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diff --git a/26990.txt b/26990.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..82d5daf --- /dev/null +++ b/26990.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8484 @@ +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: ASCII + +*** 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) + + + + + + + + + + HOLY IN CHRIST: + + Thoughts on the Calling of God's Children + to be Holy as He is Holy. + + BY + REV. ANDREW MURRAY, + + AUTHOR OF 'ABIDE IN CHRIST,' 'LIKE CHRIST,' ETC. + + + + _'I am holy: + ye shall be holy.'_ + + + + FLEMING H. REVELL COMPANY, + CHICAGO, NEW YORK, TORONTO, + Publishers of Evangelical Literature. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +There 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. + +There are not a few who can praise God that during the past twenty years +the watchword BE HOLY 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +I fear there are some to whom the book may 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, 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. + + A. M. + + Wellington, _16th November 1887_. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + DAY PAGE + 1. God's Call to Holiness--1 Pet. i. 15, 16, 11 + + 2. God's Provision for Holiness--1 Cor. i. 2, 19 + + 3. Holiness and Creation--Gen. ii. 3, 28 + + 4. Holiness and Revelation--Ex. iii. 4-6, 36 + + 5. Holiness and Redemption--Ex. xiii. 2, 46 + + 6. Holiness and Glory--Ex. xv. 11-17, 55 + + 7. Holiness and Obedience--Ex. xix. 5, 6, 64 + + 8. Holiness and Indwelling--Ex. xxv. 8, 73 + + 9. Holiness and Meditation--Ex. xxviii. 36-38, 81 + + 10. Holiness and Separation--Lev. xx. 24, 26, 89 + + 11. The Holy One of Israel--Lev. xi. 45, 98 + + 12. The Thrice Holy One--Isa. vi. 1-3, 107 + + 13. Holiness and Humility--Isa. lvii. 15, 117 + + 14. The Holy One of God--John vi. 69, 125 + + 15. The Holy Spirit--John vii. 39, 133 + + 16. Holiness and Truth--John xvii. 17, 142 + + 17. Holiness and Crucifixion--John xvii. 19, 150 + + 18. Holiness and Faith--Acts xxvi. 18, 158 + + 19. Holiness and Resurrection--Rom. i. 4, 167 + + 20. Holiness and Liberty--Rom. vi. 18-22, 175 + + 21. Holiness and Happiness--Rom. xiv. 17, 184 + + 22. In Christ our Sanctification--1 Cor. i. 30, 31, 192 + + 23. Holiness and the Body--1 Cor. iii. 16, 201 + + 24. Holiness and Cleansing--2 Cor. vii. 1, 210 + + 25. Holiness and Blamelessness--1 Thess. iii. 12, 13, 219 + + 26. Holiness and the Will of God--1 Thess. iv. 3, 227 + + 27. Holiness and Service--2 Tim. ii. 21, 235 + + 28. The Way into the Holiest--Heb. x. 19, 243 + + 29. Holiness and Chastisement--Heb. xii. 10, 14, 253 + + 30. The Unction from the Holy One--1 John ii. 20, 27, 262 + + 31. Holiness and Heaven--2 Pet. iii. 11, 271 + + Notes, 281 + + + + +First Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +God's Call to Holiness. + + 'Like as He which called you is _holy_, be ye yourselves also _holy_ + in all manner of living; because it is written, Ye shall be _holy_, + for I am _holy_.'--1 Pet. i. 15, 16. + + +The call of God is the manifestation in time of the purpose of eternity: +'Whom He predestinated, them He also _called_.' Believers are 'the +_called_ 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. + +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 _to be holy_ as He is holy. Paul addresses +believers twice as 'called to be _holy_' (Rom. i. 7; 1 Cor. i. 2). 'God +called us', he says, 'not for uncleanness, but _in sanctification_' +(1 Thess. iv. 7). When he writes, 'The God of peace _sanctify_ you +wholly,' he adds, 'Faithful is He which _calleth_ you, who also will do +it' (1 Thess. v. 24). The calling itself is spoken of as 'a _holy_ +calling.' The eternal purpose of which the calling is the outcome, is +continually also connected with holiness as its aim. 'He hath _chosen_ +us in Him, that we should be _holy_ and without blame' (Eph. i. 4). +'Whom God _chose_ from the beginning unto _salvation in sanctification_' +(2 Thess. ii. 12). '_Elect_ according to the foreknowledge of the +Father, through _sanctification_ 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. + +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 _in sanctification_,' 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. + +No wonder that Paul, in the chapter in which he 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 _calling_' (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. + +'Like as He which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy'. How +this call of God shows us the true _motive_ 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 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? + +As we listen to the call, it shows also the _nature_ of true Holiness. +'_Like as_ 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 _in +Christ_ 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. + +The call equally reveals the _power_ 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 God of infinite Power and Love that we +may have the confidence: we can be holy. + +The call no less reveals the _standard_ of Holiness. '_Like as He_ is +holy, _so ye also_ 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. + +And the call shows us the _path_ 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 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. + +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, _as_ I am holy. Be holy, _for_ 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. + +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 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 _calleth_, who also _will do +it_.' 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: + + BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +O God! we come to Thee, the Holy One. It is in knowing and finding and +having Thyself, that 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. + +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. + + + 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 _with + God Himself_. You must go _to Him who calls you_. 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. + + 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. + + 3. Take fast hold of the word: 'The God of peace sanctify you wholly: + faithful is He which _calleth_ you, _who also will do it_.' In that + faith listen to God calling you. + + 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. + + + + +Second Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +God's Provision for Holiness. + + 'To those that are _made holy_ in Christ Jesus, called to be + _holy_.'--1 Cor. i. 2. + + 'To all the _holy ones_ in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi. Salute + every _holy one_ in Christ Jesus.'[1]--Phil. i. 1, iv. 21. + + +HOLY! IN CHRIST! In these two expressions we have perhaps the most +wonderful words of all the Bible. + +HOLY! the word of unfathomable meaning, which the Seraphs utter with +veiled faces. HOLY! the word in which all God's perfections centre, and +of which His glory is but the streaming forth. HOLY! 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! + +IN CHRIST! 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! IN CHRIST! what a +summary of what redemption has done, and of the inconceivably blessed +life in which the child of God is permitted to dwell. IN CHRIST! the one +lesson we have to study on earth. God's one answer to all our needs and +prayers. IN CHRIST! the guarantee and the foretaste of eternal glory. + +What wealth of meaning and blessing in the two words combined: HOLY IN +CHRIST! 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 _ye_ +holy, _even as I_ am holy, it is as if there is and ever must be a great +gulf between the holiness of God and man. IN CHRIST! is the bridge that +crosses the gulf; nay rather, His fulness has filled it up. IN CHRIST! +God and man meet; IN CHRIST! 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 believed in Jesus and yet know not how to be holy, here is God's +answer: YE ARE HOLY IN CHRIST JESUS. 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! + +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. + +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 HOLY is the great keyword 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. + +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 HOLY, the New has none deeper than this, IN CHRIST. 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 are +brought as near us as human language can do. + +And when Old and New Testament have each given their message, the one in +teaching us what _Holy_, the other what _in Christ_ 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, HOLY IN CHRIST. + +'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. + +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, '_I am holy_;' the second a command, '_Be ye holy_;' the +third a gift, the link between the two, '_Ye are holy in Christ_.' + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _in Him_. 'In Christ!' oh, that +wonderful _in_! 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 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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! + +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! + +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 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. + +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.' + +O Father! let Thy Spirit make this precious word life and truth within +us. Amen. + + + 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. + + 2. _In Christ._ 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. + 3. Grasp the two sides of the truth. _You are_ holy in Christ with + a Divine holiness. In the faith of that, you are to _be holy_, to + _become holy_ with a human holiness, the Divine Holiness manifest + in all the conduct of a human life. + 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, _in + Him_. His Holy Presence and Love are around you. You are _in Him_, + in the enclosure of that tender love, which ever encircles you with + His Holy Presence. _In that Presence, accepted and realized, is + your holiness._ + + + [1] 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 _holy_, _holiness_, _keep holy_, _hallow_, _saint_, + _sanctify_, and _sanctification_. 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 _hallow_, _keep holy_, _sanctify_, + all represent but one term in the original, of which the real + meaning is to make holy, as it is in Dutch, _heiliging_ + (holying), and _heiligmaking_ (holy-making). + + + + +Third Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Creation. + + 'And God blessed the Sabbath day, and _sanctified_ it, because + that in it He had rested from all the work which God created and + made.'--Gen. ii. 3. + + +In 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, '_Sanctified in Christ_,' 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 +_sanctified_ 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 _makes holy_; the way in which He +makes holy, by entering in and _resting_; and the power of _blessing_ +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. + +1. God _sanctified_ 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: _God created_. All at once a new word +and a new work of God, is introduced: _God sanctified_. 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! + +God sanctified the Sabbath day. The word can 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 _sanctify you_.' 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. + +2. God sanctified the Sabbath day, _because in it He rested_ from all +His work. This rest was something real. In Creation, God had, as it +were, gone 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 _because_ 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. + +_Where God rests in complacency and love, He makes holy._ 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 +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.' + +3. And then we read, '_He blessed_ 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. +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, _and blessed_; with the creation blessing. +God sanctified, _and blessed_; 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. + +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 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.' + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +And teach me, Lord, to understand better how this blessing comes. It is +where Thou enterest to 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. + + + 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. + + 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! + + 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. + + 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. _And trust Him to do His work._ + + 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. _Rest_ belongeth unto God: He alone can give + it, by making us share His own. + + + + +Fourth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Revelation. + + '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 _holy_ + ground. And Moses hid his face, for He was afraid to look upon + God.'--Ex. iii. 4-6. + + +And 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 _Holy_ 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. + +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 _Holy_ used +of the seventh day. Since that time twenty-five 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 +_childlike trust_--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. + +And what is to be the special mark of the new period that is now about +to be inaugurated, and 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. + +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, 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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 _Put off!_ must +exercise its condemning power through our whole being, until we come to +realize the full extent of its meaning in the great, '_Put off_ the old +man; put on the Lord Jesus,' and what 'the _putting off_ 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. + +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 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. + +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, 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. + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + + 1. _Holiness as the fire of God._ 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. + + 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. + + 3. _Holiness as the fear of God._ 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. + + 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? + + +NOTE. + +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 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 _holiness_, _fearful_ in praises?' 'In Thy _fear_ will I +worship towards Thy _holy_ temple.' 'O _fear_ the Lord, ye His _holy +ones_.' 'O worship the Lord, in the beauty of _holiness_; _fear_ before +Him, all the earth.' 'Let them praise Thy great and _terrible_ name; +_holy_ is He.' 'The _fear_ of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; and +the knowledge of the _Holy One_ is understanding.' 'The Lord of hosts, +Him shall ye _sanctify_; let Him be your _fear_, and let Him be your +dread.' 'Perfecting _holiness_ in the _fear_ of the Lord.' 'Like as He +which _called you_ is holy, be ye yourselves also _holy_; and if ye +_call on Him_ as father, pass the time of your sojourning in _fear_.' +And so on through the whole of Scripture, from the Song of Moses on to +the Song of the Lamb: 'Who shall not _fear_ Thee, O Lord! and glorify +Thy name, for Thou only art _holy_.' 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. + + + + +Fifth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Redemption. + + '_Sanctify_ unto _me_ all the first-born.'--Ex. xiii. 2. + + 'All the first-born _are mine_; for on the day I smote all the + first-born in the land of Egypt _I sanctified_ unto _me_ all the + first-born in Israel: _mine_ they shall be: I am the Lord.'--Num. + iii. 13, viii. 17. + + 'For I am the Lord your God that bringeth you up out of the land + of Egypt to be your God: ye shall therefore _be holy_, for I am + _holy_.'--Lev. xi. 45. + + 'I have redeemed thee; thou art mine.'--Isa. xliii. 1. + + +At 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 _holy_ convocation, and in the +seventh day there shall be an _holy_ 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 _wholly +given unto me_; instead of the first-born have I _taken them unto me_; +for all the first-born _are mine_; in the day that I smote every +first-born in the land of Egypt _I sanctified them for myself_.' + +Let us try and realize the relation existing 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +First of all, we want to realize how inseparable redemption and holiness +are. Neither can exist without the other. _Only redemption leads to +holiness._ 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.[2] It is redemption gives God +His right and power over me; 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. + +And just so, _only holiness brings the assurance and enjoyment of +redemption_. 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: _therefore_ 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 _taken_ us as His own, and has +undertaken to _make_ us His own entirely. + +A second lesson suggested is the connection between God's and man's +working in sanctification. To Moses the Lord speaks, '_Sanctify_ unto me +all the first-born.' He afterwards says, '_I sanctified_ 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 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. + +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 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. + +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 _holy_: +_be ye holy_.' + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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 glorious purposes according to the +greatness of Thy power. Amen. + + + 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. + + 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 _holy in Christ_. + + 3. Have you understood the right of property God has in what He + has redeemed? Have you heard a voice say, _Mine. Thou art + Mine._ Ask God very humbly to speak it to you. Listen very + gently for it. + + 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. + + 5. As God created, so He redeemed, to sanctify. Have great + faith in Him for this. + + 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. + + + [2] See Note A on Holiness as Proprietorship. + + + + +Sixth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Glory. + + 'Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! among the gods? + Who is like unto Thee, _glorious in holiness_, + Fearful in praises, doing wonders? + Thou in Thy mercy hast led Thy people which Thou hast redeemed: + Thou hast guided them in Thy strength to the habitation of + _Thy holiness_ ... + _The holy place_, O Lord, which Thy hands have established.' + + --Ex. xv. 11-17. + + +In 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. _He is_ glorious in holiness: and it is to the dwelling-place +of _His Holiness_ that He is guiding His people. + +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 _made holy_ by +my _glory_,' that glory of the Lord of which we afterwards read that it +filled 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 _sanctified_ in them that come nigh unto me, and before all the +people I will be _glorified_.' 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), '_Holy, holy, holy_, Lord God +of Hosts: the whole earth is full of His _glory_.' God is He who +dwelleth in a light that is unapproachable, whom no man hath seen or can +see: it is the _light_ of the knowledge of the _glory_ 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. + +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 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 _Thy people_ which +thou hast redeemed. Thou hast guided _them_ 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. + +And now, observe further, how, as it is in the 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 _the +Holy One_ of Israel in the midst of thee.' Mary sings, 'For He that is +mighty hath done great things to me: and _holy_ 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. 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-- + + Let them praise Thy great and terrible name. + HOLY IS HE. + + Exalt ye the Lord our God, + and worship at His footstool: + HOLY IS HE. + + Exalt ye the Lord our God, + and worship at His holy hill: + For the Lord our God is HOLY. + +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. + +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 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?' + +'_Glorious_ in holiness; _fearful_ 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 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. + +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?' + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +'_Who_ 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. + +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. + +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, MY HOLY ONE, 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. + +Who is like unto Thee, O Lord! glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, +doing wonders? + + + 1. _God's Holiness as Glory._ 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. + + 2. _Our Holiness as Praise._ Praise gives glory to God, and is + thus an element of holiness. 'Thou art holy, Thou that + inhabitest the praises of Israel.' + + 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. + + 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. + + + + +Seventh Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Obedience. + + 'Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on + eagles' wings, and brought you _unto myself_. Now therefore, if ye + will _obey my voice indeed_, and keep my covenant, ye shall be a + peculiar treasure unto me above all people: ye shall be unto me an + _holy_ nation.'--Ex. xix. 4-6. + + +Israel 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 +_unto myself_.' He speaks of holiness as His purpose in redemption: 'Ye +shall be unto me an _holy_ nation.' And as the link between the two He +places obedience: 'If ye will indeed _obey_ my voice, ye shall be unto +me an _holy_ 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. + +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 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. + +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 _done_. '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 _done_ on earth, as in heaven. 'Remember _and do_ 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 _and +do_ them. I am the Lord which sanctify you' (Lev. xx. 7, 8). 'Therefore +shall ye keep my commandments _and do_ 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). + +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 _done_. 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 keep my statutes _and do_ them: I am the Lord +which make you holy.' + +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 _indispensable_ 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 _holy +in Christ_, 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 _act_; do what God says. 'He that _doeth_ 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. + +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 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. + +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: 'All that the Lord +hath spoken, _we will do_;' 'All that the Lord hath said _will we do_, +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 _obey_ +my voice indeed, ye shall be unto me an _holy_ nation.' + +We have already seen how holiness in its very nature supposes the +personal relation to God, His personal presence. 'I have brought you +_unto myself_; if ye obey, ye shall be _unto me_ 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 _voice_, 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 speaks of +doing everything unto the Lord, as pleasing God. + +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. + +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 +the house, and the promise be made true, 'I will sanctify it by my +glory.' + +'I brought you _unto myself_; if ye will obey _my voice_ in deed, ye +shall be _unto me_ 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. + + BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +O my God! let me live day by day in such fellowship with Thee, that I +may indeed in everything 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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 5. _Holy in Christ._ 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, _I am holy_. In accepting that will of God, as + to be done by me, _I become holy_. 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. + + 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. + + + + +Eighth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Indwelling. + + 'And let them make me _a holy place_, that I may _dwell_ among + them.'--Ex. xxv. 8. + + 'And the tent shall be _sanctified_ by my glory, and I will + _dwell_ among the children of Israel, and will be their God.'--Ex. + xxix. 43, 45. + + +The 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 _the_ 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 +_the indwelling God_ that He sanctifies His house, that He reveals +Himself as the Holy One in Israel, that He makes us holy too. + +Because God is holy, _the house_ in which He 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. + +The holy place, the habitation of God's Holiness, was the centre of all +God's work in making _Israel_ 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 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. + +All these things are written on our behalf. It is as the Indwelling One +that God is the sanctifier of _His people_ 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 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. + +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. + +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.' + +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 +upon it, 'Believe me, that I am in the Father and _the Father in me_; +the Father _abiding in me_ 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 _holy_, which temple ye are.' 'Your +body is a temple of the _Holy_ 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. + +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. _They know_ what the +rent veil means, 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. + +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, _with him also_ 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 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. + + BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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! + +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 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. + +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. + +We ask it in His Name. Amen. + + + 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. + + 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.' + + 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. + + + + +Ninth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Mediation. + + 'And thou shalt make a plate of pure gold, and grave upon it, + HOLINESS TO THE LORD. And it shall be upon Aaron's forehead, that + Aaron may bear the iniquity of the _holy_ things, which the + children of Israel shall _hallow_ in all their _holy_ gifts; and + it shall always be upon his forehead, that they may be accepted + before the Lord.'--Ex. xxviii. 36, 38. + + +God's 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 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. + +Among the many points in which the high priest typified Christ as our +sanctification, there is, perhaps, none more suggestive or beautiful +than _the holy crown_ 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, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 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. + +The way in which the blessing of the holy crown was to act was a most +remarkable one. In bearing HOLINESS TO THE LORD 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. 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 _in Him_; 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 _of One_; +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. + +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 +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, HOLINESS TO THE LORD.' 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, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. 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 +things, He will make us and our life holy to the Lord. + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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, HOLINESS TO THE LORD. + +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. + + + 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 of the Holiness of + Jesus, the less shall I see or seek of holiness in myself. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 5. _Holy in Christ._ 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. + + 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 (ch. 3), humble Reverence (ch. 4), + entire Surrender (ch. 5), joyful Adoration (ch. 6), simple + Obedience (ch. 7). These all prepare for the Divine Indwelling + (ch. 8), and this again we have through the Abiding in Jesus + with the Crown of Holiness on His head. + + + + +Tenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Separation. + + 'I am the Lord your God, which have _separated_ you from other + people. And ye shall be _holy_ unto me, for I the Lord am _holy_, + and have _separated_ you from other people that ye should be + _Mine_.'--Lev. xx. 24, 26. + + 'Until the days be fulfilled, in the which he _separateth_ himself + unto the Lord, he shall be _holy_.... All the days of his + _separation_ he is _holy_ unto the Lord.'--Num. vi. 5, 8. + + 'Wherefore Jesus also, that He might _sanctify_ the people through + His own blood, suffered _without the gate_. Let us therefore go + forth unto Him _without the camp_, bearing His reproach.'--Heb. + xiii. 12, 13. + + +Separation 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. + +The Hebrew word for holiness possibly comes from a root that means to +separate. But where we have in our translation 'separate' or 'sever' or +'set apart,' we have quite different words.[3] 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 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. + +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 _unto Himself_ 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. + +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 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.' + +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. + +Let us learn the lessons this truth suggests. We must know _the need_ +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 +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. + +We must know the _purpose_ 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 MINE.' God has +separated us _for Himself_ 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, 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. + +We need, above all, to know _the power_ 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 _Mine_. 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 _Mine_ 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 _Mine_;' it is +always with that _Mine_ 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 _Mine_.' +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 wondrous _Mine_, to be apprehended and possessed of +that Almighty Love. + +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. _The separating power of the Presence of God_; 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 _that +Thou goest with us_? _so_ shall we be _separated_, 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 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. + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 6. God's holiness is His separateness; let us enter into _His_ + 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. + + + [3] See Note B. + + + + +Eleventh Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Holy One of Israel. + + 'I am the Lord that brought you up out of the land of Egypt, to be + _your God_; ye shall therefore _be holy_, for _I am holy_. I the + Lord which _make you holy, am holy_.'--Lev. xi. 45, xxi. 8. + + 'I am the Lord Thy God, _the Holy One of Israel_, Thy Saviour. + Thus saith the Lord, your Redeemer, _the Holy One of Israel_: I am + the Lord, _your Holy One_, the Creator of Israel, your + King.'--Isa. xliii. 3, 14, 15. + + +In 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 +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.[4] + +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 +aloud and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is _the Holy One of +Israel_ in the midst of thee.' 'The poor among men shall rejoice in _the +Holy One of Israel_.' 'Thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, and shalt glory +in _the Holy One of Israel_.' 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. + +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. + +And let us first notice how this Holiness of God, though it is often +mentioned as one of the Divine 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.[5] + +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 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. + +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 'Sixth Day'). 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.' + +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 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. + +We must go one step further. When God says, 'I am holy: _I make holy_,' +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 _though_ God is the +Holy One, and hates sin, and ought to punish and destroy, that +notwithstanding this He will save. By no means. But we are taught that +_as_ the Holy One, _just because_ 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. + +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. + +It is this God who speaks to us, 'I am the Lord your God: I am holy: I +make holy.' It is 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 _Him_; worship +_Him_; give _Him_ the glory. Seek not, even from Him, holiness in +yourself; let self be abased, and be content that the Holiness is His. +As _His_ presence fills your heart, as _His_ Holiness and Glory are your +one desire, as _His_ 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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, in this most +wonderful word of all, 'I make you holy.' I am 'your Holy One.' + +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. + +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. + + + 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.' + + 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.' + + 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. + + 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. + + + [4] 'I am the Lord your God; ye shall therefore _make holy_ + yourselves, and _be holy, for I am holy_' (Lev. xi. 44). + + 'I am the Lord that bringeth you up out of the land of Egypt to + be your God: ye shall therefore _be holy, for I am holy_' + (Lev. xi. 45). + + 'Ye shall _be holy_, for _I the Lord your God am holy_' + (Lev. xix. 2). + + '_Make holy_ yourselves therefore, and _be ye holy_, for I am + the Lord your God; ye shall keep my statutes and do them: I am + the Lord which _make you holy_' (Lev. xx. 7, 8). + + 'Ye shall _be holy_ unto me, for _I the Lord am holy_, and have + separated you from other people, that ye should be mine' + (Lev. xx. 26). + + 'The priest shall be _holy_ unto thee, for _I the Lord which + make you holy, am holy_' (Lev. xxi. 8). + + 'I will be _hallowed_ among the children of Israel; I am the + Lord _which make you holy_' (Lev. xxii. 32). + + 'I am the Lord _which make them holy_' (Lev. xxi. 15, 23; + xxii. 9, 16). + + [5] See Note C for some account of the different definitions that + have been given. + + + + +Twelfth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Thrice Holy One. + + 'I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. Above Him + stood the seraphim. And one cried to another, and said, _Holy, + holy, holy_ is the Lord of hosts: the whole earth is full of His + glory.'--Isa. vi. 1-3. + + 'And the four living creatures, 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.'--Rev. iv. 8. + + +It 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. + +After Moses, as we know, Isaiah was the chief 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. + +The threefold repetition of the HOLY 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 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.[6] 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. + +The Trinity teaches us that God has revealed Himself in two ways. The +Son is _the Form of God_, 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 _the Power of God_, 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 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. + +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, 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. + +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, 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. + +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. HOLY, the +Father, _God above us_, 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. HOLY, the Son, _God with us_, 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. HOLY, +the Spirit, _God in us_, 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. + +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 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. + +Would you apply this in the life of holiness, let faith in the Holy +Trinity be a living practical reality. In every prayer to _the Father_ +to sanctify you, take up your position _in Christ_, and do it in the +power of _the Spirit within you_. In every exercise of faith _in Christ_ +as your Sanctification, let your posture be that of prayer to _the +Father_ and trust in Him as He delights to honour the Son, and of quiet +expectancy of _the Spirit's_ working, through whom the Father glorifies +the Son. In every surrender of the soul to the sanctification of _the +Spirit_, to His leading as the Spirit of Holiness, look to _the Father_ +who grants His mighty working, and who sanctifies through faith in _the +Son_, 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 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. + +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, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, you will find how in such knowledge and worship +of the Thrice Holy One is the power that makes you holy. + + BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +Most merciful God! who hast called me to be 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. + +Thrice Holy God! I worship Thee as my God. HOLY! THE FATHER; 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. HOLY! THE SON; the Holy One of God, fulfilling the will of +the Father, and so making holy Himself that He might be our holiness. +HOLY! THE SPIRIT; 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. + +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: HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, Lord +God Almighty! which wast, and art, and art to come. Amen. + + + 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. + + 2. In faith to apprehend this is to have the secret of holiness. + The Holy 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. + + 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. + + 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 + _a messenger of the holiness of God_ to those around you. + + 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 _to + reveal Himself_. + + + [6] 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 _the life_, then + _the form_ or _shape_ in which that life manifests itself, then + _the power_ or _effect_ 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. + + + + +Thirteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Humility. + + 'Thus saith the High and Lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose + name is _Holy_: I dwell in the High and _Holy_ 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.'--Isa. + lvii. 15. + + +Very 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 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. + +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 humble find +the Holy One: such are the two lessons we have to learn to-day. + +_The Holy One seeks the humble._ There is nothing that has such an +attraction for 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. + +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. + +_The humble find the Holy One._ Just when the consciousness of sin and +weakness, and the discovery of how much of self there is, makes you fear +that you can never be holy, the Holy One gives Himself. Not as you look +at self, and seek to know whether now you are contrite and humble +enough--no, but when no longer looking at self, because you have given +up all hope of seeing anything in it but sin, you look up to the Holy +One, you will see how His promise is your only hope. It is in faith +that the Holy One is revealed to the contrite soul. Faith is ever the +opposite of what we see and feel; it looks to 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. + +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 moment side by side with the power +and the joy of His resurrection. 'He that humbleth himself shall be +exalted;' in the blessed life of faith the humiliation and the +exaltation are simultaneous, each dependent on the other. + +The humble find the Holy One; and when they have found, the possession +only humbles all the more. Not that there is no danger or temptation of +the flesh exalting itself in the possession, but, once knowing the +danger, the humble soul seeks for grace to fear continually, with a fear +that only clings more firmly to 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. + +Believers, who profess to be nothing, and to trust in grace alone, I +pray you, do listen to the wondrous message. The High and Lofty One, +whose name is Holy, and who dwells in the Holy Place, and who can dwell +nowhere but in a Holy Place, seeks a dwelling here on earth. Will you +give it Him? Will you not fall down in the dust, that He may find in +you the humble heart He loves to dwell in? Will you not now believe that +even in you, however low and broken you feel, He doth delight to make +His dwelling? 'Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the +Kingdom;' with them the King dwells. Oh, this is the path to holiness! +be humble, and the holy nearness and presence of 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. + + BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +O Lord! Thou art the High and Lofty One, whose Name is Holy. And yet +Thou speakest, 'I dwell in the high and holy place, and with him that is +of a contrite and humble spirit.' Yes, Lord! when the soul takes the low +place, and has low thoughts of itself, that it feels it is nothing, Thou +dost love to come and comfort, to dwell with it and revive it. + +O my 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. + +Holy Lord God! I pray Thee to humble me. Didst Thou not of old meet Thy +servants, and show Thyself unto them until they fell upon their faces +and feared? Thou knowest, my 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. + + + 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. + + 2. 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of + heaven.' These first words of the Master when He opened His + lips to proclaim the Kingdom, are often the last in the hearts + of His disciples. 'The Kingdom is in the Holy Ghost:' to the + poor in spirit, those who know they have nothing that is really + spiritual, the Holy Spirit comes to be their life. The poor in + spirit are the Kingdom of the Saints: in them the Holy Spirit + reveals the King. + + 3. Many strive hard to be humble with 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. + + 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. + + 5. The link between holiness and humility is indwelling. The + Lofty One, whose name is Holy, _dwells_ with the contrite one. + And where He dwells is _the Holy Place_. + + + + +Fourteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Holy One of God. + + 'Therefore also that _holy_ thing which shall be born of thee + shall be called the Son of God.'--Luke i. 35. + + 'We have believed and know that Thou art _the Holy One of + God_.'--John vi. 69. + + +'The holy one of the Lord'--only once (Ps. cvi. 16) the expression is +found in the Old Testament. It is spoken of Aaron, in whom holiness, as +far as it could then be revealed, had found its most complete +embodiment. The 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. + +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 +necessity of His nature. In the Son we see Divine Holiness tested. He is +tried and tempted. He suffers, being tempted. He proves that Holiness +has indeed a moral worth: it is ready to make any sacrifice, yea to give +up life and cease to be, rather than consent to sin. In giving Himself +to die, rather than yield to the temptation of sin; in giving Himself to +die, that the Father's righteous judgment may be honoured; Jesus proved +how Righteousness is an element of the Divine Holiness, and how the Holy +One is sanctified in Righteousness. + +But this is only one side of Holiness. The fire that consumes also +purifies: it makes partakers of its own beautiful Light-nature all that +is capable of 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. + +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. + +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, through +the unity of will, can be holy as God is holy. + +3. But what avails that we have seen in Jesus that a man can be holy? +His example were indeed a mockery if He show us not the way, and give us +not the power, to become like Himself. To bring us this, was indeed the +supreme object of the Incarnation. The Divine nature of Christ did not +simply make _His_ humanity partaker of its holiness, leaving Him still +nothing more than an individual man. His Divinity gave the human +holiness He wrought out, the holy human nature which He perfected, an +infinite value and power of communication. With Him a new life, the +Eternal Life, was grafted into the stem of humanity. For all who believe +in Him, He sanctified Himself, that they themselves might also be +sanctified in truth. Because His death was the great triumph of His +obedience to the will of the Father, it broke for ever the dominion of +sin, it atoned for our guilt, and won for Him from the Father the power +to make His people partakers of His own life and holiness. In His +Resurrection and Ascension the power of the New Life, and its right to +universal dominion, were made manifest, and He is now in full truth the +Holy One of God, holding in Himself as Head the power of a Holiness, at +once Divine and human, to communicate to every member of His body. + +THE HOLY ONE OF GOD! in a fulness of meaning that passeth knowledge, in +spirit and in truth, Jesus 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 _the Holy One of God_,'--blessed they +who can say this, and know themselves to be holy in Christ. + +In speaking of the mystery of the Holy Trinity, we saw how Christ stands +midway between the Father and the Spirit, as the point of union in which +they meet. In the Son, 'the very image of His substance' (Heb. i. 3), we +have the objective revelation of Deity, the Divine Holiness embodied and +brought nigh. In the Holy Spirit we have the same revelation +subjectively, _the Divine Holiness entering our inmost being and +revealing itself there_. The work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal and +glorify Christ as the Holy One of 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 _the Holy One of God_. + +My Brother! wouldst thou be holy, wouldst thou know God's way of +holiness--learn to know Christ as the Holy One of God. Thou art _in +Him_, 'holy in Christ.' Thou hast been placed, by an act of Divine +Power, in Christ, and that same Power keeps thee there, planted and +rooted in that Divine fulness of life and holiness which there is in +Him. His Holy Presence, and the power of His eternal life, surround +thee: let the Holy Spirit reveal this to thee. The Holy Spirit is within +thee as the power of Christ and His life. Secretly, silently, but +mightily, if thou wilt look to the Father for His working, will He +strengthen the faith that thou art in Christ, and that the Divine life, +which thus encircles thee on every side, will enter in and take +possession of thee. Study and pray to believe and realize that it is in +Christ as the Holy One of 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. + +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. _He came from heaven for the +very purpose of making thee holy._ His love and power are more than thy +slowness and sinfulness. Do learn to think of holiness as the +inheritance prepared for thee, as the power of a new life which Jesus +waits and lives to dispense. Just think of it as all in Him, and of its +possession as being dependent upon the possession of Himself. And as the +disciples, though they scarce understood what they confessed, or knew +whither the Lord was leading them, became His saints, His holy ones, in +virtue of their intense attachment to Him, so wilt thou find that to +love Jesus fervently, and obey Him simply, is the sure path to holiness +and the fulness of the Holy Spirit. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +Most Holy Lord God! I do bless Thee that Thy beloved Son, whom Thou +didst sanctify and send into the world, is now to us _the Holy One of +God_. I beseech Thee that my inner life may so be enlightened by the +Spirit that I may in faith fully know what this means. + +May I know Him as the revelation of Thy Holiness, the incarnation in +human nature, even unto the death, of Thine infinite and unconquerable +hatred of sin, as of Thy amazing love to the sinner. May my soul be +filled with great fear and trust of Thee. + +May I know Him as the exhibition of the Holiness in which we are now to +walk before Thee. He lived in Thy holy will. May I know Him as He +wrought out that holiness, to be communicated to us in a new human +nature, making it possible for us to live a holy life. + +May I know Him as Thou hast placed me in Him in heaven, holy in Christ, +and as I may abide in Him by faith. + +May I know Him, as He dwells in me, the Holy One of God on the throne of +my heart, breathing His Holy Spirit and maintaining His holy rule. So +shall I live holy in Christ. + +O my Father! it pleased Thee that in Thy Son should all the fulness +dwell. In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge; in Him +dwell the unsearchable riches of grace and holiness. I beseech Thee, +reveal Him to me, reveal Him in me, that I may not have to satisfy +myself with thoughts and desires, without the reality, but that in the +power of an endless life I may know Him, and be known of Him, the Holy +One of God. Amen. + + + 1. In the holiness of Jesus we see what ours must be: + righteousness, that hates sin and gives everything to have it + destroyed; love, that seeks the sinner and gives everything to + have him saved. 'Whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of + God, neither he that loveth not his brother.' + + 2. It is a solemn thought that we may be studying earnestly to + know what holiness is, and yet have little of it, because we + have little of Jesus. It is a blessed thought that a man may + directly be little occupied with the thought of holiness, and + yet have much of it, because he is full of Jesus. + + 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 _the Holy One of God_: to have _Him_ truly, + to love _Him_ fervently, to trust and obey _Him_, to be _in + Him_--this makes us holy. + + 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. + + 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 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. + + + + +Fifteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Holy Spirit. + + 'But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believed on Him + were to receive: for _the Holy Spirit_ was not yet: because Jesus + was not yet glorified.'--John vii. 39. + + 'The Comforter, even _the Holy Spirit_, whom the Father will send + in my name, He shall teach you all things.'--John xiv. 26. + + 'God chose you to salvation _in sanctification of the Spirit_, and + belief of the truth.'--2 Thess. ii. 13. (See 1 Pet. i. 2.) + + +It 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 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. + +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 _in you_, because this Spirit is in you. The words, and the +Divine realities the words express, _Holy_ and _Spirit_, 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. + +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 _Holy_ 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 _Holy_ Spirit, in _sanctification_ 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, 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. + +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. + +If we inquire more closely how it is that this 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. + +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 _Holy_ 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, 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. + +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 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: '_I am holy_,' thus speaks the +Father; '_Be holy_,' as my Son and in my Son; '_I make holy_,' 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.' + +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 _you_ would not do so, at once bow the knee +to the Father, that He may grant you the Spirit's 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.[7] + + BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts! the whole earth is full of Thy +glory! Let that glory fill the 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. + +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. + +And grant, gracious Father, that through Him I may hear Thee speak and +reveal Thyself to me in power: I AM HOLY. May He glorify to me and in +me, Jesus, in whom Thy command 'BE HOLY' 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, 'I MAKE YOU HOLY.' Amen. + + + 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 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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! '_As the anointing taught you_, + ye abide in Him.' + + 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. + + + [7] I cannot say how deeply I feel that one of the great wants of + believers is that they do not _know_ 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 _The Spirit of Christ_. May the Father give me + a message that shall help His children to know what the Holy + Spirit can be to them. + + + + +Sixteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Truth. + + '_Make them holy_ in _the Truth_: Thy word is _Truth_.'--John + xvii. 17. + + 'God chose you unto salvation in _sanctification_ and belief of + _the Truth_.'--2 Thess. ii. 12. + + +The 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. + +Jesus had just said, 'The words which Thou gavest me, I have given +them.' Let us try and realize what that means. Think of that great +transaction in eternity: the Infinite Being, whom we call God, _giving +His words_ 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. + +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. 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. + +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 _word-truth_; a man may have +the correct form of words while he does not really apprehend the truth +they contain. Then there is _thought-truth_; 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 _life-truth_, +in which the very Spirit of the truth we profess has entered and +possessed our inner being. Christ calls Himself _the Truth_: 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 _reality_, 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. + +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 +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. + +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 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. + +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 _the Spirit_ of the Truth within us. He will +lead us _into_ 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 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. + +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 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.' + +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, HOLY IN CHRIST. May God make it truth in us! + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + + 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 _the truth_; 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 _truth_ is the _Holy_ Spirit. + + 2. It is the work of _the Father_ 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.' _He will do it._ + + 3. It is the intercession of _the Son_ that asks and obtains this + blessing: let us take our place _in Him_, and rejoice in the + assurance of an answer. + + 4. It is _the Spirit of truth_ 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. + + 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. + + + + +Seventeenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Crucifixion. + + 'For their sakes I _sanctify_ myself, that they themselves also + may be _sanctified_ in truth.'--John xvii. 19. + + 'He said, Lo, I am come to do Thy will. In which will we have been + _sanctified_ through the offering of the body of Jesus once for + all. For by one offering He hath perfected for ever them that are + _sanctified_.'--Heb. x. 9, 10, 14. + + +It 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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 cannot partake of it, we +cannot enter it, except as we die to self and its will. Crucifixion is +the path to sanctification. + +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.[8] + +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 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 _by the +sacrifice of Himself_,' 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 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. + +'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. + +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 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. + +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. + + BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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.' + +Blessed Father! I beseech Thee to strengthen me mightily by Thy Spirit, +that in living faith I may 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, _let Himself_, O my +Father! _let Himself_, 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. + +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. + + + 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 '_denied_ 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + + [8] See Note D. + + + + +Eighteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Faith. + + 'That they may receive remission of sins, and an inheritance among + them that are _sanctified by faith in me_.'--Acts xxvi. 18. + + +The 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. + +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 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. + +Our Lord speaks here of 'them that are sanctified by faith in me.'[9] 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 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.[10] + +From this point of view it is evident that faith has a twofold +operation. Faith is the evidence of things not seen, though _now +actually existing_, the substance of things hoped for, but _not yet +present_. 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 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. + +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. + +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 _in God_ stands opposed to trust _in self_: 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 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 _working_ 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. + +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 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 _not doing_ what we trusted +Him for, then is just the time for faith to glory in Him. + +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 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. + +'Sanctified by faith in me.' Yes, 'by faith _in Me_:' 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 _to us_, and taking complete +possession. So faith will be power: the power of obedience to do God's +will: '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.' + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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 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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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? + + 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. + + 5. _Holiness by faith in Jesus_, not by effort of thine own, + Sin's dominion crushed and broken _by the power of grace alone_,-- + _God's own holiness_ within thee, His own beauty on thy brow,-- + This shall be thy pilgrim brightness, this _thy blessed portion now_. + + F. R. H. + + + [9] 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. + + [10] See Note E. + + + + +Nineteenth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Resurrection. + + 'The Son of God, who was born of the seed of David _according to + the flesh_, who was declared to be the Son of God with power, + _according to the Spirit_ of holiness, by the resurrection of the + dead.'--Rom. i. 4. + + +These 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. + +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, 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.[11] 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +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 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.' + +In this faith, that it is possible to know and do the will of God in all +things, take over from Him, 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. + +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 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. + +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? + +Let us learn one more lesson from our text. _It is out of the grave of +the flesh and the will of self that the Spirit of holiness breaks out in +resurrection power._ 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 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. + + BE YE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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, 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! + +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. + + + 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. + + 2. The blessedness to the disciples of having a Risen Christ + was this: He, whom they thought dead, came and _revealed + Himself_ 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. + + 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. + + 4. To die thus, to live thus in Christ, to be holy--how can we + attain it? It all comes '_according to the Spirit of + holiness_.' Have the Holy Spirit within thee. Say daily, 'I + believe in the Holy Ghost.' + + 5. _Holy in Christ._ 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. + + + [11] See Note F. + + + + +Twentieth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Liberty. + + 'Being made _free from sin_, ye became servants of righteousness: + now present your members as servants of righteousness _unto + sanctification_. Now being made _free from sin_, and become + servants unto God, ye have your fruit _unto sanctification_, and + the end eternal life.'--Rom. vi. 18, 19, 22. + + 'Our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.'--Gal. ii. 4. + + 'With freedom did Christ set us free: stand fast therefore, and be + not entangled again in a yoke of bondage.'--Gal. v. 1. + + +There 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. + +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 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 '_stand +fast_ in our liberty in Christ Jesus,' that we can have our fruit unto +sanctification. + +It is remarkable how seldom the word _holy_ 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. + +'_Being made free from sin_:' 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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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 _hath made me free_ 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. + +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 song of +victory: 'I thank God, through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit of +life hath made me free.' + +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 _unto sanctification_.' 'Having been made free from +sin, and having been enslaved unto God, ye have your fruit _unto +sanctification_.' 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 +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. + +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.'[12] + +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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +Most Holy God! as Thy free, obedient, loving child, Thou wilt make me +holy. Amen. + + + 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. + + 2. This liberty is of faith (Gal. v. 5, 6). By faith in Christ I + enter into it, and stand in it. + + 3. This liberty is of the Holy Spirit. 'Where the Spirit of the + Lord is, 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 _free to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit_. + 'Where the Spirit is, there is liberty.' + + 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. + + 5. 'Being made free from sin, ye became _servants of + righteousness_ unto sanctification.' 'Let my people go, that + they may serve me.' It is only the man that doeth righteousness + that can become holy. + + 6. This liberty is a thing of joy and singing. + + 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. + + + [12] See Note G. + + + + +Twenty-first Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Happiness. + + 'The kingdom of God is joy in the Holy Ghost.'--Rom. xiv. 17. + + 'The disciples were filled with joy and the Holy Ghost.'--Acts + xiii. 52. + + 'Then Nehemiah said, This day is _holy_ unto the Lord: neither be + ye sorry, for the _joy_ of the Lord is your strength. So the + Levites stilled the people, saying, Hold your peace; for the day + is _holy_; neither be ye grieved. And all the people went their + way to make great _mirth_, because they had understood the + words.'--Neh. viii. 10-12. + + +The 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 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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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? + +The answer will be found in the right apprehension 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, '_When_ I am weak, _then_ 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 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.' + +Let us seek to learn the two lessons: Holiness is essential to true +happiness; happiness essential to true holiness. _Holiness is essential +to true happiness._ If you would have joy, the fulness 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. + +And _happiness is essential to true holiness_. 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 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.' + +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, 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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.' + + + + +Twenty-second Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +In Christ our Sanctification. + + '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 Cor. i. 30, 31. + + +These 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 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. + +The Divine answer to this question is, 'Of God are ye _in Christ_.' 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. + +'Of God are ye _in Christ_.' 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 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. + +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 it: the +sense of sinfulness and unholiness must become the strength of my trust +and dependence. In such faith I abide in Christ. + +But because it is of faith, therefore it is of the Holy Spirit. _Of God_ +are ye _in Christ_. 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 _know_ 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. + +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 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. + +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 its sanctification, as He crowns its obedience +with ever larger inflow of the Presence and the Holiness of God. + +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: '_Of God you are in Him._' 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. + +O my brother! come and consent more fully to God's way of holiness. Let +Christ be your 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 is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in +the Lord. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +Most Blessed Father! I bow in speechless adoration before the holy +mystery of Thy Divine Love.... + +Oh, forgive me, that I have known and believed it so little as it is +worthy of being known and believed. + +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. + +And hear my prayer, O my Father! that in the 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! + +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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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: _you are in Him_. + + + + +Twenty-third Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and the Body. + + 'The temple of God is _holy_, which temple ye are. _The body_ is + for the Lord, and the Lord for _the body_. Know ye not that your + _body_ is the temple of _the Holy Ghost_ which is in you; + therefore glorify God in your _body_.'--1 Cor. iii. 16, vi. 13, + 19. + + 'She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that + she may be _holy_ both _in body_ and spirit.'--1 Cor. vii. 34. + + 'Present your _bodies_ a living sacrifice, _holy_, acceptable to + God.'--Rom. xii. 1. + + +Coming into the world, our Blessed Lord spake: '_A body_ didst Thou +prepare for me; lo, I come to do Thy will, O God.' Leaving this world +again, it was in His own _body_ 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 _of the body_ of Jesus Christ once for +all.' + +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, at the coming of +our Lord Jesus Christ.' Of himself he had spoken as 'always bearing +about _in the body_ the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may +be manifested _in our body_. For we which live are always delivered unto +death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested _in +our mortal flesh_.' His earnest expectation and hope was, 'that Christ +be magnified _in my body_, 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. + +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 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 _Himself_, +who sanctifies wholly, who must preserve spirit and soul _and body_ +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. + +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 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. + +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 _and_ spirit. 'If through the +Spirit ye do make dead the deeds of _the body_, ye shall live.' If we +are indeed to be cleansed from sin and made holy unto God, the body, as +the outworks, must very specially be secured from the power of Satan +and of sin. + +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 _your body_ is the temple of the Holy Ghost: glorify +God therefore, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in _your body_.' 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. + +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. + +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 +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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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 Thy wonderful +redemption. I do desire in soul and body to be holy to the Lord. + +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. + +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. + + + 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. + + 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 _the holy women_, who hoped in + God, adorned themselves.' Holiness was seen in their dressing; + their body was the temple of the Holy Spirit. + + 3. 'If ye through the Spirit do make dead the deeds of _the body_, + 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 _my + body_, and bring it into bondage, lest I myself should be + rejected.' + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + + + +Twenty-fourth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Cleansing. + + 'Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us _cleanse_ + ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting + _holiness_ in the fear of God.'--2 Cor. vii. 1. + + +That 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 _sanctify_ it, +having _cleansed_ it by the washing of water with the word.' 'If a man +_cleanse_ himself from these, he shall be a vessel _sanctified_.' 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 _cleanse_ the altar, when +thou makest atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to _sanctify_ +it' (Ex. xxix. 36). Cleansing must ever prepare the way, and ought +always to lead on to holiness. + +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. + +'_Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh._' 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 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. + +'_And of spirit._' 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. + +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. + +'_Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves._' 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. + +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 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. + +'Let us cleanse ourselves, _perfecting holiness in the fear of the +Lord_.' We read in Hebrews (x. 14), 'Christ hath perfected forever them +that are sanctified.' 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 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.' + +'_Having therefore these promises_, 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 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.' + +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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + + + 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? + + 2. _All_ defilement: one stain defiles. 'Let us cleanse ourselves + from _all_ defilement.' + + 3. No cleansing without Light. Open the heart for the Light to + shine in. + + 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. + + 5. 'Perfecting holiness in _the fear of God_:' it is a solemn + work. Rejoice with trembling--work out your salvation with fear + and trembling. + + 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. + + 7. _If we walk in the light, the blood cleanseth._ 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. + + + + +Twenty-fifth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holy and Blameless. + + 'Ye are witnesses, and God also, how _holily_ and justly and + _unblameably_ 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 + _unblameable in holiness_ before our God and Father at the coming + of our Lord Jesus with all His _holy ones_.'--1 Thess. ii. 10, + iii. 12, 13. + + 'He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we + should be _holy and without blemish_ before Him _in love_.'--Eph. + i. 4. + + +There 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 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. + +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 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. + +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 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.' + +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 +_in love_.' But specially in that remarkable passage: 'The Lord make you +to _increase and abound in love_ toward one another, and toward all men, +_to the end He may establish your hearts unblameable in holiness_.' 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. + +Holiness and lovingness--it is of deep importance that these words +should be 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 +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 _the Lord makes_ us to +increase and abound in love, that _He can establish_ our hearts +unblameable in holiness. + +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, 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, _holy and beloved_, a heart of +compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering' (Col. iii. 12, +13). + +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. + +It is in Christ we are holy; of God we are in 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +Blessed Lord and Saviour! I come now to claim and take as my own, what +Thou art able to 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. + +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. + + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + + + +Twenty-sixth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and the Will of God. + + 'This is _the will of God_, even your _sanctification_.'--1 Thess. + iv. 3. + + 'Lo, I am come to do _Thy will_. By _which will_ we have been + _sanctified_, through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ + once for all.'--Heb. x. 9, 10. + + +In 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 doeth according to His will,' is then +the language not only of forced submission, but of joyful expectation. + +'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. + +There is, however, another most precious thought suggested. If our +sanctification be God's will, its central thought and its contents, +_every part of that will_ 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 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. + +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. + +The mistake they make is a very serious one. 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. + +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 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. + +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. + +He does so also by doing that will. As his 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. + +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. + +Brother! are you in earnest to be holy? wholly possessed of God? Here is +the path. I plead with 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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. + +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. + +May this be the holiness in which I live, that I forget and lose self in +pleasing and honouring Thee. Amen. + + + 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. + + 2. Study it, too, as the expression of an infinite Love and + Fatherliness; its every manifestation full of loving-kindness. + Every providence is _God's will_; whatever happens, meet God in + it in humble worship. Every precept is _God's will_; meet God + in it with loving obedience. Every promise is _God's will_; + meet God in it with full trust. A life in the will of God is + rest and strength and blessing. + + 3. And forget not, above all, to believe in its Omnipotent Power. + _He worketh all things after the counsel of His will._ 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + + + +Twenty-seventh Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Service. + + 'If a man therefore cleanse himself from these, he shall be a + vessel unto honour, _sanctified_, meet _for the Master's use_, + prepared _unto every good work_.'--2 Tim. ii. 21. + + 'A _holy_ priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices. A _holy_ + nation, that ye may _show forth the excellences of Him_ who called + you out of darkness into His marvellous light.'--1 Pet. ii. 5, 9. + + +Through 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 _am holy_,' God +continually adds the declaration of what He does, 'I am the Lord that +_make holy_.' 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. Whatever we read of as holy, was taken into the service +of the Holiness of God. + +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 _holy_ nation, God said, 'Let my people go, that they +may _serve_ 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 +_sanctified and sent_ 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 holy that we may serve. +We can only serve as we are holy. + +_Holiness is essential to effectual service._ 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. + +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 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. + +My brother! listen to the message. 'If a man _cleanse_ himself, he shall +be a vessel unto honour, _sanctified_, _meet_ for the Master's use, +_prepared_ 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 _cleansed_ from all +defilement of flesh and spirit. Then only can it be a _sanctified_ +vessel, possessed and indwelt by God's Holy Spirit. So it becomes _meet +for the Master's use_. 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. + +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 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. + +_And service is no less essential to true holiness._ 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, 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. + +'The Father _sanctified_ the Son, _and sent_ 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,' 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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. + +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 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. + +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. + +Oh, be pleased to perfect Thine own work in us! Amen. + + + 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. + + 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 + _sanctified and sent_, 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. + + 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. + + 4. Note the connection between 'sanctified' and 'meet for _the + Master's use_.' 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 _for Him to + use_. Then the Holy Ghost is the Agent, and we are the + Instruments of His will. Such service is Holiness. + + 5. 'I sanctify _Myself_, that _they also_:' a reference to others + is the root principle of all true holiness. + + + + +Twenty-eighth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Way into the Holiest. + + 'Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into _the Holiest_ + by _the blood_ of Jesus, by _the way_ which He dedicated, a new + and living way, through the veil, that is to say, His flesh: and + having a _great Priest_ over the house of God; let us draw near + with a true heart, in fulness of faith.'--Heb. x. 19-22. + + +When 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 _the Holiest of all_ 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 _the +Holiest_, 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 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. + +_The place of access._ Whither are we invited to draw nigh? 'Having +boldness to enter into _the Holiest_.' 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 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.[13] + +_The right of access._ 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 _boldness_ to enter into +the Holiest _by the blood_ 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, +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. + +_The way of access._ It is often thought that what is said of _the new +and living way_, 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 _by the blood_ of Jesus, let us draw +near _by the way_ 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 _His flesh_, we find in it +at once the need and the power for our flesh being rent too: following +Jesus ever means conformity to Jesus. It is Jesus with the rent flesh, +in whom we are, in whom we walk.[14] 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. + +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 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. + +_The power of access._ 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 _having a Great Priest_ 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. _In Him_ 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 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. + +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. + +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 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. _Having a Great Priest_, 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. + + BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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 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. + +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. + +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. + + + 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. + + 2. 'Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself for it, that He + might sanctify it.' _He gave Himself!_ 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, _He gave + Himself_ 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 + _Himself_ glorious, without spot or wrinkle. Let that word + _Himself_ live in you. The whole life and walk in the House of + God is in His charge. _Having_ a Great Priest, let us draw + near. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + 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. + + + [13] So near, so very near to God, + I cannot nearer be; + For in the person of His Son, + I am as near as He. + + [14] '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. + + + + +Twenty-ninth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Chastisement. + + 'He chasteneth us for our profit, that we may be partakers of _His + holiness_. Follow after _sanctification_, without which no man + shall see the Lord.'--Heb. xii. 10, 14. + + +There 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 +_perfect_ through _sufferings_.' 'Though He was a Son, yet _learned_ He +_obedience_ by the things which He _suffered_, and having been made +_perfect_, became the Author of eternal salvation to all them that obey +Him.' As He said Himself of His suffering, 'I sanctify myself,' so we +see here that His sufferings were indeed to Him the pathway to +perfection and holiness. + +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, _works out_ and actually effects the exceeding weight of +glory. We agree not only to what is written, 'It _became_ 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. + +'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 _His Holiness_, 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 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. + +_Chastisement leads to the acceptance of God's will._ 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 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. + +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. + +This lesson has special difficulty when the trial does not come direct +from God, but through men or circumstances. In looking at second +causes, 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, _all the will_ 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. + +_Chastisement leads to the fellowship of God's Son._ 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 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. + +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. _His suffering is the secret of His Holiness, of His Glory, of +His Life._ 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. + +_Chastisement leads to the enjoyment of God's love._ Many a father has +been surprised as he made his first experience of how a child, after +being punished 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. + +'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 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. + +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 _His_ 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. + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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 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. + +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. + + + 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 _learned obedience_ by the things which He + suffered.' 'It became God to make the Author of our salvation + _perfect_ through suffering, for both He that sanctifieth and + they who are sanctified are all of one.' 'In that He Himself + hath suffered, He is _able to succour_.' 'We behold Jesus, + because of the suffering of death, _crowned with glory_ 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 _in whom_ they are holy, and the way in which He + sanctified Himself and sanctifies us. + + 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. + + 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 _every trial_, small or great, be the touch of + God's hand, laying hold on you, to lead you to holiness. Give + yourself into that hand. + + 4. 'Insomuch as ye are partakers of _Christ's sufferings_, + rejoice; for _the Spirit of glory_ and of God resteth on you.' + + + + +Thirtieth Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +The Unction from the Holy One. + + 'And ye have _an anointing from the Holy One_, 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 John ii. + 20, 27. + + +In 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 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 _the crown of the +anointing oil of his God_ is upon him' (Lev. xxi. 10, 12). And even so +it is said of David, as type of the Messiah, 'Our king is _of the Holy +One of Israel_. I have found David, my servant; with my _holy oil_ have +I anointed him.' + +We know how the Hebrew name _Messiah_, and the Greek _Christ_, has +reference to this. So, in the passage just quoted, the Hebrew is, 'with +my holy oil I have _messiahed_ him.' And so in a passage like Acts x. +38: 'Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, whom God _christed_ with the Holy +Ghost and with power.' Or Ps. xlv.: 'God hath _messiahed_ thee with the +oil of gladness above thy fellows;' in Heb. i. 9, 'Thy God hath +_christed_ 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.' + +1. _Ye have an anointing from the Holy One._ It 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. + +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 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. + +2. '_The anointing teacheth you._' The new man is created in +_knowledge_, as well as in righteousness and holiness. Christ is made to +us _wisdom_, 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. + +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. + +3. '_And the anointing abideth in you._' '_In you._' 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 _in us_, as one with us, +entering into the most secret part of our being, and pervading all, +dwelling in our very body, the anointing abideth _in us_, forming part +of our very selves. And this just in proportion as we 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. + +4. '_And even as it taught you, ye abide in Him._' 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 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. + +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! + + BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY. + + +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 gift of Thy Holy Spirit. Grant me now to sing, 'Thou +anointest my head;' 'I am anointed with fresh oil.' + +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. + +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! + +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. + + + 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; _even as_ it + taught you, ye abide in him;' so far, and no farther. + + 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. + + 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 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.' + + 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. + + 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. + + + + +Thirty-first Day. + + +HOLY IN CHRIST. + +Holiness and Heaven. + + 'Seeing that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of + men ought ye to be in all _holy_ living and godliness?'--2 Pet. + iii. 11. + + 'Follow after _the sanctification_ without which no man shall see + the Lord.'--Heb. xii. 14. + + 'He that is _holy_, let him be made _holy_ still.... The grace of + the Lord Jesus be with the _holy ones_. Amen.'--Rev. xxii. 11, 21. + + +O my 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. + +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.' + +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 godliness?' +Holiness must be its one, its universal characteristic. At the close 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?' + +Note first the meaning of the question. In the original Greek, the words +living and godliness are plural. Alford says, '_In holy behaviours and +pieties_; the plurals mark the holy behaviour and piety _in all its +forms and examples_.' 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 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). + +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! + +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!' + +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 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?' + +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 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? + +'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 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? + +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.' + + BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY. + + +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? 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. + +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. + + + 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 _ought_ to be, the more definite our acts of + confession, of surrender, and of faith can become. + + 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. + + 3. 'Seeing that _ye look for_ 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. + + 4. _Holy in Christ._ Let this be our parting word. However + strong the branch becomes, however far away it reaches round + the home, out of sight 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. + + + + +NOTES. + + +NOTE A. + +Holiness as Proprietorship. + + +In a little book--_Holiness, as understood by the Writers of the Bible; +A Bible Study by Joseph Agar Beet_--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 _special +relation_ to Himself.' The first-born 'were to stand _in a special +relation to God as His property_.' 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 _God's claim to the +ownership_ of men and things; and the objects claimed were called holy. +Now, _God's claim_ 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. _This claim_ was a new era, not only in his +everyday life, but in his conception of God. Consequently the word +_holy_, which expressed _Aaron's relation to God_, was suitably used to +express _God's relation to Aaron_. 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 _the Holy One of Israel_, +and Israel was _Holy to Jehovah_. 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.' + +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.e._ +the highest conceivable devotion to God and to the advancement of His +kingdom.' 'In virtue of His intelligent, hearty, continued +appropriation of the Father's purpose, and in virtue of its realization +in all the details of the Saviour's life, He was called _the Holy One of +God_.' + +'The word _saint_ is very appropriate as a designation of the followers +of Christ; for it declares what God requires them to be. By calling His +people _saints_, 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 _holy_ 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. + +'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.' + +'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.' + +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.' + +'That God claims from His people unreserved devotion 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.' + +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. + +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. + +The mistake appears to originate in taking first the meaning of the word +_holy_ 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 _sanctifying_ 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. + +This Holiness in God, as it appears to me, cannot be a 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. + + + + +NOTE B. + +On the Word for Holiness. + + +The proper meaning of the Hebrew word for holy, _kadosh_, is matter of +uncertainty. It may come from a root signifying to shine. (So Gesenius, +Oehler, Fuerst, 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 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. + +In his _Lexicon of New Testament Greek_, Cremer has an exhaustive +article on the Greek _hagios_, 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 +_holy_ has so little entered into the daily language and life of the +Christian Church? + + + + +NOTE C. + +The Holiness of God. + + +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, 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. + +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. + +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 +Holiness as Proprietorship. + +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, _Syst. Theol._) The idea of holiness as the +infinite Purity 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. + +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 +_on John_ xvii. 11). 'Holiness is that attribute in virtue of which +Jehovah makes Himself the absolute standard of Himself, of His being and +revelation.' (Kubel.) + +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, _holy_ power, _holy_ love. And so it is the very +lustre and glory of His other perfections. He is glorious in holiness.' +(Howe in _Whyte's Shorter Catechism_.) 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 _moral_ attributes, which +are summed up in His Holiness, and His _natural_, 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.' + +6. In speaking of God's Holiness as denoting the essential good, the +absolute excellence of His nature, some press very strongly the +_ethical_ 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 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, _System_, vol. i.) + +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 _on John_ xvii.) + +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. + +'Holiness is the self-preservation of God, whereby He 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.) + +'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.) + +'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, _Theol. of O. T._ +i. 160.) + +'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 _His opposition to sin manifesting +itself in atonement and redemption, or in judgment_. Or as holiness, so +far as it is embodied in law, must be the highest moral perfection, we +may say, "_holiness is the purity of God manifesting itself in atonement +and redemption, and correspondingly in judgment_." By this view all the +above elements are done justice to; 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.) + +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 _love_ can only bring +deliverance by a mediation in which it is reconciled to the Divine +_wrath_ within _their common centre, the Holiness of God_, in such a way +that while wrath manifests its destroying reality, love shall prove its +restoring power in the life it gives.' (Beck, _Lehrwissenschaft_, 168, +547.) + +'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. + +'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 _Goodness_, in its holy harmony +as _Righteousness_. 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, _Glaubenslehre_.) + +'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 _on Hebrews_ xii.) + +'When we think of God as light and love, we realize most fully the idea +of holiness, combining _separateness_ and _purity_ with _communion_.' +(Saphir, _The Lord's Prayer_, p. 128.) + +'It is especially as the spirit of His Church, and as dwelling in the +human heart, that God is the Holy One.' (Nitsch.) + +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 +_Commentary on Romans_ iii. 25, 26, he writes:-- + +'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.' + +'In this question we have to do not with God in His 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 _holiness_, 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.... + +'It is common to regard _love_ 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. _Holy, holy, +holy_, say the creatures nearest to God, and not _Good, good, good_. +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 _their most precious treasure_, a God worthy of their respect +and love.' + +And in his _Defence of the Christian Faith_ Godet writes, on 'The +Perfect Holiness of Jesus Christ,' as follows:-- + +'The supernatural in its highest form is not the 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. + +'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 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. + +'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 +_himself_.' + +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. 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. + + + + +NOTE D. + +'Our holiness does not consist in our changing and becoming better +ourselves: it is rather _He_, 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. + +'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." + +'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; 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 _the secret_, generally so little understood, _of +Christian sanctification_.' (Godet, _Biblical Studies, N. T._, p. 190.) + + + + +NOTE E. + +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, _God's Way of +Holiness_, 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. + +An abridgment of the work, for popular use, is published by Nisbet & Co. + + + + +NOTE F. + +Note from Bengel on Rom. i. 4. + + +'_According to the Spirit of Holiness._ The word _hagios_, holy, when +God is spoken of, not only denotes the blameless rectitude in action, +but the very Godhead, or to speak more properly, the _divinity_, or +excellence of the Divine nature. Hence _hagiosune_ (the word here used) +has a kind of middle sense between _hagiotes_, holiness, and +_hagiasmos_, sanctification. Comp. Heb. xii. 10 (_hagiotes_ or +holiness), v. 14 (_hagiasmos_ or sanctification). So that there are, as +it were, three degrees: _sanctification_, _sanctity of life_, +_holiness_. 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, _hagiosune_), 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, _flesh_ and _spirit_, and chap. ix. 5, _flesh_ +and _Godhead_, 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 _the spirit of sanctity_, 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.' + +Beck, in his _Lehrwissenschaft_, p. 604, puts it very clearly, thus-- + +'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, _hagiosune_, the habit of holiness in its +action or sanctity, not _hagiotes_, only an inner attribute, or +_hagiasmos_, holiness in its formation)--His suffering effected an +everlasting redemption.' + + + + +NOTE G. + +'Freed' and 'Possessed'--The Twofold Result of +Redemption. + +(_From an address by Pastor Stockmaiev._) + + +'Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and +purify unto Himself _a people for His own possession_, zealous of good +works.' + +'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. _He for us._ 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 _unto Himself_, for Himself, not for Himself and +themselves, but _unto Himself_, a people of His own possession. + +'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.... + +'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, _and your inward +satisfaction_. The 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.' + + + + +THE END. + + + + +MORRISON AND GIBB, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH. + + + + + +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.txt or 26990.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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