4. The spirit of the fear of the Lord and the spirit of praise may, at first sight, appear to be at variance. But it is not so. The humility that fears the Holy One will also praise Him: "Ye that fear the Lord: praise the Lord." The lower we lie in the fear of G.o.d, and the fear of self, the more surely will He lift us up in due time to praise Him.
Seventh Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
Holiness and Obedience.
"Ye have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles" wings, and brought you _unto myself_. Now therefore, if ye will _obey my voice indeed_, and keep my covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people: ye shall be unto me an _holy_ nation."--Ex. xix. 4-6.
Israel has reached h.o.r.eb. The law is to be given and the covenant made.
Here are G.o.d"s first words to the people; He speaks of redemption and its blessing, fellowship with Himself: "Ye have seen how I brought you _unto myself_." He speaks of holiness as His purpose in redemption: "Ye shall be unto me an _holy_ nation." And as the link between the two He places obedience: "If ye will indeed _obey_ my voice, ye shall be unto me an _holy_ nation." G.o.d"s will is the expression of His holiness; as we do His will, we come into contact with His holiness. The link between Redemption and Holiness is Obedience.
This takes us back to what we saw in Paradise. G.o.d sanctified the seventh day as the time for sanctifying man. And what was the first thing He did with this purpose? He gave him a commandment. Obedience to that commandment would have opened the door, would have been the entrance, into the Holiness of G.o.d. Holiness is a moral attribute; and moral is that which a free will chooses and determines for itself. What G.o.d creates and gives is only naturally good; what man wills to have of G.o.d and His will, and really appropriates, has moral worth, and leads to holiness. In creation G.o.d manifested His wise and good will. His holy will He speaks in His commands. As that holy will enters man"s will, as man"s will accepts and unites itself with G.o.d"s will, he becomes holy.
After creation, in the seventh day, G.o.d took man up into His work of sanctification to make him holy. Obedience is the path to holiness, because it is the path to union with G.o.d"s holy will; with man unfallen, as with fallen man, in redemption here and in glory above, in all the holy angels, in Christ the Holy One of G.o.d Himself, obedience is the path of holiness. It is not itself holiness: but as the will opens itself to accept and to do the will of G.o.d, G.o.d communicates Himself and His Holiness. To obey His voice is to follow Him as He leads in the way to the full revelation and communication of Himself and His blessed nature as the Holy One.
Obedience. Not knowledge of the will of G.o.d, not even approval, not even the will to do it, but the doing of it. Knowledge, and approval, and will must lead to action; the will of G.o.d must be _done_. "If ye indeed obey my voice, ye shall be unto me an holy nation." It is not faith, and not worship, and not profession, that G.o.d here asks in the first place from His people when He speaks of holiness; it is obedience. G.o.d"s will must be _done_ on earth, as in heaven. "Remember _and do_ all my commandments, that ye may be holy to your G.o.d" (Num. xv. 40). "Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be ye holy; and ye shall keep my statutes _and do_ them. I am the Lord which sanctify you" (Lev. xx. 7, 8). "Therefore shall ye keep my commandments _and do_ them: I am the Lord: I will be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord which hallow you, that brought you up out of the land of Egypt" (xxii 21, 33).
A moment"s reflection will make the reason of this clear to us. It is in a man"s work that he manifests what he is. I may know what is good, and yet not approve it. I may approve, and yet not will it. I may in a certain sense will it, and yet be wanting in the energy, or the self-sacrifice, or the power that will rouse and do the thing. Thinking is easier than willing, and willing is easier than doing. Action alone proves whether the object of my interest has complete mastery over me.
G.o.d wants His will _done_. This alone is obedience. In this alone it is seen whether the whole heart, with all its strength and will, has given itself over to the will of G.o.d; whether we live it, and are ready at any sacrifice to make it our own by doing it. G.o.d has no other way for making us holy. "Ye shall keep my statutes _and do_ them: I am the Lord which make you holy."
To all seekers after holiness this is a lesson of deep importance.
Obedience is not holiness; holiness is something far higher, something that comes from G.o.d to us, or rather, something of G.o.d coming into us.
But obedience is _indispensable_ to holiness: it cannot exist without it. While, therefore, your heart seeks to follow the teaching of G.o.d"s word, and looks in faith to what G.o.d has done, as He has made you _holy in Christ_, and to what G.o.d is still to do through the Spirit of Holiness as He fulfils the promise, "The very G.o.d of peace sanctify you wholly," never for one moment forget to be obedient. "If ye shall indeed obey my voice, ye shall be an holy nation to me." Begin by doing at once whatever appears right to do. Give up at once whatever conscience tells that you dare not say is according to the will of G.o.d. Not only pray for light and strength, but _act_; do what G.o.d says. "He that _doeth_ the will of G.o.d is my brother," Jesus says. Every son of G.o.d has been begotten of the will of G.o.d: in it he has his life. To do the Father"s will is the meat, the strength, the mark, of every son of G.o.d.
It is nothing less than the surrender to such a life of simple and entire obedience that is implied in becoming a Christian. There are, alas! too many Christians who, from the want either of proper instruction, or of proper attention to the teaching of G.o.d"s word, have never realized the place of supreme importance that obedience takes in the Christian life. They know not that Christ, and redemption, and faith all lead to it, because through it alone is the way to the fellowship of the Love, and the Likeness, and the Glory of G.o.d. We have all, possibly, suffered from it ourselves: in our prayers and efforts after the perfect peace and the rest of faith, after the abiding joy and the increasing power of the Christian life, there has been a secret something hindering the blessing, or causing the speedy loss of what had been apprehended. A wrong impression as to the absolute necessity of obedience was probably the cause. It cannot too earnestly be insisted on that the freeness and mighty power of grace has this for its object from our conversion onwards, the restoring us to the active obedience and harmony with G.o.d"s will from which we had fallen through the first sin in Paradise.
Obedience leads to G.o.d and His Holiness. It is in obedience that the will is moulded, and the character fashioned, and an inner man built up which G.o.d can clothe and adorn with the beauty of holiness.
When a Christian discovers that this has been the missing link, the cause of failure and darkness, there is nothing for it but, in a grand act of surrender, deliberately to choose obedience, universal, whole-hearted obedience, as the law of his life in the power of the Holy Spirit. Let him not fear to make his own the words of Israel at Sinai, in answer to the message of G.o.d we are considering: "All that the Lord hath spoken, _we will do_;" "All that the Lord hath said _will we do_, and be obedient." What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, G.o.d hath done by the gift of His Son and Spirit. The law-giving of Sinai on tables of stone has been succeeded by the law-giving of the Spirit on the table of the heart: the Holy Spirit is the power of obedience, and is so the Spirit of Holiness, who, in obedience, prepares our hearts for being the dwelling of the Holy One.
Let us in this faith yield ourselves to a life of obedience: it is the New Testament path to the realization of the promise: "If ye will _obey_ my voice indeed, ye shall be unto me an _holy_ nation."
We have already seen how holiness in its very nature supposes the personal relation to G.o.d, His personal presence. "I have brought you _unto myself_; if ye obey, ye shall be _unto me_ an holy nation." It is as we understand and hold fast this personal element that obedience will become possible, and will lead to holiness. Mark well G.o.d"s words: "If ye will obey my _voice_, and keep my covenant." The voice is more than a law or a book; it always implies a living person and intercourse with him. It is this that is the secret of gospel obedience: hearing the voice and following the lead of Jesus as a personal friend, a living Saviour. It is being led by the Spirit of G.o.d, having Him to reveal the Presence, and the Will, and the Love of the Father, that will work in us that personal relation which the New Testament means when it speaks of doing everything unto the Lord, as pleasing G.o.d.
Such obedience is the pathway of holiness. Its every act is a link to the living G.o.d, a surrender of the being for G.o.d"s will, for G.o.d Himself to take possession. In the process of a.s.similation, slow but sure, by which the will of G.o.d, as the meat of our souls, is taken up into our inmost being, our spiritual nature is strengthened, is spiritualized, growing up into an holy temple in which G.o.d can reveal Himself and take up His abode.
Let every believer study to realize this. When G.o.d sanctified the seventh day as His period of making holy, He taught us that He could not do it at once. The revelation and communication of holiness must be gradual, as man is prepared to receive it. G.o.d"s sanctifying work with each of us, as with the race, needs time. The time it needs and seeks is the life of daily, hourly obedience. All that is spent in self-will, and not in the living relation to the Lord, is lost. But when the heart seeks day by day to hearken to the voice and to obey it, the Holy One Himself watches over His words to fulfil them: "Ye shall be unto me an holy nation." In a way of which the soul beforehand can have but little conception, G.o.d will overshadow and make His abode in the obedient heart. The habit of always listening for the voice and obeying it will only be the building of the temple: the Living G.o.d Himself, the Holy One, will come to take up His abode. The glory of the Lord will fill the house, and the promise be made true, "I will sanctify it by my glory."
"I brought you _unto myself_; if ye will obey _my voice_ in deed, ye shall be _unto me_ an holy nation." Seekers after holiness! G.o.d has brought you to Himself. And now His voice speaks to you all the thoughts of His heart, that as you take them in, and make them your own, and make His will your own by living and doing it, you may enter into the most complete union with Himself, the union of will as well as of life, and so become a holy people unto Him. Let obedience, the listening to and the doing the will of G.o.d, be the joy and the glory of your life; it will give you access unto the Holiness of G.o.d.
BE HOLY, AS I AM HOLY.
O my G.o.d! Thou hast redeemed me for Thyself, that Thou mightest have me wholly as Thine own, possessing, filling my inmost being with Thy own likeness, Thy perfect will, and the glory of Thy Holiness. And Thou seekest to train me, in the power of a free and loving will, to take Thy will and make it my own, that in the very centre of my being I may have Thine own perfection dwelling in me. And in Thy words Thou revealest Thy will, that as I accept and keep them I may master their Divine contents, and will all that Thou willest.
O my G.o.d! let me live day by day in such fellowship with Thee, that I may indeed in everything hear Thy voice, the living voice of the living G.o.d speaking to me. Let the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Thy Holiness, be to me Thy voice guiding me in the path of simple, childlike obedience. I do bless Thee that I have seen that Christ, in whom I am holy, was the obedient one, that in obedience He sanctified Himself to become my sanctification, and that abiding in Him, Thy obedient, holy Child, is abiding in Thy will as once done by Him, and now to be done by me. O my G.o.d! I will indeed obey Thy will: make Thou me one of Thy holy nation, a peculiar treasure above all people. Amen.
1. "He became obedient unto death." "Though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered." "I come to do Thy will." "In which will we are sanctified." Christ"s example teaches us that obedience is the only path to the Holiness or the glory of G.o.d. Be this your consecration: a surrender in everything to seek and do the will of G.o.d.
2. We are "holy in Christ"--in this Christ who did the will of G.o.d and was obedient to the death. In Him it is we are; in Him we are holy. His obedience is the soil in which we are planted, and must be rooted. "It is my meat to do His will;" obedience was the sustenance of His life; in doing G.o.d"s will He drew down Divine nourishment; it must be so with us too.
3. As you study what it is to be and abide in Christ, as you rejoice you are in Him, always remember it is Christ who obeyed in whom G.o.d has planted you.
4. If ever you feel perplexed about holiness, just yield yourself again to do G.o.d"s will, and go and do it. It is ours to obey, it is G.o.d"s to sanctify.
5. _Holy in Christ._ Christ sanctified Himself by obedience, by doing the will of G.o.d, and in that will, as done by Him, we have been sanctified. In accepting that will as done by Him, in accepting Him, _I am holy_. In accepting that will of G.o.d, as to be done by me, _I become holy_. I am in Him; in every act of living obedience, I enter into living fellowship with Him, and draw the power of His life into mine.
6. Obedience depends upon hearing the voice. Do not imagine you know the will of G.o.d. Pray and wait for the inward teaching of the Spirit.
Eighth Day.
HOLY IN CHRIST.
Holiness and Indwelling.
"And let them make me _a holy place_, that I may _dwell_ among them."--Ex. xxv. 8.
"And the tent shall be _sanctified_ by my glory, and I will _dwell_ among the children of Israel, and will be their G.o.d."--Ex.
xxix. 43, 45.
The Presence of G.o.d makes holy, even when it descends but for a little while, as at h.o.r.eb, in the burning bush. How much more must that Presence make holy the place where it dwells, where it fixes its permanent abode! So much is this the case, that the place where G.o.d dwells came to be called _the_ holy place, "the holy place of the habitation of the Most High." All around where G.o.d dwelt was holy: the holy city, the mountain of G.o.d"s Holiness, His holy house, till we come within the veil, to the most holy place, the holy of holies. It is as _the indwelling G.o.d_ that He sanctifies His house, that He reveals Himself as the Holy One in Israel, that He makes us holy too.
Because G.o.d is holy, _the house_ in which He dwells is holy too. This is the only attribute of G.o.d which He can communicate to His house; but this one He can and does communicate. Among men there is a very close link between the character of a house and its occupants. When there is no obstacle to prevent it, the house unintentionally reflects the master"s likeness. Holiness expresses not so much an attribute as the very being of G.o.d in His infinite perfection, and His house testifies to this one truth, that He is holy, that where He dwells He must have holiness, that His indwelling makes holy. In His first command to His people to build Him a holy place, G.o.d distinctly said that it was that He might dwell among them: the dwelling in the house was to be the shadowing forth of His dwelling in the midst of His people. The house with its holiness thus leads us on to the holiness of His dwelling among His redeemed ones.
The holy place, the habitation of G.o.d"s Holiness, was the centre of all G.o.d"s work in making _Israel_ holy. Everything connected with it was holy. The altar, the priests, the sacrifices, the oil, the bread, the vessels, all were holy, because they belonged to G.o.d. From the house there issued the twofold voice--G.o.d"s call to be holy, G.o.d"s promise to make holy. G.o.d"s claim was manifested in the demand for cleansing, for atonement, for holiness, in all who were to draw near, whether as priests or worshippers. And G.o.d"s promise shone forth from His house in the provision for making holy, in the sanctifying power of the altar, of the blood and the oil. The house embodied the two sides that are united in holiness, the repelling and the attracting, the condemning and the saving. Now by keeping the people at a distance, then by inviting and bringing them nigh, G.o.d"s house was the great symbol of His own Holiness. He had come nigh even to dwell among them; and yet they might not come nigh, they might never enter the secret place of His presence.
All these things are written on our behalf. It is as the Indwelling One that G.o.d is the sanctifier of _His people_ still: the Indwelling Presence alone makes us holy. This comes out with special clearness if we note how, the nearer the Presence was, the greater the degree of holiness. Because G.o.d dwelt among them, the camp was holy: all uncleanness was to be removed from it. But the holiness of the court of the tabernacle was greater: uncleanness which did not exclude from the camp would not be tolerated there. Then the holy place was still holier, because still nearer G.o.d. And the inner sanctuary, where the Presence dwelt on the mercy-seat, was the Holiest of All, was most holy. The principle still holds good: holiness is measured by nearness to G.o.d; the more of His Presence, the more of true holiness; perfect indwelling will be perfect holiness. There is none holy but the Lord; there is no holiness but in Him. He cannot part with somewhat of His holiness, and give it to us apart from Himself; we have only so much of holiness as we have of G.o.d Himself. And to have Himself truly and fully, we must have Him as the Indwelling One. And His indwelling in a house or locality, without life or spirit, is only a faint shadow of the true indwelling as the Living One, when He enters into and penetrates our very being, and fills us, our very selves, with His own life.
There is no union so intimate, so real, so perfect, as that of an indwelling life. Think of the life that circulates through a large and fruitful tree. How it penetrates and fills every portion; how inseparably it unites the whole as long as it really is to exist!--in wood and leaf, in flower and fruit, everywhere the indwelling life flows and fills. This life is the life of nature, the life of the Spirit of G.o.d which dwells in nature. It is the same life that animates our bodies, the spirit of nature pervading every portion of them with the power of sensibility and action.
Not less intimate, yea rather, far more wonderful and real, is the indwelling of the Spirit of the New Life, through whom G.o.d dwells in the heart of the believer. And it is as this indwelling becomes a matter of conscious longing and faith, that the soul obeys the command, "Let them make me a holy place, that I may dwell among them," and experiences the truth of the promise, "The tent shall be sanctified by my glory, and I will dwell among the children of Israel."
It was as the Indwelling One that G.o.d revealed Himself in the Son, whom He sanctified and sent into the world. More than once our Lord insisted upon it, "Believe me, that I am in the Father and _the Father in me_; the Father _abiding in me_ doeth the works." It is specially as the temple of G.o.d that believers are more than once called holy in the New Testament: "The temple of G.o.d is _holy_, which temple ye are." "Your body is a temple of the _Holy_ Spirit." "All the building groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord." It is--we shall later on learn to understand this better--just because it is through the Spirit that the heart is prepared for the indwelling, and the indwelling effected and maintained, that the Spirit so peculiarly takes the attribute of Holy.
The Indwelling Spirit is the Holy Spirit. The measure of His indwelling, or rather of His revealing the Indwelling Christ, is the measure of holiness.
We have seen what the various degrees of nearness to G.o.d"s Presence in Israel were. They are still to be found. You have Christians who dwell in the camp, but know little of drawing nigh to the Holy One. Then you have outer court Christians: they long for pardon and peace, they come ever again to the altar of atonement; but they know little of true nearness or holiness; of their privilege as priests to enter the holy place. Others there are who have learnt that this is their calling, and long to draw near, and yet hardly understand the boldness they have to enter into the Holiest of all, and to dwell there. Blessed they to whom this, the secret of the Lord, has been revealed. _They know_ what the rent veil means, and the access into the immediate Presence. The veil hath been taken away from their hearts: they have found the secret of true holiness in the Indwelling of the Holy One, the G.o.d who is holy and makes holy.
Believer! the G.o.d who calls you to holiness is the G.o.d of the Indwelling Life. The tabernacle typifies it, the Son reveals it, the Spirit communicates it, the eternal glory will fully manifest it. And you may experience it. It is your calling as a believer to be G.o.d"s Holy Temple.
Oh, do but yield yourself to His full indwelling! seek not holiness in the first place in what you are or do; seek it in G.o.d. Seek it not even as a gift from G.o.d, seek it in G.o.d Himself, in His indwelling Presence.