Living a Christian Life.
Zion's Advocate, Vol. 41, No. 12, December 1902, Part 1.
"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me." - Matthew 16:24.
Christianity has God for its author. It was foretold by prophecies which God alone could inspire. It was confirmed and established by miracles which he alone could perform, and it was ratified by the blood of its Mediator and Covenant Head. Its doctrines are pure, sublime and consistent, and its precepts are elevating, just and holy. Its worship is spiritual, and its service is reasonable and rendered practicable by the gift of divine life to human helplessness. It is not in league with the world, for it has demonstrated itself to be the world's enemy by reprobating its maxims, showing the vanity of its glories, and the emptiness of its pleasures. Indeed it needs not the world's aid, for God is not only its author but also the very root from which its perpetual vitality is derived. The saints of old never presumed to set upon the stock of their own acquired virtues, and they seemed never to have acknowledged any light but what was imparted, or strength but what was communicated to them from above. "The Lord is my light, and the strength of my life," was their united testimony. They dared not trust in the help of man. "Cursed is man that trusteth in man, or maketh flesh his arm," was a principle laid down by them. So has it ever been with those who are taught of God.While Christianity furnishes the most perfect rule of life ever devised, yet it is itself much more than a rule of life. It demands not merely an external profession of our allegiance to God, but an inward devotedness to him. This requires a preparation of heart that no power but that of His Spirit can give us. This is not an old principle improved, but a new one produced - a new principle implanted in the new character rather than enhanced from the old. "If any man be in Christ he is a new creature." Nothing but a new creation could have made him a new creature. This puts him in a new condition of being, a new relation to God.
The source of every right action and thought, that is, of every true christian obedience, is the love of God. This must be shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is not a purchased possession, but is given to every one that receives it. This is the divine principle that underlies every act of gospel service. To put on the garb of pretended obedience to the gospel without this would not be to live a christian life. Such pretentions would be a mere carcass, utterly destitute of the soul, or vital substance, of virtue.
God is the fountain from which all the streams of goodness flow; the center from which all the rays of blessedness diverge. Our service, to be good, must have a reference to him. The streams must revert back again to their fountain, the rays must converge again to their center. "Glorify God in your bodies and spirits which are God's," is his requirement of all his children. Whatever we do must be done in his name and for his sake, if it is to be accepted of him.
While all this is true on the one hand, yet an attempt to set aside volition is an attempt to set aside moral or spiritual obedience. This must be true, because all obedience rendered by intelligent beings is necessarily voluntary. There is a marked distinction between the obedience rendered by a falling body to the law of gravitation, or the momentum of a projectile to the law of inertia, and the obedience rendered by an intelligent being to commandments given. In the case of obedience rendered to commandments given, the will of the obedient one is exercised and the service is a willing service. Hence Jesus says, "If any man will come after me, let him take up his cross, and follow me." All that come after Christ, that take up their cross and follow him, evidently do so willingly.
Again, there is a marked distinction between the act of coming from a state of death to a state of life, and the act of coming after Christ in willing obedience. When Christ said to Lazarus, "Come forth," he called him forth from death. His coming to life was the result of a power exerted directly upon him, a power that he was no more able to resist than the universe was able to resist its creation. If the act of taking up the cross and following Jesus in practical service were as much the result of an irresistible power exerted upon the obedient one as the act above referred to, then there would be no place for exhortation, and a large part of the word of God would have been written in vain. He who cannot see any difference between these two acts is too blind to see a plain and important truth.
We want to search for the willing ones, for these are the ones which are commanded to take up their cross and follow Jesus. However doubtful they may be of their fitness to follow the Saviour, this is one thing they know - their willingness to do so. Every one knows his willingness or unwillingness to perform any act that is proposed to him or that suggests itself to his mind. Let the reader test this by a number of observations, and experiences he may readily call to mind. For instance, suppose you are invited by a friend to accompany him to a certain place. If you are really willing to do so you know it. There is no other conscious experience about which you are more conscious than this. An unwillingness may consist of an entire indifference or it may amount to an utter dislike. In either case it is not real willingness. Apply this test to the matter that is now before us. Does the Saviour mean you when he says, "If any man will come after me?" Are you indifferent about this matter? Or do you feel an utter dislike for him and his service? In either case you are not really willing to come after him. Have you a real will to know the Lord's will as to what he requires of you, and have you a will to do what he requires if you only knew it? If you have, you are his child, and he has worked that will in you.
Oh! Are you willing to come after Jesus? Have you tried to take a step or two, and do you want to go on? We want to press these questions home to the hearts of all our readers. As we think of the large number who will read these words, our very heart goes out in love to all of you, and a burning desire for your well-being moves us to tears as we write. Oh! That we could only write so that our words would be as "apples of gold in pictures of silver." Look at the path he traveled for you, and think of all he endured for your sake. See him now at the right hand of his Father as your Intercessor. Behold the banner of love as it is being unfurled by the heralds of the cross. Hear the gentle, loving voice of the sweetest and best of all friends, speaking in accents of tenderest affection: "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away. For lo! The winter is past, the rain is over and gone; the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land." Does the voice of your inmost affections respond to this? We imagine hundreds who read this will say, "To me he is the chiefest among ten thousand and altogether lovely. I cannot live without him here. I want to walk with him in holy service, and draw nearer to him in my devotion." Dear reader, are we disappointed in your case? Surely not. To you his character is lovely and his presence sweet. You need him in all your trials, in every pathway and at every turn. The leprosy of guilt, incurable so far as human remedies are concerned, would sink you to endless ruin were it not for him. He is your "City of refuge," your high tower, your hiding place from the wind, your covert from the tempest. To you he is as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. You desire to come after him! What a blessing to you is that desire. You may not be able to tell a glowing experience, you may not even be able to point out the exact time and place of your first love. No matter. You love the Saviour and his people, and that is enough. Whether your conviction has been sudden and boisterous as a rushing torrent, or gradual and mild as the distilling dew; whether your deliverance has been as quick as lightning's flash, or as gentle as the beams of the rising sun; your privilege and your duty is the same. The only question is, Do you love him, and do you desire to come after him? This should silence every excuse and drive away every doubt.
If you have been traveling on a little way after him, go on. It has been your choice to follow him thus far, and now can you find it in your hearts to return from following after him? When the Lord asked his disciples, "Will ye also go away?" the reply was, "Lord to whom shall we go?" There is no other! Oh, then, press close to him! Your labor thus far has not been in vain, as you well know, and even if you are spared to a ripe old age you will find it the greatest blessing of your earthly pilgrimage that you have been coming after Jesus. If you have not come after him in his sweet service and holy ordinances, heed his pressing words in our text and follow him.
J. R. D.
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