 
Deliverance from the Power and Penalty of Sin

Biblical Answers for Those Willing to Admit That They Are Sinners and yet Truly Desire to Follow Christ

Orson R. Palmer

Contents

Set Free

Ch. 1: The Wisdom of God in the Cross

Ch. 2: The Love of God in the Cross

Ch. 3: The Power of God in the Cross

Ch. 4: If Any Man Sin

Ch. 5: He Is Faithful to Cleanse

Ch. 6: God's Faithfulness

Ch. 7: God's Indwelling

Ch. 8: Whom are You Serving?

Ch. 9: Spiritual Laws

Ch. 10: In Dark Places

Ch. 11: Offenses

Ch. 12: Victory or Defeat?

Ch. 13: Pressing On for the Prize

Ch. 14: The Test of Faith

Ch. 15: Having Done All, to Stand

Ch. 16: The Coming of the Lord

Man's Questions and God's Answers

Orson R. Palmer – A Brief Biography
Set Free

If the Son therefore shall set you free, ye shall be free indeed. (John 8:36)

Our soul has escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers; the snare has broken, and we are escaped. (Psalm 124:7)

Giving thanks unto the Father, . . . Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:12-13)

And has raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: That in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:6-7)

Therefore unto the King forever, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen. (1 Timothy 1:17)

Register This New Book

Benefits of Registering*

  * FREE replacements of lost or damaged books
  * FREE audiobook – Pilgrim's Progress, audiobook edition
  * FREE information about new titles and other freebies

www.anekopress.com/new-book-registration

*See our website for requirements and limitations.
Chapter 1

The Wisdom of God in the Cross

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those that perish, but unto us who are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. – 1 Corinthians 1:18-19

God works with men who, like Pharaoh, say, "Who is the Lord?" They don't see Him, although –

There's not a wave of the dark blue sea

As it rolls along in its majesty,

Nor a leaf, nor a flower, nor a single sod,

But it bears the mark of the finger of God.

But man who was originally created in the image of God has fallen from his high estate through sin. He is now a partaker of a fallen nature, and with darkened understanding, his life is alienated from the life which is in God.

Each one did that which seemed right in his own eyes. (Judges 21:25)

There is no one righteous, no, not one. (Romans 3:10)

There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. (Proverbs 14:12)

In rebellion against God, men built the Tower of Babel to make a name for themselves and built it tall so that it would reach unto heaven. The cry still goes up, Is this not the great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power and for the glory of my greatness? (Daniel 4:30). This pride denies the ruin of man and the need for atonement and redemption. It must be humbled to the dust so men can receive God's revelation and His grace.

God therefore chose a way of salvation that was weak, humble, despised, and even depraved to the world, so that He might show His wisdom and power, and no flesh could glory in His presence. It was at the cross, the place of criminals and dying, with no eye for pity, no one to comfort, no one to understand or undertake for the Son of God in the hour of darkness, that He trod the great winepress of the wrath of God alone, while enemies taunted and friends deserted Him. Here He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:8).

The Son of God has spanned the chasm

From God to man, from man to heaven.

The ladder we had built to rise

From lowly earth to vaulted skies,

Was long since broken at our feet.

But His, stands fast, through shade and sheen,

Blind rage of men and hate of fiends.

The price He paid, His precious blood

On Calvary's tree; while nature shook,

The sun in grief his face did veil,

The sky put on her robe of black,

The rocks were riven at His feet.

In all the marvelous wisdom of God, the harlot living in the vilest den of sin, whose rooms are the way to Sheol, going down to the chambers of death (Proverbs 7:27), is redeemed and led back to a life of purity and blessing through simple childlike faith in Jesus Christ. See the gambler, the drunkard, or the thief who are redeemed and made partakers of a new, divine life by the grace and power of God, go out to live an honest, temperate life. Look at the home of that man after he is saved, who once was in the depths of sin. Hear the testimony of that woman who once was a slave to drink, as she tells of the redeeming grace and keeping power of God in her life. Go to that rescue mission whose leader once staggered in and out of every den of iniquity, whose money, position, good name, honor, and willpower were all lost. He was helpless, hopeless, and undone – a poor captive of Satan. He trembled on the brink of damnation, but he cried unto God for mercy and pardon in the name of Jesus who saved him out of all his distresses. Isn't this wisdom? Science may not solve this or reason discover it, but the needs of men lead them to cry unto God, and they prove His blessed reality. This poor man cried out, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. (Psalm 34:6)

In the heart of man a cry;

In the heart of God supply.

* * * *

A Philadelphia pastor once said:

One afternoon in the city of Philadelphia, preaching to a company of men in the Christian Association building, my attention was drawn to a poor man, a veritable tramp from the streets. His hair was matted, his eyes bloodshot, his clothing hung in rags, and he was vile in every way. Something in the sermon, he said, had touched his heart, and before our interview ended, he had confessed Christ. He had been a professor of mathematics in a German university, and had been slain by his appetite and his passion and had lost everything. He became a member of my church and lived and died a consistent Christian.

He sat one morning in the front row of a great company of men who met every Sunday morning, and I was telling them how when God forgives our sins, He forgets them and casts them as far as the East is from the West; and I said to him, "Professor, this is a mathematical statement; can you tell us how far that is?"

Instinctively he reached for his pencil and little notebook and acted as if he were about to make a calculation, when suddenly it dawned upon him. He put the pencil back and turned to the men to say, "Men, you cannot measure it, for if you put your stick here with the East before you and the West behind you, you could go around the world and come back to your stick, and East would still be before you and West would still be behind you. The distance is immeasurable, and thank God," said he in his broken English, "this is where my sins have gone."

The wisdom of men was not sufficient to save this man from the drunkard's cup or the drunkard's hell, but the wisdom of God did both, when he received it as a babe.

* * * *

Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. (Luke 10:21)

It was the despised way. To the Jews, a stumblingblock, and to the Gentiles, foolishness (1 Corinthians 1:23). For the Son of God to leave His home in glory with legions of angels at His command, carry His own cross, and die upon it would make Him a mark of derision to the world. There is no outward appearance in him, nor beauty. We shall see him, yet nothing attractive about him that we should desire him (Isaiah 53:2). Yet this wisdom and love of God conquers the human heart and sends the disciple in the footsteps of His Lord. It sent the Chinese Christians to the stake to die as martyrs for their faith. It sent David Livingstone to lay down his life in Africa for those uncivilized people he had learned to love for his Master's sake. It sent the titled, wealthy Nikolaus Zinzendorf, as he caught his first real glimpse of a Savior's love, into the mission field and made the passion of his life his crucified and risen Lord.

The cross was the depraved way, for it was the place of criminals. Behold Jesus, the spotless, sinless Lamb of God, dying as a criminal dies, numbered with the transgressors because He took their place (Isaiah 53:12), and dying in the midst of thieves, that He might save the thief (John 19:18). He gave up His life as a criminal suffers at the hand of justice, the most humiliating of all deaths, because He was paying the just penalty for our sins.

Creation shook, the rocks split, and the sun veiled its face at noon, as the Creator died for men who are aliens from God. As He hung between earth and heaven, men denounced Him, the hosts of darkness gathered against Him, and the Father hid His face from His Beloved. His heart became like wax, and His strength dried up. The bulls of Bashan beset Him, the dogs compassed Him. Men pierced His hands, His feet, His side, and parted His garments among themselves (Psalm 22:12-18). He was the living bread which came down from heaven, ground between the upper and lower millstones (John 6:51). The Lord transposed in him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6). Weak, depraved, despised? Yes, all of these, but behold the power to draw men to Himself and to transform human lives.

Great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. (1 Timothy 3:16)

However little we may understand it and however depraved it seems to the world, the wisdom of God's provision will be seen by angels who shouted together for joy as God laid the foundations of the world. It will be known by demons who trembled at the name of Jesus and will bow at His feet before being sent to their final abode. Its full glory will yet be witnessed by the church when all the ransomed of the Lord are gathered into His kingdom to share His glory and power.

Men of the world may look upon the church as a religious organization with which they may connect themselves or not, as it suits their convenience. This is often too true of the visible church as it presently exists, but not of the invisible church of the living God (1 Timothy 3:15). Men do not join the church of God. If any man is in His church, it is because he has been born into it from on high. It is not done by the will of man nor by the will of the flesh, but it is of God (John 1:12-13).

Through the Spirit and the Word of God, man is made a new creation and a partaker of divine life to which he was previously an utter stranger (John 3:1-7; 2 Corinthians 5:17). The assembly of the firstborn is not a religious club, an organization of men and women gathered together; it is a living body in which God has implanted His own eternal life in each member.

In the story of Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5), we see how the judgment of God came upon men for hypocrisy and lying; it worked such wholesome results that no man dared to join himself to the church except true believers, and there were more added to the Lord. Additions to the visible church are not what is needed, but believers need to be added to Christ through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Faith in Christ is not faith in Him as a good man, and neither is Christianity trying to do what Christ taught. Faith is trust in the Son of God who has power to save us and make us partakers of His own life and holiness. Men have fought over creeds and traditions, but we have seen them change with successive generations; creeds are not the life of God that He imparts to men. The cross of Christ is not an emblem for the breast or an adornment for the steeple of a church or a lofty cathedral. Alas, all this may be worshipped as the Israelites worshipped Nehushtan, the brazen serpent, and hide the real Christ (2 Kings 18:4).

The gospel of the grace of God is neither form nor formula. Rather, it is that eternal word of the eternal God through the eternal Son that gives life where death reigns. It imparts holiness where sin has eaten as a canker and inspires hope in human breasts where darkness and desolation brood. It enables us to do what otherwise we have no power to do and lifts the veil of eternity, telling of resurrection and everlasting joy where it replaces all that is dark and hopeless.

The life which men live and their interpretation of the gospel may be faulty, but the glad Son of God, when recognized and received, meets the needs of men for time and eternity. The cross does indeed show the wisdom of God.
Chapter 2

The Love of God in the Cross

In this does the charity consist, not because we had loved God, but because he loved us and has sent his Son to be the reconciliation for our sins. – 1 John 4:10

Was there ever a better picture drawn of the love of God and the hatred of men than the death of Jesus upon the cross? He was rejected as the Son of God, falsely accused, condemned to death before trial, crowned with thorns, and died as a criminal in the midst of a taunting mob. But listen while He speaks. His lips that were dumb in the judgment hall – because He came that He might die for sinners – are no longer silent.

Men cry, Crucify him, crucify him! (Luke 23:21).

He cries, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do, and the Father hearing, answers (Luke 23:34). Do the angels stand in amazement as the Son of God dies in the midst of thieves? Do they expect judgment, just and terrible, to be visited upon men? Not so, not so. The worst from men only brings out the best from God. The death of Christ for sin and in the sinner's place was all foreseen by God, and it opened the way, not to judgment but to grace.

God's wonderful love for a lost, guilty world could now flow out, as the water gushed forth from the smitten rock of Horeb. The first sermon of grace was preached to the ones who condemned Jesus to death. It broke the hearts of three thousand who cried out, Men and brethren, what shall we do [to be saved]? (Acts 2:37).

Have you read the story of Delia Rees, the Bluebird of Mulberry Bend? She was one of the lowest and vilest visitors of the dens of iniquity in the city of New York. In a low hole in the wall, surrounded by thieves and wicked associates, she was reached through Christian workers; her interest was awakened and her desire for a life of purity was kindled through the gift of a delicate pink rose.

"Bluey," as her rough, sinful companions called her, was once a beautiful, innocent girl, reared in a convent. Ruined through use of a deadly drug, she had gone from bad to worse. She became addicted to snuff, tobacco, whiskey, and opium; she had been behind the prison bars six times; her body was scarred and marked with stabs, cuts, and bruises; and part of her hair had been pulled out by the roots.

The interest of God's children in the Door of Hope ministry in New York touched her and awakened thoughts of childhood. Love reached her heart, and she sought and found Jesus Christ as her own personal Savior. She proved Him to be a risen Christ, an ever-present friend. She was delivered from the awful, sinful habits which were dragging her down. She gave herself to the Lord, and like the woman of Samaria, she began at once to tell others about Jesus (John 4).

Bluey's health was undermined by the awful life of sin she had lived, and she only survived a short time; but in about eleven months, she had led 100 others to Christ out of darkness into his marvellous light (1 Peter 2:9). The gates of hell prevailed not against her (Matthew 16:18). Death was a triumphant entry into the joy of her Lord.

Delia spoke one time at Sing Sing prison, and there in the audience of prisoners sat a gentlemanly looking man who, though well connected, had landed behind prison bars through the power of sin. The previous speaker shared from the words of Jesus, He that comes to me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37). Delia dwelt on the love of God and the power of Jesus to save. The man was an unbeliever, but he could not get away from the words of the text, the testimony, or the miracle of that transformed life. He threw himself upon his knees in his cell and cried, "If there is a God, have mercy on me." Christ opened the eyes of his heart and became his light and salvation.

This is what the love of God is, what His wisdom has given to men, and what His power can do in the human life.

He is able to save from the uttermost and to the uttermost. If we are shut out of heaven, it will not be because His long-suffering grace did not seek to win our hearts, but rather because as Jesus said, Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life (John 5:40). To the child of God, the depths of the love of God have no limit.

I asked an aged woman whence

her helpless widowhood's defense?

She answered, "Christ is all."

All in all, all in all,

Yes, Christ is all in all.

"God is love and God alone by His Spirit can impart His love to others. The baptism of the Spirit is a baptism of love." Robert Whitaker McAll began his great work in France with only two sentences of the French language: "God loves you" and "I love you." This is the secret of the McAll Mission in Paris and provinces of France.

* * * *

After his wonderful conversion in Sing Sing prison, Jerry McAuley fell again and again, but the patience of a broad-minded banker and other Christian workers won the day, and thousands of rescued men and women will rise up to call these noble workers blessed, because they would not let Jerry McAuley go. After years of victory and power in testimony, he went sweeping through the gates, and at the great funeral in Broadway Tabernacle, New York, the church was crowded and thousands of people filled the streets. – Sel.

* * * *

One day the people of a southern town were startled by the sight of a runaway team of horses attached to a carriage. Clinging desperately to the reins was a man being trampled beneath the hooves of the horses. He stopped the horses but at the cost of his life. A needless sacrifice, thought the people, until they discovered his little child in the carriage – unharmed. He gave up his life for his little one because he loved that child. Who can say the sacrifice was too great? How weak the comparison of this love with that of God, who gave His Son to die for a world at enmity with Him!

* * * *

During the Civil War, a man with a family was drafted into the army. Just as he was to leave home, a friend volunteered to go in his place. Days passed, and the one at home eagerly scanned the paper after each battle to see if he could see the name of his friend. One day his name was given among those who had been killed. He sought for him and brought him home to the little country cemetery where he erected a memorial slab. On it he wrote the initials of his friend's name: "J. D. He died for me." Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his soul for his friends (John 15:13); but Christ died for us when we were alienated from God by wicked works: But God increased the price of his charity toward us in that while we were yet sinners the Christ died for us (Romans 5:8).

The rejection of such infinite love turns what might be a wedding robe into a burial shroud, and the glad songs of joy into a wail of despair.

* * * *

Alfred Cookman preached one night years ago in New York City in a church with two galleries. It was the close of a series of meetings. He had been there for weeks, preaching night after night to thousands and thousands of people. Many had found the Lord, but his brother George, who was a sinner, would not come out to the meetings. At last, Mr. Cookman visited him in his office and begged him to come that last night, and George promised that he would. Then Alfred Cookman went to the saints and begged them to pray as they never prayed before that God would send George to the meeting and that he might be saved.

That night the church was packed to the doors, and as Alfred Cookman stood up to preach, he looked from gallery to gallery, and way over to one side he saw his brother. He lifted his heart to God in prayer and said, "Now, Lord, help me, help me to do my best tonight." He preached such a sermon as he had never preached, and the Holy Spirit honored it. People wept all over that vast assembly.

A woman right down in front of him broke down and cried such that they could hear her all over the house. When she did that, Alfred said, "I would give my life and everything I have, if my brother, who is in this house tonight, would weep like that." When he finished his sermon and gave the altar call, they came from all over the house, but up in the gallery George sat still.

By and by, George he took his overcoat and hat and started down the stairway until he reached the door that led out into the street. Something turned him around, and he shifted back and forth; he wavered and wavered until he settled the question and turned boldly around, went up to the altar, fell upon his knees, threw up his hands, and prayed to God to save him. God saved his soul, and Alfred Cookman shouted the praises of God for answering his prayers.

But the woman who cried out at that meeting also settled her destiny that night. Some months or years later while in New York, Alfred Cookman was called to a certain house. He went and found a little shack. On entering, he found a woman dying. He asked her, "Why did you send for me?"

She said, "Mr. Cookman, do you remember the time you preached the last sermon of a series of meetings you held in this city, when a woman cried out, and you said you would give your life to hear your brother George cry like that?"

He said, "Yes, I remember the circumstance."

She said, "Well, I was that woman. That night God broke my heart, and the Holy Spirit wanted me to go to the altar, but I would not go. I wavered and wavered until at last I went out, and God never spoke to my soul again. I am lost and doomed and going to hell. I am lost, and I know it." – Sel.

* * *

 Robert Whitaker McAll (1821-1893) was the founder of the McAll Mission, Paris.
Chapter 3

The Power of God in the Cross

As far as the thoughts of men are concerned, there could be nothing weaker than a cross and nothing more depraved than dying upon it as a criminal. It was the place of shame and sorrow for the one who carried it. But He who taught us that that which is foolish of God is wiser than men also said that which is weak of God is stronger than men (1 Corinthians 1:25).

The cross was the place where the power of God was manifested to the world. It was the road to victory, to honor, and to glory for the Lord Jesus, who having been offered joy, endured the cross, despising the shame and was seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

Because He was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross, Christ has been given a name which is above every name (Philippians 2:8-9). He has been appointed heir to all things (Hebrews 1:2), is made judge of the living and the dead, and has received all authority in heaven and in earth (Matthew 28:18). God has made Christ to sit at his own right hand in the heavenly places, And has put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the congregation (Ephesians 1:20, 22). At the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . who in his time shall show the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords (1 Timothy 6:14-15).

It was at the cross, however, that the power of Satan was broken and his dominion taken from him. In speaking of His crucifixion to come, Jesus said, Now shall the prince of this world be cast out (John 12:31), but in speaking of what was accomplished at the cross, Scripture says Jesus made a show of them openly, triumphing over the power of darkness (Colossians 2:15; 1:13). It was there, at the cross, that the power of death was broken (Hebrews 2:14), and a way of salvation was provided for a lost world. Sinners were reconciled to God, atonement was made for their sins, and believers were delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Colossians 1:12-14.) This victory was seen by angels from heaven. It was known by demons who feared the presence of Jesus, obeyed His commands, and bowed in submission to His name. This victory has been made real in the experience of multitudes of men and women who have been saved by the power of God and loosed from their sins by the Lord Jesus through his own blood (Revelation 1:5).

The last words of the Lord Jesus, It is finished, show that the work is accomplished for the complete salvation of the believer. It is full, final, and immediate for those who realize their need of a Savior, turn to God in true repentance, and trust in Him whom God sent to save us (John 3:16; Romans 3:21-25). Many try to be Christians or serve God, who have never been made partakers of divine life (John 3:1-7; 1 Corinthians 10:17). There is no such thing as trying to be a Christian, for salvation does not consist of good works. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

God implants in those who trust in Jesus as their Savior a new and divine life. If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation: old things are passed away; behold, all things are made new (2 Corinthians 5:17). As real as we were born into this world and as distinct from our natural life as day is from night, is this new life. Jesus completed salvation for us when He laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:15). No work of ours can add to His work; no unbelief should take away its glory. His right hand has gotten him the victory, even the arm of his holiness (Psalm 98:1). Salvation is ready and waiting for those who will accept it. The wages of sin is death; but the grace of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 6:23).

This is not religion, not trying to be Christians, not doing our best; it is life – eternal, everlasting life (John 3:36). Not to him that worketh, but to him that does not work, but believes in him that justifies the ungodly, the faith is counted as righteousness (Romans 4:5). This salvation is of God who comes into man to dwell. Men are born of the Spirit of God (John 3:1-7). This salvation is immediate and eternal; He that believes in me has eternal life (John 6:47). It is not from our merit, our penance, or what we have done or can do, but it is what Jesus has done for us at the cross. If it depended upon our merit or our works, we might well live in fear and trembling; but it depends upon none of these things.

Through his blood, the Lord Jesus achieved salvation and secured forgiveness for us (Ephesians 1:6-7). Through his blood, He entered into heaven, having obtained eternal redemption for us (Hebrews 9:12). Through this man, Jesus, is preached unto [us] the forgiveness of sins (Acts 13:38-39). We may have immediate assurance that our sins are forgiven and that we are the sons of God (1 John 2:12; 3:1-2). By trusting in Him, we shall never come into judgment for sin, for there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ, Jesus, who walk not according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit (Romans 8:1).

How simple it is, but how many, many, professing Christians are in utter ignorance of this glorious truth! They are trying to earn the favor of God, hoping they may be saved when they die if they are faithful. We must repeat again and again that salvation is all of Christ, all the gift of God; we neither have to deserve it nor try to earn it. It is not our faithfulness but His, not our merit but His; it is not what we do but what He has done. Through faith in Jesus Christ, we are immediately accepted in the beloved through whose blood we have forgiveness of sins (Ephesians 1:6-7). All that He did for us at the cross becomes ours when we truly turn to God, accepting Jesus as our Savior, for we are crucified with Him, though we still live, but not us, but Christ lives in us (Galatians 2:20). This is the message of the cross to us.

Shout the glad message of salvation, "nor let that ransomed sinner die." Has Jesus really come into your life? Not merely a head belief but a heart reception. Not merely church membership but a passing from death unto life. Look to your foundations. Have you turned to God from darkness? Have you asked for mercy and forgiveness? Have you received Jesus, and is He saving you from your sins? Don't depend upon your own doing or feelings for salvation or upon forms and ceremonies, which profit you nothing. Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature (Galatians 6:15).

Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears my word and believes him that sent me has eternal life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death unto life. (John 5:24)

If you have never rested on the finished work of Jesus, and only on that, as all sufficient to save you and be accepted of God, do so today and let His peace and joy fill your soul. Right now, believe His glad message. Just as you are, lift up your heart in prayer to God and confess your sin and need of a Savior; just where you are, accept Jesus as your personal Savior. What joy to be no longer under condemnation (John 3:18) but to be a child of God, redeemed for time and eternity by His grace.

But as many as received him, to them gave he power [authority] to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name. (John 1:12)

Just as I am, without one plea,

But that Thy blood was shed for me,

And that Thou bid'st me come to thee,

O Lamb of God, I come! I come

* * * *

John Robertson says:

I remember at Stonehaven, when I was a minister there, I was out in the clear, cool bay, when the water got suddenly choppy, and my strength was soon exhausted. You who are swimmers know the sensation. The waves playing on your face, as if beating you back to the current that was about to take hold of you. No one in sight. Wearily on and on, and the body gets almost erect. You cannot swim any longer; you have lost the power of progression. I was almost gone, when suddenly there came the sensation of something solid amid the waves under my feet. Oh, to describe what I felt as I stood there, rescued from death. How solid the rock seemed. How I thank God that rock had just been placed out there amid the waves for me, and that He had taken my feet and fixed them there. That is the nearest that I can give to the sensation of the soul when Christ lays hold of you, saves you, and sets your feet on a rock.

The salvation is already provided. It now depends upon you as to whether you will accept what He has freely provided.

* * * *

"Then come to Christ, O come today,"

The Spirit and the Bridegroom say;

The Bride repeats the call.

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His Spirit seeks to enter in,

"Then come, O come today."

How will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? (Hebrews 2:3 NASB)

* * * *

An evangelist tells a story of how a Scottish girl learned the secret of trusting in the risen Christ:

At the close of a great evangelistic meeting some time ago in Scotland, a little lass of the poorer class, clad in soiled and rather tattered garments, barefoot and unkempt, came to me and in answer to my inquiry about what she wanted, told me in a whisper that she wanted "to get saved."

Interested in the little eager face, I replied rather abruptly, "Do you think I can save you?"

"No, man" was the reply, "you canna' save me, but Jesus can."

"How can He save you? What has He done to save you?"

"Oh, man, He deed for me."

"Then He is dead, is He?"

"No, man! He is no deed."

"But you just said He died for you. If He died for you, He must be dead. How can a dead man save you?"

"Oh, man," came the plaintive, distressed voice, with eyes looking half-defiantly into mine, "He's no deed; He deed for me; but, man, God raised Him from the deed. Did you no tell us that night that God raised Him from the deed and made Him a Savior for us? Man, He's no deed, but He's alive again up yon'r in heaven, and He can save me; and oh, I want to get saved."

Jesus died for us, but a dead man could not save. But He is not dead, for God raised Him from the dead and made Him a Prince and a Savior. Is it not plain that without the resurrection of Christ from the dead we are still in our sin? And is it not as plain that if God raised Him from the dead, He has accepted His great sacrifice as being sufficient for the payment for our sins?

* * * *

During one of the Scottish battles, when the armies were marching to battle with their ancient implements of war, an aged Scottish woman was found amongst the crowd, shouldering a broom. Someone remarked that she could never fight with such a weapon. "No," she replied, "but I can show which side I am on." And each of us can do the same, for on the question of eternal issues, there is no neutral ground. Have you shown your colors and taken an open stand for Christ? Do you confess Him daily as your Savior and obey Him as your Lord?

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I also confess before my Father who is in the heavens. But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father who is in the heavens. (Matthew 10:32-33)

They Applied the Blood

The sacrifice has been offered, the atonement has been made. It is all of God. His salvation is a gift to man (Romans 6:23), but it remains for man to accept or reject. Jesus said to His disciples that He had given them the words the Father had given Him, and they had received them and kept them (John 17). This is the mark of discipleship, the house which stands the test (Matthew 7:21-29).

The sheep of Christ have two marks on them that show His ownership: they hear His voice, and they walk in His ways (John 10:27-29). Salvation comes to us not through feelings but through faith, and faith comes to us through the Word of God (Romans 10:17). When we affirm that God is true through the Word which He has given by the Holy Spirit, and believe upon and receive Jesus as our personal Savior, the Holy Spirit will quicken us (John 6:63).

The Israelites had to apply the blood after the lamb was killed (Exodus 12). Rahab had to bind the scarlet thread in the window, or she would have been lost (Joshua 2). It is not enough that Jesus has died for us; we must personally turn to God for His salvation and accept Jesus as our personal Savior before the salvation of God can become ours. Then we can take up our cross to follow Him and do good works in His name, which will be accepted by God, but not until then (Ephesians 2:8-10).

Having accepted Jesus as our personal Savior, we are to keep the ordinances which He has left for us to do. There are two of these – baptism and the Lord's Supper (Matthew 28:18-19; Mark 16:16; Luke 22:7-18).

Baptism, the first ordinance, is for believers who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Then those who gladly received his word were baptized (Acts 2:41). And many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized (Acts 18:8). It is the marriage ceremony of the believer by which he is baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus (Matthew 28:19; Acts 8:16). It is his outward confession before the world of an inward work of grace by which he dies, is buried, and rises again with his Lord (Romans 6).

Baptism is the backward look showing that old things are passed away and all things are become new (2 Corinthians 5:17), and it shows the believer rising to walk in newness of life on heaven's side of the tomb in the name and power of his resurrected Lord.

The Lord's Supper, the second ordinance, while it shows us the broken body of our Lord and His blood through which we have remission of sins, also tells us that Jesus is coming again. As Paul instructed the Corinthians, he said Jesus told them to do this in remembrance of me until He came back (1 Corinthians 11:25-26). As the bones of Joseph were not to be buried in Egypt but were carried by the Israelites all through their wilderness wandering until they came to the promised land, so this memorial is to be kept by the church until Jesus comes. Blessed are they who understand its meaning and keep it as the early disciples did (Acts 2:41-47; 20:7).

It is a token of the fellowship of God with men, a blessed illustration like we have in the case of Abraham. Jehovah partook of his hospitality on the plains of Mamre and then would not hide from His friend what he was about to do to Sodom and Gomorrah. Neither would He withhold Abraham's petitions when he requested mercy from Him for the righteous (Genesis 18).

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. (1 John 3:22)

The word of the cross is foolishness to those that perish; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God. (1 Corinthians 1:18)

One of these, foolishness or power, the preaching of the cross must be to you, dear reader. Ask God to show you which one it is. It is not in man to direct his own way or in the natural heart to understand its own darkness. To an unbelieving world, the preaching of Christ is foolishness, but to those who are called, it is the power and the wisdom of God. Through receiving Christ, we too are made partakers of His divine nature, His wisdom, and His power.

* * *

 Charles Wesley, "Arise, My Soul, Arise," 1742.

 Charlotte Elliott, "Just as I Am," 1835.
Chapter 4

If Any Man Sin

My little children, I write these things unto you, that ye sin not; and if anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate before the Father, Jesus, the righteous Christ. – 1 John 2:1

After you became a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ, did you again sin against God and light? Did Satan get the advantage over you? If so, the joy of your communion was gone, and you were surrounded by the powers of darkness. Discouraged, downhearted, and distressed perhaps, you saw no way of escape and might still be in despair. We know personally what it means to grieve God, for we too have come short of His glory,  for all have sinned and are made destitute of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

So, we want to bring a message to you from the God who has been so gracious to us – a message fresh from the throne of His grace and warm with His eternal, unchanging love. He longs to bring you out of the dark place into light and restore to you once more the joy of communion with Him. God has a message for such an emergency as you are passing through, for He knew the wiles of the Enemy would prove too much for you. You must now depend upon Him, His Word, and His faithfulness, rather than upon your feelings and experiences, which will prove to be a nesting ground for Satan to implant dark unbelief and fear. The Word of God is the sword that Jesus used to put Satan to flight (Matthew 4:1-10), and we must also use it in our battle against the hosts of darkness (Ephesians 6:11-16).

When God forgave your sins for His Son's sake (Ephesians 4:32) and gave you eternal life (John 5:24), you had the promise that nothing would take you out of the hands of the Lord Jesus in whom you trusted (John 10:27-29). The God who said that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1) also said that Christ lives to save us through His life. Even now He is interceding for you, while Satan is accusing you and your conscience condemns you. Oh beloved, if you really are a child of God, you may have lost your fellowship with God, but that is not your relationship, for Jesus still intercedes for those who sin, and this intercession is with your Father (1 John 2:1).

Satan tried to make you think that God had cast you off forever. That is one of his fiery darts at your soul (Ephesians 6:16). Not so, not so. Stand back, ye hosts of hell! Return, wandering child, return! The blood and the life of Jesus still satisfies. God accepted you in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6), added you to the Lord (Acts 5:14), and gave you everlasting life. The Good Shepherd lives for you. He is no hireling who leaves when the wolf comes to scatter the flock.

Touched with your infirmities, He pleads in your behalf (Hebrews 2:17-18; 4:14-16). Those hands were wounded for you, that side pierced for you, that head crowned with thorns, that back bared to the tormentors, and that life yielded up in your behalf. He entered into heaven with His own blood – to appear in your behalf. He pleads for forgiveness for your sin. Behold the blood-sprinkled mercy seat.

His blood can make the foulest clean,

His blood availed for me.

When the Prodigal Son came to himself, he said he would arise and go back to his father and say, "I have sinned and am not worthy" (Luke 15:18-19). This was his part. He knew it was still his father's house, so he said, "I will arise and go to my father and say, 'Father.'" Oh, what a wondrous story of divine grace! The father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him (Luke 15:20).

As we think of such divine love, may our hearts of stone melt like wax. The wanderer was willing to be a servant, but he was received as a son and the best robe was put on him. This my son was dead, and is alive again (Luke 15:24). Likewise, David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. How quickly came the reply: The Lord also has taken away thy sin; thou shalt not die (2 Samuel 12:13).

Forgiveness

One day the leader of a mission in New York was standing outside the door of the mission when a little fellow came along and said, "Will you please give me a needle and thread and a piece of cloth?"

"For what?" asked the superintendent.

The boy replied, "To mend my trousers with."

Mr. Hadley looked at him and said, "It seems to me you have hardly trousers enough to mend."

The boy burst into a sob and started on down Water Street, when the bighearted Christian worker said, "Come in the house and go upstairs; Mrs. H. will be a mother to you." After a little while, he came down to the street and was passing on toward Brooklyn Bridge. Mr. Hadley called him back and said, "What is your story?"

He said, "I am a boy from Philadelphia. I have stolen money from my father, and the money is gone; I don't have a friend in the world and no place to go."

"Why," said the man, "go back to your home and your father."

But the boy replied, "He will not receive me."

"Then stay here until I send him word." That night a letter made its way to Philadelphia, and early the next morning as soon as the letter could be delivered, a reply came by telephone.

"Tell the dear boy he is forgiven, and I want him to come home."

This is the message that God sends to a sorrowing, sinful world. Tell them, though their sins be like crimson, I will forgive them and I want them to come home.

Return, return, O Shulamite; return (Song of Solomon 6:13). Say, "I will arise and go to my Father." He is ready to meet you and to forgive you. Flee from Egypt, get back to Bethel, and call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 13:1-4). Do not limit the unlimited One in His forgiveness and power to save and to keep. His mercy endures to a thousand generations. It even now awaits you. The LORD upholds all that fall and raises up all those that are oppressed. (Psalm 145:14). Confess and forsake your sins (Proverbs 28:13).

The Greeks had a fable about a boy who stole a fox and concealed it under his tunic until it ate into his internal parts. Out with the secret, friend, relieve your mind of it. You can trust God. Don't wait like Achan until your sin has found you out (Joshua 7). Confess it now; tell it all to Him and hide nothing.

When I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day long.

For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: my green growth is turned into the drought of summer.

I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and I have not hid my iniquity. I said, I will confess my rebellions unto the Lord; and thou shalt forgive the iniquity of my sin. (Psalm 32:3-5)

Then do it now. There is no promise of a tomorrow to return unto God.

Time was, is past, thou can'st not it recall;

Time is, thou hast, employ the portion small;

Time future, is not, may not ever be,

Time present is the only time for thee.

If you do not quickly return, you will grow cold, careless, and indifferent. The backslider in heart soon becomes a backslider in his own ways (Proverbs 14:14). It is not easy to retrace steps and return. You may go on with religious duties, but there will be no living touch with God. Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead (Revelation 3:1). To trifle with sin, to compromise with it, and to continue in it is like making your bed with leprosy or hugging a deadly cobra to your bosom. Its fatal power will soon be manifest, and the light of God will grow dim and faint. Oh, how much it means to Jesus, how much to you, how much to others! Don't mar that perfect plan for your life which He has chosen for you.

One stitch dropped as the weaver drove

His nimble shuttle to and fro,

In and out, beneath, above,

Till the pattern seemed to bud and grow

As if the fairies had helping been;

One small stitch, which could scarce be seen,

But the one stitch dropped pulled the next stitch out,

And a weak place grew in the fabric stout:

And the perfect pattern was marred for aye

By the one small stitch that was dropped that day.

One small life in God's great plan,

How futile it seems as the ages roll,

Do what it may, or strive how it can

To alter the sweep of the infinite whole!

A single stitch in an infinite web,

A drop in the ocean's flow and ebb!

But the pattern is rent where the stitch is lost,

Or marred where the tangled threads have crossed;

And each life that fails of its true intent

Mars the perfect plan that its Master meant.

– Susan Coolidge

If in your sin against God you sinned against your fellow men, make it right with them as much as possible; you are responsible for this. God will not lightly heal the bruises and sores of His people. If thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has something against thee; Leave thy gift there before the altar, and go; first restore friendship with thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift (Matthew 5:23-24).

However hidden our sins and wrongs may be to others, they are not covered up before God. The crooked things are to be made straight, and the dark and hidden things brought to light, for God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). That lie we told must be confessed; that wrong, undone; that stolen thing that no one knows about but God must be restored, or it will weigh us down.

If we seek for Gehazi's ill-gotten wealth, we may have his leprosy (2 Kings 5). Forgiveness is to be asked for those harsh, un-Christlike words which were spoken and those deeds done. There is no easy way to carry the cross, but this is the real way – a way of true discipleship. However humbling and hard it is for us to do, God will open the way and give us grace to do it, and out of it all, a rich, deep Christian experience will come to us.

These testing places show the genuineness of our conversion, and if we live in submission to God, He will meet with us in the way. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were cleansed (Luke 17:14).

* * *

 Charles Wesley, "O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing," 1739.
Chapter 5

He Is Faithful to Cleanse

How can men be delivered from the dominion and power of sin? Giving thanks unto the Father, who has made us worthy to participate in the inheritance of the saints in light: Who has delivered us from the power of darkness, and has translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. (Colossians 1:12-13)

"A man may be naturally meek as the lamb, kind as the spaniel, cheerful as the lark, and modest as the owl, but these are not sanctification. No sweet, humble, heavenly tempers, and no sanctifying graces are found except from the cross."

– John Berridge

Man at his best is altogether vanity. He may well cry with the leper, "Unclean, unclean!" But deep conviction of our sinful nature that is formed in us by the Holy Spirit causes us to see the pit from which we were dug and the hole from whence we were taken. When we see our true condition and the exceeding sinfulness of sin, how blessed is the sight of a Savior who can save us from our uncleanness and make us rejoice with joy unspeakable in His love for us. Oh, that we may indeed know the full power of His cleansing blood!

It is said that Charles Wesley, while standing one day in the open air, saw a dove swiftly pursued by a bird of prey. The dove darted back and forth to escape, and seeing the man, it flew to him and hid in his bosom. As he looked at the dove and at the bird of prey, the poet's eye saw the picture of a sinner pursued by Satan, his destroyer. And as the dove nestled in safety in his bosom, he saw the sinner fleeing to the bosom of His Savior. That sight inspired the hymn which has comforted a multitude of hearts:

Jesus, lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly.

While the tempest lowers, the destroyer is on our track; our sins like mountains rise; we behold those bleeding wounds of Calvary. Justice is satisfied; the law is silenced and mercy pleads, the blood, the blood avails and will avail –

Till all the ransomed Church of God

Be saved, to sin no more.

A vision of Jesus Christ makes the repentance of saints even deeper than their repentance as sinners.

It was the revelation of the Lord and His holiness that turned the comeliness of Daniel, the servant of God, to corruption (Daniel 10:8), and that made Isaiah, the prophet of God, cry out, I am undone (Isaiah 6:5). The sinner sees his transgressions; the saint sees the polluted fountain from which transgressions spring.

* * * *

Out of the depths of his iniquities, John Bunyan cried out, "Nothing but a great Savior will do for such a great sinner as I." Yet in the power of his Redeemer, he wrote and preached, achieving a marvelous work, and with his last breath he said, "Hinder me not, I have borne a crucified heart, and I am bidden into the presence of the King."

Robert Murray McCheyne wept over his own sins at his desk, and in his pulpit he wept over the sins of his people. Yet at his death, it was said that he had done more in the power of God for Scotland than any preacher of his day.

That pioneer missionary to India, Henry Martyn, said, "Still cast down at my detestable pride and ease of heart. Oh, I could weep in the dust with shame and sorrow for my wickedness and folly. My soul struggled with corruption, yet I found the grace of Jesus all sufficient."

And this was the saying of that heroic missionary Allen Gardiner who, in the sight of heaven, opened South America to the true gospel, though he didn't preach, but without a murmur died for the Savior's sake – "Lord, have mercy upon me, a sinner. Lord, I am laden with pride and selfishness. This is the sin that most easily plagued me; save me from its intolerable yoke."

In like manner, we read of the Scottish lover of Christ, Samuel Rutherford; no one could compete with him in showing forth the loveliness of His heavenly Lover. His love letters still charm those who love the Savior, yet we hear him sob, "Sin, sin, this body of sin and corruption embitters and poisons all our enjoyments. Oh, if only I were where I would sin no more. Oh, to be freed of these chains and iron fetters that we carry about with us."

* * * *

The revelation of the Lord and His holiness made David cry out, Remove the sin in me with hyssop, and I shall be clean (Psalm 51:7). Our Lord uses small vessels, marred vessels, and broken vessels, but He seeks clean vessels. Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord (Isaiah 52:11). Who of us would drink from an unwashed cup?

"I shall weep, I shall pray, I shall never be silent, until I know that my cry has been heard in heaven." – Luther

But is there not a way to escape from the bondage, the slavery of sin (1 Corinthians 10:13)? Hasn't God said sin shall not have dominion over those who are under grace (Romans 6:14)? Didn't Paul thank God through Jesus Christ for deliverance (Romans 7:25)? Haven't we been promised a cleansing from all unrighteousness as well as forgiveness for our sins (1 John 1:9)?

One time a minister did not believe in the possibility of a Christian living without sin, so he requested the opportunity to discuss the subject with a lady who enjoyed the restfulness of faith and was taught the blessedness of salvation. In a long argument, the minister thought he proved the necessity of a Christian having to groan over the corruption and remaining sin of his heart as long as he lived.

When he paused, she simply said to him, "Well, as long as we cannot keep from sinning, and no provision has been made to save us from it, and God expects it of us, you are satisfied to keep on in that way, are you not?"

"Well, no," he replied, as he turned uneasily in his seat, and he assumed half a dozen different positions. He repeated that "no" over and over.

The next day he went again and said, "After all the argument I brought forward yesterday, you only responded to one question, and that made me miserable all night. Now I have come to see if you can't do something to help me out of my trouble. Is there a way of deliverance from the power of sin? If so, how does it come?"

Not by Suppression

We remember the painful experiences in our endeavors to live a life pleasing to God and to walk in holiness with Him after we became Christians. We know by sad experience what it means to seek to suppress evil. When we would do good, evil was present within us, and what we would, that we did not, but what we hated, that we did (Romans 7:15-21). There was a law of sin which warred against us and brought us into captivity again and again (Romans 7:23).

What struggles we experienced in our souls as we tried to restrain sin; we prayed and agonized over it. It was like a caged tiger, waiting for temptation to provoke it, like a man possessed with demons, whose name is Legion. At the time, we seemed outwardly good, but within us there were hidden fires of temper, passion, lust, and pride ready to break out again and again, scattering desolation around. We were like whitened sepulchers – fair, polished, and symmetrical on the outside – but within, we were full of uncleanness and dead men's bones. The little foxes spoiled the vines, for our vines had tender grapes (Song of Solomon 2:15). Fretfulness, peevishness, and temper broke forth at the slightest provocation to remind us that our hearts were like a cage of unclean birds.

It is not in the natural man to see or know the real evil that is in his own heart, and even what he does see he cannot undo. Suppression is like sitting on a slumbering volcano, which may burst forth at any moment. The flesh does not cast out the flesh (John 3:5-7).

Not by Eradication

While many are immediately and graciously delivered from powerful temptations, such as a drinking habits, and are never strongly tempted again, others have to resist temptation. We are all conscious that while still in the flesh, we are walking in the midst of possible defilement, and even those who walk in sweet places of fellowship and holiness with their Lord may grow careless, may sin, or may lapse into the flesh life. If sin were eradicated, this would not be, but then we would not need our loving High Priest who lives to be a Mediator for those who may fall into sin after they are saved. If anyone has sinned, we have an Advocate before the Father, Jesus, the righteous Christ: and he is the reconciliation for our sins (1 John 2:1-2). If we had eradication of our sins, we would have no need to confess sins (1 John 1:9) and no need to resist the devil (James 4:7), for his power would be utterly destroyed, and no blessing would come to us for enduring temptation (James 1:12).

If, then, victory is not in suppression and not in eradication, where is the place that God has given man that he can fight the good fight of faith in joy, victory, and overcoming power (1 Timothy 6:12)?

Reader, do you really desire the Lord, the heavenly Gardener, to work in and work out His perfect work in you? He can and will do it. How?

* * * *

Once there was a briar growing in a ditch. Along came a gardener with his spade. As he dug around it and lifted it out, the briar said to itself, "What is he doing that for? Doesn't he know that I am only an old, worthless briar?" But the gardener took it into the garden and planted it amid his flowers, while the briar said, "What a mistake he has made, planting an old briar like myself among such rose trees as these!" But the gardener came once more with his keen-edged knife, made a slit in the briar, and grafted a rose in it. By and by, when summer came, lovely roses were blooming on that old briar. Then the gardener said, "Your beauty is not due to that which came out, but to that which I put into you." – Sel.

* * * *

God meets His people and teaches them on one condition – that they have no part with sin. Look at His promises of deliverance in Ezekiel 36:25-31 – All your idols, all your filthiness, your iniquities – from all will I cleanse you. God can cleanse the heart if you are willing to surrender all. God is willing to do His part and cleanse you. Do we each know this deep, inward cleansing? – Mrs. Penn-Lewis

* * * *

The secret of righteousness, holiness, and victory is the indwelling Christ, who Himself becomes our guarantee, our overcoming power.

Of Him ye are reborn in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. (1 Corinthians 1:30)

The moment the sinner accepts the Savior, God accepts him in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6), and He sees the believer complete in him (Colossians 2:9-10). In Christ, he is sanctified and separated unto God (1 Corinthians 1:2). In the plan of God, the believer is crucified with Christ, dead to the law, and married to the risen Christ so that in the power of His resurrection life, he may bring forth fruit unto God (Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:5; 7:4). Whenever this truth, that the believer is crucified with Christ and Christ now dwells in him, is comprehended, the child of God through the Holy Spirit can take his place with and in Christ against sin, self, and the world. He can walk by faith in loving submission and obedience to the Holy Spirit in all things, and he will prove the reality of his deliverance from the bondage of the old life and the blessed power of the new.

Sin shall not have dominion over you (Romans 6:14). God has given us the victory in Jesus Christ, and it is all of grace, even as salvation is all of grace.

The cleansing stream I see, I see!

I plunge, and oh, it cleanseth me!

Oh, praise the Lord, it cleanseth me!

It cleanseth me, yes, cleanseth me.

– Phoebe Palmer

It is not our holiness as if we possessed something of merit apart from the Holy One. It is the Holy One living out His life in and through us.

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ, Jesus, has made me free. (Romans 8:2)

Sit still, my daughter, until thou shall know how the matter will fall: for that man will not rest, until he has concluded the thing today. (Ruth 3:18)

* * * *

David Brainerd moaned over his own corruption and said, "I thought there was not one creature as vile as I. Oh, my inward pollution. Oh, my guilt and shame before God. Oh, the pride, selfishness, hypocrisy, ignorance, bitterness, party zeal, and the lack of love, candor, meekness, and gentleness that have attended my attempts." But he became the mighty messenger of his Lord to the Indians. Unable to speak to them in their language, he earnestly sought God in prayer for a means of reaching them, and spoke through a drunken interpreter with such power that the hearts of strong savages were broken down in conviction before him. Going to one village, the Indians determined to kill him and went out to meet him with that end in view. They found him praying by the path, unaware of a rattlesnake coiled at his side ready to strike. They waited to see the snake fasten its deadly fangs in him, but to their amazement, they saw the snake glide away and leave the man of God in safety. Unable to kill a man in whom God thus lived, they returned to their village to welcome him when he came.

* * * *

The proud Confucian scholar, Pastor Hsi of China, was converted, filled with the Holy Spirit, and lived in such daily communion with his Lord that through prayer, the sick were healed, demons were cast out in the name of the Lord Jesus, hundreds were brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus, and many were saved from the opium habit.

* * * *

A strange instrument hung on an old castle wall, as the story goes. No one knew what it was for. Its strings were broken and covered with dust. Those who saw it wondered what it was and how it had been used. One day a stranger came to the castle gate and entered the hall. His eye saw the dark object on the wall, and taking it down, he reverently brushed the dust from its sides and tenderly reset its broken strings. Then long-silent chords woke beneath his touch, and all hearts were strangely thrilled as he played. It was the master long absent, who returned to his own. Let Jesus return to His own, for He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake (Psalm 23:3).

* * * *

Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people, and thy father's house;

So shall the king greatly desire thy beauty: and bow before him, for he is thy Lord. (Psalm 45:10-11)

For us to continue to walk in sin and defeat is to dishonor our God and His Christ; but remember, there is no safety for us apart from Christ. In Him, we may walk in the full power of the cleansing blood (1 John 1:6-7) and in the mighty, enabling, victorious power of the Holy Spirit. Timid, faltering, backward one, the Lord has need of you that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God (Romans 12:2). Won't you let Him have entire possession of that for which He gave His life, and seek His gracious, cleansing, enabling power this very day? It is there – in Him for you, just now – if you will only believe and put yourself in the place to receive it.

Put your iron into the fire and soon the fire will be in your iron. In and through Jesus Christ, God has given deliverance from the power of sin as well as the penalty of sin. Then today tell your heavenly Father that you desire and accept His grace, that you take your place as crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20) to sin, self, and the world, and that you will trust Him moment by moment through the indwelling Spirit to live out the new, divine, overcoming life in you. Through His life and indwelling presence to overcome death, through His light to expel darkness, through His grace to cleanse you from all unrighteousness, He will teach you how to glory in the cross, through which the world is crucified to you and you to the world (Galatians 6:14).

* * *

 Charles Wesley, "Jesus, Lover of My Soul," 1740.

 William Cowper, "There Is a Fountain," 1772.

 More sources seem to attribute this to John Newton. It is possible that John Newton (1725-1807) quoted John Bunyan (1628-1688).
Chapter 6

God's Faithfulness

Perhaps some of you are dreading the future, fearing that some temptation might overtake you, or that you may commit some sin and be lost after all. How blessed to know that our Savior has made provision for such emergencies, for He knows the temptations we have to endure and the conflicts we have to pass through. We are taught:

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delights in his way. Though he falls, he shall not utterly be cast down: for the Lord upholds him with his hand. (Psalm 37:23-24)

Precious promise God hath given

To the weary passerby,

On the way from earth to heaven,

"I will guide thee with mine eye."

Before He laid down His life in our behalf, our Savior said:

And this is the Father's will who has sent me, that of all whom he has given me I should lose nothing but should raise it up again in the last day. And this is the will of him that sent me, That every one who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I will raise him up in the last day (John 6:39-40).

When He told about laying down His life in our stead because He was the shepherd of His sheep, He said:

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hand. My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand (John 10:27-29).

What wondrous grace this is, for our Savior saves all who come to God through Him, and He saves them to the uttermost (the farthest mark) because He ever liveth to make intercession for them (Hebrews 7:25). Does Satan, or the people about us, or our own conscience condemn us? Jesus died for our sins; God has justified us; Christ is making intercession for us with the Father. Romans 8:31-39 reminds us that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Didn't Christ say that nothing would take us out of His hands, that His sheep shall never perish?

Let's be sure that we have His two marks upon us – on the ear and on the foot. He said His sheep hear His voice and they follow Him. If we stumble on the way, let's rejoice that our relationship is not lost, even though our fellowship may be broken. This fellowship with God will be graciously restored if we confess and forsake that which grieves Him (1 John 1:9; 2:1).

Didn't the rash, impulsive Peter prove the keeping power of his Lord? Satan desired him that he might sift him as wheat. How quickly he would have been blown away if he had been chaff. Our Lord had prayed for him before he was tempted that his faith fail not (Luke 22:31-34). Peter's experience was very humbling, but under God's grace, it was beneficial, for he came to understand the reality of Satan's personality and power. Afterwards, he could warn his brethren about the devil who went about as a roaring lion, . . . seeking whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8). He proved the love of Jesus and the power of intercession made on his behalf. Because of his own experience, he could enter into the life of his brethren, sympathizing with and strengthening them.

Your Savior and friend is at the right hand of your heavenly Father, mediating on your behalf. He is tenderly watching over you, knows your every weakness, and is concerned for your welfare. He knew of the Enemy's approach and warned His disciples to watch and pray lest they enter into temptation. While our spirits may be willing, He knows of the weakness of our flesh. Commit all to Him, and then trust Him to keep you. Say with Paul:

I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12).

With the future unknown, believe that the same loving grace that sought and bought you has provided for your safekeeping. Do you remember that when the shepherd found the sheep, he put it on his shoulders and carried it all the way home (Luke 15:1-7)? Jesus carries the government of the world on one shoulder (Isaiah 9:6), but the sheep He carried on both.

Aaron, the high priest who typified Jesus, our Great High Priest, carried the names of the children of Israel upon his heart, the place of affection, and upon his shoulders, the place of strength, as he went into the presence of God. Their names were not merely written upon the tablets, but they were also deeply engraved by the engraving of a signet in the precious stones, so that they could not be rubbed out. Jesus has confessed us before the Father and before the angels in heaven. Our names have been written in the book of life (Revelation 3:5). Jesus ever lives to intercede for us. Why should we not rejoice and give glory to God?

Being confident of this very thing, that he who has begun a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)

As we enter into the thought of His wonderful love and the rich provision of His will, it will serve to keep us in perfect peace with our minds stayed upon Him (Isaiah 26:3). It is a great privilege to be like Mephibosheth who sat at the king's table with his poor lame feet hidden out of sight under it (2 Samuel 9:13); but the Holy Spirit has recorded: Unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy (Jude 24), and this place of victory that we are told about is in the midst of the apostasy and falling away from God of which Jude warns us.

May it be so. May our God establish us in Christ Jesus and keep us in His love, as we patiently watch for the return of His Son. May He deliver us from our stumbling ways, until at last we are presented in the presence of His Son with exceeding joy!

* * *

 Nathaniel Niles, "Precious Promise," 1870.
Chapter 7

God's Indwelling

Imitation of Christ makes no man a Christian. He becomes a Christian through accepting Jesus Christ as his Savior and being quickened by the Holy Spirit. Trying to walk in the steps of Jesus without the power of the Holy Spirit can only end in defeat. Men know they should do what is right, but they lack the power to do it. Why encourage men to do this while giving them no secret to the power to accomplish what is being encouraged? This is not God's way. He teaches us that with a new life in Christ Jesus through the working and enabling of the Holy Spirit indwelling the believer, He will enable him to live a life of overcoming power.

God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery in the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)

Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, whom ye have of God. (1 Corinthians 6:19)

He who loves me will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him and dwell with him. (John 14:23)

This is not imitation of Christ but union in and with Him. We in Christ and Christ in us. We are weak, helpless, and undone in ourselves, but He gives us His own life and divine nature. In His identity with us, He took our infirmities, our diseases, and our sins upon Himself. He knew we were unable to walk in His steps, and He came that He might walk in us to live out His life, think His thoughts, speak His words, do His works, and pray His prayers through us. Through the indwelling Holy Spirit we are made partakers of His life, His holiness, His health, and His power. We are made partakers of the power of the age to come. Drink freely (Song of Solomon 5:1); the supply is inexhaustible.

The world has enough imitation; it needs a vision of the living Christ who dwells within. The church at large knows much about Jesus and His work, but it needs real acquaintance and fellowship with our risen Lord in peace and overcoming power.

If we were walking with God, as Enoch walked, we would be terrible as an army with banners to the hosts of darkness.

The One who saves from the uttermost to the uttermost desires to come in through the Spirit and live out His life in those who welcome Him in submissive obedience (Revelation 3:20).

He will make the barren desert – the place of the thorn and the briar – to blossom as the rose, and the heart of selfishness and sin to become the heart of tenderness and love. As the God of love fills our souls and the Holy Spirit constrains us, as He did to Paul for his brethren (Romans 9:2-3), we shall enter into fellowship with the purpose of God for a lost world.

We shall not need to work up zeal to urge others, or to be urged ourselves, for we will have living water welling up from within (John 4:14). Even as the Father dwelt in Jesus so He might speak His words and do His works so that He never did anything from Himself (John 14:10), so the glorified Christ dwells in believers through the Holy Spirit doing in and through them what the Father did in and through Jesus (John 14:12). This is the natural law of the spiritual world, and it is in this power, and this power only, that we can please Him.

In this divine power, we are enabled to love our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use and persecute us (Matthew 5:44). We can minister to others instead of expecting others to minister to us. We can lose our lives for Christ's sake and the sake of the gospel and forgive as we hope to be forgiven, even seventy times seven, instead of seeking revenge or retaliation as the world seeks it. We can seek for reconciliation with others when there is something between us, and we don't need to be anxious about material things but can cast all our care on the Lord. We can seek His kingdom and righteousness first and know that He will add all other needed things to us as we humble ourselves, knowing that he that humbleth himself shall be exalted (Luke 14:11).

At That Day

At that day, we will be like Christ, walking as He walked (1 John 2:6), working as He worked (John 14:12), and praying as He prayed (John 15:16). Jesus finished the work that the Father gave Him to do, ascended to His right hand, received the Holy Spirit who had been promised by the Father, and sent Him down to the church, which is His body, the fulness of him who fills all things in everyone (Ephesians 1:23). The Holy Spirit, the Paraclete (one sent to our side as the Son was called to the side of the Father), came to make the completed work of the Lord Jesus real to and within us. Let the redeemed of the Lord break forth into singing, for God has surely visited his people to make known His salvation unto the ends of the earth (Isaiah 44:23; Luke 7:16; Acts 13:47). Hear the words of Peter at Pentecost, as he opens the door of grace to those who believed:

Repent and be baptized each one of you into the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call. (Acts 2:38-39)

The finished work of Jesus Christ at the cross made this divine, blessed, overcoming life possible for us. We don't need to seek further, try harder, add to, or take away from it.

Dear friends, is conversion a real experience in your life? You may not be able to say just how or what moment it came, but is it there? Were you ever under conviction of sin? Did you turn to God with all your heart, submitting yourself to Him, confessing and forsaking your sins, and accepting Jesus Christ the Son of God as your personal Savior? Did you place your trust in the shed blood of Christ for the remission of your sins and reconciliation with God, knowing you now have access to the Father through His present life and work as Mediator? Are you taking up your cross daily to follow Him, seeking to know His will as revealed in His Word, and looking to Him constantly in prayer for guidance?

If this is the case, remember that conviction and conversion through receiving the Word of God are the work of the Holy Spirit. The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life (John 6:63). I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them (John 17:8). It is the spirit that quickeneth (John 6:63; Ephesians 2:1-7). We are thus led to accept Jesus Christ the Son of God as our Savior (John 1:12), accept that we are born of water (John 3:5), born by the Word of God (1 Peter 1:23), and are made partakers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:4).

Let us remember, however, that while there is only one Spirit, there are differences of administration and diversities of operation. We are commanded to be filled with the Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), which is our normal inheritance in Christ Jesus. Are we thus filled with the Spirit? If not, isn't the reason for much of the poverty in Christian experience the barrenness in results accomplished for God, the failure to do His will due to the fact that we are living and working in our own strength and fleshly energy, and the lack of empowerment from on high (Luke 24:49)?

The River Nile always flows in Egypt, but it is the overflowing of this river that causes the whole valley to teem with life. Speaking of the Spirit, Jesus told the people, He that believeth on me – from within him shall flow rivers of living water (John 7:38). It is the Spirit's work to turn our deserts into watered gardens.

* * * *

A former Philadelphia pastor told of the following experience concerning one of the men in the church:

With a heart burdened for the men of the city, I called together a few of the men of the church and laid before them the plan I had in mind. I told them first of all that we could do nothing without the infilling of the Holy Spirit. When this had been explained, I noticed a man leave the room. He did not return while the meeting was in session. When I looked for him, I found him in one of the lower rooms of the church, literally on his face before God in prayer.

I shall never forget his petition: "Oh God, I plead with You for this blessing." Then, as if God was showing him what was in the way, he said, "My Father, I will give up every known sin; only I plead with Thee for power." And then, as if his individual sins were passing before him, he said again and again, "I will give them all up; I will give them all up." Then, without any emotion, he arose from his knees, turned his face heavenward, and simply said, "And now I claim the blessing." In the next few months, he led more than sixty men into the kingdom of God. His whole life had been transformed.

* * * *

The Spirit-filled life, is it thine, is it thine,

Is thy soul wholly filled with the Spirit divine?

O thou child of a King, has He fallen on thee?

Does He reign in thy soul, so that all men may see

The dear Savior's image reflected in thee? – Sel.

* * * *

It was said that Moody was preaching one day on the compassion of Jesus. The whole congregation was moved like the trees of a forest. A preacher asked him where he got that wonderful sermon. Moody said, "I got it by searching my Bible about the compassion of Jesus until my whole heart was broken, and with my face in my Bible I wept aloud."

The sermon had come from the fountainhead. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 4:31). It turned the cowardly, cursing Peter into a bold defender of the faith, and enabled the early disciples to overcome in the face of the greatest difficulties and dangers. It enabled them to preach the Word with great power, to heal the sick, and to overcome the powers of darkness. The disciples of Christ are helpless without this provision of power, but they may become irresistible with it.

* * * *

During the reign of Frederick the Great, the Prussian ambassador at the Court of St. James received only a small salary. He wrote to his royal master and said, "The other ministers ride to the Court in their carriages and with uniformed servants, but I am forced by the meagerness of my support to ride in a common coach."

The king replied, "Never mind; you are well backed. When Cousin James sees you coming, he knows that however poor your appearance, you are always backed by the Prussian army – a power which no earthly government cares to cope with."

Some Christians do not possess great talents, learning, or influence, nor do they have many external aids and appliances with which to perform their missions. But they have good backing. Just behind them moves a superhuman power. It is the power of God.

This power is divinely pledged to support us through every day and every moment of our lives. While the feet of the Lord Jesus were still on the edge of Olivet – before He began His great ascent, He said to His wondering disciples, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age (Matthew 28:18-20).

* * * *

Newman Hall stood early one morning on the summit of Snowdon, the highest mountain in Wales, with 120 others who had been attracted there by the prospect of an unusually grand sunrise. They were not disappointed. As they stood watching the sun tinge the mountain peaks with glory and sparkle in the thirty lakes, Dr. Hall was invited to preach. He was so overwhelmed with emotion that he could not preach but felt led to pour out his soul in prayer. As he pleaded, the tears rolled down the faces of the people. A superhuman stillness possessed them.

Quietly, with solemn awe, they descended the mountain and scattered. Afterwards, visiting this region, the doctor was informed that forty people were converted that morning and had joined the church in that neighborhood. "But," said he, "I did not say a word to them; I only prayed."

"Yes, and more wonderful still, they did not know a word you said, for none of them can speak English, only Welsh."

God will bless the feeblest ministry. He will use the humblest means, if we will accept, trust, and abandon ourselves to the power of the Holy Spirit and do absolutely as He directs. It is no light thing to receive the Holy Spirit to rule in your life, but don't marvel when He comes if He sends you to the uttermost parts of the earth as His messenger of peace [and] good will toward men. It is for this that the heavenly messenger visits your humble body (Acts 1:8). – Sel.

* * * *

God sent David Brainerd from a prosperous church to work among scattered bands of Indians. Adoniram Judson left the largest church of Boston to spend seven years in India before he baptized his first convert. Robert Moffat and David Livingstone went to Africa as they followed in the blood-marked footprints of their Master.

Are you living and working in the fellowship, under the guidance, and in the power of the Holy Spirit? If not, why not? This provision of power is for you if you are ready to obey Jesus (Acts 5:32).
Chapter 8

Whom are You Serving?

Am I not a Philistine, and ye slaves to Saul? – 1 Samuel 17:8

This was the taunt of Goliath, the Philistine (wanderer) to the armies of Israel, and they were dismayed, and greatly afraid (1 Samuel 17:11). How graphically these words described their condition, for they were indeed servants to Saul and were under his weak leadership, instead of being the army of the Lord going forth at His command to do His will and with His presence in the midst of them.

And as we look at the glorious victory over Satan, sin, death, and hell accomplished by our Savior and Lord as He smote the Philistine in the forehead at Calvary, we see the privilege and possibilities of prayer. We see the power of the name of Jesus, the inheritance of joy, peace, quietness, grace, and power of those who live in abiding fellowship with their Lord. But as we behold our own failure, apathy, and the worldliness and ungodliness about us, we are constrained to say we have been servants to Saul more than witnesses unto a resurrected Christ.

What a difference there is between trying to serve the Lord in the flesh and being sons of God, joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. We indeed forsake the fountain of living waters (Jeremiah 17:13) and carve out cisterns, that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13). Human traditions take the place of partnership with the risen Head, and denominational pride the place of the oneness for which our Lord prayed. Instead of the songs of the redeemed, there are boasts of man's goodness and achievements and an alliance with an ungodly world in place of being separated from it with our crucified, rejected Lord. Servants of Saul put on the armor of Saul. But where are the mighty movings of the Holy Spirit – God in the midst of His people?

* * * *

A well-known unbeliever was to deliver a lecture in the city of Pittsburgh on the subject, "The Foundations of the Christian Faith." A lawyer who had been his schoolmate and friend happened to be living in the city at that time. When he graduated, he started in his life's profession with bright promises and married a lovely girl. Two children came into their home, but then he developed that awful habit of drinking, which dragged him down to hell. It broke up his home, sent his children into the streets, took the roses from the cheeks of his wife, and took his good name, character, and friends from him. It left him one night lying in an alley in New York City – poor, friendless and hungry, sick and alone.

A slum worker came to this man and took him to a house where he was washed, put to bed, and in the morning he was fed. This slum worker pleaded with him, and the young man lifted his hand to heaven and said, "By the help of the almighty God, I will make one more effort; this time it is heaven or hell, life or death for me." He never drank another drop, he brought his children in, and the roses returned to the cheeks of his wife. Then he went down again to the city of Pittsburgh, where he was practicing his profession. When he read in the newspapers that his friend was to speak, he wrote him a little note something like this:

"My dear old friend: I see tonight you are to deliver a lecture against Christianity and the Bible. Perhaps you know some of my history since we parted; perhaps you know that I disgraced my home and my family; perhaps you know that I lost my character and all that a man can hold dear in this world – almost. You know that I went down and down until I was a poor, despised outcast. When I thought there was none to help and none to save me, one man came in the name of Jesus who told me of His power to help, His lovingkindness, and His tender sympathy. Through the story of the cross of Christ, I turned to Him. I brought my wife back to my house and gathered my children together again, and we are happy now, and I am doing what good I can.

"And now, old friend, would you stand tonight before the people of Pittsburgh and tell them what you have to say against the religion that will come down to the lowest depths of hell, find me, and help me up? Will you tell them that religion made my life happy, clothed my children, and gave me back my home and friends? Will you tell them what you have to say against a religion like this?"

The lecturer read that letter before his audience and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, I have nothing to say against a religion that will do this for a man. Instead, I am here to talk about a religion that is being preached by the preachers."

Sad to think, dear children of God, this unbeliever could say this. But aren't there many people being kept out of the kingdom of God by a profession and by preaching that has no power of God in it? May God give each of us a true witness in the power of the Holy Spirit.

* * * *

A minister in the South was called to the bedside of a millionaire who was dying. The dying man asked him why he had never preached against the sin of accumulating wealth. He replied that he had never considered it a sin. The dying man replied, "I have been an idolater all my life" (Colossians 3:5).

* * * *

I remember hearing a minister say he had preached the gospel for about fourteen years before he was converted, and then he was saved by the mercy of God in a Salvation Army barracks where his pride bit the dust, but the Lord of glory entered in.

* * * *

Oh, bride of the Lamb! Where are your marriage tokens – the cross and the crown of thorns that He left for you to wear as His marks of ownership, until He should return and exchange them for the bridal crown? I see fair garlands on your brow, but the flowers exhale the odor of the earth.

You are rich, but these are not His jewels that sparkle at your throat, not His gold that fills your coffers. You are clothed, but not with His seamless robe that is all of blue, which He dropped over you when He went up to the Father.

You are attractive, a thing of beauty, greatly to be desired, but not with His refinement. It is human loveliness and human fragrance that you are scattering. You sit as a conquering queen, but human inventions, not His power, sustain your sovereignty.

Bare your heart to those eyes as a flame of fire. Hear the voice of the outraged Spouse, crying, not in love's soft whisper but as the sound of many waters:

"I know your work – your Bible schools, conventions, and bold stand for doctrinal truth. I know your zeal against higher criticism and ritualism, your gifts, and your self-denial offerings. I see your hospitals, faith homes, rescue work, missions, revivals, and little deeds of kindness. Nevertheless, I have against thee that thou hast left thy first love" (Revelation 2:4).

What are service, business management, and defense of principles to a bridegroom if love is lacking? What does He care to hear His praises sung with the lips when the heart is another's?

Love to Christ, according to His own Word, means to receive the least of His creatures as we would receive Him, to be of one heart and of one soul with other believers, to call nothing our own, to hold everything for the use of all in common. This is the first love that the church has left so far behind that no one seems even to recognize that this is the image of Christ that He has commissioned us to manifest. – Sel.

* * * *

Awake! Awake! slumbering church, and clothe yourself with the garments of your Lord's salvation and righteousness. He waits to be gracious to you. Return unto your first love before the candlestick is removed. Purge the "leaven" of wickedness and dishonesty from your midst. Spurn the "honey" of the world, and let us cleanse our garments from the stains of seeking pleasure, commercialism, and worldliness. Let us refrain from the entertainment, moneymaking craze that is now resting upon us.

While we are compelled to acknowledge the sad apostasy of men, there is no reason for rejecting the truth as it is in Christ Jesus. Reject hypocrisy (God does that), but let us investigate the truth and not be moved away from the hope of the gospel because of the failure of men.

But what about the one who delivered the lecture? A friend told me about a young man she knew who went west to take a position at one of the Indian agencies. Having considerable leisure time at his disposal, he began to read the books written by this same man, and he became a skeptic. Shortly after, he was taken ill and returned to his home in the state of New Jersey to die. The anguish of his mind in his dying moments was such that it took three men to hold him on the bed, and the only words he could say to those who tried to bring him spiritual comfort were, "Too late!" (Mark 16:16).

And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us unto God by thy blood, out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation. (Revelation 5:9)

If you cannot sing this song of redemption by His blood, you will not be there. Tomorrow may be too late. Why not make sure now?
Chapter 9

Spiritual Laws

There are laws in the spiritual world as well as in the natural world, and if understood and obeyed, these laws bring spiritual results even as obedience to natural laws brings their results. The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2). Through receiving Jesus as our personal Savior, we are given authority to become the sons of God; we have His life and are made partakers of the divine nature and are enabled to keep His commandments; we can pray in the Holy Spirit and work the works of the Lord Jesus (John 14:12).

When men adapt machinery to a rushing stream of water, they get the benefit of the power. When they study and comply with the laws of mechanics, they have mechanical power. But the most intricate machinery needs the servant of man to do his bidding. The better we understand and keep these laws, the more perfectly we can adjust to them and the better the results will be.

So it is with spiritual things, for heaven has come down to earth through the work of Jesus Christ when He reconciled us to God. Power belongeth unto God, and He waits to be gracious to the prayers of men (Psalm 62:11). We are His witnesses through whom He is pleased to work and to reveal Himself to others; we are His instruments of righteousness (Romans 6:13). Not by our own power or holiness, but his name [Jesus] through faith in his name enables His disciples to work His works (Acts 3:12, 16).

Note some of the principles which govern the spiritual kingdom. Let every one that names the name of Christ depart from iniquity (2 Timothy 2:19). If we walk in sin, it will at once bar communion with a holy God in whom is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). If we are not right toward God from whom all power must come, the supply is stopped, and there is no power or blessing until that which is wrong is confessed and forsaken; then communion and fellowship with God is restored.

* * * *

A large printing firm in New Jersey purchased a fine electric plant for their establishment. The machinery arrived and they put it in place. An effort was made to turn on the power, but it would not work. Unable to locate the trouble, they called in an old electrician who soon found the cause. It seemed a very small thing, for there was one small spot on the armature where the insulation was broken – one small thing, but it was enough; the power was lost, and the machinery would not work. It was sent back to headquarters, the insulation was made complete, and immediately it did its work.

So it is with the Christian. If there is anything wrong between him and God, or between him and his fellow men, the insulation is broken and the power is lost. If he is doing some wicked or forbidden thing (for God is of too pure eyes to behold iniquity or have fellowship with darkness), or if he is failing to do what he knows he ought to do (James 4:17), he will be out of touch with God. If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me (Psalm 66:18). The circuit between earth and heaven is broken, and no power can come to us. If we are not right with our fellow men, the channel of blessing is broken earthward, and no blessings can flow through us to others.

Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there remember that thy brother has something against thee; Leave thy gift there before the altar, and go; first restore friendship with thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. (Matthew 5:23-25)

And when ye are praying, forgive if ye have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in the heavens will also forgive you your trespasses. (Mark 11:25)

God is gracious – the heavenly reservoir is full, the need of earth is great; but when the channel is closed, we become weak, powerless, and helpless. No matter how much work we do, we shall find that God says, Without me ye can do nothing (John 15:5).

The writer remembers well an experience he had a few years ago. He was awakened from sleep in the middle of the night by the sound of rapid footsteps on the street and the voice of a man calling out, "Stop that boy!" The thought came that perhaps the boy was a thief and the man was trying to catch him. The cry was easily transformed into "Stop that thief" in his mind. The sound of running footsteps died away in the distance, and he never knew what the boy had done, but the Lord taught him a needed lesson: like a flash of light in the darkness of night, there came a revelation of wrongdoing in his own life, which had never been made right.

The heavenly anointing (1 John 2:27) had brought two things to remembrance where I had sinned against God and my fellow men, which had never been confessed or made right. I rose from the bed and confessed the sin at once. I told the Lord that if my life was spared till morning, the wrong would be righted. Grace was given on the next day to write to the parties who were wronged and confess the sin. Sin is an "Achan" in the camp (Joshua 7:1; 1 Corinthians 5:1-6).

A friend tells of an evangelistic service held in Virginia. The attendance was good, and the evangelist earnestly preached the gospel, but there was no result. In a gathering of the members of the church, he spoke about it and said he thought there must be some wrong among God's people. An old man in the audience rose and said there had been a coldness between him and another brother for a year. They did not speak to each other, and since the other brother was there, he thought they should be reconciled, and now was the time to do it. He started toward the brother who met him on the way. My friend said he never saw anything have such an effect upon the people, nor did he ever attend such a meeting before or since. From that time on, sinners were seeking the Lord for salvation. The hindrance was removed, communion with God restored, and the blessing came.

* * * *

An American clergyman said that for many years he had pleaded with God for a revival, but no revival came. Finally, in despair, he gathered his church around him and rolled the burden of his anxiety upon his people. He said, "I have done all I could; it is now for you to consider your attitude toward God."

Then a much-respected, gray-haired elder rose up in the church meeting. He said, "Pastor, I do not wonder that there is no revival in this church; there never will be as long as Brother Jones and I don't speak to one another." Then, before all the people, the old man went down the aisle where his brother sat and said, "Brother Jones, forgive me; for ten years we have not spoken. Let us bury the hatchet." They made peace, and he came back to his seat and bowed his gray head between his hands.

There was a great silence of the people, and another officer of the church rose and said, "Pastor, I do not think there is going to be a revival in this church as long as I say nice things to your face and mean things about you behind your back. Forgive me!" The pastor forgave him, and he said that for the next twenty minutes in the awful stillness of the place, men with men and women with women rose and went to correct old accounts with those with whom they were hostile. And then the Spirit of God came down upon them like a mighty rushing wind. – Sel.

* * * *

If there is a stone at the mouth of the sepulcher, roll it away. Obeying spiritual laws will bring spiritual blessings.

He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. (John 14:21)

And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. (1 John 3:22)
Chapter 10

In Dark Places

The wind was contrary unto them. (Mark 6:48)

One of the trying experiences for a Christian to go through is a time of darkness, like Egypt's night, when God's face seems hidden. Our souls are disturbed within us, and we can say with Job:

Behold, I shall go to the east and not find him; and to the west, but I cannot perceive him; if he is working to the north, I shall not see him; to the south, he hides himself, that I shall not see him (Job 23:8-9).

Remember, we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against spiritual powers of darkness that are aligned against our souls (Ephesians 6:12). This conflict is not always due to sin on our part, although Bildad may come to tell us of our sin (Job 8:4-6), and Eliphaz to speak of iniquity (Job 15:5) as a reason for our trouble; miserable comforters they are (Job 16:2). If we have sinned, we should at once seek restoration in the way God has provided for us (1 John 1:9). If it is a time of spiritual conflict, we should trust God and wait for deliverance without losing confidence in our heavenly Father.

Christians in all generations have been permitted to face contrary winds. It is a part of their discipline and necessary for their development, but the temptations that come have a way of escape with them that God Himself provides. Scripture tells us no temptation has taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above what ye are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

If not taken from us, we are strengthened to bear these temptations. It has been said by one of our Lord's servants, "When a trial comes to us, our first thought is, how can I get out of it? While God would have us ask, what can I get out of it?" Let's pray for grace to endure the trial, to act worthy of the Lord while passing through it, and that our eyes may be opened to behold the deliverance at the proper time and to rejoice in it.

He Leadeth Me

He leadeth me,

In pastures green? No, not always.

Sometimes He, Who knoweth best,

In sorrow leadeth me in weary ways,

Where heavy shadows be,

Out of the sunshine warm and soft and bright,

Out of the sunshine into darkest night.

I oft would faint with sorrow and fright

Only for this: I know He holds my hand.

And though the way be through a dark and dreary land

I trust, although I cannot understand.

So, down the shadowy vale my lonely way I go

And in the blest hereafter I shall know

Why in His wisdom He hath led me so. – Sel.

If we only understood the ways of the Lord, we would know these trials of faith to be a part of the "necessities" of the Christian life, where He prepares us for richer blessings and leads us into the broader fields of Christian service and fruit-bearing for which He is fitting us. Trials are often messengers in disguise. They come to us with heavenly visions and divine messages. And the patience finishes the work, that ye may be perfect and entire, not lacking in anything (James 1:4).

There must be a burning of the lamp if there is to be any shining to others. If called upon to pass through experiences contrary to human understanding where it is difficult to see the way, we are misunderstood by friends, and the way is dark to our souls (even though the heavens seem like brass), do not give way to Satan, or, like Elijah, say, Take away my life (1 Kings 19:4). Jesus is as near as He was to "Sadheart" and "Mournful" on the way to Emmaus, even though our eyes are restrained so that we do not know Him. May we learn –

When darkness veils His lovely face,

I rest on His unchanging grace.

* * * *

"I know ye are in grief and heaviness; if it were not so, ye might be afraid, because then your way should not be so like the way that our Lord said – leadeth to the New Jerusalem." – Rutherford

* * * *

The camel and the elephant are taught to kneel by loading them so heavily that they have to stoop. Would we ever learn to pray and to cast our burdens on the Lord if they did not become too heavy for us to bear? It is then that we prove that the Lord sustains us, not always removing the cross, but giving grace to carry it and get victory through it. He makes the cross sustain us by making it food and nourishment to our spiritual lives.

A magnet grows weak with no burden to carry. It should always have a weight attached to it to make it strong. Our Lord was made strong in carrying the sorrow and sin of a lost world. Therefore, He drew us to Himself. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me (John 12:32). If others are to live through us, it can only be through our weights, our trials, our cross, and our death. If we are to be magnets to others in Jesus' name, marvel not if you are weighted down (2 Corinthians 12:8). Out of weakness were made strong (Hebrews 11:34). Death works in us, but life in you (2 Corinthians 4:12).

What I do thou dost not understand now, but thou shalt understand afterwards (John 13:7). Cast down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4:9).

It is in such times that we discover the real need of heart purification, we realize the pride of our own hearts, and we see the idols that have so far escaped our vision. The humbling and proving show what is really in the heart. It takes dark places to show the impatience, the fretfulness, and the inclination to speak evil and think poorly of others. These times of trial show how our hearts rebel at anything that crosses our will, but are proof to know whether we will do the will of God (Deuteronomy 8:2).

"Never expect thy flesh should truly expound the meaning of the rod. It will call love hatred, and say God is destroying when He is saving. It is the suffering party, and therefore not fit to be the judge." – Richard Baxter

We are like the one indifferent to the knocking of her lord, and when she rose to seek him, he could not be found. The watchman smote her and the keepers took away her veil (Song of Solomon 5:1-7) while she searched for him whom her soul really loved. It seemed cruel, but they really did her a kindness. Let them do the same for us by taking away our veil, if our own self-righteousness and nakedness are shown; for when we find our Beloved, we will not let Him go so easily again. It takes north winds as well as south winds to bring the pleasant spices from our garden (Song of Solomon 4:16).

* * * *

There is a story of a German baron who made a great Aeolian harp by stretching wires from tower to tower of his castle. When the harp was ready, he listened for the music. But it was in the calm of summer and in the still air, the wires hung silent. Autumn came with its gentle breezes, and there was a faint whisper of song. At length, the winter winds swept over the castle, and now the harp answered with majestic music.

Such a harp is the human heart. It does not yield its noblest music in the summer days of joy, but in the winter of trial. The sweetest songs on earth have been sung in sorrow. The richest things in character have been reached through pain. We even read of Jesus that He was made perfect through suffering.

God will let no trial come except that He will temper it to our need and strength. There are many precious, fruitful, abiding lessons for us to learn, if we are exercised in this way (Hebrews 12:1-4). No arrow from the dart of the Evil One can permanently harm those who trust in the Lord or even touch us without His permission. You are under trial by His permission. Satan may say, Curse God, and die (Job 2:9), but our reply should be that God is true and righteous altogether (Psalm 19:9).

The children of Israel who were cast into the furnace of fire lost nothing but their bands; no smell of fire was on their garments because they trusted in their God (Daniel 3:27); and best of all, it was here that the form of the fourth man was seen. The Son of Man walking with them in the fire permitted no flames to kindle upon them.

* * * *

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

* * * *

"The present circumstance, which presses so hard against you (if you are surrendered to Christ), is the best-shaped tool in the Father's hand to chisel you for eternity. Trust Him, then. Do not push away the instrument, lest you lose its work." – Sel.

* * * *

At the cross, Jesus made it possible for you to be kept by the power of God (1 Peter 1:5). While you are passing through the trial, say, He that has made us for this same thing is God (2 Corinthians 5:5).

My Father, who gave them to me, is greater than all; and no one is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. (John 10:29)

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you (James 4:7-8). We must swim or sink. Which will it be? God has purposely made it so. To fight the good fight of faith will make us strong in the Lord (1 Timothy 6:12; Ephesians 6:10). To weaken or depend on the flesh to carry us through will make us degenerates or parasites. Satan is a conquered foe; his hosts have been put to flight by the "Captain of our salvation." There is no night of trial too dark, no difficulty too great for our Lord; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee (1 Chronicles 28:20).

Fear not when trials come, or thou

Art called to walk in sorrow's ways

Or death's dark vale. Though suff'ring leave

Its trace on trembling heart, or mark

Upon thy brow – Though friends desert,

Earth's joys lose all their charm – Hold fast

Thy faith, and He will give thee grace

To stand, new strength for every hour

Of need, with hidden manna feed,

He will not fail thee.

Does your anxious soul cry out, How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? (Psalm 13:1). Not a moment too long; the fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord tries the heart (Proverbs 17:3). It is said the refiner of silver watches over the metal heated by the fire until he can see his own image reflected in it, and the watcher oversees gold, which is being refined, until sparks no longer fly. Are you silver? Can your heavenly Father see the image of His Son in you? Are you gold? Do the sparks still fly under disappointment and trial? If so, marvel not if the refining continues.

On a sunny summer's morning,

Where the heather's fragrant bloom,

With its rich and varied color,

Filled the air with sweet perfume:

As a traveler stooped to gather,

He espied a small cocoon

Of the Emperor Moth, and raising,

Bore it with him to his home.

There he daily watched his treasure

Till he saw with great delight,

It was bursting from its prison,

Soon, he hoped, to take its flight.

Hard it struggled, but small progress

Could the little creature make;

And the naturalist grew tender,

Felt real pity for its state.

And he thought the great Creator

Was less tender and less kind;

For he fathomed not His wisdom,

Nor the love that lay behind.

With this thought (ah, how mistaken!)

He with scissors snipped the shell,

And out came the imprisoned insect,

Tried to fly, could not, and fell!

Lo! Its body was all swollen,

Cramped and shrivelled were its wings,

Wings that might have been so lovely,

Would have been such beauteous things,

Had he not in his impatience

Loosed it from its shell before

It was ready for the exit;

Just a few short struggles more

Would have forced the precious juices

Into these now useless wings –

Would have given to them bright color,

And with glad, elastic springs

'Twould have mounted to the sunshine,

Swiftly flying through the air;

Now, alas, 'Twas doomed to crawling

Its brief life out in despair.

Are we tempted in our blindness

And short-sighted sympathy,

As we watch the painful struggles

Of distressed humanity,

That, had we the strength and power

Of the God who reigns above,

Discipline we'd make short work of –

Give deliverance in love?

Let this teach us all the lesson

That our God's far-seeing love

Perfect is – seeks the perfection

Of the object of His love.

Far too true's the love He bears us,

Thus to shrink from causing pain:

'Tis because His love's so tender,

He permits it to remain.

That when we share His suffering

We His holiness may share;

And our entrance may be glorious

To our happy life up there. – Sel.

* * *

 Edward Mote, "The Solid Rock," 1834.

 Edward Mote, "The Solid Rock," 1834.
Chapter 11

Offenses

For it must needs be that offenses come; but woe to that man by whom the offense comes! (Matthew 18:7)

We see that offenses are a part of the necessities of a Christian life, permitted by our heavenly Father, so that He may test, teach, purify, and prepare us for His heavenly kingdom. He uses these as a part of the all things which work together for good and which, if taken in the Spirit, change us into the likeness of His Son (Romans 8:28). And even though God uses the wrath of man to praise Him, He is still righteous in holding the offending party accountable (Psalm 76:10).

Testing

Every professed follower of Christ is put to the test. How else can the genuine be proved, the false detected, and the true wheat be separated from that which is counterfeit? Suffering accompanies believing for a true child of God. For unto you it is granted regarding Christ, not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for his sake (Philippians 1:29). Affliction and persecution serve to test and sift out those who have no root in themselves. Sad indeed if we belong to that class which runs well for a time, but when trouble arises and people abuse others, immediately they are offended (Mark 4:17).

Teaching

The subtleties of our self-life are unknown to us. It is not in man to know his own heart or to direct his own ways. How little we have of that love which seeketh not her own, how likely we are to treat unkindly, be suspicious of others, or judge according to appearances (1 Corinthians 13:5). Offenses are allowed to come to show how prone we are to wound others or how quick we are to take offense at real or fancied grievances. The Holy Spirit thus uses these offenses to unveil our self-life, to show us how it grieves God, how it hides the Lord Jesus from the view of others, and how it prevents His working in mighty, energizing power through us to fulfill the purposes of our God.

Purifying

Through these humbling, heart-searching, and heartbreaking experiences of human failure, He seeks to impart a desire within us to be truly like Christ, the Lamb that was dumb before His shearers, and seek a way of escape from all that originates from self. He leads us to behold, as in a glass, the Lord Jesus emptying Himself, making Himself of no reputation, and taking upon Himself the form of a servant (Philippians 2:7-8). He shows us that when Jesus was reviled, He did not berate in return; before His accusers, He was as a deaf man and as a dumb man who opened not His mouth. We are indeed happy if we are led, even by our failures, to seek through faith the mighty in-working of the Spirit of the Lord in changing us into His image from glory to glory and to follow His example as disciples of our heavenly Master. Therefore we all, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord with uncovered face, are transformed from glory to glory into the same likeness, even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Preparing

We must die to the natural if we are to live in the spiritual. As disciples, we are sheep who suffer if need be (not dogs that bark or bite) in the midst of wolves. As long as the sparks fly under trial and offenses, the gold needs more of the fire of purification. The Refiner patiently sits as a refiner of the sons of Levi. If we would only stop to think that all these trials are by God's permission, even though an enemy brings them, we can learn to be patient under them, rejoice, and triumph over them instead of mourning, getting angry, and resenting them. We would find that there is honey in the carcasses of the lions, which so many times have overcome and devoured us.

Giving Offense

Shouldn't we earnestly seek to give offense to none – whether Jew, Gentile, or the church of God? Let no look, word, or thought of evil that casts a stumbling block in the way of others be permitted in our hearts, for whatever we give out to others will be alloted to us. Alas, if we have already doled out ill treatment and the stone is now at the mouth of the sepulcher, let's hasten to roll it away, so fellowship with God and man may be restored. We cannot be dispensers of His grace with the channels closed either heavenward or earthward.

Do we easily take offense? A dear brother said recently, "There are so many touchy Christians." Are we touchy Christians? Remember Jesus Christ. He lived with Judas for three years without complaint. Didn't the Father give Judas to Him? Was it not a part of the cup given to Him to drink and through which He Himself was to be perfected? If we as disciples seek to become perfected like our Master, we are to follow in His steps. How it hinders the Holy Spirit when we take offense at real or fancied wrongs, grieve over them, nurse them in our bosoms, and exercise a criticizing or unforgiving spirit. Just now as you read this, is there someone you are offended with? Is there an earthborn cloud between some person and yourself? Remember, as you forgive others, forgiveness will come to you.

Those who love thy law have great peace, and nothing shall cause them to stumble. (Psalm 119:165)

Happy indeed is he who has attained this Christian experience, and it must be pleasing to God when those who don't have it earnestly seek for it. Much of the grief, sorrow, and heartaches of our lives come through giving or taking offense. It doesn't need to be that way. If we seek earnestly to get the best out of the worst through the grace given to us in Christ Jesus, we may prove the weapons of God are not carnal but mighty through Him in removing these strongholds, which Satan sets up in our lives. Then, instead of defeat, out of the eater will come forth meat, and out of the strong will come forth sweetness (Judges 14:14).
Chapter 12

Victory or Defeat?

Remember, dear children of God, that the roads of victory and defeat in the Christian life are side by side, and that we may walk in either according to our own choice and faith. If we live on unbelieving, carnal, or compromising ground, we will be continually in a place of defeat and overcome by our adversary, instead of constantly overcoming and being victorious as has been provided for us in Christ Jesus.

Satan's attacks are made upon God's children:

Pray that God would show you his wiles, arm you with His Word, and fill you with the Holy Spirit that you may be able to withstand his attacks. And in the very place where you have been defeated, may you yet stand and more than conquer through Him who loves you (Ephesians 6:11-14).

Satan works against us on three grounds:

First, he works through the world where he is prince. If he can defeat a Christian on worldly grounds, he will have no reason to attack him on any other. The pride of life, the desire for riches or other things, the pleasure of sin for a season, and the business cares of the world or its fashions are sufficient (1 John 2:16; Hebrews 11:25). To mind earthly things (Philippians 3:18-19), to love the world and the things that are in the world (1 John 2:15-17), and to be a friend of the world is to be an enemy of the cross of Christ (James 4:4). These things choke the good seed, and it becomes unfruitful.

This is illustrated to us by the case of the Israelites in bondage in Egypt under their taskmaster, Pharaoh. The world is our Egypt, Satan our Pharaoh. The bondage of God's children was heavy. They were slaves to a cruel tyrant, and their groanings and cries came before God. He came down to deliver them, but before their deliverance, their bondage increased until they were compelled to make bricks without straw, goaded by those in authority over them. Isn't this so with the Christian also? If he remains in the world and partakes of its spirit and sinful ways, he will have no power with God; if he seeks for deliverance, Satan, his taskmaster, will immediately make him feel his slavery. If possible, he will cause him to make bricks while refusing him the straw of compensation that others receive whose lives are given up to the world.

There is no middle ground, no place of compromise for the Christian. He must either give way to the deceitfulness, the lying, the selfishness, the greed, and the crowding of others to the wall, which are marked characteristics of the business world today, or he must be completely for God, refusing any compromise, seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and trusting Him for every need. The latter is the only true way; it is the only way in which God can grant a full deliverance and put us in a place where, like the sons of Levi, our inheritance shall not be like that of others, but the Lord Himself shall be our portion forever.

If Satan is unable to defeat us on worldly grounds, he will attack us on fleshly grounds, for he knows that they that are in the flesh cannot please God (Romans 8:8). There is eternal warfare between the flesh and the Spirit to all generations (Exodus 17:1-16; Galatians 5:17). There can be no quarter given to the flesh; its lust, its wisdom, its desires, and its ambitions must die. The place of life in Christ Jesus is through death with Him.

There can be no confidence in the flesh and no provision for it (Philippians 3:3; Romans 13:14). Our ambition to be something, to do something, to be seen, pampered, talked about, or made famous are fleshly and a hindrance to the power of God, which is made perfect through weakness. Don't think it is strange if you are humbled, put down, broken up, and hidden away.

God loves us too much to let us have the chaff and lose the wheat. There can be no victory for others until we have victory in ourselves.

It is not getting away from our circumstances, our environments, or our associations that we need, but Christ's likeness where we are. God placed us here and permitted trials for a purpose; He stands ready to bring us into a life of victory and overcoming power, if we will stand with Him in trust, obedience, and endurance while He works it out.

But if we are on the ground of defeat in our own lives, we will be powerless against the foe for other lives. There must first be victory over Amalek. Our Savior is at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Dare to stand for victory and defend the ground against the Philistines, while the Lord does the work (2 Samuel 23:11-12). There can be no victory, no prevailing over Satan while we are giving way to the flesh, which is at enmity with God. It is only as we know we are pleasing Him that defeat is turned into victory.

If Satan is unable to defeat us on worldly or fleshly grounds, he will fight against us with his spiritual hosts of darkness (Ephesians 6:10-18). At first, he attacks on lower ground – the world and the flesh – so he doesn't reveal himself. Sennacherib is a good illustration of his power and his mode of attack. He tried to make the children of Israel afraid of his power through his blasphemous talk, but the king had instructed them to answer him not a word (2 Kings 18:36).

We do well when we refuse to answer Satan or to reason with him (2 Corinthians 10:3-5). If we go and spread our case before the Lord like Hezekiah did, He will put a hook in his nose and cause him to turn back to his own land (2 Kings 19:28). He will make the daughter of Zion to laugh him to scorn (2 Kings 19:21). Even Michael, the archangel, did not bring a railing accusation against Satan but said, The Lord rebuke thee (Zechariah 3:1-3).

Jesus gave the disciples authority, however, over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:19), and He now places His followers where Satan cannot touch them except when they sin (1 John 5:18). Jesus was manifested that He might destroy all the works of the devil (1 John 3:8). This authority came through His death, and our victory comes in the place of death with Christ, then in living with Him in His resurrection life and power as we do His will and draw from Him for every need (Colossians 3:3). We can ask whatsoever we will, and it shall be done unto us (1 John 3:22-24), even as the Father gave unto the Son. Our lives are hid with Christ in God – He is in us and we are in Him. As we are delivered from Satan's power over our lives, we become increasingly strong through the anointing of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses of a crucified and risen Lord to others.

Goliath (exile) taunted the children of Israel, and they were afraid of him. He said, "We will be your servants, or you will be ours" (1 Samuel 17:9). David had no sword but went forth with the smooth stones from the brook to smite Goliath in the name of the Lord. But the battle with the giant followed the slaying of the lion and the bear at home. Victory within precedes victory without.

Isn't this the same with us? In the very places where we have been defeated again and again, we may show to the glory of God that our Lord has won the victory (Romans 8:27-39).

If you had friends who were living on low, marshy ground that was subject to malaria, one of the first things you would advise them would be to move to higher ground where they would be out of the deadly atmosphere which made them subject to the disease. Without this, there could be no real, permanent deliverance. It is the same with the Christian. Satan oppresses the Christian in many ways in spiritual, temporal, and physical things. He is surrounded with difficulties; his body is attacked with disease, and having oppressed him, he then depresses him. In many cases Satan gets him into a low spiritual condition. As in the physical life, people who are weak physically are an easy prey to disease; so in the spiritual life, the weak are more subject to the attacks of Satan. As long as Christians are in a low, weak condition, he can easily overcome them.

There is a cave in Italy called the Grotto of the Dogs. This name is given to it because of the deadly gas that is at the bottom of the cave. The gas reaches to the height of a dog's head, and a dog will soon die if taken there, but a man can live in the cave if he breathes the air that is above the gas. This can be an illustration of spiritual things. If we live in a low spiritual atmosphere, we will breathe in the poison of Satan's influence and power. There can be no blessing, no abounding life, no joy, and no victory in such an atmosphere. We must be above it, or we will be weakened by the effects of it.

The way to victory is for us to move away from Satan's ground. There is no reason why we should live in a state of depression and defeat. Christ burst the prison bars to set every captive free. He was anointed of God for that purpose (Luke 4:18). He came to save us from the penalty of sin and to give us deliverance from its power. He makes His grace to abound in our lives where sin did once abound.

The followers of Christ in the early church knew, lived, and worked daily in the power of their risen Lord and proved His name to be all sufficient to overcome the power of the Evil One. The sick were healed, sinners were saved, demons were cast out, prison doors were opened, and even the dead were restored to life. They could say, Silver and gold have I none, but they could also say, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk (Acts 3:6). He forgives all our iniquities, He heals all our diseases, He redeems our life from destruction, and He satisfies our mouth with good things (Psalm 103:1-5).

If Satan finds nothing in us in common with himself and through which he can have access to our lives, God can lead us in Jesus Christ to triumph over him. Our victory has been freely provided for us; it is our inheritance in Christ Jesus. When God raised Jesus from among the dead, He seated Him at His own right hand, far above all authority and power in this age and the age to come (Ephesians 1:17-23); and He seated us there with Him and in Him (Ephesians 2:6).

Refuse to live on Satan's ground. Count yourself as crucified with Christ and risen with Him to a newness of life. Submit yourself to God but resist the devil. Don't weaken and give way or think there is no relief. Refuse to be beaten but trust in your Commander, for there is no defeat with God. Such a stand through your risen Lord and in the power of the Holy Spirit will quickly be manifested in your own life and in the lives of others.

God will not change what has gone out of His lips, and He will meet you as you step out on His promises and stand with Him in faith through Christ Jesus against the power of Satan within or without.

* * * *

Somewhere on the coast of England is a rock called Lady's Rock. The name was given to it from an occurrence that took place there some years ago. When the water is calm and the tide is low, anyone can walk from the shore to the rock, but at high tide, the waves beat and roll all around it. One day a lady visited the rock and sat down to read a book. She became so absorbed in her reading that she did not notice the rising tide until it came near her feet. Her escape was cut off from the shore. What could she do? The waves came nearer and nearer as if hungering for their prey. All hope seemed gone and she felt doomed to death.

But suddenly she heard someone calling from the distance, "Climb the rock!" She looked across the angry waters and saw a friend in the distance who had discovered her danger. She looked up at the hard, smooth, slippery rock before her, but it seemed impossible to scale it. Another look at the merciless waves and she realized it was her only option. With her body pressed against the rock, hands clinging to the edges, and feet planted in every crevice they could find, she began the perilous ascent and at last gained a ledge where she stopped to rest.

The waters rolled higher and higher, beating against the rock as if maddened by the possibility of her escape. Soon they would sweep her from the ledge. Again, the voice called across the waters, "Climb higher!" Trembling with fear in her desperate struggle for life, she started up the rock again, and at last, with body bruised and hands bleeding, she gained the top and was safe from the angry waters.

* * * *

If you are not on the rock, may a vision come to you of an all-sufficient Savior who is able to save you from the uttermost and keep all that you commit to Him, which will lead you to fully trust in Him.

If you are on the rock but battling with the fierce waves of sin, adversity, trial, or sorrow, may a message of hope come from the shores of eternity to climb higher.

And unto Him who loved us and freed us from our sins in His own blood, and made us kings and priests unto God His Father, be glory through the church, world without end. Amen.

* * *

 Editor's note: In Scripture, Amalek and the Amalekites were recurring enemies of Israel (Exodus 17:8-14; Deuteronomy 25:17-19; 1 Samuel 15:2-3). The Lord desired Israel to obliterate the Amalekites from their land, just as He desires us to obliterate worldliness from our lives.
Chapter 13

Pressing On for the Prize

Know ye not that those who run in a race indeed all run, but one receives the prize? So run, that ye may obtain it. – 1 Corinthians 9:24

We are aware that our lives are not coming up to the high mark of our calling; we find ourselves selfish and indifferent with little or no anguish for others. We know there are heights unreached, depths unsounded, an anointing of the Spirit never received, and growth never known. We see that the Pentecostal anointing, grace, and power of the early church were far beyond what we have had, and a holy longing fills our souls that in place of the little trickling rivulets, there may come the rivers of living water spoken of by our Lord (John 7:37-38) – rivers to swim in (Ezekiel 47:5).

The apostle Paul was consecrated to God from his conversion (Acts 9:6), filled with the Holy Spirit (Acts 9:17), and yet he had not attained to the prize which was before him, nor had he fully accomplished what Christ expected of him (Philippians 3:12-14). He sought this and prayed for this for himself and for those who had been brought into the kingdom of God through his ministry (Ephesians 1:16-23).

How Shall We Obtain?

But this is not evidence that the Holy Spirit has not come into our lives; it is evidence that He has come. The vision of barrenness and the longing that fills our souls for Christ to be formed in us is His work, and it is through it that He shows us the need of something deeper and better, and spreads before us the vision of a lost world, perishing without hope. It is the Spirit who is teaching us how mechanical our prayers are, and how lifeless, indifferent, and fruitless our efforts are to save others. He came to helpeth our infirmities (Romans 8:26) and to show us the power of intercession that we have had occasional glimpses and foretastes of as our souls have met God face to face at times in the secret chamber of prayer. It is the Spirit, anguishing in heaven-born souls, that brings birth to others. It is the Spirit who shows us the temporary nature of earth's treasures and pleasures, the true character of all that comes from our self-life. It is His work to show the glories of heaven and the darkness of the lost; it is His work to reveal to us the Christ, our resurrected Lord, as the One who is altogether lovely and the fairest of the fair. He fills our souls with longing for something better and deeper.

We must turn from the best of earth and long to know Him in His fullness – until we are willing to have fellowship with His sufferings and be made conformable unto his death, that we may know the power of his resurrection (Philippians 3:10-11). There is no easy way. Redemption was costly; it cost God His best, His only begotten. It cost the Lord Jesus His life. If we are to have real fellowship with God in His ministry to others, it will cost us our lives too.

Crucified with Christ

Life comes through death, and it is the work of the Spirit to make death with Jesus real within us, as a preparation for the anointing for service, which will enable us to see the life of Christ manifested through us to others. For I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ lives in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me (Galatians 2:20). How can there be birth without suffering, life except through death, or fruit without Christ? We may plan and work, and we may see churches filled and membership increasing, but how much of it will stand the test of that day when the secrets of men's hearts will be revealed?

Nothing except what is of God can pass through the fire. The way of Pentecost is by Calvary. Ye cannot serve God and riches (Matthew 6:24). It will be either Christ or Barabbas, your crucifixion or His, your life or the lives of others. What shall it be? In the light of all that heaven holds dear of the One who awaits your decision for or against Him, and of a world waiting for a real manifestation of Christ, may yielded lives come to Him.

He Will Be Sought After

With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not err from thy commandments. (Psalm 119:10)

The Lord Jesus sought sinners, but He will have saints seek Him. This was the yearning of Paul, that I may win Christ, and that I may know him (Philippians 3:8-10). If you are not willing to forsake all for Him, to walk with Him in fellowship, and if to know Christ does not become the passion of your life so that you seek Him with all your heart, you will never know the fullness of the Holy Spirit. You may be saved by grace, plucked as a brand from the burning, saved so as by fire, but the honor and the glory, the blessing and the power, the service and the reward which you might have had will be forever lost.

There is no easy way with God – no easy way for Him to come to you. He did not want it to be easy. Mary brought her best gift (next to herself), the box of costly alabaster ointment, and its fragrance filled the house. Shall it be this way with us, or shall we despise our birthright?

Dear child of God, salvation is a free gift, but discipleship is costly. If you want to be a disciple of your Lord, and anything less than this can only mean eternal loss to Christ and to you and death to others, then Christ must be first and all. His death must be made real if His life is to abound. He must be sought in season and out of season. There can be no putting your hand to the plow and looking backward; no stopping to bury the dead; no compromise with sin, the world, or self. When God wrestles with us as He did with Jacob at the brook of Jabbok, the thigh is broken; we will limp all our life, but if we will not let Him go until He bless us (Genesis 32:22-29), He will show what it means for us to be a prince with God and with men.

Abide in Me

God's own fullness in our lives may not transport us from the valley to the mountaintop; it may not be a mighty tide of feeling that surges over our souls. On the contrary, it may seem a long time coming. Learn to hold fast your confidence to the end. He is faithful who promised and will not disappoint those who trust in Him (Hebrews 10:23). Stand fast in the Lord through the tears, the struggles, the failures, the disappointments, and the darkness; abide in Christ.

You came to Him as a poor, undone sinner and found Him to be precious as a Savior. The experiences you have been passing through were your school in which you learned of Christ, and in Him you found rest. All you need has been accomplished for you at the cross, and the Holy Spirit will make it real within you if you will quietly and patiently abide in Christ. Each day, in its trials and perplexities, its shadows or sunshine, say, "I will abide. I do abide in Him."

He will abide in you. Trust Him to live out His life, to perfect His work, to pray His prayers, to suffer for others, to intercede, and to work in and through you. There can be no failure if the government is on His shoulders, and there shall be no end of the increase; God's purposes in and through your life may be worked out slowly, as He works in nature. The tree, the flower, and the plant do not grow in a day. The Christian life is not like Jonah's gourd, which grew in a night to wither in the morning.

The strongest Christian characters are those who have come up through tribulation and hardship. The fining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold. We must take time to be holy, to know God, and to do His will – take time for the Holy Spirit to change us into the image of Christ. We cannot say our prayers and hurry away and think all is done. This is not God's way. We must learn the secret of abiding in Christ, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment. In communion, in feeding upon His Word, in the secret chamber where He speaks to us and we speak to Him, we shall grow as the plant grows; we shall drink in divine life and strength as the plant does the sunshine and dews of heaven. Abide in me, and I in you (John 15:4). This is the way we have attained and must continue to attain until God has perfected His work in and through us.

All must come and will come from union and communion with Christ. I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abides in me, and I in him, the same brings forth much fruit: for without me [or apart from me] ye can do nothing (John 15:5).
Chapter 14

The Test of Faith

Don't think it's strange when you have an advance position in your spiritual inheritance in Christ Jesus, even the place of victory and overcoming power where you receive answers to your prayers of faith for yourselves and others, if Satan and the hosts of darkness attack and seek to drive you from this position. They oppress and depress that we may be discouraged and lose our vantage ground. Don't marvel at this. Doesn't the commander of an opposing army seek to retake the ground from which he has been driven? God has warned us beforehand, and forewarned is forearmed.

Beloved, think it not strange when you are tried by fire (which is done to prove you) as though some strange thing happened unto you. (1 Peter 4:12)

Does man ever have the honors and the rewards of victory without going through the battle? Was there ever strong faith and victory over the powers of darkness without faith being put to the test? The trial of faith, though it be tried with fire, is to bring out endurance that it may be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:6-7). This trial will bring the end that we long for, even the salvation of souls (1 Peter 1:9), not so much your soul as the souls of others.

We are taught to be strong in the Lord and put on His whole armour that we may withstand these attacks, and having done all, to stand against the strategies of Satan. Don't fail to take your place in the Lord, where you may overcome, even the place of grace and power and victory. Be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Recognize that the oppression and attacks are from Satan and that God will surely give you the victory. Put on the whole armour of God – the breastplate of righteousness, the girding of the loins with truth, the gospel of peace, and the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one (Ephesians 6:10-18).

Thou hast thrust at me with violence that I might fall, but the LORD helped me. (Psalm 118:13)

Though the fiery darts of Satan may assail,

O'er the shield of faith they never shall prevail,

I have given Christ my all, I shall rise whene'er I fall,

He will answer and deliver at my call.

Satan oppresses in spirit, soul, and body. He brings bad news of those dear to us or from those for whom we were expecting deliverance from the Enemy. He is a murderer from the beginning, but he allows another to carry bad tidings (Job 1:15-17). May you be able to say, My heart is fixed, and not be dismayed or afraid of evil tidings. Satan attacks the Christian on every side until it seems as if we have not only lost ground but have also lost what we held before. Instead of having victory, he will certainly overcome us and drive us back. Stand still but hold fast at such times.

Before He was so sorely tried, Jesus said to Peter, I have prayed for thee. He did not pray that Peter should not have the trial, for the ultimate result of the trial was a great blessing in changing Peter into the image of his Master and enabling him to strengthen [the] brethren, who would also be tempted. Christ's prayer for Peter was that his faith fail not (Luke 22:32).

Even if you cannot understand why you are having such a severe and continued trial, stand. God may reveal its purpose later so that you may show others a way to escape. Satan will seek to make you doubt the justice of God, the wisdom of His plan for your life or for others, and suggest that the cross is heavier than you should bear. He will try to convince you that God does not love you or that He will not be faithful to deliver you in His own time and bring you out as gold, purged from its dross in the furnace.

At such times, remember Jesus Christ; remember how He endured the cross, despised the shame, overcame the temptations and the tempter, and is seated at the right hand of God. Fight the good fight of faith; your victory will glorify God and bring blessing, deliverance, and life to others and great joy to yourself. Though it seems dark around you, you will be guarded in God's power. Hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering, for to be of doubtful mind prevents the blessing of God (Hebrews 10:23). The Word of God and His love never fail. The waters will not overflow those who trust Him. Even though shut up as the Israelites were with the Red Sea before them, the mountains above them, and the pursuing hosts of the enemy behind them, the Lord will lead you to triumph through Jesus Christ.

They compassed me about; yea, they laid hold of me; but in the name of the LORD I will cut them off.

They compassed me about like bees; they were quenched as the fire of thorns; for in the name of the LORD I will cut them off. (Psalm 118:11-12)

The Evil One can only ensnare God's own through sin on our part. If through spiritual or bodily oppression, discouragement, or sin you were for the time being driven from your inheritance in the heavenlies with Christ, rally and ask your Father through Christ Jesus your Lord to enable you to live there. It is not by our righteousness or strength that we possess the land, but through the death and present intercession of the glorified Son of Man at the right hand of the Father in our behalf. Jesus made it possible through His own blood; the Holy Spirit will make it real to us. Our God is a very present help [readily found] in trouble (Psalm 46:1).

* * * *

During a battle in which a French army was engaged, they were seemingly defeated, and the commander gave an order to his drummer boy to beat a retreat. The boy made no reply. Again, the commander ordered him to beat a retreat and again, no reply. The third time he sternly ordered him to beat the retreat, when the boy replied that he didn't know how; Napoleon had never taught him how, but he could beat a march that would fairly make the dead fall into line. And he beat it by his commander's orders and defeat was turned into victory. The Christian has not been taught to beat retreats, but he is taught how to turn the worst defeat into victory.

* * * *

Be Strong!

We are not here to play, to dream, to drift;

We have hard work to do and loads to lift;

Shun not the struggle, face it, 'tis God's gift.

Be Strong!

Say not the days are evil – who's to blame?

And fold the hands and acquiesce – O shame!

Stand up, speak out, and bravely, in God's Name!

Be Strong!

It matters not how deep entrenched the wrong,

How hard the battle goes, the day how long;

Faint not, fight on! Tomorrow comes the song.

– Maltbie D. Babcock

* * * *

This is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith. (1 John 5:4)

Ask, and it shall be given you;

Seek, and ye shall find;

Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. (Matthew 7:7)

* * *

 Adelaide A. Pollard, verse from "I Am Satisfied with Jesus," 1899.
Chapter 15

Having Done All, to Stand

Therefore, take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day and stand fast, all the work having been finished. – Ephesians 6:13

If Satan can keep us busy with our troubles, depressed with our weaknesses and failures, and continually on the defensive against his attacks, he can hinder the purposes of God in and through us and prevent the victories which we might otherwise gain. He is a defeated foe; his power was effectively broken at Calvary where our Savior and Lord triumphed over the hosts of darkness and triumphed for all whom God has given to Him. Taking our place with Him at the cross and being crucified with Christ, let us by faith seize an overcoming life with that new and divine power in Him. Then, let us go on to where the indwelling Christ is the overcoming One, strong and mighty to save, to keep, and to enable us to triumph over the hosts of darkness.

There are battles to be fought, victories to be won, and captives of Satan to be set free from his chains. Deliverances of God's children who are now under the protection of the blood and the power of Christ are to be claimed and won. The battle is a real one. None but those who are in the thick of the fight know how deceitful and how plausible the wiles and the tactics of the Enemy are, or how sharp his fiery darts are. His armies of fallen spirits, unseen forces of evil, are reinforced by men and women who are blinded by sin (2 Corinthians 4:1-4) – many times by God's own children who are deceived or have given way to temptation and been carried captive at Satan's will (2 Timothy 2:24-26).

It is useless for us to battle with carnal weapons or to seek to match wisdom, skill, and power with such foes and such a leader. To be strong in the Lord and in the energizing power of his might is our only hope. To put on the whole armour of God is our only chance for victory (Ephesians 6:10-13). Trusting in God, however, to keep and to cover our heads in the day of battle (Psalm 140:7), we are not merely to stand on the defensive, but we are also to go against the foe and to press the battle.

To do this, the whole armor of God must be taken, so that in the evil day we may withstand, for there are times when all the kings of the mountains seem to conspire and gather against us like a flood to discourage, depress, or utterly overwhelm us. Fear them not (Joshua 10:8). As long as we are in the will of God, He is concerned with the battle, and no weapon formed against His own can prosper. Heavenly forces and earthly resources await the word of our princely Leader, who has all power in heaven and in earth. The Lord had said to Joshua, I have delivered them into thine hand (Joshua 10:8) before the shock of battle came.

He was not to be afraid. If we doubt God's faithfulness, dread the Enemy, or are afraid of the outcome, we are not strong for the battle. Withstand every attack of the Enemy, and do it in the calm, sweet assurance that the battle is already won by our Lord and won for us, so that there can be no possible defeat for those who are in the will of God.

Let courage rise with danger,

And strength to strength oppose.

In the natural life, you may dread the conflict, seek to hide away or to compromise. If, however, we do not drive out the foe, there will remain thorns and pricks in our sides (Numbers 33:55). We owe it to God, to others, and to ourselves to be true to our Lord and to withstand the devil and his hosts of darkness, even though we have to stand against friends or against Christians who may not see the Enemy's hand as God reveals his tactics to us.

Having Done All

The issue is plain: God expects us to do His will. We must force the fight. In no other way can sinners be saved and saints be built up. The gospel must be sent to the remotest part of the earth, and a people be made ready for the glorious coming of the Lord – the bright prospect and tokens, which even now gladden and encourage the hearts of His saints. Our battle is one of faith, but it is a real and aggressive one. Are we seeking to rescue the lost and perishing about us? It is a God-given privilege and responsibility. Can we, dare we, nourish our own selfish hearts and live delicately and at ease in a day of slaughter (James 5:5)? Are we seeking to know God's will, praying for His glory, hungry for heavenly manna, and feeding upon His Word? Or are we living in the empty pleasure of this world, the treasures, and the leeks and the garlic of Egypt? The days perish, but they are set down to our account.

Children of the living God, let's go to our knees and then to the conflict. There are mighty things to be done for God. Are we ready to stand with those who endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ (2 Timothy 2:3)? Think of the shamefacedness of meeting our Lord with no warfare accomplished, no battle fought and won, no trophies to bring, and no crown to lay at His feet.

Even the sun waited, or was silent, at the command of Joshua, and the Lord hearkened unto the voice of a man (Joshua 10:14). Never can the battle be fought and won with the skill, the wisdom, or the organizations of men. In this day of apostasy, of denial of our Lord and His Word, of turning to the arm of flesh, nothing but barrenness and utter failure can be the ultimate result for those who carve out for themselves broken cisterns, that can hold no water (Jeremiah 2:13). God's armor is full and complete. He makes no provision for our backs, for we are to face the foe and fight the battle. If we turn our backs, we shall be a target for the fiery darts of the Enemy. Spiritual battles are won only by God's weapons, and when used in the Spirit, they are mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). Let's see to it that we are about the King's business, doing His blessed will, and doing it in the Spirit and under His direction.

* * *

 George Duffield, "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus," 1858.
Chapter 16

The Coming of the Lord

Waiting for that blessed hope and the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Jesus Christ. – Titus 2:13

The blessed message of the coming of Christ to receive His own unto Himself was the comforting thought that our Lord left to His disciples before He went away (John 14:1-3). This return of Christ for His own does not mean death, for it was given as a message of comfort. Death is the enemy of God, the result of and the last work of sin, as far as this mortal body is concerned. This enemy of God and men is yet to be destroyed at the coming of the Lord Jesus (1 Corinthians 15:25-26). When the mortal puts on immortality and the corruptible puts on incorruption, death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:53-54). The coming of Christ in the clouds of heaven, even as He was taken away, was the glad message from the angels, encouraging the hearts of the disciples as they stood gazing up into heaven, as the cloud had taken the Lord out of their sight (Acts 1:9-11).

Comparatively little has been said in Scripture about the saints of God passing through death, but much has been said about the coming of the Lord in glory. Then, those who have fallen asleep in Christ shall be taken first (1 Corinthians 15:20-23, 52), and those who are alive shall be changed (1 Corinthians 15:51) in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, as the mortal puts on immortality, and the bodies of our humbling are changed like His own glorious body. Then shall the bodies of the saints shine forth in the glory of the Father.

How this should comfort our hearts in the midst of conflict and service. Our Lord and Bridegroom will soon appear. The night draws to an end and the day is at hand when Christ, who is our life, shall appear (Colossians 3:4). Our bodies, which through sin were so long subject to bondage, to disease, and to decay, will be changed and in their perfected, glorified condition, never to be touched by the things which mar and distress now, shall share with Jesus His triumph through the ages of eternity.

From the judgment of the great white throne we have been delivered, for the judgment that was our due for sin was placed upon Jesus, and He paid the penalty for our sins in His own body on the tree. The judgment at the great white throne is for those who have not received Christ (Revelation 20:11-15).

The Christian, however, must appear at the judgment seat of Christ, where he is to receive a reward, if he has been faithful (1 Corinthians 3:10-15); but this is not to find out whether he is to be saved.

For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ that each one may receive according to that which they have done in the body, good or evil. (2 Corinthians 5:10)

For no one can lay another foundation than that laid, which is Jesus the Christ. Now if anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; the work of each one shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it because it shall be revealed by fire; the work of each one, whatever sort it is, the fire shall put it to test. If the work of anyone abides which he has built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If anyone's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15)

The question of his salvation was settled when he accepted Jesus as Savior. Neither do believers have to wait for the general resurrection, for their place is in the first resurrection. The dead in Christ shall rise first, and Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: on such the second death has no authority (1 Thessalonians 4:16; Revelation 20:4-6).

Truly, as we stand by the bedside of the dying and the grave of the dead who have departed to be with the Lord, which is far better, we may comfort one another with these words (1 Thessalonians 4:18). We are citizens of a heavenly country, and the coming of the Lord draweth nigh (James 5:8). As we look at a groaning world in its bondage and see men turning from God to the work of their own hands, we look for our Lord's return. As we realize the purposes of God's grace for this poor sin-cursed earth and know that its redemption from bondage can only be brought about by the coming of Jesus, we welcome the words of the Holy Spirit: Surely I come quickly. Our own response is, Even so, come, Lord Jesus (Revelation 22:20).

Man's Questions and God's Answers

Am I accountable to God?

So then each one of us shall give an account of himself to God (Romans 14:12).

Has God seen all my ways?

All things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him of whom we speak (Hebrews 4:13). For my eyes are upon all their ways, which they have not hid from me, neither does their iniquity hide from the presence of my eyes (Jeremiah 16:17).

Does He charge me with sin?

But the scripture has concluded all under sin (Galatians 3:22). All have sinned (Romans 3:23).

Will He punish sin?

The soul that sins, it shall die (Ezekiel 18:4). For the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23).

Must I perish?

As righteousness is unto life, so he that pursues evil pursues it unto his own death (Proverbs 11:19).

How can I escape?

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16:31).

Is He able to save me?

For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9). Therefore he is able also to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by Him (Hebrews 7:25).

Is He willing?

Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners (1 Timothy 1:15). The Lord is . . . not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

Am I saved by believing?

He that believes in the Son has eternal life (John 3:36).

Can I be saved now?

Behold, now is "the acceptable time," behold, now is "the day of salvation" (2 Corinthians 6:2 NASB).

As I am?

He that comes to me I will in no wise cast out (John 6:37).

Will I fall away?

For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day (2 Timothy 1:12). Him that is powerful to keep you without sin (Jude 1:24).

If I am saved, how should I live?

And that he died for all that those who live should not live from now on unto themselves, but unto him who died and rose again for them (2 Corinthians 5:15). And be not conformed to this age, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your soul (Romans 12:2).

What about death and eternity?

I go to prepare a place for you. . . . that where I am, there ye may be also (John 14:2-3).
Orson R. Palmer – A Brief Biography

Born at the beginning of the Civil War, Orson R. Palmer was soon affected by the turmoil in the country, and his life turned upside down. Orson's father had been a mail carrier before he enlisted, but he never returned to Pennsylvania to his wife, Mary, and two young sons. Orson had been born on December 19, 1860, about four years after his brother Clarence.

During his early years, Orson worked as a farmhand, but by the time he was 17, he passed a test that certified him to teach and set him on a new direction for his life. When he was 19, he made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ.

The 1880s proved to be a whirlwind for Palmer as he went to Philadelphia, continued teaching, and undertook the study and practice of shorthand and typing. In 1885, when he was 25, he opened a business school, Palmer's College of Shorthand and Typewriting, where he worked as principal and teacher. He wrote his first book, Typewriting and Business Correspondence, with the accompanying Palmer's Shorthand Lesson Chart, which were used extensively in that school.

After joining a church, Palmer became superintendent of the Sunday school and taught Sunday school classes. He served on the church board and helped in special services while being active in the YMCA. In 1887, he married Elizabeth A. Watkins, and their daughter, Gladys, was born in 1895. During this time, Palmer also became interested in the Africa Inland Mission (AIM), which was founded in 1895 by Peter Cameron Scott with the desire to see Christ-centered churches established among the African people.

In the early 1900s, Palmer wrote another book – Deliverance from the Penalty and Power of Sin (1911). He wrote articles for other Christian publications and spoke at various events. With his desire to preach the gospel message to everyone, Palmer founded the Berachah Church in Philadelphia on May 3, 1912, which is still active today. He chose the word berachah because it is the Hebrew word for "blessing." During this time, he also served as director on the board for AIM for North America from 1911 to 1914, and home director for AIM from 1914 to 1925.

In 1917, Palmer was one of fourteen independent "faith mission" leaders who formed the Interdenominational Foreign Mission Association of North America (IFMA, now CrossGlobal Link). They no longer felt compatible with the growing ecumenical movement. This was the first association of such a group of missions to be formed in North America. Most of the mission representatives wanted "loose" cooperation, but Palmer and Henry W. Frost wanted more organization with freedom for any denomination. The two men convinced the others, as they all hoped to defend the Christian faith. They had seen defections from it, so they refused to compromise on five specific beliefs: (1) the deity of Christ, (2) the vicarious atonement of Christ, (3) man's fallen condition, (4) the absolute inspiration of the Scriptures, and (5) the premillennial return of Christ.

The second annual meeting of the IFMA was held at Palmer's church. They established accountability and openness in the areas of spiritual and financial standards. At the third annual meeting, Palmer was elected vice president of the organization.

In 1922, Palmer applied for and received a passport to travel to fifteen European countries to hold conferences with evangelical Christian leaders. He wanted to visit missionaries and dispense material relief to them. The following year, he founded the American-European Fellowship for Christian Oneness and Evangelization, Inc.

Orson Palmer died on June 5, 1939, from lymphatic leukemia and myocarditis. He was preceded in death by his father and brother. His wife, mother, and daughter survived him. Palmer is buried at Mount Peace Cemetery, Philadelphia.

Sources:

1880 United States Federal Census

1900 United States Federal Census

1910 United States Federal Census

1920 United States Federal Census

1940 United States Federal Census

Certificate of Death – Orson R. Palmer

Passport issued by the United States of America to Orson Ray Palmer

75 Years of IFMA, 1917-1992: The Nondenominational Missions Movement by E. L. Frizen

Tenth Annual Announcement and Catalogue of Palmer's College of Shorthand and Typewriting compiled by Palmer's College of Shorthand and Typewriting

Faith, mighty Faith by J. Herbert Kane

Southwestern Journal of Theology – Missiology by David J. Hesselgrave, swbts.edu/sites/default/files/images/content/docs/journal/49_2/49.2_Hesselgrave.pdf

Africa Inland Mission, International Collection, www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/guides/081.htm#1

Our Harding Family by Mary Eusebia Harding Baird, 1957

Christian Thought, Vol. 14, January 1, 1913
We love hearing from our readers. Please contact us at www.anekopress.com/questions-comments with any questions, comments, or suggestions.

Deliverance from the Power and Penalty of Sin – Orson R. Palmer

Revised Edition Copyright © 2018

First edition published 1912

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Scripture quotations are taken from the Jubilee Bible, copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010, 2013 by Russell M. Stendal. Used by permission of Russell M. Stendal, Bogota, Colombia. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Cover Design: J. Martin

Cover Image: Name of Artist/Shutterstock

eBook and Audiobook Icons: Icons Vector/Shutterstock, Ganibal/Shutterstock

Editors: Sheila Wilkinson and Ruth Clark

Printed in the United States of America

Aneko Press

www.anekopress.com

Aneko Press, Life Sentence Publishing, and our logos are trademarks of

Life Sentence Publishing, Inc.  
203 E. Birch Street  
P.O. Box 652  
Abbotsford, WI 54405

RELIGION / Christian Living / Spiritual Growth

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-62245-537-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-62245-538-6

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
