we can be holy, because +Jesus the Mighty and the Loving One is our +holiness. Praise will express our faith; praise +will prove it; praise will strengthen it. ‘Then +believed they His words; they sang His praise.’ +Praise will commit us to faith: we shall see that +we have but one thing to do, to go on in a faith +that ever trusts and ever praises. It is in a living, +loving attachment to Jesus, that rejoices in Him, +and praises Him continually for what He is to us, +that faith proves itself, and receives the power of +holiness.</p> + +<p>‘Sanctified by faith in me.’ Yes, ‘by faith <em>in +Me</em>:’ it is the personal living Jesus who offers +Himself, Himself in all the riches of His Power +and Love, as the object, the strength, the life of +our faith. He tells us that if we would be holy, +always and in everything holy, we must just see to +one thing: to be always and altogether full of +faith in Him. Faith is the eye of the soul: the +power by which we discern the presence of the +Unseen One, as He comes to give Himself to us. +Faith not only sees, but appropriates and assimilates: +let us set our souls very still for the Holy Spirit +who dwells in us, to quicken and strengthen that +faith, for which He has been given us. Faith is +surrender: yielding ourselves to Jesus to allow Him +to do His work in us, giving up ourselves to Him +to live out His life and work out His will in us, +we shall find Him giving Himself entirely <em>to us</em>, +and taking complete possession. So faith will be +power: the power of obedience to do God’s will: +<a name="png.164" id="png.164"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">165</span><span class="ns">] + </span>‘our most holy faith,’ ‘the faith delivered to the holy +ones.’ And we shall understand how simple, to the +single-hearted, is the secret of holiness: just Jesus. +We are in Him, our Sanctification: He personally +is our Holiness; and the life of faith in Him, that +receives and possesses Him, must necessarily be a +life of holiness. Jesus says, ‘Sanctified by faith +in me.’</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Beloved Lord! again have I seen, with adoring +wonder, what Thou art willing to be to me. It is in +Thyself, and a life of living fellowship with Thyself, +that I am to become holy. It is in the simple life +of personal attachment, of trust and love, of surrender +and consecration, that Thou dost become my all, +and make me partaker of Thyself and Thy Holiness.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord Jesus! I do believe in Thee, help +Thou mine unbelief. I confess what still remains +of unbelief, and count on Thy presence to conquer +and cast it out. My soul is opening up continually +to see more how Thou Thyself art my Life and +my Holiness. Thou art enlarging my heart to +rejoice in Thyself as my all, and to be assured that +Thou dost Thyself take possession and fill the +temple of my being with Thy glory. Thou art +teaching me to understand that, however feeble and +human and disappointing experiences may be, Thy +Holy Spirit is the strength of my faith, leading +me on to grow up into a stronger and a larger +<a name="png.165" id="png.165"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">166</span><span class="ns">] + </span>confidence in Thee in whom I am holy. O my +Saviour! I take Thy word this day, ‘Sanctified by +faith in me,’ as a new revelation of Thy love and +its purpose with me. In Thee Thyself is the +Power of my holiness; in Thee is the Power of my +faith. Blessed be Thy name that Thou hast given +me too a place among them of whom Thou speakest: +‘Sanctified by faith in me.’ Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. Let us remember that it is not only the faith that is dealing specially +with Christ for sanctification, but all living faith, that has the power to sanctify. +Anything that casts the soul wholly on Jesus, that calls forth intense and +simple trust, be it the trial of faith, or the prayer of faith, or the work of +faith, helps to make us holy, because it brings us into living contact with +the Holy One.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. It is only through the Holy Spirit that Christ and His Holiness are day by +day revealed and made ours in actual possession. And so the faith which +receives Him is of the Spirit too. Yield yourself in simplicity and trust to His +working. Do not be afraid, as if you cannot believe: you have ‘the Spirit of +faith’ within you: you have the power to believe. And you may ask God to +strengthen you mightily by His Spirit in the inner man, for the faith that +receives Christ in the indwelling that knows no break.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. I have only so much of faith as I have of the Spirit. Is not this then +what I most need—to live entirely under the influence of the Spirit?</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Just as the eye in seeing is receptive, and yields to let the object placed +before it make its impression, so faith is the impression God makes on the +soul when He draws nigh. Was not the faith of Abraham the fruit of God’s +drawing near and speaking to him, the impression God made on him? Let +us be still to gaze on the Divine mystery of Christ our holiness: His Presence, +waited for and worshipped, will work the faith. That is, the Spirit that +proceeds from Him into those who cling to Him, will be faith.</i></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>5. <strong>Holiness by faith in Jesus</strong>, not by effort of thine own,</i></p> +<p class="hangctd"><i>Sin’s dominion crushed and broken <strong>by the power of grace alone</strong>,—</i></p> +<p class="hangctd"><i><strong>God’s own holiness</strong> within thee, His own beauty on thy brow,—</i></p> +<p class="hangctd"><i>This shall be thy pilgrim brightness, this <strong>thy blessed portion now</strong>.</i></p> + +<p class="rt"><i>F. R. H.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p><a name="fn.9" id="fn.9" + href="#fna.9">9</a> The best commentators connect the expression, ‘by faith in +me,’ not with the word ‘sanctified,’ but with the whole clause, +‘that by faith in me they may receive.’ This will, however, in no +way affect the application to the word sanctified. Thus read, the +text tells us that the remission of sin, and the inheritance, and +the sanctification which qualifies for the inheritance, are all received +by faith.</p> + +<p class="ii"><a name="fn.10" id="fn.10" + href="#fna.10">10</a> See <a href="#note:E">Note E</a>.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.166" id="png.166"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">167</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Nineteenth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap19.png" width="313" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Resurrection." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘The Son of God, who was born of the seed of David <em>according +to the flesh</em>, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, +<em>according to the Spirit</em> of holiness, by the resurrection of the +dead.’—<span class="smc">Rom.</span> i. 4.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">These</span> words speak of a twofold birth of Christ. +According to the flesh, He was born of the +seed of David. According to the Spirit, He was +the first begotten from the dead. As He was a Son +of David in virtue of His birth through the flesh, +so He was declared to be the Son of God with +power, in virtue of His resurrection-birth through +the Spirit of holiness. As the life He received +through His first birth was a life in and after the +flesh with its weakness, so the new life He received +in the resurrection was a life in the power of the +Spirit of holiness.</p> + +<p>The expression, the Spirit of holiness, is a peculiar +one. It is not the ordinary word for God’s Holiness +that is here used as in Heb. xii. 10, describing holiness +in the abstract as the attribute of an object, +<a name="png.167" id="png.167"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">168</span><span class="ns">] + </span>but another word (also used in 2 Cor. vii. 1 and +1 Thess. iii. 13) expressing the habit of holiness in +its action—practical holiness or sanctity.<sup><a name="fna.11" id="fna.11" + href="#fn.11">11</a></sup> Paul +used this word, because He wished to emphasize the +thought, that Christ’s resurrection was distinctly the +result of that life of holiness and self-sanctifying +which had culminated in His death. It was the +spirit of the life of holiness which he had lived, in +the power of which He was raised again. He +teaches us that that life and death of self-sanctification, +in which alone our sanctification stands, +was the root and ground of His resurrection, and of +its declaration that He was the Son of God with +power, the first begotten from the dead. The resurrection +was the fruit which that Life of Holiness bore.</p> + +<p>And so the Life of Holiness becomes the +property of all who are partakers of the resurrection. +The Resurrection Life and the Spirit of +Holiness are inseparable. Christ sanctified Himself +in death, that we ourselves might be sanctified +in truth: when in virtue of the Spirit of sanctity +He was raised from the dead, that Spirit of holiness +was proved to be the power of Resurrection Life, +and the Resurrection Life to be a Life of Holiness.</p> + +<p>As a believer you have part in this Resurrection +Life. You have been ‘begotten again by the +resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.’ You +are ‘risen with Christ.’ You are commanded ‘to +reckon yourself to be alive unto God in Christ Jesus.’ +But the life can work in power only as you seek to +<a name="png.168" id="png.168"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">169</span><span class="ns">] + </span>know it, to yield to it, to let it have full possession +and mastery. And if it is to do this, one of the +most important things for you to realize is, that as +it was in virtue of the Spirit of holiness that Christ +was raised, so the Spirit of that same holiness must +be in you the mark and the power of your life. +Study to know and possess the Spirit of holiness as +it was seen in the life of your Lord.</p> + +<p>And wherein did it consist? Its secret was, we +are told: ‘Lo, I am come to do Thy will, O God.’ +‘In the which will,’ as done by Christ, ‘we have +been sanctified by the one offering of the body of +Jesus Christ.’ This was Christ’s sanctifying Himself, +in life and in death; this was what the Spirit +of holiness wrought in Him; this is what the same +Spirit, the Spirit of the life in Christ Jesus, will +work in us: a life in the will of God is a life of +holiness. Seek earnestly to grasp this clearly. Christ +came to reveal what true holiness would be in the +conditions of human life and weakness. He came +to work it out for you, that He might communicate +it to you by His Spirit. Except you intelligently +apprehend and heartily accept it, the Spirit cannot +work it in you. Do seek with your whole heart to +take hold of it: the will of God unhesitatingly +accepted, is the power of holiness.</p> + +<p>It is in this that any attempt to be holy as +Christ is holy, with and in His Holiness, must +have its starting-point. Many seek to take single +portions of the life or image of Christ for imitation, +and yet fail greatly in others. They have not seen +<a name="png.169" id="png.169"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">170</span><span class="ns">] + </span>that the self-denial, to which Jesus calls, really means +the denial of self, in the full meaning of that word. +In not one single thing is the will of self to be done: +Jesus, as He did the will of the Father only, must +rule, and not self. To ‘stand perfect and complete in +all the will of God’ must be the purpose, the prayer, +the expectation of the disciple. There need be no +fear that it is not possible to know the will of the +Father in everything. ‘If any man will do, he +shall know.’ The Father will not keep the willing +child in ignorance of His will. As the surrender to +the Spirit of holiness, to Jesus and the dominion of +His holy life, becomes more simple, sin and self-will +will be discovered, the spiritual understanding will be +opened up, and the law written in the inward parts +become legible and intelligible. There need be no +fear that it is not possible to do the will of the +Father when it is known. When once the grief of +failure and sin has driven the believer into the +experience of Rom. vii., and the ‘delight in the law +of God after the inward man’ has proved its +earnestness in the cry, ‘O wretched man that I +am,’ deliverance will come through Jesus Christ. +The Spirit works not only to will but to do; where +the believer could only complain, ‘To perform that +which is good, I find not,’ He gives the strength +and song, ‘The law of the Spirit of life in Christ +Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and +death.’</p> + +<p>In this faith, that it is possible to know and do +the will of God in all things, take over from Him, +<a name="png.170" id="png.170"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">171</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in whom alone you are holy, as your life-principle; +‘I come to do Thy will, O God.’ It is the principle +of the resurrection life: without it Jesus had never +been raised again. It is the principle of the new life +in you. Accept it; study it; realize it; act it out. +Many a believer has found that some simple words +of dedication, expressive of the purpose in everything +to do God’s will, have been an entrance into +the joy and power of the resurrection life previously +unknown. The will of God is the complete expression +of His moral perfection, His Divine Holiness. +To take one’s place in the centre of that will, +to live it out, to be borne and sustained by it, +was the power of that life of Jesus that could +not be held of death, that could not but burst out +in resurrection glory. What it was to Jesus it will +be to us.</p> + +<p>Holiness is Life: this is the simplest expression +of the truth our text teaches. There can be no +holiness until there be a new life implanted. The +new life cannot grow and break forth in resurrection +power, cannot bring forth fruit, but as it grows +in holiness. As long as the believer is living the +mixed life, part in the flesh and part in the spirit, +with some of self and some of Christ, he seeks in +vain for holiness. It is the New Life that is the +holy life: the full apprehension of it in faith, the +full surrender to it in conduct, will be the highway +of holiness. Jesus lived and died and rose again to +prepare for us a new nature, to be received day by +day in the obedience of faith: we ‘have put on the +<a name="png.171" id="png.171"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">172</span><span class="ns">] + </span>new man, which after God is created in righteousness +and true holiness.’ Let the inner life, hid +with Christ in God, hid also deep in the recesses of +our inmost being, be acknowledged, be waited on, +be yielded to, it will work itself out in all the +beauties of holiness.</p> + +<p>There is more. This life is not like the life of +nature, a blind, non-conscious principle, involuntarily +working out its ideal in unresisting obedience to +the law of its being. There is the Spirit of the life +in Christ Jesus—the Spirit of holiness—the Holy +Spirit dwelling in us as a Divine Person, entering +into fellowship with us, and leading us into the +fellowship of the Living Christ. It is this fills our +life with hope and joy. The Risen Saviour breathed +the Holy Spirit on His disciples: the Spirit brings +the Risen One into the field, into our hearts, as a +personal friend, as a Living Guide and Strengthener. +The Spirit of holiness is the Spirit, the Presence, +and the Power of the Living Christ. Jesus said +of the Spirit, ‘Ye know Him.’ Is not our great +need to know this Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, +of His Holiness and of ours? How can we ‘walk +after the Spirit’ and follow His leading, if we know +not Him and His voice and His way?</p> + +<p>Let us learn one more lesson from our text. <em>It +is out of the grave of the flesh and the will of +self that the Spirit of holiness breaks out in resurrection +power.</em> We must accept death to the flesh, +death to self with its willing and working, as the +birthplace of our experience of the power of the +<a name="png.172" id="png.172"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">173</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Spirit of holiness. In view of each struggle with +sin, in each exercise of faith or prayer, we must +enter into the death of Jesus, the death to self, and +as those who say, ‘we are not sufficient to think +anything as of ourselves,’ in quiet faith expect the +Spirit of Christ to do His work. The Spirit will +work, strengthening you mightily in the inner man, +and building up within you an holy temple for +the Lord. And the time will come, if it has not +come to you yet, and it may be nearer than you +dare hope, when the conscious indwelling of Christ +in your heart by faith, the full revelation and +enthronement of Him as ruler and keeper of heart +and life, shall have become a personal experience. +According to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection +from the dead, will the Son of God be declared +with power in the kingdom that is within you.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Holy Lord God! we do bless Thee that +Thou didst raise Thy Son from the dead and give +Him glory, that our faith and hope might be in +Thee. Thou didst make His resurrection the power +of eternal life in us, and now, even as He was raised, +so we may walk in newness of life. As the Spirit +of holiness dwelt and wrought in Him, it dwells and +works in us, and becomes in us the Spirit of life.</p> + +<p>O God! we beseech Thee to perfect Thy work in +Thy saints. Give them a deeper sense of the holy +calling with which Thou hast called them in Christ, +<a name="png.173" id="png.173"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">174</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the Risen One. Give all to accept the Spirit of +His life on earth, delight in the will of God, as the +spirit of their life. May those who have never yet +fully accepted this be brought to do it, and in faith +of the power of the new life to say, I accept the +will of God as my only law. May the Spirit of +holiness be the spirit of their lives!</p> + +<p>Father! we beseech Thee, let Christ thus, in ever +increasing experience of His resurrection power, be +revealed in our hearts as the Son of God, Lord and +Ruler within us. Let His life within inspire all +the outer life, so that in the home and society, in +thought and speech and action, in religion and in +business, His life may shine out from us in the +beauty of holiness. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. Scripture regards the resurrection in two different aspects. In one view, +it is the title to the new life, the source of our justification. (Rom. iv. 25, +1 Cor. xv. 17.) In another it is our regeneration, the power of the new life +working in us, the source of our sanctification. (Rom. vi. 4; 1 Pet. i. 3.) +Pardon and holiness are inseparable; they have the same source, union with +the Risen Living Christ.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. The blessedness to the disciples of having a Risen Christ was this: He, +whom they thought dead, came and <strong>revealed Himself</strong> to them. Christ lives to +reveal Himself to thee and to me; wait on Him, trust Him for this. He will +reveal Himself to thee as thy sanctification. See to it that thou hast Him in +living possession, and thou hast His Holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. The life of Christ is the holiness of Christ. The reason we so often fail in +the pursuit of holiness is that the old life, the flesh, in its own strength seeks +for holiness as a beautiful garment to wear and enter heaven with. It is the +daily death to self out of which the life of Christ rises up.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. To die thus, to live thus in Christ, to be holy—how can we attain it? It +all comes ‘<strong>according to the Spirit of holiness</strong>.’ Have the Holy Spirit within +thee. Say daily, ‘I believe in the Holy Ghost.’</i></p> + +<p><i>5. <strong>Holy in Christ.</strong> When Christ lives in us, and His mind, as it found +expression in His words and work on earth, enters and fills our will and personal +consciousness, then our union with Him becomes what He meant it to be. +It is the Spirit of His holy conduct, the Spirit of His sanctity, must be in us.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p class="ii"><a name="fn.11" id="fn.11" + href="#fna.11">11</a> See <a href="#note:F">Note F</a>.</p> + +</div> + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.174" id="png.174"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">175</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twentieth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap20.png" width="248" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Liberty." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Being made <em>free from sin</em>, ye became servants of righteousness: +now present your members as servants of righteousness +<em>unto sanctification</em>. Now being made <em>free from sin</em>, and become +servants unto God, ye have your fruit <em>unto sanctification</em>, and +the end eternal life.’—<span class="smc">Rom.</span> vi. 18, 19, 22.</p> + +<p>‘Our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.’—<span class="smc">Gal.</span> ii. 4.</p> + +<p>‘With freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and +be not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.’—<span class="smc">Gal.</span> v. 1.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">There</span> is no possession more precious or priceless +than liberty. There is nothing more inspiring +and elevating; nothing, on the other hand, more +depressing and degrading than slavery. It robs a +man of what constitutes his manhood, the power of +self-decision, self-action, of being and doing what he +would.</p> + +<p>Sin is slavery; the bondage to a foreign power +that has obtained the mastery over us, and compels +often a most reluctant service. The redemption of +Christ restores our liberty and sets us free from the +power of sin. If we are truly to live as redeemed ones, +we need not only to look at the work Christ did to +<a name="png.175" id="png.175"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">176</span><span class="ns">] + </span>accomplish our redemption, but to accept and realize +fully how complete, how sure, how absolute the +liberty is wherewith He hath made us free. It is +only as we ‘<em>stand fast</em> in our liberty in Christ +Jesus,’ that we can have our fruit unto sanctification.</p> + +<p>It is remarkable how seldom the word <em>holy</em> occurs +in the great argument of the Epistle to the Romans, +and how, where twice used in chap. vi. in the expression +‘unto sanctification,’ it is distinctly set +forth as the aim and fruit to be reached through a +life of righteousness. The twice repeated ‘unto +sanctification,’ pointing to a result to be obtained, +is preceded by a twice repeated ‘being made free +from sin and become servants of righteousness.’ It +teaches us how the liberty from the power of sin +and the surrender to the service of righteousness are +not yet of themselves holiness, but the sure and only +path by which it can be reached. A true insight and +a full entering into our freedom from sin in Christ +are indispensable to a life of holiness. It was when +Israel was freed from Pharaoh that God began to +reveal Himself as the Holy One: it is as we know +ourselves ‘freed from sin,’ delivered from the hand +of all our enemies, that we shall serve God in +righteousness and holiness all the days of our life.</p> + +<p>‘<em>Being made free from sin</em>:’ to understand this +word aright, we must beware of a twofold error. +We must neither narrow it down to less, nor import +into it more, than the Holy Spirit means by it here. +Paul is speaking neither of an imputation nor an +<a name="png.176" id="png.176"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">177</span><span class="ns">] + </span>experience. We must not limit it to being made +free from the curse or punishment of sin. The +context shows that he is speaking, not of our +judicial standing, but of a spiritual reality, our being +in living union with Christ in His death and resurrection, +and so being entirely taken out from under +the dominion or power of sin. ‘Sin shall not have +dominion over you.’ Nor is he as yet speaking of +an experience, that we feel that we are free from +all sin. He speaks of the great objective fact, +Christ’s having finally delivered us from the power +which sin had to compel us to do its will and its +works, and urges us, in the faith of this glorious fact, +boldly to refuse to listen to the bidding or temptation +of sin. To know our liberty which we have in +Christ, our freedom from sin’s mastery and power, +is the way to realize it as an experience.</p> + +<p>In olden times, when Turks or Moors often made +slaves of Christians, large sums were frequently +paid for the ransom of those who were in bondage. +But it happened more than once, away in the +interior of the slave country, that the ransomed ones +never got the tidings; the masters were only too +glad to keep it from them. Others, again, got the +tidings, but had grown too accustomed to their +bondage to rouse themselves for the effort of reaching +the coast. Slothfulness or hopelessness kept +them in slavery; they could not believe that they +would be able ever in safety to reach the land of +liberty. The ransom had been paid; in truth they +were free; and yet in their experience, by reason of +<a name="png.177" id="png.177"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">178</span><span class="ns">] + </span>ignorance or want of courage, they were still in +bondage. Christ’s redemption has so completely +made an end of sin and the legal power it had over +us,—for ‘the strength of sin is the law,’—that in +very deed, in the deepest reality, sin has no power +to compel our obedience. It is only as we allow it +again to reign, as we yield ourselves again as its +servants, that it can exercise the mastery. Satan +does his utmost to keep believers in ignorance of the +completeness of this their freedom from his slavery. +And because believers are so content with their own +thoughts of what redemption means, and so little +long and plead to see it and possess it in its fulness +of deliverance and blessing, the experience of the +extent to which the freedom from sin can be realized +is so feeble. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, +there is liberty.’ It is by the Holy Spirit, His light +and leading within, humbly watched for and yielded +to, that this liberty becomes our possession.</p> + +<p>In the sixth chapter Paul speaks of freedom from +sin, in chap. vii. (vers. 3, 4, 6) of freedom from the +law, as both being ours in Christ and union with +Him. In chap. viii. (ver. 2) he speaks of this freedom +as become ours in experience. He says, ‘The +law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made +me free from the law of sin and death.’ The freedom +which is ours in Christ, must become ours in +personal appropriation and enjoyment through the +Holy Spirit. The latter depends on the former: +the fuller the faith, the clearer the insight, the +more triumphant the glorying in Christ Jesus and +<a name="png.178" id="png.178"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">179</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the liberty with which He has made us free, the +speedier and the fuller the entrance into the glorious +liberty of the children of God. As the liberty is in +Christ alone, so it is the Spirit of Christ alone that +makes it ours in practical possession, and keeps us +dwelling in it: ‘the spirit of the life in Christ Jesus +<em>hath made me free</em> from the law of sin and death.’ +‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ +As the Spirit reveals Jesus to us as Lord and Master, +the new Master, who alone has ought to say over +us, and leads us to yield ourselves, to present our +members, to surrender our whole life to the service +of God in Christ, our faith in the freedom from sin +becomes a consciousness and a realization. Believing +in the completeness of the redemption, the captive +goes forth as ‘the Lord’s freedman.’ He knows +now that sin has no longer power for one moment +to command obedience. It may seek to assert its +old right; it may speak in the tone of authority; +it may frighten us into fear and submission; +power it has none over us, except as we, forgetting +our freedom, yield to its temptation, and ourselves +give it power.</p> + +<p>We are the Lord’s freedmen. ‘We have our +liberty in Christ Jesus.’ In Rom. vii. Paul describes +the terrible struggles of the soul who still seeks to +fulfil the law, but finds itself utterly helpless; sold +under sin, a captive and a slave, without the liberty +to do what the whole heart desires. But when the +Spirit takes the place of the law, the complaint, +‘O wretched man that I am,’ is changed into the +<a name="png.179" id="png.179"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">180</span><span class="ns">] + </span>song of victory: ‘I thank God, through Jesus +Christ, the law of the Spirit of life hath made me +free.’</p> + +<p>What numberless complaints of insufficient +strength to do God’s will, of unsuccessful effort and +disappointed hopes, of continual failure, re-echo in a +thousand different forms the complaint of the captive, +‘O wretched man that I am!’ Thank God! +there is deliverance. ‘With freedom did Christ set +us free! Stand fast therefore, and be not entangled +again in a yoke of bondage.’ Satan is ever seeking +to lay on us again the yoke either of sin or the law, +to beget again the spirit of bondage, as if sin or the +law with their demands somehow had power over +us. It is not so: be not entangled; stand fast in +the liberty with which Christ has made you free. +Let us listen to the message: ‘Being made free from +sin, ye became servants unto righteousness; now +yield your members servants to righteousness <em>unto +sanctification</em>.’ ‘Having been made free from sin, +and having been enslaved unto God, ye have your +fruit <em>unto sanctification</em>.’ To be holy, you must be +free, perfectly free; free for Jesus to rule you, to +lead you; free for the Holy Spirit to dispose of you, +to breathe in you, to work His secret, gentle, but +mighty work, so that you may grow up unto all the +liberty Jesus has won for you. The temple could +not be sanctified by the indwelling of God, except +as it was free from every other master and every +other use, to be for Him and His service alone. +The inner temple of our heart cannot be truly and +<a name="png.180" id="png.180"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">181</span><span class="ns">] + </span>fully sanctified, except as we are free from every +other master and power, from every yoke of bondage, +or fear, or doubt, to let His Spirit lead us +into the perfect liberty which has its fruit in true +holiness.</p> + +<p>Being made free from sin, having become servants +unto righteousness, ye have your fruit unto holiness, +and the end life everlasting. Freedom, Righteousness, +Holiness—these are the steps on the way to the +coming glory. The more deeply we enter by faith +into our liberty, which we have in Christ, the more +joyfully and confidently we present our members to +God as instruments of righteousness. The God is +the Father whose will we delight to do, whose service +is perfect liberty. The Redeemer is the Master, +to whom love binds us in willing obedience. The +liberty is not lawlessness: ‘we are delivered from our +enemies, that we may serve Him in righteousness +and holiness all the days of our life.’<sup><a name="fna.12" id="fna.12" + href="#fn.12">12</a></sup></p> + +<p>The liberty is the condition of the righteousness; +and this again of the holiness. The doing of God’s +will leads up into that fellowship, that heart sympathy +with God Himself, out of which comes that +reflection of the Divine Presence, which is Holiness. +Being made free from sin, being made the slaves of +righteousness and of God, we have our fruit unto +holiness, and the end—the fruit of holiness becomes, +when ripe, the seed of—everlasting life.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p><a name="png.181" id="png.181"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">182</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Most glorious God! I pray Thee to open my +eyes to this wonderful liberty with which Christ +has made me free. May I enter fully into Thy +word, that sin shall have no dominion over me +because I am not under the law but under grace. +May I know my liberty which I have in Christ +Jesus, and stand fast in it.</p> + +<p>Father! Thy service is perfect liberty: reveal +this too to me. Thou art the infinitely Free, and +Thy will knows no limits but what its own perfection +has placed. And Thou invitest us into Thy will, +that we may be free as Thou art. O my God! +show me the beauty of Thy will, as it frees me from +self and from sin, and let it be my only blessedness. +Let the service of righteousness so be a joy and a +strength to me, having its fruit unto sanctification, +leading me into Thy Holiness.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord Jesus! my Deliverer and my Liberty, +I belong to Thee. I give myself to Thy will, to +know no will but Thine. Master! Thee and Thee +alone would I serve. I have my liberty in Thee! +be Thou my Keeper. I cannot stand for one +moment out of Thee. In Thee I can stand fast: +in Thee I put my trust.</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! as Thy free, obedient, loving +child, Thou wilt make me holy. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. Liberty is the power to carry out unhindered the impulse of our nature. +In Christ the child of God is free from every power that could hinder his +acting out the law of his new nature.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. This liberty is of faith (Gal. v. 5, 6). By faith in Christ I enter +into it, and stand in it.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. This liberty is of the Holy Spirit. ‘Where the Spirit of the Lord is, +<a name="png.182" id="png.182"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">183</span><span class="ns">] + </span>there is liberty.’ ‘If ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law.’ A +heart filled with the Spirit is made free indeed. But we are not made free +that we may do our own will. No, made <strong>free to follow the leading of the +Holy Spirit</strong>. ‘Where the Spirit is, there is liberty.’</i></p> + +<p><i>4. This liberty is in love. ‘Ye were called for freedom; only use not your +freedom for an occasion to the flesh, but through love be servants, one to +another.’ The freedom with which the Son makes free is a freedom to become +like Himself, to love and to serve. ‘Though I was free from all men, I brought +myself under bondage to all, that I might gain the more.’ This is the liberty +of love.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. ‘Being made free from sin, ye became <strong>servants of righteousness</strong> unto +sanctification.’ ‘Let my people go, that they may serve me.’ It is only the +man that doeth righteousness that can become holy.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. This liberty is a thing of joy and singing.</i></p> + +<p><i>7. This liberty is the groundwork of holiness. The Redeemer who makes +free is God the Holy One. As the Holy Spirit He leads into the full possession +of it. To be so free from everything that God can take complete possession, +is to be holy.</i></p> + +</div> + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p class="ii"><a name="fn.12" id="fn.12" + href="#fna.12">12</a> See <a href="#note:G">Note G</a>.</p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.183" id="png.183"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">184</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-first Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap21.png" width="284" height="30" + alt="Holiness and Happiness." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘The kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Ghost.’—<span class="smc">Rom.</span> xiv. 17.</p> + +<p>‘The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.’—<span class="smc">Acts</span> +xiii. 52.</p> + +<p>‘Then Nehemiah said, This day is <em>holy</em> unto the Lord: neither +be ye sorry, for the <em>joy</em> of the Lord is your strength. So the +Levites stilled the people, saying, Hold your peace; for the day +is <em>holy</em>; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their +way to make great <em>mirth</em>, because they had understood the +words.’—<span class="smc">Neh.</span> viii. 10–12.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">The</span> deep significance of joy in the Christian life +is hardly understood. It is too often regarded +as something secondary; whereas its presence is +essential as the proof that God does indeed satisfy +us, and that His service is our delight. In our +domestic life we do not feel satisfied if all the +proprieties of deportment are observed, and each +does his duty to the other; true love makes us +happy in each other; as love gives out its warmth +of affection, gladness is the sunshine that fills the +home with its brightness. Even in suffering or +poverty, the members of a loving family are a joy +<a name="png.184" id="png.184"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">185</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to each other. Without this gladness, especially, +there is no true obedience on the part of the +children. It is not the mere fulfilment of a command, +or performance of a service, that a parent +looks to; it is the willing, joyful alacrity with +which it is done that makes it pleasing.</p> + +<p>It is just so in the intercourse of God’s children +with their Father. Even in the effort after a life of +consecration and gospel obedience, we are continually +in danger of coming under the law again, with +its, Thou shalt. The consequence always is failure. +The law only worketh wrath; it gives neither life +nor strength. It is only as long as we are standing +in the joy of our Lord, in the joy of our deliverance +from sin, in the joy of His love, and what He +is for us, in the joy of His presence, that we have +the power to serve and obey. It is only when +made free from every master, from sin and self +and the law, and only when rejoicing in this liberty, +that we have the power to render service that is +satisfying either to God or to ourselves. ‘I will see +you again,’ Jesus said, ‘and your heart shall rejoice, +and your joy shall no man take from you.’ Joy +is the evidence and the condition of the abiding +personal presence of Jesus.</p> + +<p>If holiness be the beauty and the glory of the +life of faith, it is manifest that here especially the +element of joy may not be wanting. We have +already seen how the first mention of God as the +Holy One was in the song of praise on the shore +of the Red Sea; how Hannah and Mary in their +<a name="png.185" id="png.185"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">186</span><span class="ns">] + </span>moments of inspiration praised God as the Holy +One; how the name of the Thrice Holy in heaven +comes to us in the song of the seraphs; and how +before the throne both the living creatures and the +conquering multitude who sing the song of the +Lamb, adore God as the Holy One. We are to +‘worship Him in the beauty of holiness,’ ‘to sing +praise at the remembrance of His Holiness;’ it is +only in the spirit of worship and praise and joy +that we fully can know God as holy. Much +more, it is only under the inspiration of adoring +love and joy that we can ourselves be made holy. +It is as we cease from all fear and anxiety, from all +strain and effort, and rest with singing in what +Jesus is in His finished work as our sanctification, +as we rest and rejoice in Him, that we shall be +made partakers of His Holiness. It is the day of +rest, is the day that God has blessed, the day of +blessing and gladness; and it is the day He blessed +that is His holy day. Holiness and blessedness +are inseparable.</p> + +<p>But is not this at variance with the teaching of +Scripture and the experience of the saints? Are not +suffering and sorrow among God’s chosen means of +sanctification? Are not the promises to the broken +in heart, the poor in spirit, and the mourner? Are +not self-denial and the forsaking of all we have, +the crucifixion with Christ and the dying daily, the +path to holiness? and is not all this more matter of +sorrow and pain than of joy and gladness?</p> + +<p>The answer will be found in the right apprehension +<a name="png.186" id="png.186"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">187</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the life of faith. Faith lifts above, and +gives possession of, what is the very opposite of +what we feel or experience. In the Christian life +there is always a paradox: what appear irreconcilable +opposites are found side by side at the same +moment. Paul expresses it in the words, ‘As +dying, and, behold, we live; as sorrowful, yet always +rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having +nothing, yet possessing all things.’ And elsewhere +thus, ‘<em>When</em> I am weak, <em>then</em> am I strong.’ The +apparent contradiction has its reconciliation, not +only in the union of the two lives, the human and +the Divine, in the person of each believer, but +specially in our being, at one and the same moment, +partakers of the death and the resurrection of +Christ. Christ’s death was one of pain and suffering, +a real and terrible death, a rending asunder of +the bonds that united soul and body, spirit and +flesh. The power of that death works in us: we +must let it work mightily if we are to live holy; +for in that death He sanctified Himself, that we +ourselves might be sanctified in truth. Our holiness +is, like His, in the death to our own will, and to all +our own life. But—this we must seek to grasp—we +do not approach death from the side from which +Christ met it, as an enemy to be conquered, as a +suffering to be borne, before the new life can be +entered on. No, the believer who knows what +Christ is as the Risen One, approaches death, the +crucifixion of self and the flesh and the world, from +the resurrection side, the place of victory, in the +<a name="png.187" id="png.187"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">188</span><span class="ns">] + </span>power of the Living Christ. When we were +baptized into Christ, we were baptized into His +death and resurrection as ours; and Christ Himself, +the Risen Living Lord, leads us triumphantly into +the experience of the power of His death. And so, to +the believer who truly lives by faith, and seeks not +in his own strugglings to crucify and mortify the +flesh, but knows the living Lord, the deep resurrection +joy never for a moment forsakes Him, but is his +strength for what may appear to others to be only +painful sacrifice and cross-bearing. He says with +Paul, ‘I glory in the cross through which I have been +crucified.’ He never, as so many do, asks Paul’s +question, ‘Who shall deliver me from the body of this +death?’ without sounding the joyful and triumphant +answer as a present experience, ‘I thank God, +through Jesus Christ our Lord.’ ‘Thanks be to God, +which always leadeth us in triumph in Christ.’ It +is the joy of a Present Saviour, of the experience of +a perfect salvation, the joy of a resurrection life, which +alone gives the power to enter deeply and fully into +the death that Christ died, and yield our will and +our life to be wholly sanctified to God. In the joy +of that life, from which the power of the death is +never absent, it is possible to say with the Apostle +each moment, ‘As dying, and, behold, we live; as +sorrowful, yet always rejoicing.’</p> + +<p>Let us seek to learn the two lessons: Holiness +is essential to true happiness; happiness essential +to true holiness. <em>Holiness is essential to true +happiness.</em> If you would have joy, the fulness +<a name="png.188" id="png.188"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">189</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of joy, an abiding joy which nothing can take +away, be holy as God is holy. Holiness is +blessedness. Nothing can darken or interrupt our +joy but sin. Whatever be our trial or temptation, +the joy of Jesus of which Peter says, ‘in whom ye +now rejoice with joy unspeakable,’ can more than +compensate and outweigh. If we lose our joy, it +must be sin. It may be an actual transgression, or +an unconscious following of self or the world; it +may be the stain on conscience of something doubtful, +or it may be unbelief that would live by sight, +and thinks more of itself and its joy than of the +Lord alone: whatever it be, nothing can take away +our joy but sin. If we would live lives of joy, +assuring God and man and ourselves that our Lord +is everything, is more than all to us, oh, let us be +holy! Let us glory in Him who is our holiness: +in His presence is fulness of joy. Let us live in +the Kingdom which is joy in the Holy Ghost; the +Spirit of holiness is the Spirit of joy, because He +is the Spirit of God. It is the saints, God’s holy +ones, who will shout for joy.</p> + +<p>And <em>happiness is essential to true holiness</em>. If +you would be a holy Christian, you must be a happy +Christian. Jesus was anointed by God with ‘the +oil of gladness,’ that He might give us ‘the oil of +joy.’ In all our efforts after holiness, the wheels +will move heavily if there be not the oil of joy; +this alone removes all strain and friction, and +makes the onward progress easy and delightful. +Study to understand the Divine worth of joy. It +<a name="png.189" id="png.189"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">190</span><span class="ns">] + </span>is the evidence of your being in the Father’s +presence, and dwelling in His love. It is the +proof of your being consciously free from the law +and the strain of the spirit of bondage. It is the +token of your freedom from care and responsibility, +because you are rejoicing in Christ Jesus as your +Sanctification, your Keeper, and your Strength. It +is the secret of spiritual health and strength, filling +all your service with the childlike happy assurance +that the Father asks nothing that He does not give +strength for, and that He accepts all that is done, +however feebly, in this spirit. True happiness is +always self-forgetful: it loses itself in the object +of its joy. As the joy of the Holy Ghost fills us, +and we rejoice in God the Holy One, through +our Lord Jesus Christ, as we lose ourselves in the +adoration and worship of the Thrice Holy, we +become holy. This is, even here in the wilderness, +‘the Highway of Holiness: the ransomed of the +Lord shall come with singing; the redeemed shall +walk there; everlasting joy shall be upon their +heads; they shall obtain joy and gladness.’</p> + +<p>Do all God’s children understand this? that +holiness is just another name, the true name, that +God gives for happiness; that it is indeed unutterable +blessedness to know that God does make us +holy, that our holiness is in Christ, that Christ’s +Holy Spirit is within us. There is nothing so +attractive as joy: have believers understood it that +this is the joy of the Lord—to be holy? Or is +not the idea of strain, and sacrifice, and sighing, +<a name="png.190" id="png.190"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">191</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of difficulty and distance so prominent, that the +thought of being holy has hardly ever made the +heart glad? If it has been so, let it be so no +longer. ‘Thou shalt glory in the Holy One of +Israel:’ let us claim this promise. Let the +believing assurance that our Loving Father, and +our Beloved Lord Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, +who in dove-like gentleness rests within us, have +engaged to do the work, and are doing it, fill us with +gladness. Let us not seek our joy in what we see +in ourselves of holiness: let us rejoice in the +Holiness of God in Christ as ours; let us rejoice +in the Holy One of Israel. So shall our joy be +unspeakable and unceasing; so shall we give Him +the glory.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Blessed God! I beseech Thee to reveal to +me and to all Thy children the secret of rejoicing +in Thee, the Holy One of Israel.</p> + +<p>Thou seest how much of the service of Thine +own dear children is still in the spirit of bondage, +and how many have never yet believed that the +Highway of Holiness is one on which they may +walk with singing, and shall obtain joy and gladness. +O Father! teach Thy children to rejoice in Thee.</p> + +<p>I ask Thee especially to teach us that, in deep +poverty of spirit, in humility and contrition and +utter emptiness, in the consciousness that there is +no holiness in us, we can sing all the day of Thy +<a name="png.191" id="png.191"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">192</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Holiness as ours, of Thy glory which Thou layest +upon us, and which yet all the time is Thine alone. +O Father! open wide to Thy children the blessed +mystery of the Kingdom, even the faith which sees +all in Christ and nothing in itself; which indeed +has and rejoices in all in Him; which never has or +rejoices in ought in itself.</p> + +<p>Blessed God, in Thy Word Thou hast said, ‘The +meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the +poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of +Israel.’ Oh, give us, by Thy Holy Spirit, in meekness +and poverty of spirit, to live so in Christ, that +His Holiness may be our ever-increasing joy, and +that in Thyself, the Holy One of Israel, we may +rejoice all the day. And may all see in us what +blessedness it is to live as God’s holy ones. +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. The great hindrance to joy in God is expecting to find something in ourselves +to rejoice over. At the commencement of this pursuit of holiness we +always expect to see a great change wrought in ourselves. As we are led +deeper into what faith, and the faith-life is, we understand how, though we +do not see the change as we expected, we may yet rejoice with joy unspeakable +in what Jesus is. This is the secret of holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Joy must be cultivated. To rejoice is a command more frequently given +than we know. It is part of the obedience of faith, to rejoice when we do not +feel like doing so. Faith rejoices and sings, because God is holy.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. ‘Filled with joy and the Holy Ghost,’ ‘The Kingdom is joy in the Holy +Ghost.’ The Holy Spirit, the Blessed Spirit of Jesus is within thee, a very +fountain of living water, of joy and gladness. Oh, seek to know Him, who +dwells in thee, to work all that Jesus has for thee: He will be in thee the +Spirit of faith and of joy.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Love and joy ever keep company. Love, denying and forgetting itself for +the brethren and the lost, living in them, finds the joy of God. ‘The kingdom +of God is joy in the Holy Ghost.’</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.192" id="png.192"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">193</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-second Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap22.png" width="325" height="29" + alt="In Christ our Sanctification." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Of God are ye in Christ Jesus, who was made unto us wisdom +from God, both righteousness and sanctification and redemption; +that, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory +in the Lord.’—1 <span class="smc">Cor.</span> i. 30, 31.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">These</span> words lead us on now to the very centre +of God’s revelation of the way of holiness. +We know the steps of the road leading hither. He +is holy, and holiness is His. He makes holy by +coming near. His presence is holiness. In Christ’s +life, the holiness that had only been revealed in +symbol, and as a promise of good things to come, +had really taken possession of a human will, and +been made one with true human nature. In His +death every obstacle had been removed that could +prevent the transmission of that holy nature to us: +Christ had truly become our sanctification. In the +Holy Spirit the actual communication of that holiness +took place. And now we want to understand +what the work is the Holy Spirit does, and how He +communicates this holy nature to us: what our +<a name="png.193" id="png.193"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">194</span><span class="ns">] + </span>relation is to Christ as our sanctification, and what +the position we have to take up toward Him, that +in its fulness and its power it may do its work +for us.</p> + +<p>The Divine answer to this question is, ‘Of God +are ye <em>in Christ</em>.’ The one thing we need to apprehend +is, what this our position and life in Christ is, +and how that position and life may on our part be +accepted and maintained. Of this we may be sure, +that it is not something that is high and beyond +our reach. There need be no exhausting effort +or hopeless sighing, ‘Who shall ascend into heaven, +that is, to bring Christ down from above?’ It is a +life that is meant for the sinful and the weary, for +the unworthy and the impotent. It is a life that is +the gift of the Father’s love, and that He Himself +will reveal in each one who comes in childlike trust +to Him. It is a life that is meant for our every-day +life, that in every varying circumstance and situation +will make and keep us holy.</p> + +<p>‘Of God are ye <em>in Christ</em>.’ Ere our Blessed +Lord left the world, He spake: Lo! I am with you +alway, even to the end of the world. And it is +written of Him: ‘He that descended is the same +that ascended far above all the heavens, that He +might fill all things.’ ‘The Church is His body, the +fulness of Him that filleth all in all.’ In the Holy +Spirit the Lord Jesus is with His people here on +earth. Though unseen, and not in the flesh, His +Personal Presence is as real on earth as when He +walked with His disciples. In regeneration the +<a name="png.194" id="png.194"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">195</span><span class="ns">] + </span>believer is taken out of his old place ‘in the flesh;’ he +is no longer in the flesh, but in the spirit (Rom. viii. 9); +he is really and actually in Christ. The living Christ +is around him by His holy Presence. Wherever and +whatever he be, however ignorant of his position or +however unfaithful to it, there he is in Christ. By +an act of Divine and omnipotent grace, he has been +planted into Christ, encircled on every side by the +Power and the Love of Him who filleth all things, +whose fulness specially dwells in His body here +below, the Church.</p> + +<p>And how can one who is longing to know +Christ fully as his sanctification, come to live out +what God means and has provided in this—‘in +Christ’? The first thing that must be remembered +is that it is a thing of faith and not of feeling. The +promise of the indwelling and the quickening of the +Holy One is to the humble and contrite. Just +when I feel most deeply that I am not holy, and +can do nothing to make myself holy, when I feel +ashamed of myself, just then is the time to turn +from self and very quietly to say: I am in Christ. +Here He is all around me. Like the air that +surrounds me, like the light that shines on me, here +is my Lord Jesus with me in His hidden but Divine +and most real presence. My faith must in quiet +rest and trust bow before the Father, of whom and +by whose Mighty Grace I am in Christ: He will +reveal it to me with ever-growing clearness and +power. He does it as I believe, and in believing +open my whole soul to receive what is implied in +<a name="png.195" id="png.195"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">196</span><span class="ns">] + </span>it: the sense of sinfulness and unholiness must +become the strength of my trust and dependence. +In such faith I abide in Christ.</p> + +<p>But because it is of faith, therefore it is of the +Holy Spirit. <em>Of God</em> are ye <em>in Christ</em>. It is not +as if God placed and planted us in Christ, and left +it to us now to maintain the union. No, God is +the Eternal One, the God of the everlasting life, +who works every moment in a power that does not +for one moment cease. What God gives, He continues +with a never-ceasing giving. It is He who +by the Holy Spirit makes this life in Christ a +blessed reality in our consciousness. ‘We have +received the Spirit of God that we might <em>know</em> the +things that are freely given us of God.’ Faith is +not only dependent on God for the gift it is to +accept, but for the power to accept. Faith not +only needs the Son as its filling and its food; it +needs the Spirit as its power to receive and hold. +And so the blessed possession of all that it means +to be in Christ our sanctification comes as we learn +to bow before God in believing prayer for the +mighty workings of the Spirit, and in the deep +childlike trust that He will reveal and glorify in us +this Christ our sanctification in whom we are.</p> + +<p>And how will the Spirit reveal this Christ in +whom we are? It will specially be as the Living +One, the Personal Friend and Master. Christ is +not only our Example and our Ideal. His life is +not only an atmosphere and an inspiration, as we +speak of a man who mightily influences us by his +<a name="png.196" id="png.196"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">197</span><span class="ns">] + </span>writings. Christ is not only a treasury and a +fulness of grace and power, into which the Spirit is +to lead us. But Christ is the Living Saviour, with +a heart that beats with a love that is most tenderly +human, and yet Divine. It is in this love He +comes near, and into this love He receives us, when +the Father plants us into Him. In the power of a +personal love He wishes to exercise influence, and +to attach us to Himself. In that love of His we +have the guarantee that His Holiness will enter us; +in that love the great power by which it enters. +As the Spirit reveals to us where we are dwelling, in +Christ and His love, and that this Christ is a living +Lord and Saviour, there wakens within us the +enthusiasm of a personal attachment, and the devotion +of a loving allegiance, that make us wholly +His. And it becomes possible for us to believe +that we can be holy: we feel sure that in the path +of holiness we can go from strength to strength.</p> + +<p>Such believing insight into our relation to Christ +as being in Him, and such personal attachment to +Him who has received us into His love and keeps +us abiding there, becomes the spring of a new +obedience. The will of God comes to us in the +light of Christ’s life and His love—each command +first fulfilled by Him, and then passed on to us as +the sure and most blessed help to more perfect +fellowship with the Father and His Holiness. +Christ becomes Lord and King in the soul, in the +power of the Holy Spirit, guiding the will into all +the perfect will of God, and proving Himself to be +<a name="png.197" id="png.197"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">198</span><span class="ns">] + </span>its sanctification, as He crowns its obedience with +ever larger inflow of the Presence and the Holiness +of God.</p> + +<p>Is there any dear child of God at all disposed to +lose heart as he thinks of what manner of man he +ought to be in all holy living, let me call him to +take courage. Could God have devised anything +more wonderful or beautiful for such sinful, impotent +creatures? Just think, Christ, God’s own Son, made +to be sanctification to you. The Mighty, Loving, +Holy Christ, sanctified through suffering that He +might have sympathy with you, given to make you +holy. What more could you desire? Yes, there is +more: ‘<em>Of God you are in Him.</em>’ Whether you +understand it or not, however feebly you realize it, +there it is, a thing most Divinely true and real. +You are in Christ, by an act of God’s own Mighty +Power. And there, in Christ, God Himself longs to +establish and confirm you to the end. And you +have, greatest wonder of all, the Holy Spirit within +you to teach you to know, and believe, and receive, +all that there is in Christ for you. And if you +will but confess that there is in you no wisdom or +power for holiness, none at all, and allow Christ, +‘the Wisdom of God and the Power of God,’ by the +Holy Spirit within you, to lead you on, and prove +how completely, how faithfully, how mightily, He +can be your sanctification, He will do it most +gloriously.</p> + +<p>O my brother! come and consent more fully to +God’s way of holiness. Let Christ be your +<a name="png.198" id="png.198"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">199</span><span class="ns">] + </span>sanctification. Not a distant Christ to whom you look, but +a Christ very near, all around you, in whom you +are. Not a Christ after the flesh, a Christ of +the past, but a present Christ in the power of the +Holy Ghost. Not a Christ whom you can know +by your wisdom, but the Christ of God, who is a +Spirit, and whom the Spirit within you, as you die +to the flesh and self, will reveal in power. Not a +Christ such as your little thoughts can frame a conception +of, but a Christ according to the greatness +of the heart and the love of God. Oh, come and +accept this Christ, and rejoice in Him! Be content +now to leave all your feebleness, and foolishness, and +faithlessness to Him, in the quiet confidence that He +will do for you more than you can think. And so +let it henceforth be, as it <ins class="TN" title="Transcriber's note: + original reads 'it'">is</ins> written, He that +glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Blessed Father! I bow in speechless +adoration before the holy mystery of Thy Divine +Love….</p> + +<p>Oh, forgive me, that I have known and believed +it so little as it is worthy of being known and +believed.</p> + +<p>Accept my praise for what I have seen and +tasted of its Divine blessedness. Accept, Lord +God! of the praise of a glad and loving heart that +only knows that it never can praise Thee aright.</p> + +<p>And hear my prayer, O my Father! that in the +<a name="png.199" id="png.199"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">200</span><span class="ns">] + </span>power of Thy Holy Spirit, who dwells in me, I may +each day accept and live out fully what Thou hast +given me in Christ my sanctification. May the +unsearchable riches there are in Him be the daily +supply for my every need. May His Holiness, His +delight in Thy will, indeed become mine. Teach +me, above all, how this can most surely be, because I +am, through the work of Thine Almighty Quickening +Power, in Him, kept there by Thyself. My Father! +my faith cries out: I can be holy, blessed be my +Lord Jesus!</p> + +<p>In this faith I yield myself to Thee, Lord Jesus, +my King and Master, to do Thy will alone. In +everything I do, great or small, I would act as one +sanctified in Jesus, united to God’s will in Him. +It is Thou alone canst teach me to do this, canst give +me strength to perform it. But I trust in Thee—art +Thou not Christ my sanctification? Blessed +Lord! I do trust Thee. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Christ, as He lived and died on earth, is our sanctification. His life, +the Spirit of His life, is what constitutes our holiness. To be in perfect +harmony with Christ, to have His mind, is to be holy.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Christ’s Holiness had two sides. God sanctified Him by His Spirit: +Christ sanctified Himself by following the leading of the Spirit, by giving up +His will to God in everything. So God has made us holy in Christ; and so +we follow after and perfect holiness by yielding ourselves to God’s Spirit, by +giving up our will and living in the will of God.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. It is well that we take in every aspect of what God has revealed of +holiness in His word. But let us never weary ourselves by seeking to grasp +all completely. Let us even return to the simplicity that is in Jesus. To +bow at His feet, to believe that He knows all we need, and has it all, and +loves to give it all, is rest. And holiness is resting in Jesus the rest of God. +Let all our thoughts be gathered up into this one: Jesus, Blessed Jesus.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. This holy life in Christ is for to-day, when you read this. For to-day +He is made of God unto you sanctification: to-day He will indeed be your +holiness. Believe in Him for it; trust Him, praise Him. And remember: +<strong>you are in Him</strong>.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.200" id="png.200"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">201</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-third Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap23.png" width="265" height="29" + alt="Holiness and the Body." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘The temple of God is <em>holy</em>, which temple ye are. <em>The body</em> +is for the Lord, and the Lord for <em>the body</em>. Know ye not that +your <em>body</em> is the temple of <em>the Holy Ghost</em> which is in you; +therefore glorify God in your <em>body</em>.’—1 <span class="smc">Cor.</span> iii. 16, vi. 13, 19.</p> + +<p>‘She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, +that she may be <em>holy</em> both <em>in body</em> and spirit.’—1 <span class="smc">Cor.</span> vii. 34.</p> + +<p>‘Present your <em>bodies</em> a living sacrifice, <em>holy</em>, acceptable to +God.’—<span class="smc">Rom.</span> xii. 1.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Coming</span> into the world, our Blessed Lord spake: +‘<em>A body</em> didst Thou prepare for me; lo, I +come to do Thy will, O God.’ Leaving this world +again, it was in His own <em>body</em> that He bore our sins +upon the tree. So it was in the body, no less than in +soul and spirit, that He did the will of God. And +therefore it is said, ‘By which will we have been +sanctified through the offering <em>of the body</em> of Jesus +Christ once for all.’</p> + +<p>When praying for the Thessalonians and their +sanctification, Paul says, ‘And the God of peace +Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit +and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, +<a name="png.201" id="png.201"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">202</span><span class="ns">] + </span>at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Of himself +he had spoken as ‘always bearing about <em>in the +body</em> the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus +may be manifested <em>in our body</em>. For we which live +are always delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that +the life also of Jesus may be manifested <em>in our +mortal flesh</em>.’ His earnest expectation and hope +was, ‘that Christ be magnified <em>in my body</em>, whether +by life or by death.’ The relation between body +and spirit is so intimate, the power of sin in the +spirit comes so much through the body, the body is +so distinctly the object both of Christ’s redemption +and the Holy Spirit’s renewal, that our study of +holiness will be seriously defective if we do not +take in the teaching of Scripture on holiness in the +body.</p> + +<p>It has been well said that the body is, to the +soul and spirit dwelling and acting within it, like +the walls of the city. Through them the enemy +enters in. In time of war, everything yields to the +defence of the walls. It is often because the +believer does not know the importance of keeping +the walls defended, keeping the body sanctified, +that he fails in having the soul and spirit preserved +blameless. Or it is because he does not understand +that the guarding and sanctifying of the body in all +its parts must be as distinctly a work of faith, and as +directly through the mighty power of Jesus and the +indwelling of the Spirit, as the renewing of the inner +life, that progress in holiness is so feeble. The rule +of the city we entrust to Jesus: but the defence of +<a name="png.202" id="png.202"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">203</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the walls we keep in our own hands; the King +does not keep us as we expected, and we cannot +discover the secret of failure. It is the God of +peace <em>Himself</em>, who sanctifies wholly, who must +preserve spirit and soul <em>and body</em> entire and without +blame. The tabernacle with its wood, the temple +with its stone, were as holy as all included within +their walls: God’s holy ones need the body to be +holy.</p> + +<p>To realize the full meaning of this, let us remember +how it was through the body sin entered. ‘The +woman saw that the tree was good for food,’ this +was the temptation in the flesh; through this the +soul was reached, ‘it was a delight to the eyes;’ +through the soul it then passed into the spirit, ‘and +to be desired to make one wise.’ In John’s description +of what is in the world (1 John ii. 15), we +find the same threefold division, ‘the lust of the +flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.’ +And the three temptations of Jesus by Satan +correspond exactly: he first sought to reach Him +through the body, in the suggestion to satisfy His +hunger by making bread; the second (see Luke iv.) +appealed to the soul, in the vision of the kingdoms +of this world and their glory; the third to the spirit, +in the call to assert and prove His Divine Sonship +by casting Himself down. Even to the Son of God +the first temptation came, as to Adam and all in +the world, as lust of the flesh, the desire to gratify +the natural and lawful appetite of hunger. We +cannot note too carefully that it was on a question +<a name="png.203" id="png.203"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">204</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of eating what appeared good for food that man’s +first sin was committed, and that that same question +of eating to satisfy hunger was the battleground on +which the Redeemer’s first encounter with Satan +took place. It is on the question of eating and +drinking what is good and lawful that more +Christians than are aware of it are foiled by Satan. +To have every appetite of the body under the rule +and regulation of the Holy Spirit appears to some +needless, to others too difficult. And yet it must +be, if the body is to be holy, as God’s temple, and +we are to glorify Him in our body and our spirit. +The first approaches of sin are made through the +body: in the body the complete victory will be gained.</p> + +<p>What Scripture teaches as to the intimacy of +the connection between the body and spirit, +physiology confirms. What appear at first merely +physical transgressions leave a stain and have a +degrading influence on the soul, and through it drag +down the spirit. And on the other side, spiritual +sins, sins of thought and imagination and disposition, +pass through the soul into the body, fix themselves +in the nervous constitution, and express themselves +even in the countenance and the habits or tendencies +of the body. Sin must be combated not only +in the region of the spirit: if we are to perfect +holiness, we must cleanse ourselves from all defilement +of flesh <em>and</em> spirit. ‘If through the Spirit +ye do make dead the deeds of <em>the body</em>, ye +shall live.’ If we are indeed to be cleansed from +sin and made holy unto God, the body, as the +<a name="png.204" id="png.204"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">205</span><span class="ns">] + </span>outworks, must very specially be secured from the +power of Satan and of sin.</p> + +<p>And how is this to be done? God has made +very special provision for this. Holy Scripture +speaks so explicitly of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit +that communicates holiness, in connection with the +body. At first sight it looks as if the word, your +bodies, were simply used as equivalent to, your +persons, yourselves. But as the deeper insight into +the power of sin in the body, and the need of a +deliverance specially there, quickens our perception, +we see what is meant by the body being the temple +of the Holy Spirit. We notice how very specially +it is of sins in the body that Paul speaks as defiling +God’s holy temple; and how it is through the +power of the Holy Ghost in the body that he would +have us glorify God. ‘Know ye not that <em>your body</em> +is the temple of the Holy Ghost: glorify God therefore, +in the power of the Holy Spirit, in <em>your body</em>.’ +The Holy Spirit must not only exercise a restraining +and regulating influence on the appetites of the +body and their gratification, so that they be in +moderation and temperance,—this is only the +negative side,—but there must be a positively +spiritual element, making the exercise of natural +functions a service of holy joy and liberty to the +glory of God; no longer a threatened hindrance to +the life of obedience and fellowship, but a means of +grace, a real help to the spiritual life. It is only in +a body that is full of the holy life, very entirely +possessed of God’s Spirit, that this will be the case.</p> + +<p><a name="png.205" id="png.205"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">206</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>And how can this be obtained? In the true +Christian life, self-denial is the path to enjoyment, +renunciation to possession, death to life. As long +as there is ought that we think we have liberty +and power to use or enjoy aright, if we but do so +in moderation, we have not yet seen or confessed +our own unholiness, or the need of the entire +renewing of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to +say, ‘Every creature of God is good, if it be received +with thanksgiving;’ we must remember the addition, +‘for it is sanctified by the word and by prayer.’ +This sanctifying of every creature and its use is a +thing as real and solemn as the sanctifying of ourselves. +And this will only be where, if need be, +we sacrifice the gift and the liberty to use it, until +God gives us the power truly to use it to His +glory alone. Of one of the most sacred of Divine +institutions, marriage, Paul, who so denounces those +who would forbid to marry, says distinctly that +there may be cases in which a voluntary celibacy +may be the surest and acceptable way of being ‘holy +both in body and spirit.’ When to be holy as God +is holy indeed becomes the great desire and aim of +life, everything will be cherished or given up as it +promotes the chief end. The actual and active +presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the body +will be the fire that is kept burning continually on +the altar.</p> + +<p>And how is this to be attained? Of the +body as of the spirit it is God, God in Christ, who +is our Keeper and our Sanctifier. The guarding of +<a name="png.206" id="png.206"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">207</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the walls of the city must be entrusted to Him +who rules within. ‘I am persuaded that He is +able to guard my deposit,’ to keep that which I +have committed to Him, must become as definitely +true of the body, and of each of its functions of +which we are conscious that it is the occasion of +doubt or of stumbling, as it has been of the soul +we entrusted to Him for salvation. A fixed deposit +in a bank is money given away out of my hands to +be kept there: the body or any part of it that needs +to be made holy must be a deposit with Jesus. +Faith must trust His acceptance and guarding of +it; prayer and praise must daily afresh renew +the assurance, must confirm the committal of the +deposit, and maintain the fellowship with Jesus. +Abiding thus in Him and His Holiness, we shall +receive, in a life of trust and joy, the power to +prove, even in the body, how fully and wholly we +are in Him who is made unto us sanctification, how +real and true the Holiness of God is in His +people.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord! who art my sanctification, I come +to Thee now with a very special request. O Thou +who didst in Thine own body bear our sins on +the tree, and of whom it is written, ‘We have been +sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus +Christ once for all,’ be pleased to reveal to me how +my body may to the full experience the power of +<a name="png.207" id="png.207"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">208</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Thy wonderful redemption. I do desire in soul +and body to be holy to the Lord.</p> + +<p>Lord! I have too little understood that my body +is the temple of the Holy Ghost, that there is +nothing in it that can be matter of indifference, that +its every state and function is to be holiness to the +Lord. And where I saw that this should be so, +I have still sought myself to guard from the +enemy’s approaches these the walls of the city. I +forgot how this part of my being too could alone +be kept and sanctified by faith, by Thy taking +and keeping charge of what faith entrusted to Thee.</p> + +<p>Lord Jesus! I come now to surrender this body +with all its needs into Thy hands. In weariness +and nervousness, in excitement and enjoyment, in +hunger and want, in health and plenty, O my +holy Saviour, let my body be in Thy keeping every +moment. Thou callest us, ‘being made free from +sin, to present our members as servants of righteousness +unto sanctification.’ Saviour! in the faith +of the freedom from sin which I have in Thee, I +present every member of my body to Thee: I +believe the Spirit of life in Thee makes me free +from the law of sin in my members. Whether +living or dying, be Thou magnified in my body. +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. In the tabernacle and temple, the material part was to be in harmony +with, and the embodiment of, the holiness that dwelt within. It was therefore +all made according to the pattern shown in the mount. In the two last +chapters of Exodus, we have eighteen times ‘as the Lord commanded.’ +Everything, even in the exterior, was the embodiment of the will of God. +Even so our body, as God’s temple, must in everything be regulated by God’s +word, quickened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.</i></p> + +<p><a name="png.208" id="png.208"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">209</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><i>2. As part of this holiness in the body, Scripture mentions dress. Speaking +of the ‘outward adorning of plaiting the hair, of wearing jewels, or the +putting on of apparel,’ as inconsistent with ‘the apparel of a meek and +quiet spirit,’ Peter says, ‘After this manner aforetime <strong>the holy women</strong>, +who hoped in God, adorned themselves.’ Holiness was seen in their dressing; +their body was the temple of the Holy Spirit.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. ‘If ye through the Spirit do make dead the deeds of <strong>the body</strong>, ye shall +live.’ His quickening energy must reign through the whole. We are so +accustomed to connect the spiritual with the ideal and invisible, that it will +need time and thought and faith to realize how the physical and the sensible +influence our spiritual life, and must be under the mastery and inspiration +of God’s Spirit. Even Paul says, ‘I buffet <strong>my body</strong>, and bring it into +bondage, lest I myself should be rejected.’</i></p> + +<p><i>4. If God actually breathed His Spirit into the body of Adam formed out +of the ground, let it not be thought strange that the Holy Spirit should now +animate our bodies too with His sanctifying energy.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. ‘Corporeality is the end of the ways of God.’ This deep saying of an +old divine reminds us of a much neglected truth. The great work of God’s +Spirit is to ally Himself with matter, and form it into a spiritual body for +a dwelling for God. In our body the Holy Spirit will do it, if He gets +complete possession.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. It is on this truth of the Holy Spirit’s power in the body that what is +called Faith-healing rests. Through all ages, in times of special spiritual +quickening, God has given it to some to see how Christ would make, even +here, the body partaker of the life and power of the Spirit. To those who +do see it, the link between Holiness and Healing is a very close and blessed +one, as the Lord Jesus takes possession of the body for Himself.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.209" id="png.209"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">210</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-fourth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap24.png" width="280" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Cleansing." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us <em>cleanse</em> ourselves +from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting <em>holiness</em> +in the fear of God.’—2 <span class="smc">Cor.</span> vii. 1.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">That</span> holiness is more than cleansing, and must +be preceded by it, is taught us in more than +one passage of the New Testament. ‘Christ loved +the Church, and gave Himself up for it, that He +might <em>sanctify</em> it, having <em>cleansed</em> it by the washing +of water with the word.’ ‘If a man <em>cleanse</em> himself +from these, he shall be a vessel <em>sanctified</em>.’ +The cleansing is the negative side, the being separate +and not touching the unclean thing, the removal of +impurity; the sanctifying is the positive union and +fellowship with God, and the participation of the +graces of the Divine life and holiness (2 Cor. +vi. 17, 18). So we read too of the altar, that God +spake to Moses: ‘Thou shalt <em>cleanse</em> the altar, +when thou makest atonement for it, and thou shalt +anoint it, to <em>sanctify</em> it’ (Ex. xxix. 36). Cleansing +<a name="png.210" id="png.210"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">211</span><span class="ns">] + </span>must ever prepare the way, and ought always to +lead on to holiness.</p> + +<p>Paul speaks of a twofold defilement, of flesh and +spirit, from which we must cleanse ourselves. The +connection between the two is so close, that in +every sin both are partakers. The lowest and +most carnal form of sin will enter the spirit, and, +dragging it down into partnership in crime, will +defile and degrade it. And so will all defilement +of spirit in course of time show its power in the +flesh. Still we may speak of the two classes of +sins as they owe their origin more directly to the +flesh or the spirit.</p> + +<p>‘<em>Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of +flesh.</em>’ The functions of our body may be classed +under the three heads of the nourishment, the +propagation, and the protection of our life. Through +the first the world daily solicits our appetite with +its food and drink. As the fruit good for food +was the temptation that overcame Eve, so the +pleasures of eating and drinking are among the +earliest forms of defilement of the flesh. Closely +connected with this is what we named second, and +which is in Scripture specially connected with the +word flesh. We know how in Paradise the sinful +eating was at once followed by the awakening of +sinful lust and of shame. In his First Epistle to +the Corinthians, Paul closely connects the two +(1 Cor. vi. 13, 15), as he also links drunkenness +and impurity (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10). Then comes +the third form in which the vitality of the body +<a name="png.211" id="png.211"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">212</span><span class="ns">] + </span>displays itself: the instinct of self-preservation, +setting itself against everything that interferes +with our pleasures and comfort. What is called +temper, with its fruits of anger and strife, has its +roots in the physical constitution, and is one among +the sins of the flesh. From all this, the Christian, +who would be holy, must most determinedly cleanse +himself. He must yield himself to the searching of +God’s Spirit, to be taught what there is in the flesh +that is not in harmony with the temperance and +self-control demanded both by the law of nature +and the law of the Spirit. He must believe, what +Paul felt that the Corinthians so emphatically +needed to be taught, that the Holy Spirit dwells in +the body, making its members the members of +Christ, and in this faith put off the works of the +flesh; he must cleanse himself from all defilement of +flesh.</p> + +<p>‘<em>And of spirit.</em>’ As the source of all defilement +of the flesh is self-gratification, so self-seeking +is at the root of all defilement of the spirit. In +relation to God, it manifests itself in idolatry, be it in +the worship of other gods after our own heart, the +love of the world more than God, or the doing our +will rather than His. In relation to our fellow-men +it shows itself in envy, hatred, and want of love, +cold neglect or harsh judging of others. In relation +to ourselves it is seen as pride, ambition, or envy, +the disposition that makes self the centre round +which all must move, and by which all must be +judged.</p> + +<p><a name="png.212" id="png.212"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">213</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>For the discovery of such defilement of spirit, no +less than of the sins of the flesh, the believer needs +the light of the Holy Spirit; that the uncleanness +may indeed be cleansed out and cast away for ever. +Even unconscious sin, if we are not earnestly willing +to have it shown to us, will most effectually prevent +our progress in the path of holiness.</p> + +<p>‘<em>Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves.</em>’ The cleansing +is sometimes spoken of as the work of God (Acts xv. +9; 1 John i. 9); sometimes as that of Christ (John +xv. 3; Eph. v. 26; Tit. ii. 14). Here we are commanded +to cleanse ourselves. God does His work +in us by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit does His +work by stirring us up and enabling us to do. The +Spirit is the strength of the new life; in that +strength we must set ourselves determinedly to cast +out whatever is unclean. ‘Come out, and be ye +separate, and touch not the unclean thing.’ It is +not only the doing what is sinful, it is not only the +willing of it, that the Christian must avoid, but even +the touching it: the involuntary contact with it +must be so unbearable as to force the cry, O +wretched man that I am! and to lead on to the +deliverance which the Spirit of the life of Christ +does bring.</p> + +<p>And how is this cleansing to be done? When +Hezekiah called the priests to sanctify the temple +that had been defiled, we read (2 Chron. xxix.), ‘The +priests went in unto the inner part of the house +of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the +uncleanness that they found.’ Only then could the +<a name="png.213" id="png.213"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">214</span><span class="ns">] + </span>sin-offering of atonement and the burnt-offering of +consecration, with the thankofferings, be brought, and +God’s service be restored. Even thus must all that +is unclean be looked out, and brought out, and +utterly cast out. However deeply rooted the sin +may appear, rooted in constitution and habit, we +must cleanse ourselves of it if we would be holy. +‘If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the +blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin.’ As +we bring out every sin from the inner part of the +house into the light of God and walk in the light, +the precious blood that justifies will work mightily +to cleanse too: the blood brings into living contact +with the life and the love of God. Let us come +into the light with the sin: the blood will prove +its mighty power. Let us cleanse ourselves in +yielding ourselves to the light to reveal and condemn, +to the blood to cleanse and sanctify.</p> + +<p>‘Let us cleanse ourselves, <em>perfecting holiness in +the fear of the Lord</em>.’ We read in Hebrews (x. 14), +‘Christ hath perfected forever them that are <ins class="TN" title="Transcriber's note: + original reads 'sancti-tified'">sanctified</ins>.’ +As we have so often seen that what God has +made holy man must make holy too, as he accepts and +appropriates the holiness God has bestowed, so here +with the perfection which the saints have in Christ. +We must perfect holiness: holiness must be carried +out into the whole of life, and carried on even to its +end. As God’s holy ones, we must go on to perfection, +perfecting holiness. Do not let us be afraid of +the word. Our Blessed Lord used it when He gave +us the command, ‘Be ye perfect, even as your Father +<a name="png.214" id="png.214"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">215</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in heaven is perfect.’ A child striving after the +perfection in knowledge of his profession, which he +hopes to attain when he has finished school, is told +by his teacher that the way to the perfection he +hopes for at the end of his course is to seek to be +perfect in the lessons of each day. To be perfect in +the small portion of the work that each hour brings, +is the path to the perfection that will crown the +whole. The Master calls us to a perfection like +that of the Father: He hath already perfected us +in Himself: He holds out the prospect of perfection +ever growing. His word calls us here day by day +to be perfecting holiness. Let us seek in each duty +to be whole-hearted and entire. Let us, as teachable +scholars, in every act of worship or obedience, in +every temptation and trial, do the very best which +God’s Spirit can enable us to do. ‘Let patience +have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and +entire, lacking in nothing.’ ‘The God of peace +make you perfect in every good work to do His will.’</p> + +<p>‘<em>Having therefore these promises</em>, beloved, let us +cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and +spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’ It is +faith that gives the courage and the power to cleanse +from all defilement, perfecting holiness in the fear +of God. It is as the promises of the Divine love +and indwelling (2 Cor. vi 16–18) are made ours +by the Holy spirit, that we shall share the victory +which overcometh the world, even our faith. In the +path along which we have already come, from the rest +in Paradise down through Holy Scripture, we have +<a name="png.215" id="png.215"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">216</span><span class="ns">] + </span>seen the wondrous revelation of these promises in +ever-growing splendour. That God the Holy One +will make us holy; that God the Holy One will +dwell with the lowly; that God in His Holy One +has come to be our holiness; that God has planted +us in Christ that He may be our sanctification; +that God, who chose us in sanctification of the Spirit, +has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and now +watches over us in His love to work out through +Him His purposes and to perfect our holiness: such +are the promises that have been set before us. +‘Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us +cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and +spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.’</p> + +<p>Beloved brother! see here again God’s way of +holiness. Arise and step on to it in the faith of +the promise, fully persuaded that what He hath +promised He is mighty to perform. Bring out of +the inner part of the house all uncleanness; bring +it into the light of God; confess it and cast it at +His feet, who takes it away, and cleanses you in +His blood. Yield yourself in faith to perfect, in +Christ your Strength, the Holiness to which you are +called. As your Father in heaven is perfect, give +yourself to Him as a little child to be perfect too in +your daily lessons and your daily walk. Believe +that your surrender is accepted: that the charge +committed to Him is undertaken. And give glory +to Him who is able to do above what you can ask +or think.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p><a name="png.216" id="png.216"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">217</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Holy Lord Jesus! Thou didst give Thyself for us, +that, having cleansed us for Thyself as Thine own, +Thou mightest sanctify us and present us to Thyself +a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or +any such thing. Blessed be Thy Name for the +wonderful love. Blessed be Thy Name for the +wonderful cleansing. Through the washing by the +word and the washing in the blood, Thou hast made +us clean every whit. And as we walk in the light, +Thou cleansest every moment.</p> + +<p>With these promises, in the power of Thy word +and blood, Thou callest us to cleanse ourselves from +all defilement of flesh and spirit. Blessed Lord! +graciously reveal in Thy Holy Light all that is defilement, +even its most secret working. Let me live as +one who is to be presented to Thee without spot or +wrinkle or any such thing—cleansed with a Divine +cleansing, because Thou gavest Thyself to do it. +Under the living power of Thy word and blood, +applied by the Holy Spirit, let my way be clean, +and my hands clean, my lips clean, and my heart +clean. Cleanse me thoroughly, that I may walk +with Thee in white here on earth, keeping my +garments unspotted and undefiled. For Thy great +love’s sake, my Blessed Lord. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Cleansing has almost always one aim: a cleansed vessel is fit for use. +Spiritual work done for God, with the honest desire that He may through +His Spirit use us, will give urgency to our desire for cleansing. A vessel +not cleansed cannot be used: is not this the reason that there are some workers +God cannot bless?</i></p> + +<p><i>2. <strong>All</strong> defilement: one stain defiles. ‘Let us cleanse ourselves from <strong>all</strong> +defilement.’</i></p> + +<p><i>3. No cleansing without Light. Open the heart for the Light to shine in.</i></p> + +<p><a name="png.217" id="png.217"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">218</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><i>4. No cleansing like fire. Give the defilement over to the fire of His Holiness, +the fire that consumes and purifies. Give it into the death of Jesus, to Jesus +Himself.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. ‘Perfecting holiness in <strong>the fear of God</strong>:’ it is a solemn work. Rejoice +with trembling—work out your salvation with fear and trembling.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. ‘Having these promises,’ it is a blessed work to cleanse ourselves—entering +into the promises, the purity, the love of our Lord. The fear of God need never +hinder the faith in Him. And true faith will never hinder the practical work +of cleansing.</i></p> + +<p><i>7. <strong>If we walk in the light, the blood cleanseth.</strong> The light reveals; we +confess and forsake, and accept the blood; so we cleanse ourselves. Let +there be a very determined purpose to be clean from all defilement, everything +that our Father considers a stain.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.218" id="png.218"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">219</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-fifth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap25.png" width="239" height="29" + alt="Holy and Blameless." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Ye are witnesses, and God also, how <em>holily</em> and justly and +<em>unblameably</em> we behaved ourselves among you that believe.—The +Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward +another, and toward all men, to the end He may stablish your +hearts <em>unblameable in holiness</em> before our God and Father at the +coming of our Lord Jesus with all His <em>holy ones</em>.’—1 <span class="smc">Thess.</span> ii. 10, +iii. 12, 13.</p> + +<p>‘He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that +we should be <em>holy and without blemish</em> before Him <em>in love</em>.’—<span class="smc">Eph.</span> +i. 4.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">There</span> are two Greek words, signifying nearly +the same, used frequently along with the word +holy, and following it, to express what the result +and effect of holiness will be as manifested in the +visible life. The one is translated without blemish, +spotless, and is that also used of our Lord and His +sacrifice, the Lamb without blemish (Heb. ix. 14; +1 Pet. i. 19). It is then used of God’s children +with holy—holy and without blemish (Eph. i. 4, 5, +27; Col. i. 22; Phil. ii. 15; Jude 24; 2 Pet. iii. +14). The other is without blame, faultless (as in +<a name="png.219" id="png.219"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">220</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Luke i. 6; Phil ii. 15, iii. 6), and is also found in +conjunction with holy (1 Thess. ii. 10, iii. 13, v. 23). +In answer to the question as to whether this blamelessness +has reference to God’s estimate of the saints +or men’s, Scripture clearly connects it with both. In +some passages (Eph. i. 4, v. 27; Col. i. 22; 1 Thess. +iii. 15; 2 Pet. iii. 14) the words ‘before Him,’ ‘to Himself,’ +‘before our God and Father,’ indicate that the +first thought is of the spotlessness and faultlessness +in the presence of a Holy God, which is held out to us +as His purpose and our privilege. In others (such as +Phil. ii. 15; 1 Thess. ii. 10), the blamelessness in the +sight of men stands in the foreground. In each case +the word may be considered to include both aspects: +without blemish and without blame must stand the +double test of the judgment of God and man too.</p> + +<p>And what is now the special lesson which this +linking together of these two words in Scripture, +and the exposition of holy by the addition of +blameless, is meant to teach us? A lesson of +deep importance. In the pursuit of holiness, the +believer, the more clearly he realizes what a deep +spiritual blessing it is, to be found only in separation +from the world, and direct fellowship with God, +to be possessed fully only through a real Divine +indwelling, may be in danger of looking too +exclusively to the Divine side of the blessing, in +its heavenly and supernatural aspect. He may +forget how repentance and obedience, as the path +leading up to holiness, must cover every, even the +minutest detail of daily life. He may not understand +<a name="png.220" id="png.220"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">221</span><span class="ns">] + </span>how faithfulness to the leadings of the Spirit, +in such measure as we have Him already, faithfulness +to His faintest whisper in reference to +ordinary conduct, is essential to all fuller experience +of His power and work as the Spirit of holiness. +He may, above all, not have learnt how, not only +obedience to what he knows to be God’s will, +but a very tender and willing teachableness to +receive all that the Spirit has to show him of his +imperfections and the Father’s perfect will concerning +him, is the only condition on which the Holiness +of God can be more fully revealed to us and +in us. And so, while most intent on trying to +discover the secret of true and full holiness from +the Divine side, he may be tolerating faults which +all around him can notice, or remaining,—and that +not without sin, because it comes from the want +of perfect teachableness,—ignorant of graces and +beauties of holiness with which the Father would +have had him adorn the doctrine of holiness before +men. He may seek to live a very holy, and yet +think little of a perfectly blameless life.</p> + +<p>There have been such saints, holy but hard, +holy but distant, holy but sharp in their judgments +of others; holy, but men around said, +unloving and selfish; the half-heathen Samaritan +more kind and self-sacrificing than the holy Levite +and priest. If this be true, it is not the teaching +of Holy Scripture that is to blame. In linking +holy and without blemish (or without blame) so +closely, the Holy Spirit would have led us to seek +<a name="png.221" id="png.221"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">222</span><span class="ns">] + </span>for the embodiment of holiness as a spiritual power +in the blamelessness of practice and of daily life. +Let every believer who rejoices in God’s declaration +that he is holy in Christ seek also to perfect +holiness, reach out after nothing less than to be +‘unblameable in holiness.’</p> + +<p>That this blamelessness has very special reference +to our intercourse with our fellow-men we see from +the way in which it is linked with love. So in +Eph. i. 4, ‘That we should be holy and without +blemish before Him <em>in love</em>.’ But specially in that +remarkable passage: ‘The Lord make you to <em>increase +and abound in love</em> toward one another, and toward +all men, <em>to the end He may establish your hearts +unblameable in holiness</em>.’ The holiness and the +blamelessness, the positive hidden Divine life-principle, +and the external and human life-practice—both +are to find their strength, by which we are to +be established in them, in our abounding and ever-flowing +love.</p> + +<p>Holiness and lovingness—it is of deep importance +that these words should <ins class="TN" title="Transcriber's note: + original reads 'he'">be</ins> inseparably linked +in our minds, as their reality in our lives. We +have seen, in the study of the holiness of God, how +love is the element in which it dwells and works, +drawing to itself and making like itself all that it +can get possession of. Of the fire of Divine holiness +love is the beautiful flame, reaching out to +communicate itself and assimilate to itself all it can +lay hold of. In God’s children true holiness is the +same; the Divine fire burns to bring into its own +<a name="png.222" id="png.222"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">223</span><span class="ns">] + </span>blessedness all that comes within its reach. When +Jesus sanctified Himself that we might be sanctified +in truth, that was nothing but love giving itself +to the death that the sinful might share His holiness. +Selfishness and holiness are irreconcilable. +Ignorance may think of sanctity as a beautiful +garment with which to adorn itself before God, +while underneath there is a selfish pride saying, ‘I +am holier than thou,’ and quite content that the +other should want what it boasts of. True holiness, +on the contrary, is the expulsion and the death of +selfishness, taking possession of heart and life to be +the ministers of that fire of love that consumes +itself, to reach and purify and save others. Holiness +is love. Abounding love is what Paul prays +for as the condition of unblameable holiness. It +is as <em>the Lord makes</em> us to increase and abound in +love, that <em>He can establish</em> our hearts unblameable +in holiness.</p> + +<p>The Apostle speaks of a twofold love, ‘love toward +each other, and toward all men.’ Love to the +brethren was what our Lord Himself enjoined as +the chief mark of discipleship. And He prayed the +Father for it as the chief proof to the world of the +truth of His Divine mission. It is in the holiness +of love, in a loving holiness, that the unity of the +body will be proved and promoted, and prepared for +the fuller workings of the Holy Spirit. In the +Epistles to the Corinthians and Galatians, division +and distance among believers are named as the sure +proof of the life of self and the flesh. Oh, let us, +<a name="png.223" id="png.223"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">224</span><span class="ns">] + </span>if we would be holy, begin by being very gentle, +and patient, and forgiving, and kind, and generous +in our intercourse with all the Father’s children. +Let us study the Divine image of the love that +seeketh not its own, and pray unceasingly that the +Lord may make us to abound in love to each other. +The holiest will be the humblest and most self-forgetting, +the gentlest and most self-denying, the +kindest and most thoughtful of others for Jesus’ +sake. ‘Put on therefore, as God’s elect, <em>holy and +beloved</em>, a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, +meekness, long-suffering’ (Col. iii. 12, 13).</p> + +<p>And then the love toward all men. A love proved +in the conduct and intercourse of daily life. A love +that not only avoids anger and evil temper and +harsh judgments, but exhibits the more positive +virtue of active devotion to the welfare and interests +of all. A charitable love that cares for the bodies as +well as the souls. A love that not only is ready to +help when it is called, but that really gives itself +up to self-denial and self-sacrifice to seek out and +relieve the needs of the most wretched and unworthy. +A love that does indeed take Christ’s love, +that brought Him from heaven and led Him to +choose the cross, as the only law and measure for +its conduct, and makes everything subordinate to +the Godlike blessedness of giving, of doing good, of +embracing and saving the needy and lost. Thus +abounding in love, we shall be unblameable in +holiness.</p> + +<p>It is in Christ we are holy; of God we are in +<a name="png.224" id="png.224"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">225</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Christ, who is made of God unto us sanctification: +it is in this faith that Paul prays that the Lord, our +Lord Jesus, may make us increase and abound in +love. The Father is the fountain, He is the +channel; the Holy Spirit is the living stream. And +He is our Life, through the Spirit. It is by faith +in Him, by abiding in Him and in His love, by +allowing, in close union with Him, the Spirit to shed +abroad the love of God, that we shall receive the +answer to our prayer, and shall by Himself be +established unblameable in holiness. Let it be with +us a prayer of faith that changes into praise: +Blessed be the Lord, who will make us increase and +abound in love, and will establish us unblameable +in holiness before our God and Father, at the +coming of our Lord Jesus with His holy ones.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Gracious God and Father! again do I +thank Thee for that wondrous salvation, through +sanctification of the Spirit, which has made us +holy in Christ. And I thank Thee that the +Spirit can so make us partakers of the life of +Christ, that we too may be unblameable in holiness. +And that it is the Lord Himself who makes us to +increase and abound in love, to the end our hearts +may be so established; that the abounding love and +the unblameable holiness are both from Him.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord and Saviour! I come now to +claim and take as my own, what Thou art able to +<a name="png.225" id="png.225"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">226</span><span class="ns">] + </span>do for me. I am holy only in Thee; in Thee I am +holy. In Thee there is for me the power to abound +in love. O Thou, in whom the fulness of God’s +love abides, and in whom I abide, the Lord, my +Lord, make me to abound in love. In union with +Thee, in the life of faith in which Thou livest in +me, it can be and it shall be. By the teaching of +Thy Holy Spirit lead me in all the footsteps of Thy +self-denying love, that I too may be consumed in +blessing others.</p> + +<p>And thus, Lord! mightily establish my heart to +be unblameable in holiness. Let self perish at Thy +presence. Let Thy Holiness, giving itself to make +the sinner holy, take entire possession, until my +heart and life are sanctified wholly, and my whole +spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless +unto Thy coming. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Let us pray very earnestly that our interest in the study of holiness +may not be a thing of the intellect or the emotions, but of the will and the +life, seen of all men in the daily walk and conversation. ‘Abounding in +love,’ ‘unblameable in holiness,’ will give favour with God and man.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. ‘God is Love;’ Creation is the outflow of love. Redemption is the sacrifice +and the triumph of love. Holiness is the fire of love. The beauty of +the life of Jesus is love. All we enjoy of the Divine we owe to love. Our +holiness is not God’s, is not Christ’s, if we do not love.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. ‘Love seeketh not its own.’ ‘Love never faileth.’ ‘Love is the fulfilling +of the law.’ ‘The greatest of these is love.’ ‘The end of the commandment +is love.’ To love God and man is to be holy. In the intercourse of daily +life, holiness can have its simple and sweet beginnings and its exercise; so, +in its highest attainment, holiness is love made perfect.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Faith has all its worth from love, from the love of God, whence it draws +and drinks, and the love to God and man which streams out of it. Let us be +strong in faith, then shall we abound in love.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. ‘The love of God hath been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost +which was given unto us.’ Let this be our confidence.</i></p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.226" id="png.226"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">227</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-sixth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap26.png" width="290" height="29" + alt="Holiness and the Will of God." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘This is <em>the will of God</em>, even your <em>sanctification</em>.’—1 <span class="smc">Thess.</span> +iv. 3.</p> + +<p>‘Lo, I am come to do <em>Thy will</em>. By <em>which will</em> we have been +<em>sanctified</em>, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once +for all.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> x. 9, 10.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">In</span> the will of God we have the union of His +Wisdom and Power. The Wisdom decides and +declares what is to be: the Power secures the performance. +The declarative will is only one side; its +complement, the executive will, is the living energy +in which everything good has its origin and existence. +So long as we only look at the will of God +in the former light, as law, we feel it a burden, +because we have not the power to perform—it is too +high for us. When faith looks to the Power that +works in God’s will, and carries it out, it has the +courage to accept it and fulfil it, because it knows +God Himself is working it out. The surrender in +faith to the Divine will as Wisdom thus becomes the +pathway to the experience of it as a Power. ‘He +<a name="png.227" id="png.227"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">228</span><span class="ns">] + </span>doeth according to His will,’ is then the language not +only of forced submission, but of joyful expectation.</p> + +<p>‘This is the will of God, your sanctification.’ In +the ordinary acceptation of these words, they simply +mean that among many other things that God has +willed, sanctification is one; it is something in accordance +with His will. This thought contains teaching +of great value. God very distinctly and definitely +has willed your sanctification: your sanctification +has its source and certainty in its being God’s will. +We are ‘elect in sanctification of the Spirit,’ ‘chosen +to be holy;’ the purpose of God’s will from eternity, +and His will now, is our sanctification. We have +only to think of what we said of God’s will being a +Divine power that works out what His wisdom has +chosen, to see what strength this truth will give to +our faith that we shall be holy: God wills it, and +will work it out for all and in all who do not resist +it, but yield themselves to its power. Seek your +sanctification, not only in the will of God, as a +declaration of what He wants you to be, but as +a revelation of what He Himself will work out in +you.</p> + +<p>There is, however, another most precious thought +suggested. If our sanctification be God’s will, its +central thought and its contents, <em>every part of that will</em> +must bear upon it, and the sure entrance to sanctification +will be the hearty acceptance of the will of God +in all things. To be one with God’s will is to be +holy. Let him who would be holy take his place +here and ‘stand in all the will of God.’ He will there +<a name="png.228" id="png.228"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">229</span><span class="ns">] + </span>meet God Himself, and be made partaker of His +Holiness, because His will works out its purpose in +power to each one who yields himself to it. Everything +in a life of holiness depends upon our being in +the right relation to the will of God.</p> + +<p>There are many Christians to whom it appears +impossible to think of their accepting all the will of +God, or of their being one with it. They look upon +the will of God in its thousand commands, and +its numberless providential orderings. They have +sometimes found it so hard to obey one single command, +or to give up willingly to some light disappointment. +They imagine that they would need +to be a thousandfold holier and stronger in grace, +before venturing to say that they do accept all +God’s will, whether to do or to bear. They cannot +understand that all the difficulty comes from their +not occupying the right standpoint. They are +looking at God’s will as at variance with their +natural will, and they feel that that natural will +will never delight in all God’s will. They forget that +the new man has a renewed will. This new will +delights in the will of God, because it is born of it. +This new will sees the beauty and the glory of God’s +will, and is in harmony with it. If they are indeed +God’s children, the very first impulse of the spirit of +a child is surely to do the will of the Father in +heaven. And they have but to yield themselves +heartily and wholly to this spirit of sonship, and +they need not fear to accept God’s will as theirs.</p> + +<p>The mistake they make is a very serious one. +<a name="png.229" id="png.229"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">230</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Instead of living by faith they judge by feeling, in +which the old nature speaks and rules. It tells +them that God’s will is often a burden too hard to +be borne, and that they never can have the strength +to do it. Faith speaks differently. It reminds us +that God is Love, and that His will is nothing but +Love revealed. It asks if we do not know that there +is nothing more perfect or beautiful in heaven or +earth than the will of God. It shows us how in +our conversion we have already professed to accept +God as Father and Lord. It assures us, above all, +that if we will but definitely and trustingly give +ourselves to that will which is Love, it will as Love +fill our hearts and make us delight in it, and so +become the power that enables us joyfully to do +and to bear. Faith reveals to us that the will of God +is the power of His love, working out its plan in +Divine beauty in each one who wholly yields to it.</p> + +<p>And which shall we now choose? And where +shall we take our place? Shall we attempt to accept +Christ as a Saviour without accepting His will? Shall +we profess to be the Father’s children, and yet spend +our life in debating how much of His will we shall +perform? Shall we be content to go on from day +to day with the painful consciousness that our will +is not in harmony with God’s will? Or shall we not +at once and for ever give up our will as sinful to His,—to +that Will which He has already written on our +heart? This is a thing that is possible. It can be +done. In a simple, definite transaction with God, +we can say that we do accept His holy will to be +<a name="png.230" id="png.230"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">231</span><span class="ns">] + </span>ours. Faith knows that God will not pass such a +surrender unnoticed, but accept it. In the trust that +He now takes us up into His will, and undertakes to +breathe it into us, with the love and the power to +perform it—in this faith let us enter into God’s +will, and begin a new life; standing in, abiding in +the very centre of this most holy will.</p> + +<p>Such an acceptance of God’s will prepares the +believer, through the Holy Spirit, to recognise and +know that will in whatever form it comes. The +great difference between the carnal and the spiritual +Christian is that the latter acknowledges God, under +whatever low and poor and human appearances He +manifests Himself. When God comes in trials which +can be traced to no hand but His, he says, ‘Thy will +be done.’ When trials come through the weakness +of men or his own folly, when circumstances appear +unfavourable to his religious progress, and temptations +threaten to be too much for him and to overcome +him, he learns first of all to see God in everything, +and still to say, ‘Thy will be done.’ He knows that +a child of God cannot possibly be in any situation +without the will of His Heavenly Father, even when +that will has been to leave him to his own wilfulness +for a time, or to suffer the consequences of his own +or others’ sin. He sees this, and in accepting his +circumstances as the will of God to try and prove him, +he is in the right position for now knowing and doing +what is right. Seeing and honouring God’s will thus +in everything, he learns always to abide in that will.</p> + +<p>He does so also by doing that will. As his +<a name="png.231" id="png.231"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">232</span><span class="ns">] + </span>spiritual discernment grows to say of whatever +happens, ‘All things are of God,’ so he grows too +in wisdom and spiritual understanding to know the +will of God as it is to be done. In the indications +of conscience and of Providence, in the teaching of +the word and the Spirit, he learns to see how God’s +will has reference to every part and duty of life, and +it becomes his joy, in all things, to live, ‘doing the +will of God from the heart, as unto the Lord and not +unto men.’ ‘Labouring fervently in prayer to stand +complete and fully assured in all the will of God,’ +he finds how blessedly the Father has accepted his +surrender, and supplies all the light and strength +that is needed that His will may be done by him +on earth as it is in heaven.</p> + +<p>Let me ask every reader to say to a Holy God, +whether he has indeed given himself to Him to be +made holy? Whether he has accepted, and entered +into, and is living in, the good and perfect will of +God? The question is not, whether, when affliction +comes, he accepts the inevitable and submits to a +will he cannot resist. But whether he has chosen +the will of God as his chief good, and has taken the +life-principle of Christ to be his: ‘I delight to do +Thy will, O God.’ This was the holiness of Christ, +in which He sanctified Himself and us, the doing +God’s will. ‘In which will we have been sanctified.’ +It is this will of God which is our +sanctification.</p> + +<p>Brother! are you in earnest to be holy? wholly +possessed of God? Here is the path. I plead with +<a name="png.232" id="png.232"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">233</span><span class="ns">] + </span>you not to be afraid or to hold back. You have +taken God to be your God; have you really taken +His will to be your will? Oh, think of the privilege, +the blessedness, of having one will with God! and +fear not to surrender yourself to it most unreservedly. +The will of God is, in every part of it, +and in all its Divine power, your sanctification.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Blessed Father! I come to say that I see that +Thy will is my sanctification, and there alone I +would seek it. Graciously grant that, by Thy Holy +Spirit which dwelleth in me, the glory of that will, +and the blessedness of abiding in it, may be fully +revealed to me.</p> + +<p>Teach me to know it as the Will of Love, purposing +always what is the very best and most blest +for Thy child. Teach me to know it as the Will of +Omnipotence, able to work out its every counsel in +me. Teach me to know it in Christ, fulfilled perfectly +on my behalf. Teach me to know it as what the +Spirit wills and works in each one who yields to Him.</p> + +<p>O my Father! I acknowledge Thy claim to have +Thy will alone done, and am here for it to do with +me as Thou pleasest. With my whole heart I enter +into it, to be one with it for ever. Thy Holy Spirit +can maintain this oneness without interruption. I +trust Thee, my Father, step by step, to let the light +of Thy will shine in my heart and on my path, +through that Spirit.</p> + +<p><a name="png.233" id="png.233"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">234</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>May this be the holiness in which I live, that I +forget and lose self in pleasing and honouring Thee. +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. Make it a study, in meditation and prayer and worship, to get a full +impression of the Majesty, the Perfection, the Glory of the Will of God, with +the privilege and possibility of living in it.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Study it, too, as the expression of an infinite Love and Fatherliness; its +every manifestation full of loving-kindness. Every providence is <strong>God’s will</strong>; +whatever happens, meet God in it in humble worship. Every precept is +<strong>God’s will</strong>; meet God in it with loving obedience. Every promise is <strong>God’s +will</strong>; meet God in it with full trust. A life in the will of God is rest and +strength and blessing.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. And forget not, above all, to believe in its Omnipotent Power. <strong>He worketh +all things after the counsel of His will.</strong> In nature and those who resist +Him, without their consent. In His children, according to their faith, and as +far as they will it. Do believe that the will of God will work out its counsel in +you, as you trust it to do so.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. This will is Infinite Benevolence and Beneficence revealed in the self-sacrifice +of Jesus. Live for others: so can you become an instrument for the +Divine will to use (Matt. xviii. 14; John vi. 39, 40). Yield yourselves to this +redeeming will of God, that it may get full possession, and work out through +you too its saving purpose.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. Christ is just the embodiment of God’s will: He is, God’s will done. +Abide in Him, by abiding in, by doing heartily and always, the will of God. A +Christian is, like Christ, a man given up to the Will of God.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.234" id="png.234"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">235</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-seventh Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap27.png" width="250" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Service." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘If a man therefore cleanse himself from these, he shall be a +vessel unto honour, <em>sanctified</em>, meet <em>for the Master’s use</em>, prepared +<em>unto every good work</em>.’—2 <span class="smc">Tim.</span> ii. 21.</p> + +<p>‘A <em>holy</em> priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. A <em>holy</em> +nation, that ye may <em>show forth the excellences of Him</em> who +called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.’—1 <span class="smc">Pet.</span> +ii. 5, 9.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">Through</span> the whole of Scripture we have +seen that whatever God sanctifies is to be +used in the service of His Holiness. His Holiness +is an infinite energy that only finds its +rest in making holy: to the revelation of what +He is in Himself, ‘I the Lord <em>am holy</em>,’ God +continually adds the declaration of what He +does, ‘I am the Lord that <em>make holy</em>.’ Holiness +is a burning fire that extends itself, that seeks to +consume what is unholy, and to communicate its +own blessedness to all that will receive it. Holiness +and selfishness, holiness and inactivity, holiness and +sloth, holiness and helplessness, are utterly irreconcilable. +<a name="png.235" id="png.235"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">236</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Whatever we read of as holy, was taken +into the service of the Holiness of God.</p> + +<p>Let us just look back on the revelation of what +is holy in Scripture. The seventh day was made +holy, that in it God might make His people holy. +The tabernacle was holy, to serve as a dwelling for +the Holy One, as the centre whence His Holiness +might manifest itself to the people. The altar was +most holy, that it might sanctify the gifts laid on it. +The priests with their garments, the house with its +furniture and vessels, the sacrifices and the blood,—whatever +bore the name of holy had a use and a +purpose. Of Israel, whom God redeemed from Egypt +that they might be a <em>holy</em> nation, God said, ‘Let +my people go, that they may <em>serve</em> me.’ The holy +angels, the holy prophets and apostles, the holy +Scriptures,—all bore the title as having been sanctified +for the service of God. Our Lord speaks of +Himself ‘as the Son, whom the Father <em>sanctified +and sent</em> into the world.’ And when He says, ‘I +sanctify myself,’ He adds at once the purpose: it is +in the service of the Father and His redeemed ones,—‘that +they themselves may be sanctified in truth.’ +And can it be thought possible, now that God, in +Christ the Holy One, and in the Holy Spirit, is +accomplishing His purpose, and gathering a people +of saints, ‘holy ones,’ ‘made holy in Christ,’ that now +holiness and service would be put asunder? Impossible! +Here first we shall fully realize how +essential they are to each other. Let us try and +grasp their mutual relation. We are only made +<a name="png.236" id="png.236"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">237</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holy that we may serve. We can only serve as we +are holy.</p> + +<p><em>Holiness is essential to effectual service.</em> In the +Old Testament we see degrees of holiness, not only +in the holy places, but as much in the holy persons. +In the nation, the Levites, the priests, and then +the High Priest, there is an advance from step to +step: as in each succeeding stage the circle narrows, +and the service is more direct and entire, so the +holiness required is higher and more distinct. It is +even so in this more spiritual dispensation: the +more of holiness, the greater the fitness for service; +the more there is of true holiness, the more there is +of God, and the more true and deep is the entrance +He has had into the soul. The hold He has on the +soul to use it in His service is more complete.</p> + +<p>In the Church of Christ there is a vast amount +of work done which yields very little fruit. Many +throw themselves into work in whom there is but +little true holiness, little of the Holy Spirit. They +often work most diligently, and, as far as human +influence is concerned, most successfully. And yet +true spiritual results in the building up of a holy +temple in the Lord are but few. The Lord cannot +work in them, because He has not the mastery of +their inner life. His personal indwelling and fellowship, +the rest of His Holy Presence, His Holiness +reigning and ruling in the heart and life,—to all these +they are comparative strangers. It has been rightly +said that work is the cure for spiritual poverty and +disease; to some believers who had been seeking +<a name="png.237" id="png.237"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">238</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holiness apart from service, the call to work has +been an unspeakable blessing. But to many it has +only been an additional blind to cover up the +terrible want of heart-holiness and heart-fellowship +with the living God. They have thrown themselves +into work more earnestly than ever, and yet have +not in their heart the rest-giving and refreshing +witness that their work is acceptable and accepted.</p> + +<p>My brother! listen to the message. ‘If a man +<em>cleanse</em> himself, he shall be a vessel unto honour, +<em>sanctified</em>, <em>meet</em> for the Master’s use, <em>prepared</em> unto +every good work.’ You cannot have the law of +service more clearly or beautifully laid down. A +vessel of honour, one whom the King will delight +to honour, must be a vessel <em>cleansed</em> from all +defilement of flesh and spirit. Then only can it +be a <em>sanctified</em> vessel, possessed and indwelt by +God’s Holy Spirit. So it becomes <em>meet for the +Master’s use</em>. He can use it, and work in it, and +wield it. And so, clean and holy, and yielded into +the Master’s hands, we are Divinely prepared for +every good work. Holiness is essential to service. +If service is to be acceptable to God, and effectual +for its work on souls, and to be a joy and a strength +to ourselves, we must be holy. The will of God +must first live in us, if it is to be done by us.</p> + +<p>How many faithful workers there are, mourning +the want of power; longing and praying for it, and +yet not obtaining it! They have spent their strength +more in the outer court of work and service, than +in the inner life of fellowship and faith. They +<a name="png.238" id="png.238"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">239</span><span class="ns">] + </span>truly have never understood that only as the Master +gets possession of them, as the Holy Spirit has them +at His disposal, can He use them, can they have +true power. They often long and cry for what +they call a baptism of power. They forget that the +way to have God’s power in us is for ourselves to +be in His power. Put yourself into the power of +God; let His holy will live in you; live in it and in +obedience to it, as one who has no power to dispose +of himself; let the Holy Spirit dwell within, as in +His Holy Temple, revealing the Holy One on the +throne, ruling all; He will without fail use you as a +vessel of honour, sanctified and meet for the Master’s +use. Holiness is essential to effectual service.</p> + +<p><em>And service is no less essential to true holiness.</em> +We have repeated it so often: Holiness is an energy, +an intense energy of desire and self-sacrifice, to make +others partakers of its own purity and perfection. +Christ sacrificed Himself—wherein did that sacrifice +consist, and what was its aim? He sanctified Himself +that we might be sanctified too. A holiness +that is selfish is a delusion. True holiness, God’s +holiness in us, works itself out in love, in seeking +and loving the unholy, that they may become +holy too. Self-sacrificing love is of the very essence +of holiness. The Holy One of Israel is its +Redeemer. The Holy One of God is the dying +Saviour. The Holy Spirit of God makes holy. +There is no holiness in God but what is most +actively engaged in loving and saving and blessing. +It must be so in us too. Let every thought of holiness, +<a name="png.239" id="png.239"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">240</span><span class="ns">] + </span>every act of faith or prayer, every effort in +pursuit of it, be animated by the desire and the +surrender to the Holiness of God for use in the +attaining of its object. Let your whole life be one +distinctly and definitely given up to God for His +use and service. Your circumstances may appear +to be unfavourable. God may appear to keep the +door closed against your working for Him in the +way you would wish; your sense of unfitness +may be painful. Still, let it be a matter settled +between God and the soul, that your longing for +holiness is that you may be fitter for Him to use, +and that what He has given you of His Holiness +in Christ and the Spirit is all at His disposal, waiting +to be used. Be ready for Him to use; live +out, in a daily life of humble, self-denying, loving +service of others, what grace you have received. +You will find that in the union and interchange of +worship and work, God’s Holiness will rest upon +you.</p> + +<p>‘The Father <em>sanctified</em> the Son, <em>and sent</em> Him +into the world.’ The world is the place for the +sanctified one, to be its light, its salt, its life. We +are ‘sanctified in Christ Jesus,’ and sent into the +world too. Oh, let us not fear to accept our position—our +double position; in the world, and in Christ! +In the world, with its sin and sorrow, with its +thousands of needs touching us at every point, and +its millions of souls all waiting for us. And +in Christ too. For the sake of that world we ‘have +been sanctified in Christ,’ we are ‘holy in Christ,’ +<a name="png.240" id="png.240"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">241</span><span class="ns">] + </span>we have ‘the spirit of sanctification’ dwelling in +us. As a holy salt in a sinful world, let us give +ourselves to our holy calling. Let us come nearer +and nearer to God who has called us. Let us root +deeper and deeper in Christ our sanctification, in +whom we are of God. Let us enter more firmly +and more fully into that faith in Him in whom we +are, by which our whole life will be covered and +taken up in His. Let us beseech the Father to +teach us that His Holy Spirit does dwell in us every +moment, making, if we live by faith, Christ with +His Holiness, our home, our abode, our sure defence, +and our infinite supply. As He which hath called +us is holy, let us be holy in His own Son, through +His own Spirit, and the fire of His Holy Love will +work through us its work of judging and condemning, +of saving and sanctifying. A sanctified soul God +will use to save.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Blessed Master! I thank Thee for being anew +reminded of the purpose of Thy Redeeming Love. +Thou gavest Thyself that Thou mightest cleanse +for Thyself a people of Thine own, zealous in good +works. Thou wouldest make of each of us a vessel of +honour, cleansed and sanctified, meet for Thy use, +and prepared for every good work.</p> + +<p>Blessed Lord! write the lessons of Thy word deep +in my heart. Teach me and all Thy people that if +we would work for Thee, if we would have Thee +<a name="png.241" id="png.241"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">242</span><span class="ns">] + </span>work in us, and use us, we must be very holy, holy +as God is holy. And that if we would be holy, we +must be serving Thee. It is Thy own Spirit, by +which Thou dost sanctify us to use us, and dost +sanctify in using. To be entirely possessed of Thee +is the path to sanctity and service both.</p> + +<p>Most Holy Saviour! we are in Thee as our +sanctification: in Thee we would abide. In the +rest of a faith that trusts Thee for all, in the power +of a surrender that would have no will but Thine, +in a love that would lose itself to be wholly Thine, +Blessed Jesus, we do abide in Thee. In Thee we +are holy: in Thee we shall bear much fruit.</p> + +<p>Oh, be pleased to perfect Thine own work in us! +Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. It is difficult to make it clear in words how growth in holiness will simply +reveal itself as an increasing simplicity and self-forgetfulness, accompanied +by the restful and most blessed assurance that God has complete possession +of us and will use us. We pass from the stage in which work presses as an +obligation; it becomes the joy of fruit-bearing; faith’s assurance that He is +working out His will through us.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. It has sometimes been said that people might be better employed in +working for God than attending Holiness Conventions. This is surely a misunderstanding. +It was before the throne of the Thrice Holy One, and as he +heard the Seraphim sing of God’s Holiness, that the prophet said, ‘Here am +I, send me.’ As the mission of Moses, and Isaiah, and the Son, whom the +Father <strong>sanctified and sent</strong>, each had its origin in the revelation of God’s +Holiness, our missions will receive new power as they are more directly born +out of the worship of God as the Holy One, and baptized into the Spirit of +Holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Let every worker take time to hear God’s double call. If you would work, +be very holy. If you would be holy, give yourself to God to use in His work.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Note the connection between ‘sanctified’ and ‘meet for <strong>the Master’s +use</strong>.’ True holiness is being possessed of God; true service being used of God. +How much service there is in which we are the chief agents, and ask God to +help and to bless us. True service is being yielded up to the Master <strong>for Him +to use</strong>. Then the Holy Ghost is the Agent, and we are the Instruments of His +will. Such service is Holiness.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. ‘I sanctify <strong>Myself</strong>, that <strong>they also</strong>:’ a reference to others is the root +principle of all true holiness.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.242" id="png.242"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">243</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-eighth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap28.png" width="293" height="29" + alt="The Way into the Holiest." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into <em>the +Holiest</em> by <em>the blood</em> of Jesus, by <em>the way</em> which He dedicated, +a new and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh: +and having a <em>great Priest</em> over the house of God; let us draw +near with a true heart, in fulness of faith.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> x. 19–22.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">When</span> the High Priest once a year entered +into the second tabernacle within the veil, +it was, we are told in the Epistle to the Hebrews, +‘the Holy Ghost signifying that the way into <em>the +Holiest of all</em> was not yet made manifest.’ When +Christ died, the veil was rent; all who were +serving in the holy place had free access at once +into the Most Holy; the way into the Holiest of +all was opened up. When the Epistle passes over +to its practical application (x. 19), all its teaching +is summed up in the words: ‘Having therefore, +brethren, boldness to enter into <em>the Holiest</em>, let +us draw near.’ Christ’s redemption has opened +the way to the Holiest of all: our acceptance of it +must lead to nothing less than our drawing near +<a name="png.243" id="png.243"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">244</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and entering in. The words of our text suggest +to us four very precious thoughts in regard to the +place of access, the right of access, the way of +access, the power of access.</p> + +<p><i>The place of access.</i> Whither are we invited to +draw nigh? ‘Having boldness to enter into <em>the +Holiest</em>.’ The priests in Israel might enter the +holy place, but were always kept excluded from the +Holiest, God’s immediate presence. The rent veil +proclaimed liberty of access into that Presence. It +is there that believers as a royal priesthood are +now to live and walk. Within the veil, in the very +Holiest of all, in the same place, the heavenlies, in +which God dwells, in God’s very Presence, is to be +our abode—our home. Some speak as if the, +‘Let us draw near,’ meant prayer, and that in our +special approach to God in acts of worship we +enter the Holiest. No; great as this privilege +is, God has meant something for us infinitely +greater. We are to draw near, and dwell always, +to live our life and do our work within the sphere, +the atmosphere, of the inner sanctuary. It is +God’s Presence makes holy ground; God’s immediate +Presence in Christ makes any place the +Holiest of all: and this is it into which we are to +draw nigh, and in which we are to abide. There +is not a single moment of the day, there is not +a circumstance or surrounding, in which the believer +may not be kept dwelling in the secret place +of the Most High. As by faith he enters into the +completeness of his reconciliation with God, and +<a name="png.244" id="png.244"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">245</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the reality of his oneness with Christ, as he thus, +abiding in Christ, yields to the Holy Spirit to +reveal within the Presence of the Holy One, the +Holiest of all is around him, he is indeed in it. +With an uninterrupted access he draws near.<sup><a name="fna.13" id="fna.13" + href="#fn.13">13</a></sup></p> + +<p><i>The right of access.</i> The thought comes up, and +the question is asked: Is this not simply an ideal? +can it be a reality, an experience in daily life to +those who know how sinful their nature is? +Blessed be God! it is meant to be. It is possible, +because our right of access rests not in what we +are, but in the blood of Jesus. ‘Having <em>boldness</em> +to enter into the Holiest <em>by the blood</em> of Jesus, +let us draw near.’ In the Passover we saw how +redemption, and the holiness it aimed at, were dependent +on the blood. In the sanctuary, God’s +dwelling, we know how in each part, the court, +the holy place, the Most Holy, the sprinkling of +blood was what alone secured access to God. And +now that the blood of Jesus has been shed—oh! in +what Divine power, what intense reality, what +everlasting efficacy, we now have access into the +Holiest of all, the Most Holy of God’s heart and +His love! We are indeed brought nigh by the +blood. We have boldness to enter by the blood. +‘The worshippers, being once cleansed, have no +more conscience of sins.’ Walking in the light, +<a name="png.245" id="png.245"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">246</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the blood of Jesus cleanses in the power of an +endless life, with a cleansing that never ceases. +No consciousness of unworthiness or remaining +sinfulness need hinder the boldness of access: the +liberty to draw near rests in the never-failing, ever-acting, +ever-living efficacy of the Precious Blood. It +is possible for a believer to dwell in the Holiest of all.</p> + +<p><i>The way of access.</i> It is often thought that +what is said of <em>the new and living way</em>, dedicated +for us by Jesus, means nothing different from the +boldness through His blood. This is not the case. +The words mean a great deal more. ‘Having +boldness <em>by the blood</em> of Jesus, let us draw near +<em>by the way</em> which He dedicated for us.’ That is, +He opened for us a way to walk in, as He walked +in it, ‘a new and living way, through the veil, that +is to say, His flesh.’ The way in which Christ +walked when He gave His blood, is the very same +in which we must walk too. That way is the way +of the Cross. There must not only be faith in +Christ’s sacrifice, but fellowship with Him in it. +That way led to the rending of the veil of the flesh, +and so through the rent veil of the flesh, in to God. +And was the veil of Christ’s holy flesh rent that the +veil of our sinful flesh might be spared? Verily, +no. He meant us to walk in the very same way in +which He did, following closely after Himself. He +dedicated for us a new and living way through the +veil, that is, His flesh. As we go in through the +rent veil of <em>His flesh</em>, we find in it at once the +need and the power for our flesh being rent too: +<a name="png.246" id="png.246"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">247</span><span class="ns">] + </span>following Jesus ever means conformity to Jesus. +It is Jesus with the rent flesh, in whom we are, +in whom we walk.<sup><a name="fna.14" id="fna.14" + href="#fn.14">14</a></sup> There is no way to God but +through the rending of the flesh. In acceptance of +Christ’s life and death by faith as the power that +works in us, in the power of the Spirit which +makes us truly one with Christ, we all follow +Christ as He passes on through the rent veil, that is, +His flesh, and become partakers with Him of His +crucifixion and death. The way of the cross, ‘by +which I have been crucified,’ is the way through +the rent veil. Man’s destiny, fellowship with God +in the power of the Holy Spirit, is only reached +through the sacrifice of the flesh.</p> + +<p>And here we find now the solution of a great +mystery—why so many Christians remain standing +afar off, and never enter this Holiest of all; +why the holiness of God’s Presence is so little seen +on them. They thought that it was only in +Christ that the flesh needed to be rent, not in +themselves. They thought that the liberty they +had in the blood was the new and living way. +They knew not that the way into true and full +holiness, into the Holiest of all, that the full +entrance into the fellowship of the holiness of the +Great High Priest, was only to be reached through +<a name="png.247" id="png.247"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">248</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the rent veil of the flesh, through conformity to +the death of Jesus. This is in very deed the way +He dedicated for us. He is Himself the way; +into His self-denial, His self-sacrifice, His crucifixion, +He takes up all who long to be holy with +His Holiness, holy as He is holy.</p> + +<p><i>The power of access.</i> Does any one shrink back +from entering the very Holiest for fear of this +rending of the flesh, because he doubts whether he +could bear it, whether he could indeed walk in such +a path? Let him listen once more. Hear what +follows: ‘And <em>having a Great Priest</em> over the +House of God, let us draw near.’ We have not +only the Holiest of all inviting us, and the blood +giving us boldness, and the way through the rent +veil consecrated for us, but the Great Priest over +the House of God, the Blessed Living Saviour, to +draw, to help, and to welcome us. He is our +Aaron. On His heart we see our name, because +He only lives to think of us, and pray for us. +On His forehead we see God’s name, ‘Holy to +the Lord,’ because in His Holiness the sins of our +holy things are covered. <em>In Him</em> we are accepted +and sanctified; God receives us as holy ones. In +the power of His love and His Spirit, in the power +of Him the Holy One, in the joy of drawing nearer +to Him and being drawn by Him, we gladly accept +the way He has dedicated, and walk in His holy +footsteps of self-denial and self-sacrifice. We see +how the flesh is the thick veil that separates from +the Holy One who is a Spirit, and it becomes an +<a name="png.248" id="png.248"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">249</span><span class="ns">] + </span>unceasing and most fervent prayer, that the crucifixion +of the flesh may, in the power of the Holy +Spirit, be in us a blessed reality. With the glory +of the Holiest of all shining out on us through the +opened veil, and the Precious Blood speaking so +loudly of boldness of access, and the Great Priest +beckoning us with His loving Presence to draw +near and be blessed,—with all this, we dare no +longer fear, but choose the way of the rent veil as +the path we love to tread, and give ourselves to +enter in and dwell within the veil, in the very +Holiest of all.</p> + +<p>And so our life here will be the earnest of the +glory that is to come, as it is written—note how +we have the four great thoughts of our text over +again—‘These are they which came out of great +tribulation,’ that is, by the way of the rent flesh; +‘and they washed their robes, and made them +white in the blood of the Lamb,’ their boldness +through the blood; ‘therefore are they before +the throne of God,’ their dwelling in the Holiest +of all; ‘the Lamb, which is in the midst of the +throne, shall be their Shepherd,’ the Great Priest +still the Shepherd, Jesus Himself their all in all.</p> + +<p>Brother! do you see what holiness is, and how +it is to be found? It is not something wrought in +yourself. It is not something put on you from +without. Holiness is the Presence of God resting +on you. Holiness comes as you consciously abide +in that Presence, doing all your work, and living +all your life as a sacrifice to Him, acceptable +<a name="png.249" id="png.249"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">250</span><span class="ns">] + </span>through Jesus Christ, sanctified by the Holy +Ghost. Oh, be no longer fearful, as if this life +were not for you! Look to Jesus; having a Great +Priest over the House of God, let us draw near. +Be occupied with Jesus. Our Brother has charge +of the Temple; He has liberty to show us all, to +lead us into the secret of the Father’s presence. +The entire management of the Temple has been +given into His hands with this very purpose, that +all the feeble and doubting ones might come with +confidence. Only trust yourself to Jesus, to His +leading and keeping. Only trust Jesus, God’s Holy +One, your Holy One; it is His delight to reveal to +you what He has purchased with His blood. Trust +Him to teach you the ordinances of the sanctuary. +‘That thou mayest know how thou oughtest to +behave thyself in the House of God,’ He has been +given. <em>Having a Great Priest</em>, let us enter in, let +us dwell in the Holiest of all. In the power of +the blood, in the power of the new and living way, +in the power of the Living Jesus, let the Holiest of +all, the Presence of God, be the home of our soul. +You are ‘Holy in Christ;’ in Christ you are in +God’s Holy Presence and Love; just stay there.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + + +<p>Most Holy God! how shall I praise Thee for the +liberty to enter into the Holiest of all, and dwell +there? And for the precious Blood, that brings us +nigh? And for the new and living way, through +<a name="png.250" id="png.250"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">251</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the rent veil of that flesh which had separated us +from Thee, in which my flesh now too has been +crucified? And for the Great Priest over the +House of God, our Living Lord Jesus, with Whom +and in Whom we appear before Thee? Glory be to +Thy Holy Name for this wonderful and most complete +redemption.</p> + +<p>I beseech Thee, O my God! give me, and all Thy +children, some right sense of how really and surely +we may live each day, may spend our whole life, +within the veil, in Thine own Immediate Presence. +Give us the spirit of revelation, I pray Thee, that +we may see how, through the rent veil, the glory of +Thy Presence streameth forth from the Most Holy +into the holy place; how, in the pouring out of the +Holy Spirit, the kingdom of heaven came to earth, +and all who yield themselves to that Spirit may +know that in Christ they are indeed so near, so +very near to Thee. O Blessed Father! let Thy +Spirit teach us that this indeed is the holy life: a +life in Christ the Holy One, always in the Light +and the Presence of Thy Holy Majesty.</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! I draw nigh. In the power of +the Holy Spirit I enter in. I am now in the Holiest +of all. And here I would abide in Jesus, my Great +Priest—here, in the Holiest of all. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort"> +<p><i>1. To abide in Christ is to dwell in the Holiest of all. Christ is not only the +Sacrifice, and the Way, and the Great Priest, but also Himself the Temple. +‘The Lamb is the Temple.’ As the Holy Spirit reveals my union to Christ +more clearly, and heart and will lose themselves in Him, I dwell in the Holy +Presence, which is the Holiest of all. You are ‘holy in Christ’—draw near, +enter in with boldness, and take possession—have no home but in the Holiest +of all.</i></p> + +<p><a name="png.251" id="png.251"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">252</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span><i>2. ‘Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify +it.’ <strong>He gave Himself!</strong> Have you caught the force of that word? Because +He would have no one else do it, because none could do it; to sanctify His +Church, <strong>He gave Himself</strong> to do it. And so it is His own special beloved +work to sanctify the Church He loved. Just accept Himself to do it. He can +and will make you holy, that He may present you to <strong>Himself</strong> glorious, without +spot or wrinkle. Let that word <strong>Himself</strong> live in you. The whole life and +walk in the House of God is in His charge. <strong>Having</strong> a Great Priest, let us +draw near.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. This entrance into the Holiest of all—an ever fresh and ever deeper +entrance—is, at the same time, an ever blessed resting in the Father’s +Presence. Faith in the blood, following in the way of the rent flesh, and +fellowship with the Living Jesus, are the three chief steps.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. Enter into the Holiest of all, and dwell there. It will enter into thee, +and transform thee, and dwell in thee. And thy heart will be the Holiest of +all, in which He dwells.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. Have we not at times been lifted, by an effort of thought and will, or in +the fellowship of the saints, into what seemed the Holiest of all, and speedily +felt that the flesh had entered there too? It was because we entered not by +the new way of life—the way through death to life—the way of the rent veil +of the flesh. O our crucified Lord! teach us what this means; give it us; be +it Thyself to us.</i></p> + +<p><i>6. Let me remember that my access into the Holiest is as a Priest. Let me +dwell before the Lord all the day as an Intercessor, offering, unceasingly, +pleadings which are acceptable in Christ. May God’s Church be like her of +whom it is written, ‘She departed not from the temple, but served God with +fastings and prayers night and day.’ It is for this we have access to the +Holiest of all.</i></p> + +</div> + + +<hr class="footnote" /> +<div class="footnote pgbrk"> +<p class="ii"><a name="fn.13" id="fn.13" + href="#fna.13">13</a> So near, so very near to God,<br + /><span class="padl">I</span> cannot nearer be;<br + />For in the person of His Son,<br + /><span class="padl">I</span> am as near as He.</p> + +<p class="ii"><a name="fn.14" id="fn.14" + href="#fna.14">14</a> ‘Christ suffered, that He might bring us to God, being put to +death in the flesh, but quickened in the Spirit.’ ‘Forasmuch +then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with +the same mind.’ The flesh and the Spirit are antagonistic: as the +flesh dies, the Spirit lives.</p> + +</div> + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.252" id="png.252"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">253</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Twenty-ninth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap29.png" width="317" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Chastisement." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘He chasteneth us for our profit, that we may be partakers of +<em>His holiness</em>. Follow after <em>sanctification</em>, without which no +man shall see the Lord.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> xii. 10, 14.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">There</span> is perhaps no part of God’s word which +sheds such Divine light upon suffering as the +Epistle to the Hebrews. It does this because it +teaches us what suffering was to the Son of God. +It perfected His humanity. It so fitted Him for +His work as the Compassionate High Priest. It +proved that He, who had fulfilled God’s will in +suffering obedience, was indeed worthy to be its +executor in glory, and to sit down on the right +hand of the Majesty on high. ‘It became God, +in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the +Author of their salvation <em>perfect</em> through <em>sufferings</em>.’ +‘Though He was a Son, yet <em>learned</em> He <em>obedience</em> by +the things which He <em>suffered</em>, and having been +made <em>perfect</em>, became the Author of eternal salvation +to all them that obey Him.’ As He said +<a name="png.253" id="png.253"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">254</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Himself of His suffering, ‘I sanctify myself,’ so we +see here that His sufferings were indeed to Him +the pathway to perfection and holiness.</p> + +<p>What Christ was and won was all for us. The +power which suffering was proved to have in Him +to work out perfection, the power which He imparted +to it in sanctifying Himself through suffering, +is the power of the new life that comes from +Him to us. In the light of His example we can +see, in the faith of His power we too can prove, +that suffering is to God’s child the token of the +Father’s love, and the channel of His richest blessing. +To such faith the apparent mystery of suffering +is seen to be nothing but a Divine need—the +light affliction that works out—yea, <em>works out</em> and +actually effects the exceeding weight of glory. We +agree not only to what is written, ‘It <em>became</em> Him +to make the Author of salvation perfect through +suffering,’ but understand somewhat how Divinely +becoming and meet it is that we too should be +sanctified by suffering.</p> + +<p>‘He chasteneth us for our profit, that we should +be made partakers of His holiness.’ Of all the +precious words Holy Scripture has for the sorrowful, +there is hardly one that leads us more directly and +more deeply into the fulness of blessing that suffering +is meant to bring. It is <em>His Holiness</em>, God’s +own Holiness, we are to be made partakers of. +The Epistle had spoken very clearly of our sanctification +from its Divine side, as wrought out for us, +and to be wrought in us, by Jesus Himself. ‘He +<a name="png.254" id="png.254"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">255</span><span class="ns">] + </span>which sanctifieth and they which are sanctified are +all of one.’ ‘We have been sanctified by the one +offering of Christ.’ In our text we have the other +side, the progressive work by which we are personally +to accept and voluntarily to appropriate this +Divine Holiness. In view of all there is in us that +is at variance with God’s will, and that must be +discovered and broken down, before we understand +what it is to give up our will and delight in God’s; +in view of the personal fellowship of suffering +which alone can lead to the full appreciation of +what Jesus bore and did for us; in view, too, of the +full personal entrance into and satisfaction with +the love of God as our sufficient portion; chastisement +and suffering are indispensable elements in +God’s work of making holy. In these three aspects +we shall see how what the Son needed is what +we need, how what was of such unspeakable +value to the Son will to us be no less rich in +blessing.</p> + +<p><i>Chastisement leads to the acceptance of God’s will.</i> +We have seen how God’s will is our sanctification; +how it is in the will of God Christ has sanctified +us; yea more, how He found the power to sanctify +us in sanctifying Himself by the entire surrender of +His will to God. His ‘I delight to do Thy will’ +derived its worth from His continual ‘Not my +will.’ And wherever God comes with chastisement +or suffering, the very first object He has in view +is, to ask and to work in us union with His own +blessed will, that through it we may have union +<a name="png.255" id="png.255"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">256</span><span class="ns">] + </span>with Himself and His love. He comes in some +one single point in which His will crosses our most +cherished affection or desire, and asks the surrender +of what we will to what He wills. When this is +done willingly and lovingly, He leads the soul on +to see how the claim for the sacrifice in the individual +matter is the assertion of a principle—that +in everything His will is to be our one desire. +Happy the soul to whom affliction is not a series +of single acts of conflict and submission to single +acts of His will, but an entrance into the school +where we prove and approve all the good and +perfect and acceptable will of God.</p> + +<p>It has sometimes appeared, even to God’s children, +as if affliction were not a blessing: it so rouses +the evil nature, and calls forth all the opposition of +the heart against God’s will, that it has brought +the loss of the peace and the piety that once +appeared to reign. Even in such cases it is +working out God’s purpose. ‘That He might +humble thee, to prove thee, to know what was +in thine heart,’ is still His object in leading into +the wilderness. To an extent we are not aware of, +our religion is often selfish and superficial: when +we accept the teaching of chastisement in discovering +the self-will and love of the world which still +prevails, we have learnt one of its first and most +needful lessons.</p> + +<p>This lesson has special difficulty when the trial +does not come direct from God, but through men +or circumstances. In looking at second causes, +<a name="png.256" id="png.256"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">257</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and in seeking for their removal, in the feeling +of indignation or of grief, we often entirely forget +to see God’s will in everything His Providence +allows. As long as we do so, the chastisement is +fruitless; and perhaps only hardens the more. If, +in our study of the pathway of Holiness, there has +been awakened in us the desire to accept and adore, +and stand complete in, <em>all the will</em> of God, let +us in the very first place seek to recognise that will +in everything that comes on us. The sin of him +who vexes us is not God’s will. But it is God’s +will that we should be in that position of difficulty +to be tried and tested. Let our first thought be: +this position of difficulty is my Father’s will for +me: I accept that will as my place now where He +sees it fit to try me. Such acceptance of the trial +is the way to turn it into blessing. It will lead +on to an ever clearer abiding in all the will of God +all the day.</p> + +<p><i>Chastisement leads to the fellowship of God’s Son.</i> +The will of God out of Christ is a law we cannot +fulfil. The will of God in Christ is a life that fills +us. He came in the name of our fallen humanity, +and accepted all God’s will as it rested on us, both +in the demands of the law, and in the consequences +which sin had brought upon man. He gave Himself +entirely to God’s will, whatever it cost Him. +And so He paved for us a way through suffering, +not only through it in the sense of past it and +out of it, but by means and in virtue of it, into the +love and glory of the Father. And it is in the +<a name="png.257" id="png.257"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">258</span><span class="ns">] + </span>power which Christ gives in fellowship with Himself +that we too can love the way of the Cross, as +the best and most blessed way to the Crown. +Scripture says that the will of God is our sanctification, +and also that Christ is our Sanctification. +It is only in Christ that we have the power to +love and rejoice in the will of God. In Him we +have the power. He became our Sanctification +once for all by delighting to do that will; He +becomes our Sanctification in personal experience, +by teaching us to delight to do it. He learned +to do it; He could not become perfect in doing +it otherwise than by suffering. In suffering He +draws nigh; He makes our suffering the fellowship +of His suffering; and in it makes Himself, who was +perfected through suffering, our Sanctification.</p> + +<p>O ye suffering ones! all ye whom the Father is +chastening! come and see Jesus suffering, giving up +His will, being made perfect, sanctifying Himself. +<em>His suffering is the secret of His Holiness, of His +Glory, of His Life.</em> Will you not thank God for +anything that can admit you into the nearer fellowship +of your blessed Lord? Shall we not accept +every trial, great or small, as the call of His love +to be one with Himself in living only for God’s +will. This is Holiness, to be one with Jesus as He +does the will of God, to abide in Jesus who was +made perfect through suffering.</p> + +<p><i>Chastisement leads to the enjoyment of God’s love.</i> +Many a father has been surprised as he made his +first experience of how a child, after being punished +<a name="png.258" id="png.258"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">259</span><span class="ns">] + </span>in love, began to cling to him more tenderly than +before. Even so, while to those who live at a distance +from their Father, the misery in this world appears +to be the one thing that shakes their faith in God’s +Love, it is just through suffering that His children +learn to know the Reality of that Love. The +chastening is so distinctly a father’s prerogative; +it leads so directly to the confession of its needfulness +and its lovingness; it wakens so powerfully +the longing for pardon and comfort and deliverance, +that it does indeed become, strange though +this may seem, one of the surest guides into the +deeper experience of the Divine Love. Chastening +is the school in which the blessed lesson is learnt +that the will of God is all Love, and that Holiness +is the fire of Love, consuming that it may purify, +destroying the dross only that it may assimilate +into its own perfect purity all that yields itself to +the wondrous change.</p> + +<p>‘We know and have believed the love which God +hath in us. God is love: and he that abideth in love +abideth in God, and God in Him.’ Man’s destiny is +fellowship with God, the fellowship, the mutual indwelling +of love. It is only by faith that this Love +of God can be known. And faith can only grow by +exercise, can only thrive in trial: when visible things +fail, its energy is roused to yield itself to be possessed +by the Invisible, by the Divine. Chastisement is +the nurse of faith; one of its chosen attendants, to +lead deeper into the Love of God. This is the new +and living way, the way of the rent flesh in fellowship +<a name="png.259" id="png.259"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">260</span><span class="ns">] + </span>with Jesus leading up into the Holiest of all. +There it is seen how the Justice that will not spare +the child, and the Love that sustains and sanctifies +it, are both one in the Holiness of God.</p> + +<p>0 ye chastened saints! who are so specially being +led in the way that goes through the rent veil of +the flesh, you have boldness to enter in. Draw +near; come and dwell in the Holiest of all. Make +your abode in the Holiest of all: there you are +made partakers of <em>His</em> Holiness. Chastisement is +bringing your heart into unity with God’s Will, +God’s Son, God’s Love. Abide in God’s Will. Abide +in God’s Son. Abide in God’s Love. Dwell, within +the veil, in the Holiest of all.</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! once again I bless Thee for the +wondrous revelation of Thy Holiness. Not only +have I heard Thee speak, ‘I am holy,’ but Thou hast +invited me to fellowship with Thyself: ‘Be holy, as +I am holy.’ Blessed be Thy name! I have heard +more even: ‘I make holy,’ is Thy word of promise, +pledging Thine own Power to work out the purpose +of Thy Love. I do thank Thee for what Thou hast +revealed in Thy Son, in Thy Spirit, in Thy Word, +of the path of Holiness. But how shall I bless +Thee for the lesson of this day, that there is +not a loss or sorrow, not a pain or care, not a +temptation or trial, but Thy love also means it, and +makes it, to be a help in working out the holiness +<a name="png.260" id="png.260"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">261</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of Thy people. Through each Thou drawest to +Thyself, that they may taste how, in accepting Thy +Will of Love, there is blessing and deliverance.</p> + +<p>Blessed Father! Thou knowest how often I +have looked upon the circumstances and the difficulties +of this life as hindrances. Oh, let them +all, in the light of Thy holy purpose to make us +partakers of Thy Holiness, in the light of Thy Will +and Thy Love, from this hour be helps. Let, above +all, the path of Thy Blessed Son, proving how suffering +is the discipline of a Father’s love, and surrender +the secret of holiness, and sacrifice the entrance to the +Holiest of all, be so revealed that in the power of His +Spirit and His grace that path may become mine. +Let even chastening, even the least, be from Thine own +hand, making me partaker of Thy Holiness. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. How wonderful the revelation in the Epistle to the Hebrews of the +holiness and the holy making power of suffering, as seen in the Son of God! +‘He <strong>learned obedience</strong> by the things which He suffered.’ ‘It became God +to make the Author of our salvation <strong>perfect</strong> through suffering, for both He +that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.’ ‘In that He Himself +hath suffered, He is <strong>able to succour</strong>.’ ‘We behold Jesus, because of +the suffering of death, <strong>crowned with glory</strong> and honour.’ Suffering is the +way of the rent veil, the new and living way Jesus walked in and opened +for us. Let all sufferers study this. Let all who are ‘holy in Christ’ here +learn to know the Christ <strong>in whom</strong> they are holy, and the way in which +He sanctified Himself and sanctifies us.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. If we begin by realizing the sympathy of Jesus with us in our suffering, +it will lead us on to what is more: sympathy with Jesus in His suffering, +fellowship with Him to suffer even as He did.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Let suffering and holiness be inseparably linked, as in God’s mind and in +Christ’s person, so in your life through the Spirit. ‘It became God to make +Him perfect through suffering; for both He that sanctifieth and they who are +sanctified are all of one.’ Let <strong>every trial</strong>, small or great, be the touch of +God’s hand, laying hold on you, to lead you to holiness. Give yourself into +that hand.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. ‘Insomuch as ye are partakers of <strong>Christ’s sufferings</strong>, rejoice; for <strong>the +Spirit of glory</strong> and of God resteth on you.’</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.261" id="png.261"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">262</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Thirtieth Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap30.png" width="368" height="29" + alt="The Unction from the Holy One." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘And ye have <em>an anointing from the Holy One</em>, and ye know +all things. And as for you, the anointing which ye received of +Him abideth in you, and ye need not that any one teach you; +but as His anointing teacheth you concerning all things, and is +true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, ye abide in +Him.’—1 <span class="smc">John</span> ii. 20, 27.</p> +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">In</span> the revelation by Moses of God’s Holiness and +His way of making holy, the priests, and +specially the high priests, were the chief expression +of God’s Holiness in man. In the priests themselves, +the holy anointing oil was the one great +symbol of the grace that made holy. Moses was +to make an holy anointing oil: ‘And thou shalt +take of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon +Aaron and upon his sons, and he shall be hallowed, +and his sons with him.’ ‘This shall be an holy +anointing oil unto me. Upon man’s flesh shall it +not be poured; neither shall ye make any other +like it; it is holy, it shall be holy unto you’ (Exod. +xxix. 21, xxx. 25–32). With this the priests, and +<a name="png.262" id="png.262"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">263</span><span class="ns">] + </span>specially the high priests, were to be anointed and +consecrated: ‘He that is the high priest among you, +upon whose head the anointing oil was poured, +shall not go out of the holy place, nor profane the +holy place of his God; for <em>the crown of the anointing +oil of his God</em> is upon him’ (Lev. xxi. 10, 12). +And even so it is said of David, as type of the +Messiah, ‘Our king is <em>of the Holy One of Israel</em>. I +have found David, my servant; with my <em>holy oil</em> +have I anointed him.’</p> + +<p>We know how the Hebrew name <em>Messiah</em>, and +the Greek <em>Christ</em>, has reference to this. So, in the +passage just quoted, the Hebrew is, ‘with my holy +oil I have <em>messiahed</em> him.’ And so in a passage +like Acts x. 38: ‘Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, +whom God <em>christed</em> with the Holy Ghost and with +power.’ Or Ps. xlv.: ‘God hath <em>messiahed</em> thee with +the oil of gladness above thy fellows;’ in Heb. i. 9, +‘Thy God hath <em>christed</em> thee with the oil of gladness.’ +And so (as one of our Reformed Catechisms, the +Heidelberg, has it, in answer to the question, Why +art thou called a Christian?) we are called Christians, +because we are fellow-partakers with Him of His +christing, His anointing. This is the anointing of +which John speaks, the chrisma or christing of the +Holy One. The Holy Spirit is the holy anointing +which every believer receives: what God did to His +Son to make Him the Christ, He does to me to make +me a Christian. ‘Ye have the anointing of the +Holy One.’</p> + +<p>1. <cite>Ye have an anointing from the Holy One.</cite> It +<a name="png.263" id="png.263"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">264</span><span class="ns">] + </span>is as the Holy One that the Father gives the +anointing: that wherewith He anoints is called +the oil of holiness, the Holy Spirit. Holiness is +indeed a Divine ointment. Just as there is nothing +so subtle and penetrating as the odour with which +the ointment fills a house, so holiness is an indescribable, +all-pervading breath of heavenliness which +pervades the man on whom the anointing rests. +Holiness does not consist in certain actions: this +is righteousness. Holiness is the unseen and yet +manifest presence of the Holy One resting on His +anointed. Direct from the Holy One, the anointing +is alone received, or rather, only in the abiding fellowship +with Him in Christ, who is the Holy One of God.</p> + +<p>And who receives it? Only he who has given himself +entirely to be holy as God is holy. It was the +priest, who was separated to be holy to the Lord, +who received the anointing: upon other men’s flesh +it was not to be poured. How many would fain have +the precious ointment for the sake of its perfume to +themselves! No, only he who is wholly consecrated +to the service of the Holy One, to the work of the +sanctuary, may receive it. If any one had said: I +would fain have the anointing, but not be made a +priest; I am not ready to go and always be at the +call of sinners seeking their God, he could have no +share in it. Holiness is the energy that only lives +to make holy, and to bless in so doing: the anointing +of the Holy One is for the priest, the servant +of God Most High. It is only in the intensity of a +soul truly roused and given up to God’s glory, God’s +<a name="png.264" id="png.264"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">265</span><span class="ns">] + </span>kingdom, God’s work, that holiness becomes a reality. +The holy garments were only prepared for priests +and their service. In all our seekings after holiness, +let us remember this. As we beware of the +error of thinking that work for Christ will make +holy, let us also watch against the other, the straining +after holiness without work. It is the priest +who is set apart for the service of the holy place +and the Holy One, it is the believer who is ready +to live and die that the Holiness of God may +triumph among men around him, who will receive +the anointing.</p> + +<p>2. ‘<cite>The anointing teacheth you.</cite>’ The new man is +created in <em>knowledge</em>, as well as in righteousness and +holiness. Christ is made to us <em>wisdom</em>, as well as +righteousness and sanctification. God’s service and +our holiness are above all to be a free and full, +an intelligent and most willing, approval of His +blessed will. And so the anointing, to fit us for +the service of the sanctuary, teaches us to know all +things. Just as the perfume of the ointment is the +most subtle essence, something that has never yet +been found or felt, except as it is smelt, so the +spiritual faculty which the anointing gives is the +most subtle there can be. It makes ‘quick of +scent in the fear of the Lord:’ it teaches us by a +Divine instinct, by which the anointed one recognises +what has the heavenly fragrance in it, and +what is of earth. It is the anointing that makes +the Word and the name of Jesus in the Word to +be indeed as ointment poured forth.</p> + +<p><a name="png.265" id="png.265"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">266</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>The great mark of the anointing is thus, teachableness. +It is the great mark of Christ, the Holy +One of God, the Anointed One, that He listens: +‘I speak not of myself; as I hear, so I speak.’ +And so it is of the Holy Spirit too: ‘He shall not +speak out of Himself: whatsoever He shall hear, +that shall He speak.’ It cannot be otherwise: one +anointed with the anointing of this Christ, with this +Holy Spirit, will be teachable, will listen to be +taught. ‘The anointing teacheth.’ ‘And ye need +not that any one teach you: but the anointing +teacheth you concerning all things.’ ‘They shall +be all taught of God,’ includes every believer. The +secret of true holiness is a very direct and personal +relation to the Holy One: all the teaching through +the word or men made entirely dependent on and +subordinate to the personal teaching of the Holy +Ghost. The teaching comes through the anointing. +Not, in the first place, in the thoughts or feelings, +but in that all-pervading fragrance which comes +from the fresh oil having penetrated the whole +inner man.</p> + +<p>3. ‘<cite>And the anointing abideth in you.</cite>’ ‘<em>In you.</em>’ +In the spiritual life it is of deep importance ever +to maintain the harmony between the objective and +the subjective: God in Christ above me, God in the +Spirit within me. In us, not as in a locality, but <em>in +us</em>, as one with us, entering into the most secret part +of our being, and pervading all, dwelling in our very +body, the anointing abideth <em>in us</em>, forming part of +our very selves. And this just in proportion as we +<a name="png.266" id="png.266"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">267</span><span class="ns">] + </span>know it and yield ourselves to it, as we wait and +are still to let the secret fragrance permeate our +whole being. And this, again, not interruptedly, +but as a continuous and unvarying experience. +Above circumstances and feelings, ‘the anointing +abideth.’ Not, indeed, as a fixed state or as something +in our own possession; but, according to the +law of the new life, in the dependence of faith on +the Holy One, and in the fellowship of Jesus. ‘I +am anointed with fresh oil,’—this is the objective +side; every new morning the believer waits for the +renewal of the Divine gift from the Father. ‘The +anointing abideth in you,’—this is the subjective +side; the holy life, the life of faith and fellowship, +the anointing, is always, from moment to moment, a +spiritual reality. The holy anointing oil, always +fresh, the anointing abiding always, is the secret of +holiness.</p> + +<p>4. ‘<cite>And even as it taught you, ye abide in Him.</cite>’ +Here we have again the Holy Trinity: the Holy +One, from whom the holy anointing comes; the +Holy Spirit, who is Himself the anointing; and +Christ, the Holy One of God, in whom the anointing +teaches us to abide. In Christ the unseen +holiness of God was set before us, and brought +nigh: it became human, vested in a human nature, +that it might be communicated to us. Within us +dwells and works the Holy Spirit, drawing us out +to the Christ of God, uniting us in heart and will +to Him, revealing Him, forming Him within us, so +that His likeness and mind are embodied in us. It +<a name="png.267" id="png.267"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">268</span><span class="ns">] + </span>is thus we abide in Christ: the holy anointing of +the Holy One teacheth it to us. It is this that is +the test of the true anointing: abiding in Christ, as +He meant it, becomes truth in us. Here is the life +of holiness as the Thrice Holy gives it: the Father, +the first, the Holy One, making holy; the Son, the +second, His Holy One, in whom we are; the Spirit, +the third, who dwells in us, and through whom we +abide in Christ, and Christ in us. Thus it is that +the Thrice Holy makes us holy.</p> + +<p>Let us study the Divine anointing. It comes +from the Holy One. There is no other like it. It +is God’s way of making us holy—His holy priests. +It is God’s way of making us partakers of holiness +in Christ. The anointing, received of Him day by +day, abiding in us, teaching us all things, especially +teaching us to abide in Christ, must be on us +every day. Its subtle, all-pervading power must go +through our whole life: the odour of the ointment +must fill the house. Blessed be God, it can do so! +The anointing that abideth makes the abiding in +Christ a reality and a certainty; and God Himself, +the Holy One, makes the abiding anointing a reality +and a certainty too. To His Holy Name be the +praise!</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be holy, for I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>O Thou, who art the Holy One, I come to Thee +now for the renewed anointing. O Father! this is +the one gift Thy child may most surely count on—the +<a name="png.268" id="png.268"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">269</span><span class="ns">] + </span>gift of Thy Holy Spirit. Grant me now to +sing, ‘Thou anointest my head;’ ‘I am anointed +with fresh oil.’</p> + +<p>I desire to confess with deep shame that Thy +Spirit has been sorely grieved and dishonoured. +How often the fleshly mind has usurped His place +in Thy worship! How much the fleshly will has +sought to do His work! O my Father! let Thy +light shine through me to convince me very +deeply of this. Let Thy judgment come on all +that there is of human willing and running.</p> + +<p>Blessed Father! grant me, according to the +riches of Thy glory, even now to be strengthened +with might by Thy Spirit in the inner man. +Strengthen my faith to believe in Christ for a full +share in His anointing. Oh, teach me day by day +to wait for and receive the anointing with fresh +oil!</p> + +<p>O my Father! draw me and all Thy children to +see that for the abiding in Christ we need the +abiding anointing. Father! we would walk humbly, +in the dependence of faith, counting upon the inner +and ever-abiding anointing. May we so be a sweet +savour of Christ to all. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. I think I know now the reason why at times we fail in the abiding. We +think and read, we listen and pray, we try to believe and strive to look to +Jesus only, and yet we fail. What was wanting was this: ‘His anointing +teacheth you; <strong>even as</strong> it taught you, ye abide in him;’ so far, and no +farther.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. The washing always precedes the anointing: we cannot have the anointing +if we fail in the cleansing. When cleansed and anointed we are fit for +use.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. Would you have the abiding anointing? Yield yourself wholly to be +sanctified and made meet for the Master’s use: dwell in the Holiest of all, in +<a name="png.269" id="png.269"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">270</span><span class="ns">] + </span>God’s presence: accept every chastisement as a fellowship in the way of the +rent flesh: be sure the anointing will flow in union with Jesus. ‘It is like the +precious ointment upon the head of Aaron, that went down to the skirts of his +garments.’</i></p> + +<p><i>4. The anointing is the Divine eye-salve, opening the eyes of the heart to +know Jesus. So it teaches to abide in Him. I am sure most Christians have +no conception of the danger and deceitfulness of a thought religion, with +sweet and precious thoughts coming to us in books and preaching, and little +power. The teaching of the Holy Spirit is in the heart first; man’s teaching +in the mind. Let all our thinking ever lead us to cease from thought, and to +open the heart and will to the Spirit to teach there in His own Divine way, +deeper than thought and feeling. Unseen, within the veil, the Holy Spirit +abideth. Be silent and still, believe and expect, and cling to Jesus.</i></p> + +<p><i>5. Oh that God would visit His Church, and teach His children what it is to +wait for, and receive, and walk in the full anointing, the anointing that +abideth and teacheth to abide! Oh that the truth of the personal leading of +the Holy Spirit in every believer were restored in the Church! He is doing it; +He will do it.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h3 class="chap"><a name="png.270" id="png.270"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">271</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>Thirty-first Day.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h3> + +<h2 class="chap">HOLY IN CHRIST.<br + /><img src="images/chap31.png" width="249" height="29" + alt="Holiness and Heaven." title="" /></h2> + +<div class="epigraph"> +<p>‘Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner +of men ought ye to be in all <em>holy</em> living and +godliness?’—2 <span class="smc">Pet.</span> iii. 11.</p> + +<p>‘Follow after <em>the sanctification</em> without which no man shall +see the Lord.’—<span class="smc">Heb.</span> xii. 14.</p> + +<p>‘He that is <em>holy</em>, let him be made <em>holy</em> still…. The grace +of the Lord Jesus be with the <em>holy ones</em>. Amen.’—<span class="smc">Rev.</span> xxii. +11, 21.</p> + +</div> + + +<p class="chapstart"><span class="start">O my</span> brother, we are on our way to see God. +We have been invited to meet the Holy One +face to face. The infinite mystery of holiness, the +glory of the Invisible God, before which the seraphim +veil their faces, is to be unveiled, to be +revealed to us. And that not as a thing we are +to look upon and to study. But we are to see the +Thrice Holy One, the Living God Himself. God, +the Holy One, will show Himself to us: we are to +see God. Oh, the infinite grace, the inconceivable +blessedness! we are to see God.</p> + +<p><a name="png.271" id="png.271"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">272</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>We are to see God, the Holy One. And all our +schooling here in the life of holiness is simply the +preparation for that meeting and that vision. +‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see +God.’ ‘Follow after the sanctification, without +which no man shall see the Lord.’ Since the time +when God said to Israel, ‘Be ye holy, as I am holy,’ +Holiness was revealed as the only meeting-place +between God and His people. To be holy was to +be the common ground on which they were to +stand with Him; the one attribute in which they +were to be like God; the one thing that was to +prepare them for the glorious time when He +would no longer need to keep them away, but +would admit them to the full fellowship of +His glory, to have the word fulfilled in them: +‘He that is holy, let him be made yet more +holy.’</p> + +<p>In his second epistle, Peter reminds believers +that the coming of the day of the Lord is to be +preceded and accompanied by the most tremendous +catastrophe—the dissolution of the heavens and the +earth. He makes it a plea with them to give diligence +that they may be found without spot and +blameless in His sight. And he asks them to think +and say, under the deep sense of what the coming +of the day of God would be and would bring, what +the life of those ought to be who look for such +things: ‘What manner of person ought ye to be in +all holy living and <ins class="TN" title="Transcriber's note: + original lacks closing quote">godliness?’</ins> Holiness must be +its one, its universal characteristic. At the close +<a name="png.272" id="png.272"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">273</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of our meditations on God’s call to Holiness, we +may take Peter’s question, and in the light of all +that God has revealed of His Holiness, and all that +waits still to be revealed, ask ourselves, ‘What +manner of men ought we to be in all holy living and +godliness?’</p> + +<p>Note first the meaning of the question. In the +original Greek, the words living and godliness are +plural. Alford says, ‘<em>In holy behaviours and pieties</em>; +the plurals mark the holy behaviour and piety <em>in +all its forms and examples</em>.’ Peter would plead for +a life of holiness pervading the whole man: our +behaviours towards men, and our pieties towards +God. True holiness cannot be found in anything +less. Holiness must be the one, the universal +characteristic of our Christian life. In God we +have seen that holiness is the central attribute, the +comprehensive expression for Divine perfection, the +attribute of all the attributes, the all-including +epithet by which He Himself, as Redeemer and +Father, His Son and His Spirit, His Day, His +House, His Law, His Servants, His People, His +Name, are marked and known. Always and in +everything, in Judgment as in Mercy, in His Exaltation +and His Condescension, in His Hiddenness +and His Revelation, always and in everything, +God is the Holy One. And the Word would teach +us that the reign of Holiness, to be true and pleasing +to God, must be supreme, must be in all holy +living and godliness. There must not be a moment +of the day, nor a relation in life; there must be +<a name="png.273" id="png.273"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">274</span><span class="ns">] + </span>nothing in the outer conduct, nor in the inmost +recesses of the heart; there must be nothing belonging +to us, whether in worship or in business, that is +not holy. The Holiness of Jesus, the Holiness +which comes of the Spirit’s anointing, must cover +and pervade all. Nothing, nothing may be excluded, +if we are to be holy; it must be as Peter +said when he spoke of God’s call—holy in all +manner of living; it must be as he says here—‘in +all holy living and godliness.’ To use the +significant language of the Holy Spirit: Everything +must be done, ‘worthily of the holy ones,’ +‘as becometh holy ones’ (Rom. xvi. 3; Eph. +v. 3).</p> + +<p>Note, too, the force of the question. Peter +says, ‘Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for +these things.’ Yes, let us think what that means. +We have been studying, down through the course +of Revelation, the wondrous grace and patience +with which God has made known and made partaker +of His holiness, all in preparation for what +is to come. We have heard God, the Holy One, +calling us, pleading with us, commanding us to be +holy, as He is holy. And we expect to meet Him, +and to dwell through eternity in His Light, holy as +He is holy. It is not a dream; it is a living +reality; we are looking forward to it, as the only +one thing that makes life worth living. We are looking +forward to Love to welcome us, as with the +confidence of childlike love we come as His holy +ones to cry, Holy Father!</p> + +<p><a name="png.274" id="png.274"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">275</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>We have learnt to know Jesus, the Holy One of +God, our Sanctification. We are living in Him, +day by day, as those who are holy in Christ Jesus. +We are drawing on His Holiness without ceasing. +We are walking in that will of God which He did, +and which He enables us to do. And we are looking +forward to meet Him with great joy, ‘when He +shall come to be glorified in the holy ones, and to be +admired in all them that believe.’ We have within +us the Holy Spirit, the Holiness of God in Christ +come down to be at home within us, as the earnest +of our inheritance. He, the Spirit of Holiness, is +secretly transforming us within, sanctifying our +spirit, soul, and body, to be blameless at His coming, +and making us meet for the inheritance of the holy +ones in light. We are looking forward to the time +when He shall have completed His work, when the +body of Christ shall be perfected, and the bride, all +filled and streaming with the life and glory of the +Spirit within her, shall be set with Him on His +throne, even as He sat with the Father on His throne. +We hope through eternity to worship and adore the +mystery of the Thrice Holy One. Even here it fills +our souls with trembling joy and wonder: when +God’s work of making holy is complete, how we +shall join in the song, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God +Almighty, which wast, and art, and art to come!’</p> + +<p>In preparation for all this the most wonderful +events are to take place. The Lord Jesus Himself +is to appear, the power of sin and the world is to +be destroyed; this visible system of things is to be +<a name="png.275" id="png.275"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">276</span><span class="ns">] + </span>broken up; the power of the Spirit is to triumph +through all creation; there is to be a new heaven +and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. +And holiness is then to be unfolded in ever-growing +blessedness and glory in the fellowship of +the Thrice Holy: ‘He that is holy, let him be holy +yet more.’ Surely it but needs the question to be +put for each believer to feel and acknowledge its +force: ‘Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for +these things, what manner of men ought ye to be +in all holy living and godliness?’</p> + +<p>And note now the need and the point of the +question. ‘What manner of persons ought ye to +be?’ But is such a question needed? Can it be +that God’s holy ones, made holy in Christ Jesus, +with the very spirit of holiness dwelling with them, +on the way to meet the Holy One in His Glory +and Love, can it be that they need the question? +Alas! alas! it was so in the time of Peter; it is +but too much so in our days too. Alas! how many +Christians there are to whom the very word Holy, +though it be the name by which the Father, in His +New Testament, loves to call His children more +than any other, is strange and unintelligible. And +again, alas! for how many Christians there are for +whom, when the word is heard, it has but little +attraction, because it has never yet been shown to +them as a life that is indeed possible, and unutterably +blessed. And yet again, alas! for how many +are there not, even workers in the Master’s service, +to whom the ‘all holy living and godliness’ is yet +<a name="png.276" id="png.276"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">277</span><span class="ns">] + </span>a secret and a burden, because they have not yet +consented to give up all, both their will and their +work, for the Holy One to take and fill with His +Holy Spirit. And yet once more, alas! as the cry +comes, even from those who do know the power of +a holy life, lamenting their unfaithfulness and unbelief, +as they see how much richer their entrance +into the Holy Life might have been, and how much +fuller the blessing they still feel so feeble to communicate +to others. Oh, the question is needed! +Shall not each of us take it, and keep it, and +answer it by the Holy Spirit through whom it came, +and then pass it on to our brethren, that we +and they may help each other in faith, and live in +joy and hope to give the answer our God would +have?</p> + +<p>‘Seeing that these things are, then, all to be dissolved, +what manner of persons ought we to be in +all holy living and godliness?’ Brethren! the time +is short. The world is passing away. The heathen +are perishing. Christians are sleeping. Satan is +active and mighty. God’s holy ones are the hope +of the Church and the world. It is they their Lord +can use. ‘What manner of persons shall we be in +all holy living and godliness!’ Shall we not seek +to be such as the Father commands, ‘Holy, as He is +holy’? Shall we not yield ourselves afresh and +undividedly to Him who is our Sanctification, and +to His Blessed Spirit, to make us holy in all +behaviours and pieties? Oh! shall we not, in +thought of the love of our Lord Jesus, in thought +<a name="png.277" id="png.277"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">278</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the coming glory, in view of the coming end, of +the need of the Church and the world, give ourselves +to be holy as He is holy, that we may have power +to bless each believer we meet with the message of +what God will do, and that in concert with them +we may be a light and a blessing to this perishing +world?</p> + +<p>I close with the closing words of God’s Blessed +Book, ‘He which testifieth these things saith, Yea, +I come quickly. Amen: Come, Lord Jesus. The +grace of the Lord Jesus be with the holy ones. +Amen.’</p> + +<p class="holy"><span>Be ye holy, as I am holy</span>.</p> + +<p>Most Holy God! who hast called us to be holy, +we have heard Thy voice asking, What manner of +persons we ought to be in all holy living and godliness? +With our whole soul we answer in deep +contrition and humility: Holy Father! we ought +to be so different from what we have been. In +faith and love, in zeal and devotion, in Christlike +humility and holiness, O Father! we have not +been, before Thee and the world, what we ought to +be, what we could be. Holy Father! we now pray +for all who unite with us in this prayer, and implore +of Thee to grant a great revival of True Holiness in +us and in all Thy Church. Visit, we beseech Thee, +visit all ministers of Thy word, that in view of Thy +coming they may take up and sound abroad the +question, What manner of persons ought ye to be? +<a name="png.278" id="png.278"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">279</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Lay upon them, and all Thy people, such a burden +under surrounding unholiness and worldliness, that +they may not cease to cry to Thee. Grant them +such a vision of the highway of holiness, the new +and living way in Christ, that they may preach +Christ our Sanctification in the power and the joy +of the Holy Ghost, with the confident and triumphant +voice of witnesses who rejoice in what Thou dost +for them. O God! roll away the reproach of Thy +people, that their profession does not make them +humbler or holier, more loving, and more heavenly +than others.</p> + +<p>O Holy God! give Thou Thyself the answer to +Thy question, and teach us and the world what +manner of persons Thy people can be, in the day +of Thy power, in the beauty of holiness. We bow +our knee to Thee, O Father, that Thou wouldst +grant us, according to the riches of Thy glory, to be +mightily strengthened in the inner man by the Spirit +of Holiness. Amen.</p> + +<div class="exhort pgbrk"> +<p><i>1. What manner of men ought ye to be in all the holy living? This is a +question God has written down for us. Might it not help us if we were to +write down the answer, and say how holy we think we ought to be? The +clearer and more distinct our views are of what God wishes, of what He has +made possible, of what in reality <strong>ought</strong> to be, the more definite our acts of +confession, of surrender, and of faith can become.</i></p> + +<p><i>2. Let every believer, who longs to be holy, join in the daily prayer that +God would visit His people with a great outpouring of the Spirit of Holiness. +Pray without ceasing that every believer may live as a holy one.</i></p> + +<p><i>3. ‘Seeing that <strong>ye look for</strong> these things.’ Our life depends, in more than +one sense, upon what we look at. ‘We look not at the things which are +seen.’ It is only as we look at the Invisible and Spiritual, and come under +its power, that we shall be what we ought to be in all holy living and +godliness.</i></p> + +<p><i>4. <strong>Holy in Christ.</strong> Let this be our parting word. However strong the +branch becomes, however far away it reaches round the home, out of sight +<a name="png.279" id="png.279"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">280</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the vine, all its beauty and all its fruitfulness ever depend upon that +one point of contact where it grows out of the vine. So be it with us too. +All the outer circumference of my life has its centre in the ego—the living, +conscious I myself, in which my being roots. And this I is rooted in Christ. +Down in the depths of my inner life, there is Christ holding, bearing, guiding, +quickening me into holiness and fruitfulness. In Him I am, In Him I will +abide. His will and commands will I keep; His Love and Power will I trust. +And I will daily seek to praise God that I am Holy in Christ.</i></p> + +</div> + + + + +<h2 class="chap top4"><a name="png.280" id="png.280"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">281</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>NOTES.<br + /><small class="toclink"><a href="#toc">Contents</a></small></h2> + +<hr class="chap" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:A" id="note:A">NOTE A.</a></h3> + +<h4 class="note">Holiness as Proprietorship.</h4> + +<p><span class="smc">In</span> a little book—<cite>Holiness, as understood by the Writers +of the Bible; A Bible Study by Joseph Agar Beet</cite>—the +thought that by Holiness is meant our relation to God, +and the claim He has upon us, has been very carefully +worked out. Holy ground was such because ‘it stood in +<em>special relation</em> to Himself.’ The first-born ‘were to stand +<em>in a special relation to God as His property</em>.’ So with the +entire nation; when God declares that they shall be holy, +He means ‘that they shall render to Him the devotion +He requires.’ ‘All holy objects stand in a special relation +to God as His property.’ The priests are said to sanctify +themselves; they did this ‘by formally placing themselves +at God’s disposal, or by separating themselves +from whatever was inconsistent with the service of God.’ +‘When God declares He is holy, the word must represent +the same idea in the hundreds of passages in which it is +predicated of men and things.’ ‘Holiness is <em>God’s claim +to the ownership</em> of men and things; and the objects +claimed were called holy. Now, <em>God’s claim</em> was a new +and wondrous revelation of His nature. To Aaron God +was now the Great Being who had claimed from him a +lifelong and exclusive service. <em>This claim</em> was a new +era, not only in his everyday life, but in his conception +of God. Consequently the word <em>holy</em>, which expressed +<em>Aaron’s relation to God</em>, was suitably used to express +<a name="png.281" id="png.281"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">282</span><span class="ns">] + </span><em>God’s relation to Aaron</em>. In other words, to Aaron and +Israel God was holy in the sense that He claimed the +exclusive ownership of the entire nation. When men +yielded to God the devotion He claimed, they were said +to sanctify God.’ ‘Jehovah and Israel stood in special +relation to each other; therefore Jehovah was <em>the Holy +One of Israel</em>, and Israel was <em>Holy to Jehovah</em>. This +mutual relation rested upon God’s claim that Israel +should specially be His; and this claim implied that in +a special manner He would belong to Israel. This claim +was a manifestation of the nature of God.’ ‘The peculiar +relation arises from God’s own claim, in consequence +of which they stand in a new and solemn relation to Him. +This may be called objective holiness. This is the most +common sense of the word. In this sense God sanctified +these objects for Himself. But since some of these +objects were intelligent beings, and the others were in +control of such, the word sanctify denotes these ones’ +formal surrender of themselves and their possessions to +God. This may be called subjective holiness. From the +word holy predicated of God, we learn that God’s claim +was not merely occasional, but an outflow of His Essence. +As the one Being who claims unlimited and absolute +ownership and supreme devotion, God is the Holy One.’</p> + +<p>In the New Testament the Spirit of God claims the +epithet holy ‘as being in a very special manner the source +and influence of which God is the one and only aim.’ +Here ‘our conception of the holiness of God increases +with our increasing perception of the greatness of His +claim upon us, and that this claim springs from the very +essence of God. In the incarnate Son of God we see the +full development and realization of the Biblical idea of +holiness. We find Him standing in a special relation to +God, and living a life of which the one and only aim is to +advance the purposes of God.’ We see in Him ‘holiness +in its highest degree, <i>i.e.</i> the highest conceivable devotion +to God and to the advancement of His kingdom.’ ‘In +virtue of His intelligent, hearty, continued appropriation +<a name="png.282" id="png.282"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">283</span><span class="ns">] + </span>of the Father’s purpose, and in virtue of its realization in +all the details of the Saviour’s life, He was called <em>the +Holy One of God</em>.’</p> + +<p>‘The word <em>saint</em> is very appropriate as a designation of +the followers of Christ; for it declares what God requires +them to be. By calling His people <em>saints</em>, God declares +His will that we live a life of which He is the one and +only aim. This is the objective holiness of the Church of +Christ. In some passages holiness is set before the people +of God as a standard for their attainment. In these +passages <em>holy</em> denotes a realization in man of God’s +purpose that he live a life of which God is the one and +only aim. This is the subjective holiness of God’s +people.</p> + +<p>‘Holiness is God’s claim that His creatures use all +their powers and opportunities to work out His purposes. +Holiness, thus understood, is an attribute of God. For +His claim springs from His nature, even from that love +which is the very essence of God. His love to us moves +Him to claim our devotion; for only by absolute devotion +to Him can we attain our highest happiness.’</p> + +<p>‘Though without purity we cannot be subjectively +holy, yet holiness is much more than purity. Purity is +a mere negative excellence; holiness implies the most +intense mental and bodily activity of which we are +capable. For it is the employment of all our powers and +opportunities to advance God’s purposes.’</p> + +<p>The question ‘How we become holy,’ is answered thus: +‘Our devotion to God is a result of inward spiritual +contact with Him who once lived a human life on earth, +and now lives a glorified human life on the throne, simply +and only to work out the Father’s purposes. We live for +God because Christ does so, and because Christ lives in +us, and we in Him: the Spirit of Christ is the Agent +of the spiritual contact with Christ which imparts to us +His life, and reproduces in us His life. He is the bearer +of the power as well as of the holiness of Christ.’</p> + +<p>‘That God claims from His people unreserved devotion +<a name="png.283" id="png.283"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">284</span><span class="ns">] + </span>to Himself, and that what He claims He works in all +who believe it, by His own power operating through the +inward presence of the Holy Spirit, placing us in spiritual +contact with Christ, is the great doctrine of sanctification +by faith.’</p> + +<p>The same view, that holiness is a relation, had previously +been worked out very elaborately by Diestel. In what +has been said on redemption and proprietorship as related +to holiness (see ‘Sixth Day’), we have seen what truth +there is in the thought. But holiness is something more. +What is holy is not only God-devoted, but God-accepted, +God-appropriated, God-possessed. God not only possesses +the heart, but absolutely occupies and fills it with His +life. It is this makes it holy.</p> + +<p>However much truth there be in the above exposition, +it hardly meets our desire for an insight into what is +one of the highest attributes of the very Being of God. +When the seraphs worship Him as the Holy One, and +in their Thrice Holy reflect something of the deepest +mystery of Godhead, it surely means more than merely +the expression of God’s claim as Sovereign Proprietor +of all.</p> + +<p>The mistake appears to originate in taking first the +meaning of the word <em>holy</em> from earthly objects, and then +from that deducing that holiness in God cannot mean +more than it does when applied to men. The Scriptures +point to the opposite way. When Old and New Testaments +say, ‘Be ye holy, for I am holy, I make holy,’ they +point to God’s Holiness as the first, both the reason and +the source of ours. We ought first to discover what +holiness in God is. When we read at creation of God’s +<em>sanctifying</em> the Sabbath day, we have to do, not with a +thought or word of Moses as to what God had done, but +with a Divine revelation of a Power in God greater +and more wonderful than creation, the Power which is +later on revealed as the deepest mystery of the Divine +Being.</p> + +<p>This Holiness in God, as it appears to me, cannot be a +<a name="png.284" id="png.284"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">285</span><span class="ns">] + </span>mere relation. To indicate a relation, tells me nothing +positively about the personal character or worth of the +related parties. To say that when God sanctifies men +He claims them as His own, does not say what the nature +is of the work He does for them and in them, or what the +Power by which He does it. And yet that word ought to +reveal to me what it is that God bestows. To say that +that claim has its root in His very nature, and in His +love, and that holiness is therefore an attribute, makes it +an attribute, not like love or wisdom, immanent in the +Divine Being, ere creatures were, but simply an effect of +Love, moving God to claim His creatures as His special +possession. We should then have no attribute expressive +of God’s moral perfection. Nor would the word holy of +the Son and the Spirit any longer indicate that deep and +mysterious communication of the very nature and life of +God in which sanctification has its glory. In the Divine +holiness we have the highest and inconceivably glorious +revelation of the very essence of the Divine Being; in +the holiness of the saints the deepest revelation of the +change by which their inmost nature is renewed into the +likeness of God.</p> + + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:B" id="note:B">NOTE B.</a></h3> + +<h4 class="note">On the Word for Holiness.</h4> + +<p>The proper meaning of the Hebrew word for holy, +<i>kadosh</i>, is matter of uncertainty. It may come from a +root signifying to shine. (So Gesenius, Oehler, Fürst, +and formerly Delitzsch, on Heb. ii. 11.) Or from another +denoting new and bright (Diestel), or an Arabic form +meaning to cut, to separate. (So Delitzsch now, on Ps. +xxii. 4.) Whatever the root be, the chief idea appears to +be not only separate or set apart, for which the Hebrew +has entirely different words, but that by which a thing +<a name="png.285" id="png.285"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">286</span><span class="ns">] + </span>that is separated from others for its worth is distinguished +above them. It indicates not only separation as an act +or fact, but the superiority or excellence in virtue of +which, either as already possessed or sought after, the +separation takes place.</p> + +<p>In his <cite>Lexicon of New Testament Greek</cite>, Cremer has an +exhaustive article on the Greek <i>hagios</i>, pointing out how +holiness is an entirely Biblical idea, and ‘how the scriptural +conceptions of God’s Holiness, notwithstanding the +original affinity, is diametrically opposite to all the Greek +notions; and how, whereas these very views of holiness +exclude from the gods all possibility of love, the scriptural +conception of holiness unfolds itself only when in closest +connection with Divine love.’ It is a most suggestive +thought that we owe both the word and the thought distinctly +to revelation. Every other attribute of God has +some notion to correspond with it in the human mind: +the thought of holiness is distinctly Divine. Is not this +the reason that, though God has so distinctly in the New +Testament called His people holy ones, the word <em>holy</em> has +so little entered into the daily language and life of the +Christian Church?</p> + + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:C" id="note:C">NOTE C.</a></h3> + +<h4 class="note">The Holiness of God.</h4> + +<p>There is not a word so exclusively scriptural, so distinctly +Divine, as the word holy in its revelation and its meaning. +As a consequence of this its Divine origin, it is a word +of inexhaustible significance. There is not one of the +attributes of God which theologians have found it so +difficult to define, or concerning which they differ so much. +A short survey of the various views that have been taken +may teach us how little the idea of the Divine Holiness +can be comprehended or exhausted by human definition, +<a name="png.286" id="png.286"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">287</span><span class="ns">] + </span>and how it is only in the life of fellowship and adoration +that the holiness which passes all understanding can, as +a truth and a reality, be apprehended.</p> + +<p>1. The most external view, in which the ethical was +very much lost sight of, is that in which holiness is identified +with God’s Separateness from the creation, and elevation +above it. Holiness was defined as the incomparable +Glory of God, His exclusive adorableness, His infinite +Majesty. Sufficient attention was not paid to the fact that +though all these thoughts are closely connected with God’s +Holiness, they are but a formal definition of the results +and surroundings of the Holiness, but do not lead us to +the apprehension of that wherein its real essence consists.</p> + +<p>2. Another view, which also commences from the +external, and makes that the basis of its interpretation, +regards holiness simply as the expression of a relation. +Because what was set apart for God’s service was called +holy, the idea of separation, of consecration, of ownership, +is taken as the starting-point. And so, because we are +said to be holy, as belonging to God, God is holy as +claiming us and belonging to us too. Instead of regarding +holiness as a positive reality in the Divine nature, from +which our holiness is to be derived, our holiness is made +the starting-point for expounding the Holiness of God. +‘God is holy as being, within the covenant, not only the +Proprietor, but the Property of His people, their highest +good and their only rule’ (Diestel). Of this view mention +has already been made in the note to ‘Sixth Day,’ +on <a href="#note:A">Holiness as Proprietorship</a>.</p> + +<p>3. Passing over to the views of those who regard holiness +as being a moral attribute, the most common one is +that of purity, freedom from sin. ‘Holiness is a general +term for the moral excellence of God. There is none holy +as the Lord: no other being absolutely pure and free from +all limitations in His moral perfection. Holiness, on +the one hand, implies entire freedom from moral evil; +and, upon the other, absolute moral perfection.’ (Hodge, +<cite>Syst. Theol.</cite>) The idea of holiness as the infinite Purity +<a name="png.287" id="png.287"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">288</span><span class="ns">] + </span>which is free from all sin, which hates and punishes it, is +what in the popular conception is the most prominent +idea. The negative stands more in the foreground than +the positive. The view has its truth and its value from +the fact that in our sinful state the first impression the +Holiness of God must make is that of fear and dread in +the consciousness of our sinfulness and unholiness. But it +does not tell us wherein this moral excellence or perfection +of God really consists.</p> + +<p>4. It is an advance on this view when the attempt is +made to define what this perfection of God is. A thing +is perfect when it is in everything as it ought to be. It +is easy thus to define perfection, but not so easy to define +what the perfection of any special object is: this needs +the knowledge of what its nature is. And we have to +rest content with very general terms defining God’s Holiness +as the essential and absolute good. ‘Holiness is the +free, deliberate, calm, and immutable affirmation of Himself, +who is goodness, or of goodness, which is Himself’ (Godet +<cite>on John</cite> xvii. 11). ‘Holiness is that attribute in virtue +of which Jehovah makes Himself the absolute standard +of Himself, of His being and revelation.’ (Kubel.)</p> + +<p>5. Closely allied to this is the view that holiness +is not so much an attribute, but the ‘whole complex +of that which we are wont to look at and represent singly +in the individual attributes of God.’ So Bengel looked +upon holiness as the Divine nature, in which all the +attributes are contained. In the same spirit what Howe +says of holiness as the Divine beauty, the result of the +perfect harmony of all the attributes, ‘Holiness is intellectual +beauty. Divine holiness is the most perfect beauty, +and the measure of all other. The Divine Holiness is the +most perfect pulchritude, the ineffable and immortal pulchritude, +that cannot be declared by words, or seen by eyes. +This may therefore be called a transcendental attribute +that, as it were, runs through the rest, and casts a glory +upon every one. It is an attribute of attributes. These +are fit predications, <em>holy</em> power, <em>holy</em> love. And so it is +<a name="png.288" id="png.288"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">289</span><span class="ns">] + </span>the very lustre and glory of His other perfections. He is +glorious in holiness.’ (Howe in <cite>Whyte’s Shorter Catechism</cite>.) +This was the aspect of the Divine Holiness on which +Jonathan Edwards delighted to dwell. ‘The mutual +love of the Father and the Son makes the third, the personal +Holy Spirit, or the Holiness of God, which is His +infinite beauty.’ ‘By the communication of God’s Holiness +the creature partakes of God’s moral excellence, +which is perfection, the beauty of the Divine nature.’ +‘Holiness comprehends all the true moral excellence of +intelligent beings. So the Holiness of God is the same +with the moral excellency of the Divine nature, comprehending +all His perfections, His righteousness, faithfulness, +and goodness. There are two kinds of attributes in +God, according to our way of conceiving Him: His <em>moral</em> +attributes, which are summed up in His Holiness, and His +<em>natural</em>, as strength, knowledge, etc., which constitute His +greatness. Holy persons, in the exercise of holy affection, +love God in the first place for the beauty of His Holiness.’ +‘The holiness of an intelligent creature is that which +gives beauty to all his natural perfections. And so it is +in God: holiness is in a peculiar manner the beauty of +the Divine being. Hence we often read of the beauty of +holiness (Ps. xxix. 2, xcvi. 9, cx. 3). This renders all +the other attributes glorious and lovely.’ ‘Therefore, if +the true loveliness of God’s perfections arise from the +loveliness of His Holiness, the true love of all His perfections +will arise from the love of His Holiness. And +as the beauty of the Divine nature primarily consists +in God’s Holiness, so does the beauty of all Divine +things.’</p> + +<p>6. In speaking of God’s Holiness as denoting the essential +good, the absolute excellence of His nature, some press +very strongly the <em>ethical</em> aspect. The good in God must +not be from mere natural impulse only, flowing from the +necessity of His nature, without being freely willed by +Himself. ‘What is naturally good is not the true realization +of the good. The actual and living will to be the +<a name="png.289" id="png.289"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">290</span><span class="ns">] + </span>good He is, must also have its place in God, otherwise +God would only be naturally ethical. Only in the will +which consciously determines itself, is there the possibility +given of the ethical. The ethical has such a power in +God that He is the holy Power, who cannot and will not +renounce Himself, who must be, and would be thought to +be, the holy necessity of the goodness which is Himself,—to +be the Holy. The love of God is essentially holy; it +desires and preserves the ethically necessary or holy, which +God is.’ (Dorner, <cite>System</cite>, vol. i.)</p> + +<p>7. It was felt in such views that there was not a sufficient +acknowledgment of the truth that it is especially as +the Holy One that God is called the Redeemer, and that +He does the work of love to make holy. This led to the +view that holiness and love are, if not identical, at least +correlated expressions. ‘God is holy, exalted above all +the praise of the creature in His incomparable praise-worthiness, +on account of His free and loving condescension +to the creature, to manifest in it the glory of His +love.’ ‘God is holy, inasmuch as love in Him has +restrained and conquered the righteous wrath (as Hosea +says, xi. 9), and judgment is exercised only after every +way of mercy has been tried. This holiness is disclosed +in the New Testament name, as exalted as it is condescending, +of Father.’ (Stier <cite>on John</cite> xvii.)</p> + +<p>8. The large measure of truth in this view is met by +an expression in which the true aspects of the Holiness of +God are combined. It is defined as being the harmony +of self-preservation and self-communication. As the Holy +One, God hates sin, and seeks to destroy it. As the +Holy One, He makes the sinner holy, and then takes him +up into His love. In maintaining His love, He never for a +moment loses His Divine purity and perfection; in maintaining +His righteousness, He still communicates Himself +to the fallen creature. Holiness is the Divine glory, +of which love and righteousness are the two sides, and +which in their work on earth they reveal.</p> + +<p>‘Holiness is the self-preservation of God, whereby He +<a name="png.290" id="png.290"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">291</span><span class="ns">] + </span>keeps Himself free from the world without Him, and +remains consistent with Himself and faithful to His Being, +and whereby He, with this view, creates a Divine world +that lives for Himself alone in the organization of His +Church.’ (Lange.)</p> + +<p>‘The Holiness of God is God’s self-preservation, or +keeping to Himself, in virtue of which He remains the +same in all relationships which exist within His Deity, or +into which He enters, never sacrifices what is Divine, or +admits what is not Divine. But this is only one aspect. +God’s Holiness would not be holiness, but exclusiveness, +if it did not provide for God’s entering into manifold +relations, and so revealing and communicating Himself. +Holiness is therefore the union and interpretation of +God’s keeping to Himself and communicating Himself; +of His nearness and His distance; of His exclusiveness +and His self-revelation; of separateness and fellowship.’ +(Schmieder.)</p> + +<p>‘The Divine Holiness is mainly seclusion from the impurity +and sinfulness of the creature, or, expressed positively, +the cleanness and purity of the Divine nature, +which excludes all connection with the wicked. In +harmony with this, the Divine Holiness, as an attribute +of revelation, is not merely an abstract power, but is the +Divine self-representation and self-testimony for the purpose +of giving to the world the participation in the Divine life.’ +(Oehler, <cite>Theol. of O. T.</cite> i. 160.)</p> + +<p>‘Opposition to sin is the first impression which man +receives of God’s Holiness. Exclusion, election, cleansing, +redemption—these are the four forms in which God’s +Holiness appears in the sphere of humanity; and we may +say that God’s Holiness signifies <em>His opposition to sin +manifesting itself in atonement and redemption, or in +judgment</em>. Or as holiness, so far as it is embodied in +law, must be the highest moral perfection, we may say, +“<em>holiness is the purity of God manifesting itself in atonement +and redemption, and correspondingly in judgment</em>.” +By this view all the above elements are done justice to; +<a name="png.291" id="png.291"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">292</span><span class="ns">] + </span>holiness asserts itself in judging righteousness, and in +electing, purifying, and redeeming love, and thus it +appears as the impelling and formative principle of the +revelation of redemption, without a knowledge of which +an understanding of the revelation is impossible, and by +the perception of which it is seen in its full, clear light. +God is light: this is a full and exhaustive New Testament +phrase for God’s Holiness’ (1 John i. 5). (Cremer.)</p> + +<p>This view is brought out with special distinctness in +the writings of J. T. Beck. ‘It is God’s Holiness which, +taking the good which was given in creation in strict +faithfulness to that good and perfect will of God, as the +eternal life-purpose of love, in righteousness and mercy +carried out to its completion in God Himself to a life of +perfection. God does this as the Alone Holy. In the +world of sin Divine <em>love</em> can only bring deliverance by a +mediation in which it is reconciled to the Divine <em>wrath</em> +within <em>their common centre, the Holiness of God</em>, in such a +way that while wrath manifests its destroying reality, love +shall prove its restoring power in the life it gives.’ (Beck, +<cite>Lehrwissenschaft</cite>, 168, 547.)</p> + +<p>‘Holiness is the sum and substance of the Divine life, +as, in comparison with all that is created, it exists as a +perfect life, but as it, at the same time, opens itself to +the creature to take it up into a Godlike perfection—that +is, to be holy as God is holy. Holiness is thus so far from +being in opposition to the Divine love that it is its essential +feature or norm, and the actual contents of love. In +holiness there is combined the Divine self-existence as a +perfection of life, and the Divine self-exertion in the +realizing a Godlike perfection of life in the world. +Holiness as an attribute of the Divine Being is His pure +and inviolably self-contained personality in its absolute +perfection. Hence it is that in holiness, as the absolute +unity and purity of the Divine Being and working, all the +attributes of Divine revelation centre. And so holiness, +as expressive of the Being of God, qualifies the love as +essentially Divine.</p> + +<p><a name="png.292" id="png.292"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">293</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>‘Love is the groundform of the Divine will, but as such +it receives its Divine filling and character from the Divine +Holiness, as the Divine self-existence and self-exertion. +As such the Divine will manifests itself in two modes—in +its pure love as <em>Goodness</em>, in its holy harmony as +<em>Righteousness</em>. These two do not exist separately, but +permeate each other in reciprocal immanence, just as God +in His Holiness is love, and in His love is holiness. In +goodness the Divine love shows itself as the pleasure in +well-being. But in this goodness the righteousness of +God, to secure the well-doing, also acts.’ (J. T. Beck, +<cite>Glaubenslehre</cite>.)</p> + +<p>‘God is holy, separate from all darkness and sin, but +not in isolated majesty banishing the imperfect and the +sinful from His presence: for God is light, God is love. +It is the nature of light to communicate itself. Remaining +pure and bright, undiminished and unsullied, it +overcomes darkness and kindles light. The Holiness of +God is likewise mentioned in Scripture, mostly in connection +with love, communicating itself and drawing +into itself. “I am holy”—but God does not remain alone, +separate—“be ye also holy.”’ (Saphir <cite>on Hebrews</cite> xii.)</p> + +<p>‘When we think of God as light and love, we realize +most fully the idea of holiness, combining <em>separateness</em> +and <em>purity</em> with <em>communion</em>.’ (Saphir, <cite>The Lord’s +Prayer</cite>, p. 128.)</p> + +<p>‘It is especially as the spirit of His Church, and as +dwelling in the human heart, that God is the Holy One.’ +(Nitsch.)</p> + +<p>That in the Holiness of God we have the union of love +and righteousness, has been perhaps put by no one more +clearly than Godet. In his <cite>Commentary on Romans</cite> iii. +25, 26, he writes:—</p> + +<p>‘The necessity of the expiatory sacrifice arises from +His whole Divine character; in other words, from His +Holiness, the principle at once of His love and righteousness, +and not of His righteousness exclusively.’</p> + +<p>‘In this question we have to do not with God in His +<a name="png.293" id="png.293"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">294</span><span class="ns">] + </span>essence, but with God in His relation to free man. Now +the latter is not holy to begin with; the use which he +makes of his liberty is not yet regulated by love. The +attribute of righteousness, and the firm resolution to +maintain the Divine <em>holiness</em>, must therefore appear as a +necessary safeguard as soon as liberty comes on the stage, +and with it the possibility of disorder; and this attribute +must remain in exercise as long as the educational period +of the creature lasts—that is to say, until he has reached +perfection in love. Then all these factors—right, law, +justice—will return to their latent state….</p> + +<p>‘It is common to regard <em>love</em> as the fundamental feature +of the Divine character; in this way it is very difficult to +reach the attribute of righteousness. Most thinkers, indeed, +do not reach it at all. This one fact should show +the error in which they are entangled. <em>Holy, holy, holy</em>, +say the creatures nearest to God, and not <em>Good, good, good</em>. +Holiness, such is the essence of God; and holiness is the +absolute love of the good, the absolute horror of the evil. +From this it is not difficult to deduce both love and righteousness. +Love is the goodwill of God toward all free +beings who are destined to realize the good. Love goes +out to the individuals, as holiness itself to the good which +they ought to produce. Righteousness, on the other hand, +is the firm purpose of God to maintain the normal relations +between all these creatures by His blessings and punishments. +It is obvious that righteousness is included, no +less than love itself, in the fundamental feature of the +Divine character, holiness. It is no offence, therefore, by +God to speak of His justice and His rights. It is, on the +contrary, a glory to God, who knows that in preserving +His place He is securing the good of others. For God, +in maintaining His supreme dignity, preserves to His +creatures <em>their most precious treasure</em>, a God worthy of +their respect and love.’</p> + +<p>And in his <cite>Defence of the Christian Faith</cite> Godet writes, +on ‘The Perfect Holiness of Jesus Christ,’ as follows:—</p> + +<p>‘The supernatural in its highest form is not the +<a name="png.294" id="png.294"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">295</span><span class="ns">] + </span>miraculous, it is holiness. In the miraculous we see +Omnipotence breaking forth to act upon the material +world in the interests of the moral order. But holiness +is morality itself in its sublimest manifestation. What +is goodness? It has recently been said, with a precision +which leaves nothing to be desired, Goodness is not an +entity—a thing. It is a law determining the relations +between things, relations which have to be realized by +free wills. Perfect good is therefore the realization, at +once normal and free, of the right relations to one another +of all beings; each being occupying, by virtue of this +relation, that place in the great whole, and playing that +part in it, which befits it.</p> + +<p>‘Now, just as in a human family there is one central +relation on which all the rest depend,—that of the father +to all the members of this little whole,—so is there in the +universe one supreme position, which is the support of all +the rest, and which, in the interest of all beings, must be +above all others preserved intact—that of God. And +just here, in the general sphere of good, is the special +domain of holiness. Holiness in God Himself is His +fixed determination to maintain intact the order which +ought to reign among all beings that exist, and to bring +them to realize that relation to each other which ought to +bind them together in a great unity, and consequently to +preserve, above all, intact and in its proper dignity, His +own position relatively to free beings. The Holiness of +God thus understood comprehends two things—the importation +of all the wealth of His own Divine life to each +free being who is willing to acknowledge His sovereignty, +and who sincerely acquiesces in it; and the withholding or +the withdrawal of that perfect life from every being who +either attacks or denies that sovereignty, and who seeks +to shake off that bond of dependence by which he ought +to be bound to God. Holiness in the creature is its own +voluntary acquiescence in the supremacy of God. The +man who, with all the powers of his nature, does homage +to God as the Supreme, the absolute Being, the only One +<a name="png.295" id="png.295"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">296</span><span class="ns">] + </span>who veritably is; the man who, in His presence, voluntarily +prostrates himself in the sense of his own nothingness, +and seeks to draw all his fellow-creatures into the +same voluntary self-annihilation, in so doing puts on the +character of holiness. This holiness comprehends in him, +as it does in God, love and righteousness; love by which +he rejoices in recognising God, and all beings who surround +God, as placed where they are by Him. He loves them +and wills their existence, because he loves and wills the +existence of God, and at the same time of all that God +wills and loves; and righteousness, by which he respects +and, as much as in him lies, causes others to respect God, +and the sphere assigned by God to each being. Such is +holiness as it exists in God and in man: in God it is His +own inflexible self-assertion; in man it is his inflexible +assertion of God.</p> + +<p>‘It is in Jesus that human nature sees how man can +assert God and all that God asserts, not only humbly, but +joyously and filially, with all the powers of his being, and +even to the complete sacrifice of <em>himself</em>.’</p> + +<p>Careful reflection will show us that in each of the above +views there is a measure of truth. It will convince us +how the very difficulty of formulating to human thought +the conception of the Divine Holiness proves that it is the +highest expression for that ineffable and inconceivable +glory of the Divine Being which constitutes Him the +Infinite and Glorious God. Every attribute of God—wisdom +and power, righteousness and love—has its image +in human nature, and was in the religion or the philosophy +of the heathen connected with the idea of God. +From ourselves, when we take away the idea of imperfection, +we can form some conception of what God is. But +holiness is that which is characteristically Divine, the special +contents of a Divine revelation. Let us learn to confess +that however much we may seek, now from one, then from +another side, to grasp the thought, the holiness of God is +something that transcends all thought, a glory not so much +to be thought, as to be known, in adoration and fellowship. +<a name="png.296" id="png.296"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">297</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Scripture speaks not so much of holiness, as the Holy +One. It is as we worship and fear, obey and love; it is +in a life with God, that something of the mystery of His +glory will be unfolded. As the Divine light shines in us +and through us, will the Holy One be revealed.</p> + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:D" id="note:D">NOTE D.</a></h3> + +<p>‘Our holiness does not consist in our changing and +becoming better ourselves: it is rather <em>He</em>, He Himself, +born and growing in us, in such a way as to fill our +hearts, and to drive out our natural self, “our old man,” +which cannot itself improve, and whose destiny is only +to perish.</p> + +<p>‘And how is this kind of incarnation effected, by which +Christ Himself becomes our new self? By a process of +a free and moral nature, described by Jesus in words +which surprise, because they place His sanctification upon +nearly the same footing as our own: “As the living +Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that +eateth me shall live by me.”</p> + +<p>‘Jesus derived the nourishment of His life from the +Father who had sent Him: He lived by the Father. +The meaning of that, doubtless, is, that every time He +had to act or speak, He first effaced Himself; then left it +to the Father to think, to will, to act, to be everything +in Him. Similarly, when we are called upon to do any +act, or speak any word, we must first efface ourselves in +presence of Jesus; and after having suppressed in ourselves, +by an act of the will, every wish, every thought, +every act of our own self, we are to leave it to Jesus +to manifest in us His will, His wisdom, His power. +Then it is that we live by Him, as He lives by the +Father. The process is identical in Jesus and in us. +Only in Jesus it was carried on with God directly, +because He was in immediate communion with Him; +<a name="png.297" id="png.297"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">298</span><span class="ns">] + </span>whilst in our case the transaction is with Jesus, because +it is with Him that the believer holds direct communication, +and through Him that we can find and possess +the living Father. In that lies <em>the secret</em>, generally so +little understood, <em>of Christian sanctification</em>.’ (Godet, +<cite>Biblical Studies, N. T.</cite>, p. 190.)</p> + + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:E" id="note:E">NOTE E.</a></h3> + +<p>Let me once more refer all students of holiness to +Marshall on Sanctification, and specially his third and +fourth chapters. If they will compare him with our +modern works—say, for instance, <cite>God’s Way of Holiness</cite>, +by so eminent an author as Dr. H. Bonar—they cannot +but be struck by the prominence which Marshall gives to +the one thought, that our holiness, a holy nature, is +provided in Jesus, and that as faith accepts and maintains +our union with Jesus in personal intercourse, sanctification +is by faith. While, in other works, the union to Jesus, +and faith in Him, are but incidentally mentioned, and +the chief stress is laid upon duties and the motives +which urge to their performance, Marshall points out +how motives never can supply the strength we need: it +is the power of Christ’s life in us, it is Christ Himself, as +we by faith are rooted in Him, who works all our works +in us.</p> + +<p>An abridgment of the work, for popular use, is published +by Nisbet & Co.</p> + + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:F" id="note:F">NOTE F.</a></h3> + +<h4 class="note">Note from Bengel on Rom. i. 4.</h4> + +<p>‘<cite>According to the Spirit of Holiness.</cite> The word <i>hagios</i>, +holy, when God is spoken of, not only denotes the blameless +<a name="png.298" id="png.298"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">299</span><span class="ns">] + </span>rectitude in action, but the very Godhead, or to +speak more properly, the <em>divinity</em>, or excellence of the +Divine nature. Hence <i>hagiosune</i> (the word here used) +has a kind of middle sense between <i>hagiotes</i>, holiness, +and <i>hagiasmos</i>, sanctification. Comp. Heb. xii. 10 +(<i>hagiotes</i> or holiness), v. 14 (<i>hagiasmos</i> or sanctification). +So that there are, as it were, three degrees: <em>sanctification</em>, +<em>sanctity of life</em>, <em>holiness</em>. Holiness is ascribed to the +Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And since here the +Holy Spirit is not mentioned, but the spirit of holiness +(prop. sanctity, <i>hagiosune</i>), we must further inquire what +this remarkable expression denotes. The name spirit +is expressly and very frequently given to the Holy Spirit; +but God is also called a spirit; and the Lord Jesus +Christ is called a spirit, but in contrast to the latter. +(2 Cor. iii. 17.) With this we must compare the fact that, +as in this passage, so often the antithesis of flesh and +spirit is found where Christ is spoken of. (1 Tim. iii. 16; +1 Pet. iii. 18.) In these passages the Spirit is applied to +whatever belongs to Christ (apart from the flesh, although +this was pure and holy, and above the flesh), through His +generation of the Father, who sanctified Him: in short, +His Godhead itself. For here, <em>flesh</em> and <em>spirit</em>, and +chap. ix. 5, <em>flesh</em> and <em>Godhead</em>, stand in mutual contrast. +This spirit is here called not the spirit of holiness, the +usual title of the Holy Spirit; but it is called in this +passage <em>the spirit of sanctity</em>, to suggest at once the efficacy +of that holiness or divinity, which led of necessity +to the Saviour’s resurrection, and by which it was most +forcibly illustrated, and also that spiritual and holy, or +Divine power of Jesus who has been glorified and yet +retained a spiritual body. Before the resurrection the +spirit was concealed under the flesh; after the resurrection +the spirit of sanctity concealed the flesh. In reference to +the former, He was wont to call Himself the Son of man; +in reference to the latter, He is known as the Son of God.’</p> + +<p>Beck, in his <cite>Lehrwissenschaft</cite>, p. 604, puts it very +clearly, thus—</p> + +<p><a name="png.299" id="png.299"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">300</span><span class="ns">]<br + /></span>‘Inasmuch as the innocence and purity of Christ were +not present in His sufferings and death as a quiescent +attribute, but were in full action in the indestructible +life-power of the Spirit, as He sanctified His own self +to God for us (“through the eternal spirit,” Heb. ix. 14—therefore, +in Rom. i. 4, <i>hagiosune</i>, the habit of holiness +in its action or sanctity, not <i>hagiotes</i>, only an inner +attribute, or <i>hagiasmos</i>, holiness in its formation)—His +suffering effected an everlasting redemption.’</p> + + +<hr class="chap topii" /> + +<h3 class="note"><a name="note:G" id="note:G">NOTE G.</a></h3> + +<h4 class="note">‘Freed’ and ‘Possessed’—The Twofold Result of +Redemption.</h4> + +<h5>(<i>From an address by Pastor Stockmaiev.</i>)</h5> + +<p>‘Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us +from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself <em>a people for +His own possession</em>, zealous of good works.’</p> + +<p>‘In the redemption work of our Saviour Jesus Christ, +there are two definite parts. You will never find the +secret of abiding in Christ, so long as you cannot see +these two definite distinct parts. The first is “Jesus for +me,” the other “I for Jesus.” Blessed be our Saviour that +He came for sinners. <em>He for us.</em> Blessed be the Lord +that there is redemption from penalty; but that is not +yet all that redemption means. You must have a clear +apprehension of the second part of redemption, by that +same Holy Ghost who is the guide to introduce us into +the full possession of all that Christ, living and dying, has +wrought out for us. He gave Himself that He might +redeem us from all iniquity—not that we might have the +pleasure of being pleased with our own purity or holiness, +or such things; but that He might have us altogether +for Himself, to purify <em>unto Himself</em>, for Himself, not for +<a name="png.300" id="png.300"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">301</span><span class="ns">] + </span>Himself and themselves, but <em>unto Himself</em>, a people of His +own possession.</p> + +<p>‘What is now redemption?—freedom from self, even +spiritual self. We are not to be our own centre, the +centre of our joy, our progress, having in our poor weak +hands the threads of our spiritual life. There is no real +spiritual life but Christ’s life, and He must have the care +of it altogether from the beginning to the end. Lift up +your eyes, dear brethren, you who were creeping on the +ground. We are made for the glory of God, to be possessed +by Jesus. The Lord God found a way, in giving +His Son, the Lamb of God, His Lamb, to get such selfish +people, who even in the line of the Christian life found +means to seek and to nourish self, to get such people into +His own real practical possession, to be possessed by Jesus. +That is redemption, and that only; that is liberty, and +that is reality; that is what satisfies, not to be satisfied +with any experiences of your own, but to let go your +experiences, and to say, I am free, so free as the people +of Israel were coming out of Egypt, free to serve God. +“Let my people go, that they may serve me.” You are +free, free through the blood of Christ, free through the +power of the Holy Ghost—no flesh, no hand, no self being +able to keep you back. The Lord has stretched out His +arms upon all the powers who had kept us in the bondage +of Egypt, and He triumphed over them. You are free as +the bird of the air to live in Jesus—that is freedom; you +are free in your daily life, free in the deepest, inmost +depths of your being, free for Jesus, possessed by Him, a +people of His own possession. Let my people go, said +God. So, I have given my blood, said Jesus; and no flesh, +no sin, no self can claim against the blood of Jesus. He +has redeemed unto Himself, not for us, a people of His +own possession….</p> + +<p>‘You are inquiring about the secret of abiding in Jesus. +Have you not seen this in the 15th of John, that abiding +and bearing fruit are inseparable? You cannot abide in +Jesus for His joy, <em>and your inward satisfaction</em>. The +<a name="png.301" id="png.301"></a><span class="ns">[p</span><span + class="pgmark">302</span><span class="ns">] + </span>secret of abiding is to stand as a redeemed one, as firmly +in the second part of redemption as the first. I am now +living for Jesus, and I have only to ask, Lord, what wilt +Thou have done now? I am for Thee. I am for Jesus. +I have only to follow, to follow as a sanctified one, as a +possessed one, as one who is no more living for himself, +who has given his life up into the hands of Jesus. Oh, +how these questions of abiding become simple! It is not +mysticism; it is not some special experience. It is +simply a fact. I need Jesus for every moment, and my +temptations as well as my duties become opportunities of +realizing this life of fellowship with Christ. Oh, yes, +this is redemption! Oh, mighty power of God the +Father, God the Son, God the Holy Ghost, engaged +to keep such a weak, helpless, unfaithful thing as you and +myself in the centre of life! Sealed by the Holy Ghost, +and God will never break His own seal.’</p> + + +<p class="ctr top4">THE END.</p> + + +<p class="ctr top4"><small>MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.</small></p> + +</div> + +<hr class="pg" /> + + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Holy in Christ, by Andrew Murray + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOLY IN CHRIST *** + +***** This file should be named 26990-h.htm or 26990-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/9/9/26990/ + +Produced by Free Elf, David Wilson and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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