Christian's Secret of a Happy Life - Chapter 15

Chapter 15

PRACTICAL RESULTS IN THE DAILY WALK AND CONVERSATION

If all that has been said concerning the life hid with Christ in God be true,its results in the practical daily walk and conversation ought to be verymarked, and the people who have entered into the enjoyment of it ought to be,in very truth, a "peculiar people, zealous of good works."

     My son at college once wrote to a friend tothis effect: that Christians are God's witnesses necessarily, because the worldwill not read the Bible, but they will read our lives; and that upon the reportthese give will very much depend their belief in the Divine nature of thereligion we profess. As we all know, this is an age of facts, and inquiries arebeing increasingly turned from theories to realities. If our religion is tomake any headway now, it must be proved to be more than a theory, and we mustpresent, to the investigation of the critical minds of our age, the grand factsof lives which have been actually and manifestly transformed by the mightypower of God working in us all the good pleasure of His will. Give us "forms oflife," say the scientists, and we will be convinced. And when the Church isable to present to them in all its members, the form of a holy life, their laststronghold will be conquered.

     I desire, therefore, before closing my book, tospeak very solemnly of what I conceive to be the necessary fruits of a life offaith, such as I have been describing, and to press home to the hearts of everyone of my readers their responsibility to walk worthy of the high callingwherewith they have been called.

     And I would speak to some of you, at least, aspersonal friends, for I feel sure we have not gone this far together throughthis book without there having grown in your hearts, as there has in mine, atender personal interest and longing for one another, that we may in everythingshow forth the praises of Him who has called us out of darkness into Hismarvellous light. As a friend, then, to friends, I am sure I may speak veryplainly, and will be pardoned if I go into some particulars of life andcharacter which are vital to all true Christian development.

     The standard of practical holy living has been solow among Christians that any good degree of real devotedness of life and walkis looked upon with surprise, and even often with disapprobation, by a largeportion of the Church. And, for the most part, the professed followers of theLord Jesus Christ are so little like Him in character or in action, that to anoutside observer there would not seem to be much harmony between them.

     But we, who have heard the call of our God to alife of entire consecration and perfect trust, must do differently from allthis. We must come out from the world and be separate, and must not beconformed to it in our characters nor in our purposes. We must no longer sharein its spirit or its ways. Our conversation must be in Heaven, and we must seekthose things that are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Wemust walk through the world as Christ walked. We must have the mind that was inHim. As pilgrims and strangers we must abstain from fleshly lusts that waragainst the soul. As good soldiers of Jesus Christ, we must disentangleourselves from the affairs of this life as far as possible, that we may pleaseHim who hath chosen us to be soldiers. We must abstain from all appearance ofevil. We must be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,even as God, for Christ's sake, hath forgiven us. We must not resent injuriesor unkindness, but must return good for evil, and turn the other cheek to thehand that smites us. We must take always the lowest place among our fellowmen;and seek not our own honor, but the honor of others. We must be gentle, andmeek, and yielding; not standing up for our own rights, but for the rights ofothers. All that we do must be done for the glory of God. And, to sum it allup, since He which hath called us is holy, so we must be holy in a manner ofconversation; because it is written, "Be ye holy, for I am holy."

     Now, dear friends, this is all exceedinglypractical and means, surely, a life very different from the lives of mostprofessors around us. It means that we do really and absolutely turn our backson self, and on self's motives and self's aims. It means that we are a peculiarpeople, not only in the eyes of God, but in the eyes of the world around us;and that, wherever we go, it will be known from our Christlike lives andconversation that we are followers of the Lord Jesus Christ; and are not of theworld, even as He was not of the world. We shall no longer feel that our moneyis our own, but the Lord's, to be used in His service. We shall not feel atliberty to use our energies exclusively in the pursuit of worldly means, but,seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, shall have all needfulthings added unto us. We shall find ourselves forbidden to seek the highestplaces, or to strain after worldly advantages. We shall not be permitted to beconformed to the world in our ways of thinking or of living. We shall feel nodesire to indulge in the world's frivolous pursuits. We shall find ouraffections set upon heavenly things, rather than upon earthly things. Our dayswill be spent not in serving ourselves, but in serving our Lord; and all ourrightful duties will be more perfectly performed than ever, because whatever wedo will be done "not with eye-service as men-pleasers, but as the servants ofChrist, doing the will of God from the heart."

     Into all these things we shall undoubtedly be ledby the blessed Spirit of God, if we give ourselves up to His guidance. Butunless we have the right standard of Christian life set before us, we shall behindered by our ignorance from recognizing His voice; and it is for this reasonI desire to be very plain and definite in my statements.

     I have noticed that wherever there has been afaithful following of the Lord in a consecrated soul, several things haveinevitably followed, sooner or later.

     Meekness and quietness of spirit become in timethe characteristics of the daily life; a submissive acceptance of the will ofGod, as it comes in the hourly events of each day; pliability in the hands ofGod to do or to suffer all the good pleasure of His will; sweetness underprovocation; calmness in the midst of turmoil and bustle; yieldingness to thewishes of others, and an insensibility to slights and affronts, absence ofworry or anxiety; deliverance from care and fear: all these, and many othersimilar graces are invariably found to be the natural outward development ofthat inward life which is hid with Christ in God. Then as to the habits oflife: we always see such Christians sooner or later giving themselves up tosome work for God and their fellowmen, willing to spend and be spent in theMaster's service. They become indifferent to outward show in the furniture oftheir houses and the style of their living, and make all personal adornmentsecondary to the things of God. The voice is dedicated to God, to talk and singfor Him. The purse is placed at His disposal. The pen is dedicated to write forHim, the lips to speak for Him, the hands and the feet to do His bidding. Yearafter year such Christians are seen to grow more unworldly, moreheavenly-minded, more transformed, more like Christ, until even their veryfaces express so much of the beautiful inward Divine life, that all who look atthem cannot but take knowledge of them that they live with God, and are abidingin Him.

     I feel sure that to each one of you have come atleast some Divine intimations or foreshadowings of the life I here describe.Have you not begun to feel dimly conscious of the voice of God speaking to youin the depths of your soul about these things? Has it not been a pain and adistress to you of late to discover how much there is wrong in your life? Hasnot your soul been plunged into inward trouble and doubt about certaindispositions and ways, in which you have been formerly accustomed to indulge?Have you not begun to feel uneasy with some of your habits of life, and to wishthat you could do differently in these respects? Have not paths of devotednessand of service begun to open out before you, with the longing thought, "Oh,that I could walk in them"?

     All these longings and doubts, and this inwarddistress, are the voice of the Good Shepherd in your heart seeking to call youout of all that is contrary to His will. Oh! let me entreat of you not to turnaway from His gentle pleadings. You little know the secret paths into which Hemeans to lead you by these very steps, nor the wonderful stores of blessednessthat lie at their end, or you would spring forward with an eager joy to yieldto every one of His requirements. The heights of Christian perfection can onlybe reached by faithfully following the Guide who is to lead you there, and Hereveals your way to you one step at a time in the teachings and providences ofyour daily lives, asking only on your part that you yield yourselves up to Hisguidance. If, then, in anything you are convinced of sin, be sure that it isthe voice of your Lord, and surrender it at once to His bidding, rejoicing witha great joy that He has begun thus to lead and guide you. Be perfectly pliablein His wise hands, go where He entices you, turn away from all from which Hemakes you shrink, obey Him perfectly; and He will lead you out swiftly andeasily into a wonderful life of conformity to Himself, that will be a testimonyto all around you, beyond what you yourself will ever know.

     I knew a soul thus given up to follow the Lordwhithersoever He might lead her, who in three short months travelled from thedepths of darkness and despair into the realization and conscious experience ofthe most blessed union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of the midst of herdarkness, she consecrated herself to the Lord, surrendering her will upaltogether to Him, that He might work in her to will and to do of His own goodpleasure. Immediately He began to speak to her by His Spirit in her heart,suggesting to her some little acts of service for Him, and calling her out ofall un-Christlike dispositions and ways. She recognized His voice, and yieldedto Him each thing He asked for, following Him whithersoever He might lead her,with no fear but the one fear of disobeying Him. He led her rapidly on, day byday conforming her more and more to His will, and making her life such atestimony to those around her, that even some who had begun by opposing anddisbelieving, were forced to acknowledge that it was of God, and were won to asimilar surrender. And, finally, after three short months of this faithfulfollowing, it came to pass, so swiftly had she gone, that her Lord was able toreveal to her wondering soul some of the deepest secrets of His love, and tofulfil to her the marvellous promise of Acts 1:5, baptizing her with the HolyGhost. Think you she has ever regretted her wholehearted following of Him? Orthat aught but thankfulness and joy can ever fill her soul when she reviews thesteps by which her feet had been led to this place of wondrous blessedness,even though some of them may have seemed at the time hard to take? Ah! dearsoul, if thou wouldst know a like blessing, abandon thyself, like her, to theguidance of the Divine Master, and shrink from no surrender for which He maycall.

     Surely thou canst trust Him! And if somethings may be called for which look to thee of but little moment, and notworthy thy Lord's attention, remember that He sees not as man seeth, and thatthings small to thee may be in His eyes the key and the clue to the deepestsprings of thy being. In order to mould thee into entire conformity to Hiswill, He must have thee pliable in his hands, and this pliability is morequickly reached by yielding in the little things than even by the greater. Thyone great desire is to follow Him fully; canst thou not say then a continual"Yes, Lord!" to all His sweet commands, whether small or great, and trust Himto lead thee by the shortest road to thy fullest blessedness?

     My dear friend, this, and nothing less than this,is what thy consecration meant, whether thou knew it or not. It meantinevitable obedience. It meant that the will of thy God was henceforth to bethy will under all circumstances and at all times. It meant that from thatmoment thou surrendered thy liberty of choice, and gave thyself up utterly intothe control of thy Lord. It meant an hourly following of Him whithersoever Hemight lead thee, without any dream of turning back.

     And now I appeal to thee to make good thy word.Let everything else go, that thou mayest live out, in a practical daily walkand conversation, the Divine life thou hast dwelling within thee. Thou artunited to thy Lord by a wondrous tie; walk, then, as He walked, and show to theunbelieving world the blessed reality of His mighty power to save, by lettingHim save thee to the very uttermost. Thou needst not fear to consent to this,for He is thy Saviour; and His power is to do it all. He is not asking thee, inthy poor weakness, to do it thyself; He only asks thee to yield thyself to Him,that He may work in thee to will and to do by His own mighty power. Thy part isto yield thyself, His part is to work; and never, never will He give thee anycommand which is not accompanied by ample power to obey it. Take no thought forthe morrow in this matter; but abandon thyself with a generous trust to thyloving Lord, who has promised never to call His own sheep out into any path,without Himself going before them to make the way easy and safe. Take eachonward step as He makes it plain to thee. Bring all thy life in each of itsdetails to Him to regulate and guide. Follow gladly and quickly the sweetsuggestions of His Spirit in thy soul. And day by day thou wilt find Himbringing thee more and more into conformity with His will in all things;moulding thee and fashioning thee, as thou art able to bear it, into a vesselunto His honor, sanctified and meet for His use, and fitted to every good work.So shall be given to thee the sweet joy of being an epistle of Christ known andread of all men; and thy light shall shine so brightly that men seeing, notthee, but thy good works, shall glorify, not thee, but thy Father which is inHeaven.

     We are predestined to be "conformed to the image"of God's Son. This means, of course, not a likeness of bodily presence, but alikeness of character and nature. It means a similarity of thought, of feeling,of desire, of loves, of hates. It means, that we are to think and act,according to our measure, as Christ would have thought and acted under ourcircumstances.

     A little girl was once questioned what it meantto be a Christian. She replied, "It means to be just what Christ would be, ifHe was a little girl and lived in my house."

     The secret of Christ's life was the pouring outof Himself for others; and if we are like Him, this will be the secret of ourlives also. He saved others, but Himself He could not save. He "pleased notHimself," and therefore we are "not to please ourselves," but rather ourneighbor, when it is for his good.

     A thoughtful Hindoo religionist, who visitedEngland and America lately to examine into Christianity, said, as the result ofhis observations, "What Christians need is a little more of Christ'sChristianity, and a little less of man's."

     Man's Christianity teaches sacrifice to saveourselves; Christ's Christianity teaches sacrifice to save others. Man'sChristianity produces the fruitless selfishness of too much of our religion.Christ's Christianity produces the blessed unselfishness of lives that arepoured out for others, as was His.

     In short, then, the one practical outcome of allthat our book has been teaching us, is simply this, that we are to beChristlike Christians. And all our experiences amount to nothing if they do notproduce this result. For "not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shallenter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father whichis in heaven."