Twenty-third Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
Holiness and the Body.
"The temple of G.o.d is _holy_, which temple ye are. _The body_ is for the Lord, and the Lord for _the body_. Know ye not that your _body_ is the temple of _the Holy Ghost_ which is in you; therefore glorify G.o.d in your _body_."--1 Cor. iii. 16, vi. 13, 19.
"She that is unmarried is careful for the things of the Lord, that she may be _holy_ both _in body_ and spirit."--1 Cor. vii. 34.
"Present your _bodies_ a living sacrifice, _holy_, acceptable to G.o.d."--Rom. xii. 1.
Coming into the world, our Blessed Lord spake: "_A body_ didst Thou prepare for me; lo, I come to do Thy will, O G.o.d." Leaving this world again, it was in His own _body_ that He bore our sins upon the tree. So it was in the body, no less than in soul and spirit, that He did the will of G.o.d. And therefore it is said, "By which will we have been sanctified through the offering _of the body_ of Jesus Christ once for all."
When praying for the Thessalonians and their sanctification, Paul says, "And the G.o.d of peace Himself sanctify you wholly; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved entire, without blame, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." Of himself he had spoken as "always bearing about _in the body_ the dying of Jesus, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested _in our body_. For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus" sake, that the life also of Jesus may be manifested _in our mortal flesh_." His earnest expectation and hope was, "that Christ be magnified _in my body_, whether by life or by death." The relation between body and spirit is so intimate, the power of sin in the spirit comes so much through the body, the body is so distinctly the object both of Christ"s redemption and the Holy Spirit"s renewal, that our study of holiness will be seriously defective if we do not take in the teaching of Scripture on holiness in the body.
It has been well said that the body is, to the soul and spirit dwelling and acting within it, like the walls of the city. Through them the enemy enters in. In time of war, everything yields to the defence of the walls. It is often because the believer does not know the importance of keeping the walls defended, keeping the body sanctified, that he fails in having the soul and spirit preserved blameless. Or it is because he does not understand that the guarding and sanctifying of the body in all its parts must be as distinctly a work of faith, and as directly through the mighty power of Jesus and the indwelling of the Spirit, as the renewing of the inner life, that progress in holiness is so feeble. The rule of the city we entrust to Jesus: but the defence of the walls we keep in our own hands; the King does not keep us as we expected, and we cannot discover the secret of failure. It is the G.o.d of peace _Himself_, who sanctifies wholly, who must preserve spirit and soul _and body_ entire and without blame. The tabernacle with its wood, the temple with its stone, were as holy as all included within their walls: G.o.d"s holy ones need the body to be holy.
To realize the full meaning of this, let us remember how it was through the body sin entered. "The woman saw that the tree was good for food,"
this was the temptation in the flesh; through this the soul was reached, "it was a delight to the eyes;" through the soul it then pa.s.sed into the spirit, "and to be desired to make one wise." In John"s description of what is in the world (1 John ii. 15), we find the same threefold division, "the l.u.s.t of the flesh, the l.u.s.t of the eyes, and the pride of life." And the three temptations of Jesus by Satan correspond exactly: he first sought to reach Him through the body, in the suggestion to satisfy His hunger by making bread; the second (see Luke iv.) appealed to the soul, in the vision of the kingdoms of this world and their glory; the third to the spirit, in the call to a.s.sert and prove His Divine Sonship by casting Himself down. Even to the Son of G.o.d the first temptation came, as to Adam and all in the world, as l.u.s.t of the flesh, the desire to gratify the natural and lawful appet.i.te of hunger. We cannot note too carefully that it was on a question of eating what appeared good for food that man"s first sin was committed, and that that same question of eating to satisfy hunger was the battleground on which the Redeemer"s first encounter with Satan took place. It is on the question of eating and drinking what is good and lawful that more Christians than are aware of it are foiled by Satan. To have every appet.i.te of the body under the rule and regulation of the Holy Spirit appears to some needless, to others too difficult. And yet it must be, if the body is to be holy, as G.o.d"s temple, and we are to glorify Him in our body and our spirit. The first approaches of sin are made through the body: in the body the complete victory will be gained.
What Scripture teaches as to the intimacy of the connection between the body and spirit, physiology confirms. What appear at first merely physical transgressions leave a stain and have a degrading influence on the soul, and through it drag down the spirit. And on the other side, spiritual sins, sins of thought and imagination and disposition, pa.s.s through the soul into the body, fix themselves in the nervous const.i.tution, and express themselves even in the countenance and the habits or tendencies of the body. Sin must be combated not only in the region of the spirit: if we are to perfect holiness, we must cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh _and_ spirit. "If through the Spirit ye do make dead the deeds of _the body_, ye shall live." If we are indeed to be cleansed from sin and made holy unto G.o.d, the body, as the outworks, must very specially be secured from the power of Satan and of sin.
And how is this to be done? G.o.d has made very special provision for this. Holy Scripture speaks so explicitly of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit that communicates holiness, in connection with the body. At first sight it looks as if the word, your bodies, were simply used as equivalent to, your persons, yourselves. But as the deeper insight into the power of sin in the body, and the need of a deliverance specially there, quickens our perception, we see what is meant by the body being the temple of the Holy Spirit. We notice how very specially it is of sins in the body that Paul speaks as defiling G.o.d"s holy temple; and how it is through the power of the Holy Ghost in the body that he would have us glorify G.o.d.
"Know ye not that _your body_ is the temple of the Holy Ghost: glorify G.o.d therefore, in the power of the Holy Spirit, in _your body_." The Holy Spirit must not only exercise a restraining and regulating influence on the appet.i.tes of the body and their gratification, so that they be in moderation and temperance,--this is only the negative side,--but there must be a positively spiritual element, making the exercise of natural functions a service of holy joy and liberty to the glory of G.o.d; no longer a threatened hindrance to the life of obedience and fellowship, but a means of grace, a real help to the spiritual life.
It is only in a body that is full of the holy life, very entirely possessed of G.o.d"s Spirit, that this will be the case.
And how can this be obtained? In the true Christian life, self-denial is the path to enjoyment, renunciation to possession, death to life. As long as there is ought that we think we have liberty and power to use or enjoy aright, if we but do so in moderation, we have not yet seen or confessed our own unholiness, or the need of the entire renewing of the Holy Spirit. It is not enough to say, "Every creature of G.o.d is good, if it be received with thanksgiving;" we must remember the addition, "for it is sanctified by the word and by prayer." This sanctifying of every creature and its use is a thing as real and solemn as the sanctifying of ourselves. And this will only be where, if need be, we sacrifice the gift and the liberty to use it, until G.o.d gives us the power truly to use it to His glory alone. Of one of the most sacred of Divine inst.i.tutions, marriage, Paul, who so denounces those who would forbid to marry, says distinctly that there may be cases in which a voluntary celibacy may be the surest and acceptable way of being "holy both in body and spirit." When to be holy as G.o.d is holy indeed becomes the great desire and aim of life, everything will be cherished or given up as it promotes the chief end. The actual and active presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of the body will be the fire that is kept burning continually on the altar.
And how is this to be attained? Of the body as of the spirit it is G.o.d, G.o.d in Christ, who is our Keeper and our Sanctifier. The guarding of the walls of the city must be entrusted to Him who rules within. "I am persuaded that He is able to guard my deposit," to keep that which I have committed to Him, must become as definitely true of the body, and of each of its functions of which we are conscious that it is the occasion of doubt or of stumbling, as it has been of the soul we entrusted to Him for salvation. A fixed deposit in a bank is money given away out of my hands to be kept there: the body or any part of it that needs to be made holy must be a deposit with Jesus. Faith must trust His acceptance and guarding of it; prayer and praise must daily afresh renew the a.s.surance, must confirm the committal of the deposit, and maintain the fellowship with Jesus. Abiding thus in Him and His Holiness, we shall receive, in a life of trust and joy, the power to prove, even in the body, how fully and wholly we are in Him who is made unto us sanctification, how real and true the Holiness of G.o.d is in His people.
BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.
Blessed Lord! who art my sanctification, I come to Thee now with a very special request. O Thou who didst in Thine own body bear our sins on the tree, and of whom it is written, "We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all," be pleased to reveal to me how my body may to the full experience the power of Thy wonderful redemption. I do desire in soul and body to be holy to the Lord.
Lord! I have too little understood that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, that there is nothing in it that can be matter of indifference, that its every state and function is to be holiness to the Lord. And where I saw that this should be so, I have still sought myself to guard from the enemy"s approaches these the walls of the city. I forgot how this part of my being too could alone be kept and sanctified by faith, by Thy taking and keeping charge of what faith entrusted to Thee.
Lord Jesus! I come now to surrender this body with all its needs into Thy hands. In weariness and nervousness, in excitement and enjoyment, in hunger and want, in health and plenty, O my holy Saviour, let my body be in Thy keeping every moment. Thou callest us, "being made free from sin, to present our members as servants of righteousness unto sanctification." Saviour! in the faith of the freedom from sin which I have in Thee, I present every member of my body to Thee: I believe the Spirit of life in Thee makes me free from the law of sin in my members.
Whether living or dying, be Thou magnified in my body. Amen.
1. In the tabernacle and temple, the material part was to be in harmony with, and the embodiment of, the holiness that dwelt within. It was therefore all made according to the pattern shown in the mount. In the two last chapters of Exodus, we have eighteen times "as the Lord commanded." Everything, even in the exterior, was the embodiment of the will of G.o.d. Even so our body, as G.o.d"s temple, must in everything be regulated by G.o.d"s word, quickened and sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
2. As part of this holiness in the body, Scripture mentions dress.
Speaking of the "outward adorning of plaiting the hair, of wearing jewels, or the putting on of apparel," as inconsistent with "the apparel of a meek and quiet spirit," Peter says, "After this manner aforetime _the holy women_, who hoped in G.o.d, adorned themselves." Holiness was seen in their dressing; their body was the temple of the Holy Spirit.
3. "If ye through the Spirit do make dead the deeds of _the body_, ye shall live." His quickening energy must reign through the whole. We are so accustomed to connect the spiritual with the ideal and invisible, that it will need time and thought and faith to realize how the physical and the sensible influence our spiritual life, and must be under the mastery and inspiration of G.o.d"s Spirit. Even Paul says, "I buffet _my body_, and bring it into bondage, lest I myself should be rejected."
4. If G.o.d actually breathed His Spirit into the body of Adam formed out of the ground, let it not be thought strange that the Holy Spirit should now animate our bodies too with His sanctifying energy.
5. "Corporeality is the end of the ways of G.o.d." This deep saying of an old divine reminds us of a much neglected truth. The great work of G.o.d"s Spirit is to ally Himself with matter, and form it into a spiritual body for a dwelling for G.o.d. In our body the Holy Spirit will do it, if He gets complete possession.
6. It is on this truth of the Holy Spirit"s power in the body that what is called Faith-healing rests. Through all ages, in times of special spiritual quickening, G.o.d has given it to some to see how Christ would make, even here, the body partaker of the life and power of the Spirit. To those who do see it, the link between Holiness and Healing is a very close and blessed one, as the Lord Jesus takes possession of the body for Himself.
Twenty-fourth Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
Holiness and Cleansing.
"Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us _cleanse_ ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting _holiness_ in the fear of G.o.d."--2 Cor. vii. 1.
That holiness is more than cleansing, and must be preceded by it, is taught us in more than one pa.s.sage of the New Testament. "Christ loved the Church, and gave Himself up for it, that He might _sanctify_ it, having _cleansed_ it by the washing of water with the word." "If a man _cleanse_ himself from these, he shall be a vessel _sanctified_." The cleansing is the negative side, the being separate and not touching the unclean thing, the removal of impurity; the sanctifying is the positive union and fellowship with G.o.d, and the partic.i.p.ation of the graces of the Divine life and holiness (2 Cor. vi. 17, 18). So we read too of the altar, that G.o.d spake to Moses: "Thou shalt _cleanse_ the altar, when thou makest atonement for it, and thou shalt anoint it, to _sanctify_ it" (Ex. xxix. 36). Cleansing must ever prepare the way, and ought always to lead on to holiness.
Paul speaks of a twofold defilement, of flesh and spirit, from which we must cleanse ourselves. The connection between the two is so close, that in every sin both are partakers. The lowest and most carnal form of sin will enter the spirit, and, dragging it down into partnership in crime, will defile and degrade it. And so will all defilement of spirit in course of time show its power in the flesh. Still we may speak of the two cla.s.ses of sins as they owe their origin more directly to the flesh or the spirit.
"_Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh._" The functions of our body may be cla.s.sed under the three heads of the nourishment, the propagation, and the protection of our life. Through the first the world daily solicits our appet.i.te with its food and drink. As the fruit good for food was the temptation that overcame Eve, so the pleasures of eating and drinking are among the earliest forms of defilement of the flesh. Closely connected with this is what we named second, and which is in Scripture specially connected with the word flesh. We know how in Paradise the sinful eating was at once followed by the awakening of sinful l.u.s.t and of shame. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, Paul closely connects the two (1 Cor. vi. 13, 15), as he also links drunkenness and impurity (1 Cor. vi. 9, 10). Then comes the third form in which the vitality of the body displays itself: the instinct of self-preservation, setting itself against everything that interferes with our pleasures and comfort. What is called temper, with its fruits of anger and strife, has its roots in the physical const.i.tution, and is one among the sins of the flesh. From all this, the Christian, who would be holy, must most determinedly cleanse himself. He must yield himself to the searching of G.o.d"s Spirit, to be taught what there is in the flesh that is not in harmony with the temperance and self-control demanded both by the law of nature and the law of the Spirit. He must believe, what Paul felt that the Corinthians so emphatically needed to be taught, that the Holy Spirit dwells in the body, making its members the members of Christ, and in this faith put off the works of the flesh; he must cleanse himself from all defilement of flesh.
"_And of spirit._" As the source of all defilement of the flesh is self-gratification, so self-seeking is at the root of all defilement of the spirit. In relation to G.o.d, it manifests itself in idolatry, be it in the worship of other G.o.ds after our own heart, the love of the world more than G.o.d, or the doing our will rather than His. In relation to our fellow-men it shows itself in envy, hatred, and want of love, cold neglect or harsh judging of others. In relation to ourselves it is seen as pride, ambition, or envy, the disposition that makes self the centre round which all must move, and by which all must be judged.
For the discovery of such defilement of spirit, no less than of the sins of the flesh, the believer needs the light of the Holy Spirit; that the uncleanness may indeed be cleansed out and cast away for ever. Even unconscious sin, if we are not earnestly willing to have it shown to us, will most effectually prevent our progress in the path of holiness.
"_Beloved! let us cleanse ourselves._" The cleansing is sometimes spoken of as the work of G.o.d (Acts xv. 9; 1 John i. 9); sometimes as that of Christ (John xv. 3; Eph. v. 26; t.i.t. ii. 14). Here we are commanded to cleanse ourselves. G.o.d does His work in us by the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit does His work by stirring us up and enabling us to do. The Spirit is the strength of the new life; in that strength we must set ourselves determinedly to cast out whatever is unclean. "Come out, and be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing." It is not only the doing what is sinful, it is not only the willing of it, that the Christian must avoid, but even the touching it: the involuntary contact with it must be so unbearable as to force the cry, O wretched man that I am! and to lead on to the deliverance which the Spirit of the life of Christ does bring.
And how is this cleansing to be done? When Hezekiah called the priests to sanctify the temple that had been defiled, we read (2 Chron. xxix.), "The priests went in unto the inner part of the house of the Lord to cleanse it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found." Only then could the sin-offering of atonement and the burnt-offering of consecration, with the thankofferings, be brought, and G.o.d"s service be restored. Even thus must all that is unclean be looked out, and brought out, and utterly cast out. However deeply rooted the sin may appear, rooted in const.i.tution and habit, we must cleanse ourselves of it if we would be holy. "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin." As we bring out every sin from the inner part of the house into the light of G.o.d and walk in the light, the precious blood that justifies will work mightily to cleanse too: the blood brings into living contact with the life and the love of G.o.d. Let us come into the light with the sin: the blood will prove its mighty power. Let us cleanse ourselves in yielding ourselves to the light to reveal and condemn, to the blood to cleanse and sanctify.
"Let us cleanse ourselves, _perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord_." We read in Hebrews (x. 14), "Christ hath perfected forever them that are sanctified." As we have so often seen that what G.o.d has made holy man must make holy too, as he accepts and appropriates the holiness G.o.d has bestowed, so here with the perfection which the saints have in Christ. We must perfect holiness: holiness must be carried out into the whole of life, and carried on even to its end. As G.o.d"s holy ones, we must go on to perfection, perfecting holiness. Do not let us be afraid of the word. Our Blessed Lord used it when He gave us the command, "Be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." A child striving after the perfection in knowledge of his profession, which he hopes to attain when he has finished school, is told by his teacher that the way to the perfection he hopes for at the end of his course is to seek to be perfect in the lessons of each day. To be perfect in the small portion of the work that each hour brings, is the path to the perfection that will crown the whole. The Master calls us to a perfection like that of the Father: He hath already perfected us in Himself: He holds out the prospect of perfection ever growing. His word calls us here day by day to be perfecting holiness. Let us seek in each duty to be whole-hearted and entire. Let us, as teachable scholars, in every act of worship or obedience, in every temptation and trial, do the very best which G.o.d"s Spirit can enable us to do. "Let patience have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking in nothing." "The G.o.d of peace make you perfect in every good work to do His will."
"_Having therefore these promises_, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of G.o.d." It is faith that gives the courage and the power to cleanse from all defilement, perfecting holiness in the fear of G.o.d. It is as the promises of the Divine love and indwelling (2 Cor. vi 16-18) are made ours by the Holy spirit, that we shall share the victory which overcometh the world, even our faith. In the path along which we have already come, from the rest in Paradise down through Holy Scripture, we have seen the wondrous revelation of these promises in ever-growing splendour. That G.o.d the Holy One will make us holy; that G.o.d the Holy One will dwell with the lowly; that G.o.d in His Holy One has come to be our holiness; that G.o.d has planted us in Christ that He may be our sanctification; that G.o.d, who chose us in sanctification of the Spirit, has given us the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and now watches over us in His love to work out through Him His purposes and to perfect our holiness: such are the promises that have been set before us. "Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of G.o.d."
Beloved brother! see here again G.o.d"s way of holiness. Arise and step on to it in the faith of the promise, fully persuaded that what He hath promised He is mighty to perform. Bring out of the inner part of the house all uncleanness; bring it into the light of G.o.d; confess it and cast it at His feet, who takes it away, and cleanses you in His blood.
Yield yourself in faith to perfect, in Christ your Strength, the Holiness to which you are called. As your Father in heaven is perfect, give yourself to Him as a little child to be perfect too in your daily lessons and your daily walk. Believe that your surrender is accepted: that the charge committed to Him is undertaken. And give glory to Him who is able to do above what you can ask or think.
BE YE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.
Holy Lord Jesus! Thou didst give Thyself for us, that, having cleansed us for Thyself as Thine own, Thou mightest sanctify us and present us to Thyself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing.
Blessed be Thy Name for the wonderful love. Blessed be Thy Name for the wonderful cleansing. Through the washing by the word and the washing in the blood, Thou hast made us clean every whit. And as we walk in the light, Thou cleansest every moment.
With these promises, in the power of Thy word and blood, Thou callest us to cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit. Blessed Lord! graciously reveal in Thy Holy Light all that is defilement, even its most secret working. Let me live as one who is to be presented to Thee without spot or wrinkle or any such thing--cleansed with a Divine cleansing, because Thou gavest Thyself to do it. Under the living power of Thy word and blood, applied by the Holy Spirit, let my way be clean, and my hands clean, my lips clean, and my heart clean. Cleanse me thoroughly, that I may walk with Thee in white here on earth, keeping my garments unspotted and undefiled. For Thy great love"s sake, my Blessed Lord. Amen.