“Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day” Psalm 89:15,16.

“Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart” Psalm 97:11.

“I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” John 8:12.

“I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you” John 16:22.

“As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” 2 Corinthians 6:10.

A father will always be eager to see his children joyful. He does all that he can to make them happy. Likewise, God also desires that His children should walk before Him with a joyful heart. He has promised them joy–He will give it.1 He has commanded it–we must take it and walk in it at all times.2

The reason for this is not difficult to find. Joy is always the evidence that something really satisfies me and has great value for me. Joy, more than anything else, recommends its cause to others. And joy in God is the strongest proof that I have in God what satisfies and satiates me. It shows that I do not serve Him with dread, or remain faithful only because He is my salvation. Joy is the mark of the truth, the worth of obedience, and shows whether I have pleasure in the will of God.3 It is for this reason that joy in God is so acceptable to Him, so strengthening to believers themselves and to all who are exposed to the most eloquent testimony of what we think of God.4

In the Scriptures, light and joy are frequently connected with each other.5 It is so in nature. The joyful light of the morning awakens the birds to their song and gladdens the watchers who, in the darkness, have longed for the day. It is the light of God’s countenance that gives the Christian his joy. In fellowship with his Lord, he can, and always will, be happy. The love of the Father shines like the sun on His children.6 When darkness comes over the soul, it is always through one of two things–through sin or through unbelief. Sin is darkness and makes life dark. Unbelief also makes life dark, for it turns us from Him, who alone is the light.

The question is sometimes asked, “Can the Christian always walk in the light?” The answer of our Lord is clear, “He that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness.” It is sin, the turning from Jesus to our own way, that makes darkness. But at the moment we confess sin, and have it cleansed in the blood, we are again in the light.

Other times it is unbelief that causes darkness. When we look to ourselves and our strength, when we seek comfort in our own feelings, or our own works, then all becomes dark. As soon as we look to Jesus, to the fullness–the perfect provision for our needs that is in Him–all is light. He says, “I am the Light of the world: he that followeth Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.” So long as I believe, I have light and joy.8

Christians, who want to walk according to the will of the Lord, hear what His Word says, “Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. Rejoice in the Lord always: again, I will say, Rejoice.”9 In the Lord Jesus there is unspeakable joy–full of glory. Believing in Him, rejoice in this. Live the life of faith. That life is salvation and glorious joy. A heart that gives itself undividedly to follow Jesus, that lives by faith in Him and His love, will have light and joy. Therefore, soul, only believe. Do not seek joy–in that case you will not find it, because you are seeking feeling. But seek Jesus, follow Jesus, believe in Jesus, and joy will be given to you. “Ye see him not, yet believing, rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory” (I Peter 1:8).

Lord Jesus, You are the Light of the world, the radiance of the unapproachable light, in whom we see the light of God. From Your countenance radiates upon us the illumination of the knowledge of the love and glory of God. And You are ours, our light and our salvation. Teach us to believe more firmly that with You we can never walk in the darkness. Let joy in You be the proof that You are all to us and our strength to do all that You would have us do. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Ps. 89:16,17; Isa. 29:19; John 16:22; I Pet. 1:8

2) Ps. 32:11; Isa. 12:5,6; 1 Thess. 5:16; Phil. 4:4

3) Deut. 28:47; Ps. 11:9; 119:1l

4) Neh. 8:11; Ps. 68:4; Prov. 4:18

5) Esth. 8:16; Prov. 13:9; 15:30; Isa. 60:20

6) Ex. 10:23; 2 Sam. 23:4; Ps. 36:10; Isa. 60:1,20; 1 John 1:5; 4:16

7) Josh 7:13; Isa. 58:10; 59:1,2,9; Matt. 15:14,16; 2 Cor. 6:14; Eph. 5:8,14; I Thess. 5:5; 1 John 2:10

8) John 12:36; 11:40; Rom. 15:13; 1 Pet. 1:3

9) Phil. 3:1; 4:4

Notes

1. The joy that I have in anything is the measure of its worth in my eyes–the joy in a person is the measure of my pleasure in him; the joy in a work is the measure of my pleasure in it. Joy in God and His service is one of the surest signs of a healthy spiritual life.

2. Joy is hindered by ignorance, when we do not understand God and His love and the blessedness of His service. Joy is hindered by unbelief, when we still seek something in our own strength or feeling. Joy is also hindered by double-heartedness, when we are not willing to give up and lay aside everything for Jesus.

3. Understand this saying, “He that seeks gladness shall not find it; he that seeks the Lord and His will, shall find gladness unsought.” Think this over. He who seeks joy as a thing of feeling, seeks himself. He who wants happiness will not find it. He who forgets himself to live in the Lord and His will, will be taught of himself to rejoice in the Lord. It is God, God Himself, who is the God of the joy of our gladness. Seek God and you will have joy. You have then simply to take and enjoy it by faith.

4. To thank God much for what He is and does, to believe much in what God says and will do, is the way to continual joy.

5. “The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart” (Prove 15:30). God has not intended that His children should walk in the darkness. Satan is the prince of the darkness. God is light. Christ is the light of the world. We are children of the light, so let us walk in the light. Let us believe in the promise, “The Lord shall be to thee an everlasting light. Thy sun shall no more go down; for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended” (Isa. 60:19,20).

“Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest out of Thy law; that Thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity” Psalm 94:12,13.

“Before I was afflicted, I went astray; but now have I kept Thy word …. It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn Thy statutes” Psalm 119:67,71.

“He chastens us for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness” Hebrews 12:10.

“Count it all joy, my brethren, when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience” James 1:2,3.

Every child of God must at one time or another enter the school of trial. What the Scriptures teach us is confirmed by experience. And the Scriptures teach us further, that we are to count it a joy when God takes us into this school. It is a part of our heavenly blessedness to be educated and sanctified by the Father through chastisement.

Not that trial in itself brings a blessing.1 Just as there is no profit in watering or plowing seedless ground, so there are children of God who enter into trial and have little blessing from it. The heart is softened for a time, but they do not know how to obtain an abiding blessing from it. They do not know what the Father has in mind for them in the school of trial.

In a good school four things are necessary–a definite aim, a good textbook, a capable teacher, and a willing pupil.

1. Let the aim of any trial be clear to you. Holiness is the highest glory of the Father and also of the child. He “chastens us for our profit that we may be partakers of His holiness.”2 In trial, the Christian often wants to have only comfort. Or he seeks to be quiet and contented under the special chastisement. This is indeed the beginning–but the Father desires something else, something higher. He wants to make him holy–holy for his whole life. When Job said, “Blessed be the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21), this was still just the beginning of his school time. The Lord still had more to teach him. God desires to unite our will with His holy will, not only on the one point in which He is trying us, but in everything. God wants to fill us with His Holy Spirit–with His holiness. This is the aim of God. This must also be your aim in the school of trial.

2. Especially during this time of trial, let the Word of God be your reading book. Notice how God desires to teach us His Word in our trials and afflictions. The Word will reveal to you why the Father chastens you, how deeply He loves you in the midst of it, and how rich His promises of consolation are. Trial will give new glory to the promises of the Father. In chastisement, return to the Word for counsel.3

3. Let Jesus be your teacher. He Himself was sanctified by suffering. It was in suffering that He learned full obedience. He has a wonderfully sympathetic heart. Have much communion with Him. Do not seek your comfort from the words spoken to or with other men. Give Jesus the opportunity of teaching you. Speak and meditate often with Him in solitude.4 The Father has given you the Word, the Spirit, and the Lord Jesus as your sanctification, so that you may be set apart for Him. Affliction and chastisement are meant to bring you to the Word–to Jesus Himself–so that He may make you a partaker of His holiness. It is in fellowship with Jesus that consolation comes of itself.5

4. Be a willing pupil. Acknowledge your ignorance. Do not think that you understand the will of God. Ask and expect that the Lord will teach you the lesson that you are to learn in affliction. To the meek there is the promise of teaching and wisdom. Seek to have the ear open, the heart very quiet and turned toward God. Know that it is the Father who has placed you in the school of trial. Yield yourself with all willingness to hear what He says, and to learn what He would teach you. He will bless you greatly in this.

“Blessed is the man whom Thou chastenest, and teachest out of Thy law” (Psalm 94:12). “Count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations. . . . that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing” (James 1:2,4). Regard the time of trial as a time of blessing, as a time of close communication with the Father, of being made a partaker of His holiness, and you will also rejoicingly say, “It is good for me that I have been afflicted” (Psalm 119:71).

Father, what thanks I will express to You for the glorious light that Your Word casts upon the dark trials of this life. You will teach me by this means and make me a partaker of Your holiness. You have not considered the suffering and the death of Your beloved Son too much to bring holiness near to me. And I will be willing to endure Your chastisement to become a partaker of that holiness. Father, thanks be to You for Your precious work. Only fulfil Your counsel in me. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Isa. 5:3; Hos. 7:14,15; 2 Cor. 7:l0

2) 1sa. 27:8,9; 1 Cor. 11:32; Heb. 2:10; 12:11

3) Ps. 119:49,50,92,143; Isa. 40:1; 43:2; Heb. 12:10-13

4) Isa. 26:16; 61:1-2; Heb. 2:10,17,18; 5:9

5) 2 Cor. 1:3,4; Heb.13:5,6

6) Ps. 25:9; 39:2,10; Isa. 50:4,5

Notes

1. In chastisement it is first of all necessary that we should be possessed by the thought–this is the will of God. Although the trial comes through our own folly or the perversity of men, we must acknowledge that it is the will of God that we should be in that suffering by means of that folly or perversity. We see this clearly in Joseph and the Lord Jesus. Nothing will give us rest but the willing acknowledgement–this is the will of God.

2. The second thought is–God wills not only the trial, but also the consolation, the power, and the blessing in it. He who acknowledges the will of God in the chastisement itself is on the way to see and experience the accompaniments also as the will of God.

3. The will of God is as perfect as He Himself. Let us not be afraid to surrender ourselves to it. No one suffers loss by deeming the will of God unconditionally good.

4. This is holiness–to know and to adore the will of God, to unite one’s self wholly with it.

5. Do not seek comfort in trial in connection with men. Do not mingle too much with them. Rather, see to it that you deal with God and His Word. The object of trial is just to draw you away from what is earthly so that you may turn to God and give Him time to unite your will with His perfect will.

“Thou, when thou prayest, enter into thine inner chamber, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly” Matthew 6:6.

The spiritual life with its growth depends a great deal on prayer. My life will flourish or decay according to how much or how little I pray, if I pray with pleasure or from duty, and if I pray according to the Word or according to my own inclination. In the word of Jesus quoted above, we have the principal ideas of true prayer.

Alone with God–that is the first thought. The door must be shut, with the world and man outside, because I am to hold communion with God undisturbed. When God met with His servants in the olden time, He took them alone.1 Let the first thought in your prayer be–God and I are here in the chamber with each other. The power of your prayer will be in accordance with your conviction of the nearness of God.

In the presence of your Father–this is the second thought. You come to the inner chamber, because your Father with His love awaits you there. Although you are cold, dark, sinful–although it is doubtful whether you can pray at all-come because the Father is there, and He looks upon you. Set yourself beneath the light of His eye. Believe in His tender, fatherly love, and out of this faith prayer will be born.2

Count certainly upon an answer–that is the third point in the word of Jesus. “Your Father will reward you openly.” There is nothing which the Lord Jesus has spoken so positively about as the certainty of an answer to prayer. Review the promises.3 Observe how constantly in the Psalms–that prayerbook of God’s saints–God is called the God who hears prayer and gives answers.4

It may be that there is much in you that prevents the answer. Delay in the answer is a very blessed discipline. It leads to self-searching as to whether we are praying improperly, and whether our life is truly in harmony with our prayer. It leads to a purer exercise of faith.5 It draws us into a closer and more persistent relationship with God. The sure confidence of an answer is the secret of powerful praying. Let us always keep this as the chief thing in prayer. When you pray, stop in the midst of your prayer to ask, “Do I believe that I am receiving what I pray for?” Let your faith receive and hold firm the answer as given. It will turn out according to your faith.6

Beloved young Christians, if there is one thing about which you must be conscientious, it is this–secret conversation with God. Your life is hidden with Christ in God. Everyday you must, in prayer, ask from above and by faith receive what you need for that day. Every day personal communion with the Father and the Lord Jesus must be renewed and strengthened. God is our salvation and our strength. Christ is our life and our holiness. Only in personal fellowship with the living God is our blessedness found.

Christian, pray much, pray continually, pray without ceasing. When you have no desire to pray, go just then to the inner chamber. Go as one who has nothing to bring to the Father, to set yourself before Him in faith in His love. Coming in that manner to the Father, and abiding before Him, is already a prayer which He understands. Be assured that to appear before God, however passively, always brings a blessing. The Father not only hears–He sees in secret, and He will reward openly.

My Father, You have so certainly promised in Your Word to hear the prayer of faith–give me the Spirit of prayer so that I may know how to offer that

prayer. Graciously reveal to me Your wonderful, fatherly love. Make me aware of the complete blotting out of my sins in Christ, by which every hindrance in this direction is taken away. And reveal to me the intercession of the Spirit in me, by which my ignorance or weakness cannot deprive me of the blessing. Teach me with faith in You, the Trinity, to pray in fellowship with You. And confirm in me the strong, living certainty that I receive what I believingly ask. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Gen. 18:22,23; 22:5; 32:24; Ex. 33:11

2) Matt. 6:7,8; 7:11

3) Matt. 6:7,8; Mark 11:24; Luke 18:8; John 14:13,14; 15:7,16; 16:23,24

4) Ps. 3:4; 4:3; 6:9; 10:17; 17:6; 20:2,7; 34:5,7,17,18; 38:15; 40:1,2; 65:2; 66:19

5) Josh. 7:12; I Sam. 8:18; 14:37,38; 28:6,15; Prov. 21:13; Isa. 1:15; Mic.3:4; Hag. 1:9; Jas. 1:6; 4:3; 5:16

6) Ps. 145:9; Isa. 30:19; Jer. 33:3; Mal. 3:10; Matt. 9:29; 15:28; 1 John 3:22; 5:14,15

Notes

1. The principal thing in prayer is faith. The whole of salvation, the whole of the new life is by faith, therefore also by prayer. There is all too much prayer that brings nothing, because there is little faith in it. Before I pray, and while I pray, and after I have prayed, I must ask, “Do I pray in faith?” I must say, “I believe with my whole heart.”

2. To arrive at this faith we must take time in prayer. We must take the time to set ourselves silently and trustfully before God, and to become awake to His presence. We must take time to have our soul sanctified in fellowship with God. We must take time for the Holy Spirit to teach us to hold firm and to trustfully use the Word of promise. No earthly knowledge, no earthly possessions, no earthly food, no conversations with friends can we have without time–sufficient time. Let us not think to learn how to pray, how to enjoy the power and the blessedness of prayer, if we do not take time with God.

3. And then there must be not only time every day, but perseverance from day to day. Time is required to grow in the certainty that we are acceptable to the

Father, and that our prayer has power, in the loving confidence which knows that our prayer is according to His will and is heard. We must not suppose that we know how to pray well enough, and can but ask and it is over. No, prayer is conversation and fellowship with God, in which God has time and opportunity to work in us, in which our souls die to their own will and power and become bound up and united with God.

4. For encouragement in persistent prayer, the following instance may be of service. In an address delivered at Calcutta, George Muller said that in 1844 five persons were laid upon his heart, and that he began to pray for their conversion. Eighteen months passed by before the first was converted. He prayed five more years and the second was converted. After twelve and a half years, yet another was converted. At the time the address was given he had already prayed forty years for the other two, without letting a day go by, and they still were not converted. He was, nevertheless, full of courage in the sure confidence that these two would also be given him in answer to his prayer.

5. I have endeavoured in thirty-one meditations to explain the principal points of the life of prayer in the book, With Christ in the School of Prayer.

“Again I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree an earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of My Father which is in heaven. For where two or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them” Matthew 18:19,20.

The Lord Jesus has told us to go into the inner chamber and hold our personal conversation with God by praying privately–not to be seen by men. The very same voice tells us that we are also to pray in fellowship with one another.1 And when He went to heaven, the birth of the Christian Church took place in a prayer meeting which one hundred and twenty men and women held for ten days.2 The Day of Pentecost was the fruit of unanimous, persevering prayer.

Everyone desiring to please the Lord Jesus, longing for the gift of the Spirit–with power for their congregation or church–and wanting the blessing of fellowship with other children of God, should attach themselves to a prayer meeting and prove that the Lord will make good His Word, bestowing a special blessing upon it.3 And let them take part in it, so that the prayer meeting may be such as the Lord presented it to us.

For a blessed prayer meeting, there must be, first of all, agreement concerning that which we desire. There must be something that we really desire to have from God. We are to be in harmony concerning this. There must be inner love and unity among the petitioners–all that is strife, envy, wrath, lovelessness, makes prayer powerless4 –and then agreement on the definite object that is desired.5 To achieve this, it is entirely proper that what people are to pray for should be stated in the prayer meeting. Whether one of the members wants to have his particular needs brought forward, or whether others would bring more general needs to the Lord–such as the conversion of the unconverted, the revival of God’s children, the anointing of the teacher, the extension of the Kingdom–let the objects be announced beforehand. And let no one think that there is complete agreement whenever one is content to pray for these objects. No, we are all to take them into our heart and life, and to bring them continually before the Lord. We are to be inwardly eager that the Lord should give them. Then, we are on the way to the prayer which has power.

The second feature that characterises a proper prayer meeting is the coming together in the name of Jesus with awareness of His presence. The Scripture says, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10). The name is the expression of the person. When they come together, believers are to enter into the name of Jesus, and to find within this name their fortress and abode. In this name, they mingle with one another before the Father, and out of this name they pray. This name also makes them truly one with each other. And when they are thus in this name, the living Lord Himself is in their midst. He says that this is the reason why the Father certainly hears them.6 They are in Him, and He is in them. Out of Him they pray, and their prayer comes before the Father in His power. Let the name of Jesus truly be the point of union–the meeting-place–in our prayer meetings. Then we will be conscious that He is in our midst.

Then there is the third feature of united prayer of which the Lord has told us–our request will certainly be done by the Heavenly Father. The prayer will certainly be answered. We may well cry out in these days, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” (2 Kings 2:14), for He was a God that answered. “The God that answereth by fire, let Him be God,” said Elijah to the people (1 Kings 18:24). And he said to God, “Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that Thou art the Lord God” (1 Kings 18:37). When we are content with much praying, with continuous praying, without answer, then little answer will be given. But when we understand that the answer is the principal thing–the token of God’s pleasure in our prayer–and are not willing to be content without it, we will discover what our prayer lacks and begin to pray that an answer may come. And we may firmly believe this–the Lord takes delight in answering. It is a joy to Him when His people so enter into the name of Jesus, and pray out of it, that He can give them what they desire.8

Children of God, however young and weak you may still be, here is one of the institutions prepared for you by the Lord Jesus Himself to supply you with help in prayer. Let everyone make use of the prayer meeting. Let everyone go in a praying and believing frame of mind, seeking the name and the presence of the Lord. Let everyone seek to live and pray with his brothers and sisters. And let everyone expect to surely see glorious answers to prayer.

Blessed Lord Jesus, who has given us a commandment to pray–in the solitary inner chamber as well as in public fellowship with one another–let the one habit always make the other more precious as a complement and confirmation. Let the inner chamber prepare us and awaken the need for union with Your people in prayer. Let Your presence there be our blessedness. And let fellowship with Your people strengthen us to expect and receive answers. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Matt. 6:6; Luke 9:18,28

2) Acts 1:14

3) 2 Chron. 20:4,17,18; Neh. 9:2,3; Joel 2:16,17; Acts 12:5

4) Ps. 133:1,3; Jer. 50:4,5; Matt. 5:23,24; 18:19,20; Mark 11:25

5) Jer. 32:39; Acts 4:24

6) John 14:13,14; 15:7,16; 16:23,24

7) Jas. 5:16 8) Acts 12:5; 2 Cor. 1:11; Jas. 4:3; 5:16,17

Notes

1. There are many places in our country where prayer meetings might be a great blessing. A Christian man or woman, who once a week, or on Sunday, gathers together the inhabitants on a farm, or the neighbours of two or three homes that are not far from one another, might be able to attain great blessing. Let every believing reader of this portion inquire if there is not already some such need in his neighbourhood. Let him make a beginning in the name of the Lord. Let me therefore earnestly put the question to every reader–is there a prayer meeting

in your district? Do you faithfully take part in it? Do you know what it is to come together with the children of God in the name of Jesus, to experience His presence and His hearing of prayer?

2. You could obtain a book on prayer with suitable passages to be read aloud in such gatherings. Or read this book, The New Life, which will certainly give material for prayer.

3. Will the prayer meeting do harm to the inner chamber? is a question sometimes asked. My experience is just the opposite of this result. The prayer meeting is a school of prayer. The weak learn from more advanced petitioners. Material for prayer is given, as is the opportunity for self-searching and encouragement to more prayer.

4. If only it were more common in prayer meetings for people to speak of definite objects for which to pray–things in which one can definitely and trustfully look out for an answer, and concerning which one can know when an answer comes. Such announcements would greatly further agreement and believing expectation.

Chapter 36

The Fear of the Lord

“Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord. He shall not be afraid of evil tidings. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid” Psalm 102:1,7,8.

“So the Church, walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, was multiplied” Acts 9:31.

The Scriptures use the word “fear” in a twofold way. In some places it speaks of “fear” as something wrong and sinful, and in the strongest terms it forbids us to “fear.”1 The word occurs in almost one hundred places–“Fear not.” In many other places, on the contrary, fear is praised as one of the surest signs of true godliness, acceptable to the Lord, and full of His blessing for us.2 The people of God bear the name–those who fear the Lord. The distinction between these two lies in this simple fact–the one is unbelieving fear, the other is believing.

Where fear is found connected with lack of trust in God, there it is sinful and very hurtful.3 The fear, on the other hand, that is coupled with trust and hope in God is, for the spiritual life, entirely indispensable. The fear that man has for what is worldly is condemned. The fear that with childlike confidence and love honours the Father is commanded.4 It is the believing fear of the Lord–not as a slave, but as a child–that the Scriptures present as a source of blessing and power. He who fears the Lord will fear nothing else. The fear of the Lord will be the beginning of all wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the sure way to the enjoyment of God’s favour and protection.5

There are some Christians who, by their upbringing, are led into the reverent fear of the Lord even before they come to faith. This is a very great blessing. Parents can give a child no greater blessing than to bring him up in the fear of the Lord. When those who are thus brought up are brought to faith, they have a great advantage. They are, as it were, prepared to walk in the joy of the Lord. When, on the contrary, others that have not had this preparation come to conversion, they need special teaching and vigilance, in order to pray for and awaken this holy fear.

This fear is composed of many great elements. The principal are the following:

Holy reverence and awe before the glorious majesty of God and before His almighty holiness. These guard against the superficiality that forgets who God is and takes no pains to honour Him as God.

Deep humility that is afraid of itself, and couples deep confidence in God with an entire distrust in itself. Conscious weakness that knows the subtlety of its own heart always dreads doing anything contrary to the will or honour of God. But just because he fears God, such a believer firmly depends on Him for protection. And this same humility inspires him in all his dealings with his fellow men.

Cautiousness or vigilance. With holy forethought, it seeks to know the correct path, to watch against the enemy, and to guard against all frivolity or hastiness in speech, resolve, and conduct.8

Holy zeal and courage in watching and striving. The fear of displeasing the Lord by not conducting one’s self as His servant in all things encourages faithfulness in that which is least expected. The fear of the Lord takes away all other fear and gives inconceivable courage in the certainty of victory.9

And out of this reverent fear is then born joy. “Rejoice with trembling” (Psalm 2:11). The fear of the Lord gives joy its depth and stability. Fear is the root, joy is the fruit. The deeper this fear, the higher the joy. On this account, it is said, “Ye that fear the Lord, praise Him” (Psalm 22:23). “Ye that fear the Lord, bless the Lord” (Psalm 135:20).

Young disciples of Christ, hear the voice of your Father. “Fear the Lord, ye His saints.” Let reverent fear of the Lord, and dread of all that might displease or grieve Him, fill you. Then you will never have to fear any evil. He who fears the Lord and seeks to do all that pleases Him, for him God will also do all that he desires. The childlike, believing fear of God will lead you into the love and joy of God, while slavish, unbelieving, cowardly fear is utterly cast out.

O God, unite my heart for the reverent fear of Your name. May I always be among those who fear the Lord, and who hope in His mercy. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Gen. 15:l; Isa. 8:13; Jer. 32:40; Rom. 8:15; 1 Pet. 3:14; 1 John 4:18

2) Ps. 22:23,25; 33:18; 112:1; 115:13; Prov. 28:14

3) Matt. 8:26; Rev. 21:8

4) Ps. 33:18; 147:11; Luke 12:4,7

5) Ps. 56:4,1l; Prov. 1:7; 9:10; 10:27; 19:23; Acts 9:31; 2 Cor. 7:1

6) Job 42:6; Ps. 5:7; Isa. 6:3,5; Hab. 2:20: Zeph. 2:3

7) Luke 18:2,4; Rom. 11:20; 1 Pet. 3:2,5

8) Prov. 2:5,11; 8:12,13; 13:13; 16:6; Luke 1:74

9) Deut. 6:2; Isa. 12:2

Notes

1. What are some of the blessings of the reverent fear of God? (Ps. 31:20; 115:13; 127:11; 114:19; Prov.1;7;8;13;14;27; Acts 10:35.)

2. What are the reasons why we are to fear God? (Deut. 10:17,20,21; I Sam. 12:24; Jer. 5:22; 10:6,7; Matt. 10:28; Rev. 15:4.)

3. It is especially the knowledge of God in His greatness, power, and glory that will fill the soul with fear. But for this purpose we must set ourselves silently before Him and take time for our soul to come under the impression of His majesty.

4. “He delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4). Does this apply to every different sort of fear by which you are hindered? There is the fear of man (Isa. 2:12,13; Heb. 13:16); the fear of heavy trial (Isa. 11:1,2); the fear of our own weakness (Isa. 12:10); the fear for the work of God (I Chron. 28:20); the fear of death (Ps. 23:4).

5. Do you now understand the word, “Blessed is the man that fears the Lord. His heart is established, he shall not be afraid . . . .”?

“And Ittai answered the king and said, As the Lord liveth, surely in what place my lord the king shall be, whether in death or life, even there also will thy servant be” 2 Samuel 15:21.

“Whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be My disciple” Luke 14:33.

“Come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you” 2 Corinthians 6:17,18.

“I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord” Philippians 3:8.

We have already said that surrender to the Lord is something that always obtains newer and deeper significance for the Christian. When this takes place, he comes to understand how this surrender involves nothing less than a complete and undivided consecration to live only, always, and wholly for Jesus. As entirely as the temple was dedicated to the service of God alone, so that everyone knew that it existed for that purpose only, likewise, you belong entirely to your Lord. As entirely as the offering on the altar could be used only according to God’s command, and no one had a right to dispose of one portion other than He had said, your consecration to Him must be equally as undivided. God continually reminded Israel that He had redeemed them to be His possession.1 Let us see what this implies.

There is personal attachment to Jesus, and fellowship with Him in secret. He will be–He must be–the beloved, the desire, the joy of our souls. We are to be first consecrated to the service of Jesus as our Friend and King, our Redeemer and God.2 It is only the spiritual impulse of a personal, cordial love that can place us in a condition for a life of complete consecration. Continually Jesus used the words, “For My sake,” “Follow Me,” “My disciple.” He Himself must be the central point.3 He gave Himself. The characteristic of a disciple is to desire to have Him, to love and to depend on Him.

Then there is public confession. What has been given to any one will be acknowledged by all as his property. His possessions are his glory. When the Lord Jesus manifests His great grace to a soul in redeeming it, He desires that the world should see and know it. He wants to be known and honoured as its proprietor. He desires that everyone who belongs to Him would confess Him and proclaim that Jesus is King.4 Without this public confession, the surrender is but a half-hearted one. As a part of this public confession, it is also required that we join His people and acknowledge them as our people. The one new commandment that the Lord gave–the sure sign by which all should recognise that we are His disciples–is brotherly love. Although the children of God in a locality are few or despised or full of imperfection, you are to join them. Love them. Hold fellowship with them. Attach yourself to them in prayer meetings and otherwise. Love them fervently. Brotherly love has wonderful power to open the heart for the love and the indwelling of God.5

To complete your consecration, there also must be separation from sin and the world. Do not touch the unclean thing. Know that the world is under the power of the Evil One. Do not ask how much of it you can retain without being lost. Do not always ask what is sin and what is lawful. Even that which is lawful the Christian must often make a willing renunciation of, in order to be able to live wholly for his God.6 Abstinence even from lawful things is often indispensable for the full imitation of the Lord Jesus. Live as one who is really separated for God and His holiness. He who renounces everything, who counts everything loss for Jesus’ sake, will receive a hundredfold even in this life.7

And what I separate from everything, I will use. Entire consecration has its eye on making us useful and fit for God and His service. Let there not be the least amount of doubt as to whether God has need of you and will make you a great blessing. Only give yourself unreservedly into His hands. Present yourself to Him, so that He may fill you with His blessing, His love, His Spirit. You will be a blessing.8

Let no one fear that this demand for a complete consecration is too high for him. You are not under the law which demands, but gives no power. You are under grace, which itself works what it requires.9 Like the first surrender, every fresh dedication is yielded to Jesus, whom the Father has given to do all things for you. Consecration is an act of faith, a part of the glorious life of faith. It is on this account that you have to say–it is not I, but the grace of God in me, that will do it. I live only by faith in Him who works in me the willing as well as the performance. 10

Blessed Lord, open the eyes of my heart so that I may see how completely You would have me for Yourself. May you be, in the hidden depths of my heart, the one power that keeps me occupied and holds me in possession. Let all know You are my King, that I ask only for Your will. In my separation from the world, in my surrender to Your people and to Your will, let it be manifest that I am wholly, yes wholly, the Lord’s. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Ex. 19:4,5; Lev. 1:8,9; Deut. 7:6; Rom. 12:1; 1 Cor. 3:16,17

2) John 14:21; 15:14,15; 21:17; Gal. 2:20

3) Matt. 10:32,33,37,38,40; Luke 14:26,27,33; 18:22

4) Ex. 33:16; Josh. 24:25; John 8:35

5) Ruth 1:16; John 15:12; Rom. 12:5; 1 Cor. 12:20,21; Eph. 4:14,16; 1 Pet. 1:22

6) 1 Cor. 8:13; 9:25,27; 10:23; 2 Cor. 6:16,17; 2 Tim. 2:4

7) Gen. 22:13,17; 2 Chron. 25:9; Luke 18:29,30; John 12:24,25; Phil. 3:8

8) 2 Tim. 2:21

9) 2 Cor. 9:8; 2 Thess. 1:11,12

10)1 Cor. 15:10; Gal. 2:20; Phil 2:13

Notes

1. There is almost no point of the Christian life in connection with which I should more desire to urge you to pray to God that He may enlighten your eyes, than this of the entire consecration that God desires. In myself and others, I discover that with our own thoughts we can form no conception of how completely God Himself wants to take possession of our will and live in us. The Holy Spirit must reveal this in us. Only then indeed does a conviction arise of how little we understand this. We are not to think, “I see truly how entirely I must live for God, but I cannot accomplish this.” No, we are to say, “I am still blind; I have still no view of what is the glory of a life in which God is all. Once I see that, I would strongly desire and believe that not I, but God, should work it in me.”

2. Let there be no doubt in your mind as to whether you have given yourself to God, to live wholly and only as His. Express this conviction before him often. Acknowledge that you do not yet see or understand what it means, but abide by this, that you desire it to be so. Rely on the Holy Spirit to seal you, to stamp you as God’s entire possession. Even if you stumble and discover self-will, hold your integrity tightly, and trustfully affirm that the deep, firm choice of your heart is to live for God in all things.

3. Always keep before your eyes that the power to give all to the Lord, and to be all for the Lord, arises from the fact that He has given all for you, that He is all for you. Faith in what He did for you is the power of what you do for Him.

“Abraham staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully persuaded that, what He had promised, He was able also to perform” Romans 4:20,21.

“My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and truth. Hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him” 1 John 3:18,19.

“And hereby we know that He abideth in us, by the Spirit which He bath given us” 1 John 3:24.

Every child of God needs the assurance of faith–the full certainty of faith–that the Lord has received him and made him His child. The Holy Scriptures always speak to Christians as those who know that they are redeemed and as those who know they are now children of God and have received eternal life.1 How can a child love or serve his father while he is uncertain whether his father will really acknowledge him as a child? We have already spoken on this point in a previous chapter–but often, by ignorance or distrust, a Christian again comes into darkness. For this reason, we will now deal with it once again with a set purpose.

Scripture names three things by which we have our certainty. First, there is faith in the Word. After that, there are works. And then, in and with both of these, there is the Holy Spirit.

First, faith in the Word. Abraham is to us the great example of faith and of the assurance of faith. And what then says the Scripture about the certainty that he had? He was fully assured that what God had promised He was also able to perform. His expectation was only from God, and what God had promised. He relied upon God to do what He had said. The promise of God was for him his only, but sufficient, assurance of faith.2

There are many young Christians who think that faith in the Word is not sufficient to give full assurance. They would gladly have something more. They imagine that assurance–a sure inward feeling or conviction–is what is given above or outside of faith. This is wrong. As I have need of nothing more than the word of a trustworthy man to give me complete certainty, so must the Word of God be my assurance. People err because they seek something in themselves and in their feeling. No, the whole of salvation comes from God. The soul must not be occupied with itself or its work, but with God. He who forgets himself to hear what God says, and to rely on His promise as something worthy of credit, has the fullest assurance of faith.3 He does not doubt the promises but is strong in faith. He gives God the glory and is fully assured that what was promised, God is also able to perform.

Then the Scripture also names works–by unfeigned love we will assure our hearts.4 Carefully observe this–assurance by faith in the promise, without works, comes first. The godless man who receives grace knows this only from the Word. But then, later on, assurance is to follow from works. “By works was faith made perfect” (James 2:22).5 The tree is planted in faith, without fruits. But when the time of fruit arrives, and no fruit appears, then I may doubt. At the outset, the more clearly I hold the assurance of faith on the Word alone–without works–the more certainly works will follow.

And both assurance by faith and by works come by the Spirit. A child of God has the heavenly certification that he is the Lord’s.6 This comes, not by the Word alone, and not by works as something that he does himself, but by the Word as the instrument of the Spirit and by works as the fruit of the Spirit.

Let us believe in Jesus as our life and abide in Him, and assurance of faith will never be lacking in us.

Father, teach me to find my assurance of faith in a life with You, in a cordial reliance upon Your promises, and in cordial obedience to Your commands. Let Your Holy Spirit also witness with my spirit that I am a child of God. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Dent. 26:17,18; Isa. 44:5; Gal. 4:7; 1 John 5:12

2) John 3:33; 5:24; Acts 27:25; Rom. 4:21,22; 1 John 5:10,11

3) Num. 23:19; Ps. 89:35; Isa. 54:9

4) 1 John 3:18,19

5) John 15:10,14; Gal. 5:6;1 John 3:14

6) John 4:13; Rom. 8:13,14; 1 John 3:24

Notes

1. The importance of the assurance of faith lies in the fact that I cannot possibly love or serve, as a child, a God of whom I do not know whether He loves and acknowledges me as His child.

2. The whole Bible is one great proof for the assurance of faith. Just because it speaks of itself so, it is not always regarded as such. Abraham and Moses knew that God had redeemed them–for this reason they had to serve God. How much more must this be the case in the greater redemption of the New Testament? All the Epistles are written to men of whom it is presupposed that they know and confess that they are redeemed, holy children of God.

3. Faith and obedience are inseparable, as root and fruit. First, there must be the root, and it must have time to be without fruit. Then later on the fruits come. First, assurance without fruits by living faith in the Word. Then, further assurance from fruits. It is in a life with Jesus that assurance of faith is exalted firmly above all doubt.

4. Assurance of faith is helped by confession. What I express becomes for me more evident. I am bound to confirm it.

5. It is at the feet of Jesus, looking up into His friendly countenance, listening to His loving promises, in fellowship with Jesus Himself in prayer, that all doubtfulness of mind falls away. Go there for the full assurance of faith.

“Predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son” Romans 8:29.

“I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you” John 13:15.

The Bible speaks of two types of conformity, a twofold likeness which we bear. We may be conformed to the world or to Jesus. The one excludes and drives out the other. More than anything else, conformity to Jesus will be secretly prevented by conformity to the world. And conformity to the world can be overcome by nothing but conformity to Jesus.

Young Christian, the new life of which you have become partaker is the life of God in heaven. That life is revealed and made visible in Christ. What the workings and fruits of eternal life were in Jesus, they will also be in you. In His life you get to see what eternal life will work in you. It cannot be otherwise. If for this reason you surrender yourself unreservedly to Jesus and the dominion of eternal life, it will bring forth in you a walk of wonderful conformity to that of Jesus.1

Two things, especially, are necessary for a true imitation of Jesus in His example and for growth in inward conformity to Him. These are, a clear insight that I am really called to this, and a firm trust that it is possible for me.

One of the greatest hindrances in the spiritual life is that we do not know–we do not see-what God desires that we should be.2 Our understanding is still enlightened so little, and we still have so many of our own human thoughts and imaginations about the true service of God. We know so little of waiting for the Spirit who alone can teach us. We do not acknowledge that even the clearest words of God do not have for us the meaning and power that God desires. And as long as we do not spiritually discern what likeness to Jesus is, and how utterly we are called to live like Him, little can be said of true conformity. If only we could understand how very much we need divine instruction on this point.3

For this reason, let us earnestly examine the Scriptures in order to know what God says and desires about our conformity to Christ.4 Let us unceasingly ponder such words of Scripture, and keep our heart in contact with them. Let it remain fixed with us that we have given ourselves wholly to the Lord–to be all that He desires. Let us trustfully pray that the Holy Spirit would inwardly enlighten 77us and bring us to a full awareness of the life of Jesus, so far as can be seen in a believer.5 The Spirit will convince us that we, no less than Jesus, are absolutely called to live only for the will and glory of the Father. We are called to be in the world even as He is.

The other thing that we have need of is the belief that it is really possible for us to bear the image of our Lord. Unbelief is the cause of weakness. We can put this matter another way. We think that because we are powerless, we dare not believe that we can be conformed to our Lord. This thought is in conflict with the Word of God. We do not have it in our own power to carry ourselves after the image of Jesus. No, He is our head and our life. He lives in us and will have His life work from within outwards-with divine power through the Holy Spirit.6

Yet this cannot be separate from our faith. Faith is the consent of the heart, the surrender to Him to work, and the reception of His working. “Be it unto you according to your faith” (Matthew 9:29) is one of the fundamental laws of the Kingdom of God.7 It is incredible what power unbelief has in hindering the working and the blessing of Almighty God. The Christian who wants to become conformed to Christ must cherish the firm trust that this blessing is within his reach and is entirely within the range of possibility. He must learn to look to Jesus as Him in whom, by the grace of God, he can be truly conformable. He must believe that the same Spirit that was in Jesus is also in him. He must believe that the same Father that led and strengthened Jesus also watches over him, and that the same Jesus that lived on earth now lives in him. He must cherish the strong assurance that the Trinity is at work in changing him into the image of the Son.8

He who believes this will receive it. It will not be without much prayer. It will especially require ceaseless communion with the Father and Jesus. Yet he who desires it, and is willing to give time and sacrifice to it, certainly receives it.

Son of God, radiance of the glory of God, the very Image of His substance, I must be changed into Your image. In You I see the image and the likeness of God in which we were created, in which we are by You created anew. Lord Jesus, let conformity to You be the one desire, the one hope of my soul. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Matt. 20:27,28; Luke 6:40; John 6:57; I John 2:6; 4:17

2) Luke 24:16; 1 Cor. 3:1,2; Heb. 5:11,12

3) 1 Cor. 2:12,13; Eph. 1:17-20

4) John 13:15;` 15:10,12; 17:18; Eph 5:2; Phil. 2:5; Col. 3:13

5) 1 Cor. 11:1; 2 Cor. 3:18

6) John 14;23; 2 Cor. 13:3; Eph. 3:17,18

7) Zech. 1:6; Matt. 18:19; Luke 1:37,45; 18:27; Gal. 2:20

8) John 14:20; 17:19; Rom. 8:2; 2 Cor. 3:18; Eph. 1:19

Notes

1. Conformity to Jesus–we think that we understand the Word, but how little do we comprehend that God really expects us to live even as Jesus did. It requires much time with Him, in prayer and pondering of His example, to correctly understand it. The writer of these precepts has written a book on this theme, has often spoken of it, and yet he sometimes feels as if he must cry out–Is it really true? Has God indeed called us to live even as Jesus?

2. Conformity to the world is strengthened especially by association with it. It is in fellowship with Jesus that we will adopt His mode of thinking, His disposition, His manners.

3. The main feature of the life of Jesus is that He surrendered Himself wholly to the Father in behalf of man. The chief feature of conformity to Him is the offering up of ourselves to God for the redemption and blessing of the lost.

4. The chief feature of His inner disposition was childlikeness–absolute dependence on the Father, great willingness to be taught, cheerful preparedness to do the will of the Father. Be especially like Him in this.

“I beseech you, brethren, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” Romans 12:1,2.

Do not be conformed to this world. But what is conformity to the world? The opposite of conformity to Jesus, for Jesus and the world stand directly opposed to each other. The world crucified Him. He and His disciples are not of the world. The spirit of this world and the Spirit of God exclude each other. The world cannot receive the Spirit of God, for it does not see Him and does not know Him.1

And what is the spirit of this world`? The spirit of this world is the disposition which encourages mankind to continue in their natural condition, where the Spirit of God has not yet renewed them. The spirit of this world comes from the Evil One-the prince of this world-and has dominion over all who are not renewed by the Spirit of God.2

And in what does the spirit of this world, or conformity to it, manifest itself? The Word of God gives the answer, “All that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:16). The three chief forms of the spirit of the world are: the craving for pleasure or the desire to enjoy the world, the craving for property or the desire to possess the world, and the craving for glory or the desire to be honoured in the world.3

And these three are one in root and essence. The spirit of this world is–that man makes himself his own end. He makes himself the central point of the world. All creation, so far as he has power over it, must serve him; he seeks his life in the visible. This is the spirit of the world–to seek one’s self and the visible.4 And the Spirit of Jesus is–to live not for one’s self and not for the visible, but for God and the things that are invisible.5

It is a very terrible and serious thought that one can live a busy, fashionable life–free from obvious sin or unrighteousness and yet remain a friend to the world, and therefore an adversary to God.6

We are conformed to this world if our care for the earthly–for what we eat and drink, for what we possess or may possess, and for what we have brought forth in the earth and have made to increase–is the chief element in our life. It is a terrible and very serious thought that one can maintain the appearance of a Christian life–think that one is trusting in Christ–while yet living with the world for self and the visible.7 For this reason the command comes to all Christians with great emphasis–Be conformed, not to this world, but to Jesus.

And how can I not come to be conformed to the world? Read our text over again with consideration. There we read two things. One, it is those who have presented their bodies to God as a sacrifice on the altar that have it said to them–Be not conformed to the world. Offer yourself to God–that is conformity to Jesus. Live every day as one who is offered up to God, crucified in Christ to the world. Then you will not be conformed to the world.8

Then, two, it says: Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the perfect will of God. There must be a continuous growing renewal of our mind. This takes place by the Holy Spirit, when we let ourselves be led by Him. Then we learn to spiritually judge what is according to the will of God and what is according to the spirit of the world. A Christian who strives after the progressive renewal of his whole mind will not be conformed to the world. The Spirit of God makes him conformed to Jesus.9

Christians, please believe that Jesus has obtained for you the power to overcome the world, with its deep hidden seductions to living for ourselves. Believe this. Believe in Him as Victor and that you also have the victory.

Precious Lord we have presented ourselves to You as living sacrifices. We have offered up ourselves to God. We are not of the world, even as You are not of the world. Lord, let our mind be enlightened by the renewing of the Holy Spirit, so that we may rightly see what the spirit of this world is. And let it be seen in us that we are not of the world, but are conformed to Jesus. Amen.

Footnotes

1) John 14:17; 17:14,16; 1 Cor. 2:6,8

2) John 14:30; 16:11; 1 Cor. 2:12

3) 1 John 2:15,16

4) John 5:44

5) 2 Cor. 4:13; 5:7,15

6) Jas. 4:4

7) Matt. 6:32,33

8) Gal. 6:14,16

9) 2 Cor. 6:14,16; Eph. 5:17; Heb. 5:14

10) John 16:33; 1 John 5:4,5

Notes

1. Worldly pleasures. Is dancing sin? What harm is there in playing billiards? One has sometimes wished that there were in the Scriptures a distinct law to forbid such things. God has intentionally not given this. If there were such a law, it would only make men outwardly spiritual. God puts each one on trial as to whether his inner disposition is worldly or heavenly. Learn Romans 12 verses 1 and 2 by heart and ask the Spirit of God to make it living in you. The Christian who offers himself up to God and becomes transformed by the renewing of the mind to prove the perfect will of God will speedily learn whether he may dance or play billiards. The Christian who is afraid only of hell, but not of conformity to the world, cannot see what the Spirit of God gives His children to see.

2. It is remarkable that the trinity of the god of this world, in John’s Epistle, is seen as well in the temptation in Paradise as in that of the Lord Jesus.

The lust of the flesh:

The woman saw that the tree was good for food (Gen. 3:6).

Command that those stones be made bread (Matt. 4:3).

The lust of the eyes:

And that it was pleasant to the eyes (Gen. 3:6).

The devil showeth Him all the kingdoms of the world (Matt. 4:8).

And the vainglory of life:

And that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (Gen. 3:6).

Cast Thyself down (Matt. 4:6).

3. Consider what I say to you-it is only conformity to Jesus that will keep out conformity to the world. Let conformity to Jesus be the study and the endeavor of your soul.

“And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all His work which God had created” Genesis 2:3.

“On that day, the first day of the week, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said unto them, Peace be unto you” John 20:19.

“I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day” Revelation 1:10.

Man lives under the law of time. He must have time for what he wants to do or obtain. In a wonderful way God gives him time for communion with Himself. One day in seven God separated for fellowship with Himself.

The great object of God’s gift of this day is that it may serve as a sign that God desires to sanctify man.1 Endeavour to understand well the word “holy.” It is one of the most important words in the Bible.

God is the Holy One. By revealing Himself, God communicates His holiness to that which is holy. We know that the temple was holy, because God dwelt there. God had taken possession of it. He gave Himself to dwell there. In this way, God also wants to sanctify man. He wants to take possession of him and fill him with Himself–with His own life, His disposition, His holiness. For this reason, God took possession of the seventh day, appropriating it to Himself. He sanctified it. He also calls man to sanctify it and to acknowledge it as the Lord’s day–the day of the Lord’s presence and special working. He who does this–who sanctifies this day–will be sanctified by Him, as God has promised. (Read with attention, Exodus 31:12-17, especially verse 13.)

God blessed the seventh day by sanctifying it. The blessing of God is the power of life, lodged by Him in everything. He blesses grass and cattle and man with the power to multiply.2 And so He lodged in the seventh day a power to bless, and the promise that everyone who sanctifies this day will be sanctified and blessed by it. We must accustom ourselves to always think of the Sabbath as a blessed day that certainly brings blessing. The blessing bound up with it is very great.3

There is still a third word that is used when speaking of the Sabbath. “God rested on the seventh day,” and, as it stands in Exodus, “was refreshed” or gladdened. God will sanctify and bless us by introducing us into His rest. He wants to bring us to see that we are not to burden ourselves with our cares and weaknesses. We are to rest in Him, in His finished work, in His rest, which He takes because all is in order. This rest is not the outward termination of employments. No, it is the rest of faith, by which we cease from our works as God did from His, because all is finished. Into this rest we enter by faith in the finished work of Jesus, in surrender to be sanctified by God.4

The seventh day is changed into the first day of the week because Jesus finished the second creation in His resurrection, and we enter into life and rest by the power of His resurrection. There is no specific command on this point. In the New Testament, the Spirit takes the place of the law. The Spirit of the Lord led His disciples to the celebration of this day. It was the day, not only on which the Lord was raised, but also on which, in all likelihood, the Spirit was poured out. It was the day not only on which the Lord manifested Himself during the forty days, but on which the Spirit also specially worked.5

The chief lessons that we have to learn about this day are the following:

The principal aim of the Sabbath is to make you holy, as God is holy. God would have you holy–this is glory, this is blessedness–this is His blessing, this His rest. God would have you holy, filled with Himself and His holiness.6

In order to sanctify you, God must have you with Him, in His presence and fellowship. You are to come away from all your struggling and working to rest with Him. You are to rest quietly, without exertion or anxiety, in the certainty that the Son has finished everything, that the Father cares for you in everything, and that the Spirit will work everything in you. God can reveal Himself in the holy rest of a soul that is converted to God, remains silent before His presence to hear what He speaks to him, and depends on God to achieve all.7 It is thus that He sanctifies us.

We sanctify the day of rest, first by withdrawing from all external business and distraction. Then, by employing it especially as God’s day–belonging to the Lord–for what He destined it to be, fellowship with Himself.

Take care that you do not use the day of rest only as a day for the public observance of divine worship. It is especially in private personal communion that God can bless and sanctify you. In the church, the understanding is kept active, and you have the ordinances of preaching, united prayer, and praise to keep you occupied. But there we do not always know whether the heart is really dealing with God–is taking delight in Him. This takes place in solitude. Accustom yourself, then, to be alone with the Lord your God. Not only speak to Him, but let Him speak to you. Let your heart be the temple in whose holy silence His voice is heard. Rest in God. Then God will say of your heart: This is my rest, here will I dwell.8

Young Christian, hold in high regard the holy, the blessed day of rest. Long for it. Thank God for it. Keep it very holy. And, above all, let it be a day of inner fellowship with your God–living conversation with His love.

Holy God, I thank You for the holy day which You give me as a token that You will sanctify me. Lord God, it is You who did sanctify the day by taking it for Yourself. Sanctify me in like manner by taking me for Yourself. Teach me so to enter into Your rest, so to find my rest in Your love, that my whole soul will be silent before You, in order that You may make Yourself and Your love known in me. And let every Sabbath be to me a foretaste of the eternal rest with You. Amen.

Footnotes

1) Ex. 31:13,17; Ezek. 20:12,20

2) Gen. 1:22,28; 22:17

3) Isa. 56:4-7; 58:13,14

4) Heb. 4:3,10

5) John 20:1,1,19,26; Acts 1:8; 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2; Rev. 1:10

6) Ex. 29:43,45; Ezek. 37:27,28; 1 Pet. 1:15,16

7) Ps. 62:2,6; Hab. 2:20; Zech. 2:13; John 19:30

8) Ps. 132:13,14

Notes

1. The Sabbath was the first of all the ways of grace, instituted even before the Fall. You cannot set too high a value on it.

2. Observe how specially the Trinity has revealed Himself on the day of rest. The Father rested on this day. The Son rose from the dead on it. The Spirit sanctified this day by His special workings. You may expect the fellowship and the powerful workings of the Trinity on this day.

3. What is meant by the word “holy”? What is the day of rest a representation of according to Exodus 31, verse 13? How did God sanctify the day of rest? How does He sanctify us?

4. There are in this country certain difficulties in the way of the quiet celebration of the day of rest in a village where the church is often very full. Yet one can lay aside that which is unnecessary and receive the influx of company. We can fix an hour in which there will be reading and singing.

5. It is a matter of great importance to bring up children correctly for the sanctification of the Lord’s day, by avoiding worldly society and conversation, by accustoming them to read something that may be useful for them. For the younger children, there should be a place in every Sunday school. It would be beneficial for the older children to come in contact with a book such as this, or a Bible, and have help to review the texts.

6. There is no better day than the Lord’s day for giving food to body and soul. Let the work of Satan on this day come to an end. Work for the heathen and the ignorant so that they may be carried forward.

7. The principal point is that the day of rest is the day of God’s rest, of rest in and with God, and of fellowship with Him. It is God who will sanctify us. He does this by taking possession of us.