If the first fruit is holy, so is the lump; and if the root is holy, so are the branches." -Rom. 11:16.
How wonderful and blessed is the divine appointment of the first day of the week as a holy day of rest. Not, (as some think), that we might have at least one day of rest and spiritual refreshment amid the weariness of life, but that that one holy day, at the opening of the week, might sanctify the whole, might help and fit us to carry G.o.d"s holy presence into all the week and its work. With the first-fruit holy, the whole lump is holy; with the root holy, all the branches are holy too.
How gracious, too, the provision suggested by so many types and examples of the Old Testament, by which a morning hour at the opening of the day can enable us to secure a blessing for all its work, and give us the a.s.surance of
POWER FOR VICTORY.
over every temptation. How unspeakably gracious, that in the morning hour the bond that unites us with G.o.d can be so firmly tied that during hours when we have to move amid the rush of men or duties, and can scarce think of G.o.d, the soul can be kept safe and pure; that the soul can so give itself away, in the time of secret worship, into His keeping, that temptation shall only help us to unite it closer with Him. What cause for praise and joy, that the morning watch can so each day renew and strengthen the surrender to Jesus and the faith in Him, that the life of obedience can not only be maintained in fresh vigor, but can indeed go on from strength to strength.
I would fain point out how intimate and vital the connection between obedience and the morning watch is. The desire for a life of entire obedience will give new meaning and value to the morning watch, even as this again can alone give the strength and courage needed for the former.
I. THE MOTIVE PRINCIPLE.
Think first of the motive principle that will make us love and faithfully keep the morning watch.
If we take it upon us simply as a duty, and a necessary part of our religious life, it will very soon become a burden. Or, if the chief thought be our own happiness and safety, that will not supply the power to make it truly attractive. There is only one thing will suffice-the desire for fellowship with G.o.d.
It is for that we were created in G.o.d"s likeness. It is that in which we hope to spend eternity. It is that alone can fit us for a true and blessed life, either here, or hereafter. To have more of G.o.d, to know Him better, to receive from Him the communication of His love and strength, to have our life filled with His,-it is for this He invites us to enter the inner chamber and shut the door.
It is in the closet, in the morning watch, that our spiritual life is both tested and strengthened. There is the battlefield where it is to be decided every day whether G.o.d is to have all, whether our life is to be absolute obedience. If we truly conquer there, getting rid of ourselves into the hands of our Almighty Lord, the victory during the day is sure. It is there, in the inner chamber, proof is to be given whether we really delight in G.o.d, and make it our aim to love Him with our whole heart.
Let this, then, be our first lesson: the presence of G.o.d is the chief thing, in our devotions. To meet G.o.d, to give ourselves into His holy will, to know that we are pleasing to Him, to have Him give us our orders, and lay His hand upon us, and bless us, and say to us, Go in this thy strength" -it is when the soul learns that this is what is to be found in the morning watch, day by day, that we shall learn to long for it and delight in it.
II. READING THE BIBLE.
Let us next speak of the reading of G.o.d"s Word, as part of what occupies us there. With regard to this I have more than one thing I wish to say.
1. One is that unless we beware, the Word, which is meant to point us away to G.o.d, may actually intervene and hide Him from us.
The mind may be occupied and interested and delighted at what it finds, and yet, because this is more head knowledge than anything else, it may bring little good to us. If it does not lead us to wait on G.o.d, to glorify Him, to receive His grace and power for sweetening and sanctifying our lives, it becomes a hindrance instead of a help.
2. Another lesson that cannot be repeated too often, or pressed too urgently, is that it is only by the teaching of the Holy Ghost that we can get at the real meaning of what G.o.d means by His Word, and that the Word will really reach into our inner life, and work in us.
The Father in heaven, who gave us His Word from heaven, with its divine mysteries and message, has given us His Holy Spirit in us, to explain and internally appropriate that Word. The Father wants us each time to ask that He teach us by His Spirit. He wants us to bow in a meek, teachable frame of mind, and believe that the Spirit will, in the hidden depth of our heart, make His Word live and work. He wants us to remember that the Spirit is given us that we should be led by Him, should walk after Him, should have our whole life under His rule, and that therefore He cannot teach us in the morning unless we honestly give up ourselves to His leading. But if we do this and patiently wait on Him, not to get new thoughts but to get the power of the Word in our heart, we can count upon His teaching.
Let your closet be the cla.s.sroom, let your morning watch be the study hour, in which your relation of entire dependence on, and submission to, the Holy Spirit"s teaching is proved to G.o.d.
3. A third remark I want to make, in confirmation of what was said above, is this: ever study in G.o.d"s Word in the spirit of an unreserved surrender to obey.
You know how often Christ, and His apostles in their Epistles, speak of hearing and not doing. If you accustom yourself to study the Bible without an earnest and very definite purpose to obey, you are getting hardened in disobedience.
Never read G.o.d"s will concerning you without honestly giving up yourself to do it at once, and asking grace to do so. G.o.d has given us His Word, to tell us what He wants us to do and what grace He has provided to enable us to do it: how sad to think it a pious thing just to read that Word without any earnest effort to obey it! May G.o.d keep us from this terrible sin!
Let us make it a sacred habit to say to G.o.d, Lord, whatever I know to be Thy will, I will at once obey." Ever read with a heart yielded up in willing obedience.
4. One more remark. I have here spoken of such commands as we already know, and as are easily understood. But, remember, there are a great many commands to which your attention may never have been directed, or others of which the application is so wide and unceasing that you have not taken it in. Read G.o.d"s Word with a deep desire to know all His will. If there are things which appear difficult, commands which look too high, or for which you need a divine guidance to tell you how to carry them out,-and there are many such,-let them drive you to seek a divine teaching. It is not the text that is easiest and most encouraging that brings most blessing, but the text, whether easy or difficult, which throws you most upon G.o.d. G.o.d would have you filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding"; it is in the closet this wonderful work is to be done.
Do remember, it is only when you know that G.o.d is telling you to do a thing that you feel sure He gives the strength to do it. It is only as we are willing to know all G.o.d"s will that, He will from time to time reveal more of it to us, and that we, will be able to do it all.
What a power the morning watch may be in the life of one who makes a determined resolve to meet G.o.d there; to renew the surrender to absolute obedience; humbly and patiently to wait on the Holy Spirit to be taught all G.o.d"s will; and to receive the a.s.surance that every promise given him in the Word will infallibly be made true! He that thus prays for himself, will become a true intercessor for others.
III. PRAYER.
It is in the light of these thoughts I want now to say a few words on what prayer is to be in the morning watch.
1. First of all, see that you secure the presence of G.o.d.
Do not be content with anything less than seeing the face of G.o.d, having the a.s.surance that He is looking on you in love, and listening and working in you.
If our daily life is to be full of G.o.d, how much more the morning hour, where the life of the day alone can have G.o.d"s seal stamped upon it. In our religion we want nothing so much as MORE OF G.o.d-His love, His will, His holiness, His Spirit living in us, His power working in us for men. Under heaven there is no way of getting this but by close personal communion. And there is no time so good for securing and practicing it, as the morning watch.
The superficiality and feebleness of our religion and religious work all come from having so little real contact with G.o.d. If it be true that G.o.d alone is the fountain of all love and good and happiness, and that to have as much as possible of His presence and His fellowship, of His will and His service, is our truest and highest happiness, surely then to meet Himself alone in the morning watch ought to be OUR FIRST CARE.
To have had G.o.d appear to them, and speak to them, was with all the Old Testament saints the secret of their obedience and their strength. Do give G.o.d time in secret so to reveal Himself, that your soul may call the name of the place Peniel,-"for I have seen Him face to face."
2. My next thought is: let the renewal of your surrender to absolute obedience for that day be a chief part of your morning sacrifice.
Let any confession of sin be very definite-a plucking out and cutting off of everything that has been grieving to G.o.d. Let any prayer for grace for a holy walk be as definite-an asking and accepting in faith of the very grace and strength you are specially in need of. Let your outlook on the day you are entering on be a very determined resolve that obedience to G.o.d shall be ITS CONTROLLING PRINCIPLE.
Do understand that there is no surer way, rather, that there is no other possible way, of getting into G.o.d"s love and blessing in prayer, than by getting into His will. In prayer, give up yourself most absolutely to the blessed will of G.o.d: this will avail more than much asking. Beseech G.o.d to show you this great mercy, that He allows you, that He will enable you, to enter into His will, and abide there-that will make the knowing and doing His will in your life a blessed certainty. Let your prayer indeed be a morning sacrifice," a placing yourself as a whole burnt-offering on the altar of the Lord.
The measure of surrender to full obedience will be the measure of confidence toward G.o.d.
3. Then remember that true prayer and fellowship with G.o.d cannot be all from one side.
We need to be still, to wait and hear what response G.o.d gives. This is the office of the Holy Spirit, to be the voice of G.o.d to us. In the hidden depths of the heart, He can give a secret but most certain a.s.surance that we are heard, that we are well-pleasing, that the Father engages to do for us what we have asked. What we need, to hear the Voice, to receive this a.s.surance, is the quiet stillness that waits on G.o.d, the quiet faith that trusts in G.o.d, the quiet heart that bows in nothingness and humility before G.o.d, and allows Him to be all in all.
It is when G.o.d is waited on to take His part in our prayer that the confidence will come to us that we receive what we ask, that our surrender of ourselves in the sacrifice of obedience is accepted, and that therefore we can count upon the Holy Spirit to guide us into all the will of G.o.d, as He means us to know and do it.
What glory would come to us in the morning watch, and through it into our daily life, if it were thus made an hour spent with the Triune G.o.d, for the Father, through the Son and the Spirit, to take conscious possession of us for the day. How little need there then would be to urge and plead with G.o.d"s children to watch the morning watch!
4. And now comes the last and the best of all. Let your prayer be intercessional, on behalf of others.
In the obedience of our Lord Jesus, as in all His fellowship with the Father, the essential element was-it was all for others. This Spirit flows through every member of the body; the more we know it, and yield to it, the more will our life be what G.o.d would make it. The highest form of prayer is intercession. The chief object for which G.o.d chose Abraham and Israel and us was to make us a blessing to the world. We are a royal priesthood-a priestly people. As long as prayer is only a means of personal improvement and happiness, we cannot know its full power. Let intercession be a real longing for the souls of those around us, a real bearing of the burden of their sin and need, a real pleading for the extension of G.o.d"s kingdom, real labor in prayer for definite purposes to be realized-let such intercession be what the morning watch is consecrated to, and see what new interest and attraction it will have.
Intercession! Oh to realize what it means! To take the name, and the righteousness, and the worthiness of Christ, to put them on, and in them to appear before G.o.d! In Christ"s stead," now that He is no longer in the world, to beseech G.o.d, by name, for the individual men and needs, where His grace can do its work! In the faith of our own acceptance, and of the anointing with the Spirit to fit us for the work, to know that our prayer can avail to save a soul from death," can bring down and dispense the blessing of heaven upon earth! To think that in the hour of the morning watch this work can be renewed and carried on day by day, each inner chamber maintaining its own separate communication with heaven, and helping together in bringing down its share of the blessing.
It is in intercession, more than in the zeal that works in its own strength with little prayer, that the highest type of piety, the true Christlikeness is cultivated. It is in intercession that a believer rises to his true n.o.bility in the power of imparting life and blessing.
It is to intercession we must look for any large increase of the power of G.o.d in the Church and its work for men.
One word in conclusion. Turn back and think now again about THE INTIMATE AND VITAL CONNECTION between obedience and the morning watch.
Without obedience there cannot be the spiritual power to enter into the knowledge of G.o.d"s Word and will. Without obedience there cannot be the confidence, the boldness, the liberty that knows that it is heard.
Obedience is fellowship with G.o.d in His will; without it there is not the capacity for seeing and claiming and holding the blessings He has for us.
And so, on the other side, without very definite living communion with G.o.d in the morning watch, the life of obedience cannot possibly be maintained. It is there that the vow of obedience can every morning be renewed in power and confirmed from above. It is there that the presence and fellowship can be secured which make obedience possible.
It is there that in the obedience of the One, and in the union with Himself, the strength is received for all that G.o.d can ask. It is there that the spiritual understanding of G.o.d"s will is received, which leads to walk worthy of the Lord to all well-pleasing.
G.o.d has called His children to live a wonderful, heavenly, altogether supernatural life. Let the morning watch each day be to you as THE OPEN GATE OF HEAVEN, through which its light and power streams in on your waiting heart, and from which you go out to walk with G.o.d all the day. [1]
[1] [See note, p. x.x.x]
V. THE ENTRANCE TO THE LIFE OF FULL OBEDIENCE.
Obedient unto death." -Phil. 2:8.
After all that has been said on the life of obedience, I purpose speaking in this address of the entrance on that life.
You might think it a mistake to take this text, in which you have obedience in its very highest perfection, as our subject in speaking of the entrance on the course. But it is no mistake. The secret of success in a race is to have the goal clearly defined, and aimed at from the very outset.
He became obedient unto death." There is no other Christ for any of us, no other obedience that pleases G.o.d, no other example for us to copy, no other Teacher from whom to learn to obey. Christians suffer inconceivably because they do not at once and heartily accept this as the only obedience they are to aim at. The youngest Christian will find it a strength in the school of Christ to make nothing less from the commencement his prayer and his vow: Obedient unto Death. It is at once the beauty and the glory of Christ. A share in it is the highest blessing He has to give. The desire for and the surrender to it is possible to the youngest believer.
If you want to be reminded of what it means, think of the story in ancient history. A proud king, with a great army following him, demands the submission of the king of a small but brave nation. When the amba.s.sadors have delivered their message, he calls one of his soldiers to stab himself. At once he does it. A second is called; he too obeys at once. A third is summoned; he too is obedient to death.
Go and tell your master that I have three thousand such men; let him come."
The king dared count upon men who held their life not dear to them when the king"s word called for it.
It is such obedience G.o.d wants. It is such obedience Christ gave. It is such obedience He teaches. Be it such obedience and nothing less we seek to learn. From the very outset of the Christian life let this be our aim, that we may avoid the fatal mistake of calling Christ Master and yet not doing what He says.
Let all who by these addresses have in any degree been convicted of the sin of disobedience, listen as we study from G.o.d"s Word the way to escape from that and gain access to the life Christ can give-the entrance to the life of full obedience.
I. THE CONFESSION AND CLEANSING OF THE DISOBEDIENCE.
It is easy to see that this must be the first step. In Jeremiah, the prophet who more than any other speaks of the disobedience of G.o.d"s people, G.o.d says, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; for I am merciful.
Only acknowledge thine iniquity that you have not obeyed My voice, saith the Lord G.o.d. Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord."
As little as there can be pardon at conversion without confession can there be, after conversion, deliverance from the overcoming power of sin and the disobedience it brings, without a new and deeper conviction and confession.
The thought of our disobedience must not be a vague generality. The special things in which we actually disobey must be definitely found out, and in confession given up and placed in the hands of Christ, and by Him cleansed away. Then only can there be the hope of entering into the way of true obedience.
Let us search our life by the light of the teaching of our Lord.
1. Christ appealed to the law.
He was not come to destroy the law, but to secure its fulfillment. To the young ruler, He said, Thou knowest the commandments." Let the law be our first test.
Let us take a single sin-such as that of lying. I had a note from a young lady once saying that she wished to obey fully, and that she felt urged to confess an untruth she had told me. It was not a matter of importance, and yet she rightly judged that the confession would help her to cast it from her.
How much there is in ordinary society, how much in school life, too, that will not stand the test of strict truthfulness!
And so, there are other commandments, up to the very last, with its condemnation of all coveting and l.u.s.ting after what is not ours, in which too frequently the Christian gives way to disobedience.
All this must come to a complete end. We must confess it, and in G.o.d"s strength put it away forever, if there is to be any thought of our entering a life of full obedience.
2. Christ revealed the new law of love.
To be merciful as the Father in heaven, to forgive just as He does, to love enemies and to do good to them that hate us, and to live lives of self-sacrifice and beneficence,-this was the religion Jesus taught on earth.
Let us look upon an unforgiving spirit when we are provoked or illused, upon unloving thoughts and sharp or unkind words, upon the neglect of the call to show mercy and do good and bless, all as so much disobedience, which must be felt and mourned over and plucked out like a right eye, ere the power of a full obedience can be ours.
3. Christ spoke much of self-denial.
Self is the root of all lack of love and obedience. Our Lord called His disciple to deny himself and to take up his cross; to forsake all, to hate and lose his own life, to humble himself and become the servant of all. He did so, because self, self-will, self-pleasing, self-seeking, is simply the source of all sin.
When we indulge the flesh in such a simple thing as eating and drinking; when we gratify self by seeking or accepting or rejoicing in what indulges our pride; when self-will is allowed to a.s.sert itself, and we make provision for the fulfillment of its desire, we are guilty of disobedience to His command. This gradually clouds the soul and makes the full enjoyment of His light and peace an impossibility, 4. Christ claimed for G.o.d the love of the heart.
For Himself He equally claimed the sacrifice of all to come and follow Him. The Christian who has not definitely at heart made this his aim, who has not determined to seek for grace so to live, is guilty of disobedience. There may be much in his religion that appears good and earnest, but he cannot possibly have the joyful consciousness of knowing that he is doing the will of his Lord, and keeping His commandments.
When the call is heard to come and now begin anew a true life of obedience, there are many who feel the desire to do so, and try quietly to slip into it. They think that by more prayer and Bible study they will grow into it-it will gradually come. They are greatly mistaken.
The word G.o.d uses in Jeremiah might teach them their mistake: Turn, ye backsliding children, turn to Me."
A soul that is in full earnest and has taken the vow of full obedience may grow out of a feeble obedience into a fuller one. But there is no growing out of disobedience into obedience. A turning back, a turning away, a decision, a crisis, is needed. And that only comes by the very definite insight into what has been wrong, and its confession with shame and penitence. Then alone will the soul seek for that divine and mighty cleansing from all its filthiness which prepares for the consciousness of the gift of the new heart, and G.o.d"s Spirit in it causing us to walk in His statutes.
If you would hope to lead a different life, to become a man or a woman of a Christlike obedience unto death, do begin by beseeching G.o.d for the Holy Spirit of conviction, to show you all your disobedience and to lead you in humble confession to the cleansing G.o.d has provided. Rest not till you have received it.
II. FAITH THAT OBEDIENCE IS POSSIBLE.
This is the second step. To take that step we must try and understand clearly what obedience is.
1. To this end we must attend carefully to the difference between voluntary and involuntary sin. It is with the former alone that obedience deals.
We know that the new heart which G.o.d gives His child is placed in the midst of the flesh with its sinfulness. Out of this there often arises, even in one who is walking in true obedience, evil suggestions of pride, unlovingness, impurity, over which he has no direct control.
They are in their nature utterly sinful and vile; but they are not imputed to a man as acts of transgression. They are not acts of disobedience, which he can break off and cast out, as he can the disobedience of which we have spoken. The deliverance from them comes in another way, not through the will of the regenerate man, by which obedience always comes, but through the cleansing power of the blood and the indwelling Christ. As the sinful nature rises, all he can do is to abhor it and trust in the blood that at once cleanses him and keeps him clean.
IT IS OF GREAT CONSEQUENCE.
to note the distinction. It keeps the Christian from thinking obedience impossible. It encourages him to seek and offer his obedience in the sphere where it can avail. And it is just in proportion as in its own sphere the power of the will for obedience is maintained, that the power of the Spirit can be trusted and obtained to do the cleansing work in what is beyond the reach of the will.
2. When this difficulty has been removed, there is often a second one arises, to make us doubt whether obedience be indeed possible.
Men connect it with the idea of absolute perfection. They put together all the commands of the Bible; they think of all the graces these commands point to, in their highest possible measure; and they think of a man with all those graces, every moment in their full perfection, as an obedient man. How different is the demand of the Father in heaven!
He takes account of the different powers and attainments of each child of His. He asks of him only the obedience of each day, or rather, each hour at a time. He sees whether I have indeed chosen and given myself up to the whole-hearted performance of every known command. He sees whether I am really longing and learning to know and do all His will.