Bhe tBeMcMmt of Jesus m iiH ill' •Jpilf" CONCERNING rOE CHRISTIM BS 2415 .A2 T4 v.7 Teachings of Jesus concerning the . . THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS £diUdi>y JOHN H. KERR,D.D. THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Gerarp B. F. Hallock, D. D. THE TEACHINGS OF JESUS CONCERNING HIS OWN MISSION. Frank H. Foster. Ready. THE^KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE "church. Geerhardus Vos. ** GOD THE FATHER. Archibald Thomas Robertson. ** THE SCRIPTURES. David James Burrell. ** THE HOLY SPIRIT. Louis B. Crane. " CHRISTIAN CONDUCT. Andrew C. Zenos ** THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. Gerard B. F. Hallock ** THE FUTURE LIFE. Willis J. Beecher. " HIS OWN PERSON. Wayland Hoyt. In preparation. A Series of volumes on the ** Teachings of Jesus" by eminent vs^riters and divines. Cloth bound. 12mo. Price 75 cts. each postpaid. AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY. THE TEACHING OF JESUS CONCERNING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE Bv/ Gerard B, F. 'HaUock, D. D. AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY 150 NASSAU STREET NEW YORK Copyright^ igo6^ by AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY CONTENTS PAGE I. Its Supreme Importance. . . i II. Its Beginning 22 III. Its Evidences 3^ IV. Its Conflicts 60 V. Its Maintenance 89 VI. Its Joyful Experiences. . . 107 VII. Its Sufferings and Trials. . 131 VIII. Its Obligation of Service. . 145 IX. Its Rewards 158 X. Summary 168 Indices ^11 CHAPTER I Its Supreme Importance j4 good man over eighty years of yl age, speaking of the forces which contributed to prolong his Hfe and strength and promote his happiness and usefulness, said, '' I have made religion the principal thing in my life. ' ' He said it not boastfully, but with expressions of sincere gratitude to God. He had been an earnest Christian for more than sixty years. He knew where to place religion. With him prayer, spiritual life. Christian character, were not used as a means to accomplish some worldly end. He was not religious 2 The Christian Life merely that he might get to heaven. Religion was the chief thing. He prized it above all things else. He sought it more diligently and clung to it more tenaciously than anything else. He was right. Some men do not give religion any place in their lives. They think they can do without it. They have other aims which they consider higher, or to which they give more care- ful attention. Others seek religion and hold it in esteem, but they do not make it the principal thing. They think more of something else. Religion has a place in their lives, as they suppose, but it is a low place, an obscure corner. It does not come to the front. But those who give religion no place or a low place in their lives not only act contrary to their own reason and higher impulses, but they violate the whole spirit of revelation, and especially the definite and repeated teachings and commands and expostula- tions of Jesus. Its Sttpreme Importance 3 There is nothing plainer in the teach- ing of Jesus than that religion is worthy of being the principal thing and that He wanted men to make it such — that He desired them to give to the Christian life the place of supreme importance. He said, '' Seek ye first His (God's) king- dom, and His righteousness" (Matt. vi. 33), and, ''Work not for the food which perisheth, but for the food which abideth unto eternal Ufe " (John vi. 27). To one who came running and kneeling and in- quiring of Him the way of life, but who would not definitely enter upon it when told what to do, Jesus said, " One thing thou lackest " (Mark x. 21). The thing he lacked was plainly the principal thing. Jesus so regarded it. The young man was very rich, but plainly he was not '' rich toward God." Well did Jesus, on another occasion, ask, ''For what doth it profit a man, to gain the whole world, and forfeit his life ? For what should a man give in exchange for his life.^'" 4 The Christian Life (Mark viii. 36, 37). He places religion before pleasure (Matt. xvi. 24). If any pleasure interferes with our spiritual life, it must be given up. He sets religion before wealth (Luke xiv. 33), before fame (John XV. 18), before education (Matt. xi. 29), before temporal support (Matt. vi. 19), before health, before personal lib- erty, before father, mother, or life itself (Matt. iv. 19 ; Luke xiv. 26). One cannot but recall His word to Martha, who was so anxious about her household cares that she had not time to sit at the feet of Jesus and learn His wish and will — how He told her that only one thing was needful and that Mary had chosen that good part which could never be taken away from her (Luke x. 38-42). In other words, to listen to Jesus, to receive His truth, to stand in personal re- lations to Him, to submit to His direction, is of greater importance than any anxious thought about our daily task, important as that task may be in its place. Then Its Supreme Importance 5 there is the parable of the wise and fool- ish virgins, the wise having oil in their vessels (Matt. xxv. 1-13). It is a lesson to show us that we should have reserve of character so that we shall be prepared for sudden emergencies, even that great- est and most important emergency, when the Lord Himself shall come. The su- preme importance of the Christian life is definitely taught by Jesus in many other parables also, such as that of the treasure hid in the field (Matt. xiii. 44), of the pearl of great price (Matt. xiii. 45, 46), and in the solemn warning contained in that of the '' rich fool " (Luke xii. 16-21). It is absolutely the chief thing according to the teaching of Jesus. And He had the perfect vision. He stood in the proper position, because of His relation to God and to eternity, to judge things aright. He knew, and it is our high- est wisdom to learn His estimate, what things are of supreme worth, and what things if neglected are so neglected at 6 The Christian Life our eternal peril. He said, '* Except ye believe that I am He, ye shall die in your sins " (John viii. 24). There can be no question but that Jesus always pre- sented the Christian life before men as the thing of supreme importance. His Redeeming Mission But surely we cannot be surprised at this, for His whole mission in the world was to make possible to men the Chris- tian life, or the life of Christians. The whole world was lost in the darkness of sin. '' The Son of man came to seek and to save that which was lost" (Luke xix. 10). He gave His life a ''ransom for many. " There is no word that tells us of His coming to the world, of His in- carnation, of His life among men, of His solicitude for their welfare, of His suffer- ings and death on the cross, which does not at the same time tell us of the tre- mendous importance of the Christian life. Its Supreme Importance 7 Christ's call to men is a call to proper emphasis. He wants us to put first things first, to place the emphasis of life where it really belongs. The meaning of an uttered sentence is often determined by the place of emphasis. Exact truth may be written only to be perverted by a wrong stress of voice. So the meaning of life may be determined not only by what we put into it and what we leave out of it, but also by what we empha- size. Most people are familiar with the effects of an ill-adjusted camera, when the right focus has not been produced. We have seen the picture of a beautiful child taken all out of proportion, with the feet as large as the whole body — a monstrosity. The pictures some of us make of Hfe are monstrosities, due to ill- adjustment, to getting things in wrong perspective or out of proportion. The purpose of Jesus' teaching concerning the Christian life was to lead us to place 8 The Christian Life the emphasis where it belongs — to put first things first. First Things First It is a part of the confusion with which the world is crowded that the right order of things is often inverted. The wrong order of right things may be a great evil. Disordered or disproportionate truth may be the worst of error. One of the great purposes of Jesus' teaching was to re- establish the series ; to teach us which is to be first and which second, which to make subordinate and which supreme. In the restored world many things that are now first with us will be last, and the last first. Some people put last things first, to the utter neglect of first things. This is the case with those whose great concern is to become rich and great in this world. There are many such. They think of nothing else but this world. They de- vote all their time and energy to wealth- Its Stipreme Importance 9 getting or honor-getting, to '' getting on in the world," as they call it, and in many cases they are very successful. But in so doing they run an awful risk to their im- mortal souls. " They that are minded to be rich fall into a temptation and a snare and many foolish and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and perdi- tion " (I. Tim. vi. 9). Such prosperity is a curse and not a blessing. This is one phase of what Jesus meant when He said, '' How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God ! " (Mark x. 23). The same is the case with those who allow their whole attention to be taken up with the cares of this world. There is danger from both the " deceitfulness of riches" and the ''care of the world" (Matt. xiii. 22). Everything good may be choked out of our lives by either of these things. We live in a busy world, in a bustling age, in a period of great commercial competition, when much lo The Christian Life time and great effort are required for persons to maintain a respectable position, provide for their families, educate their children, see that neither their sick nor well are in want ; and on this account, many allow the cares of this world to ab- sorb their attention, to the utter neglect of their eternal interests. The same is also the case with those whose minds are absorbed with the pleasures of the world. These are those who follow '* the course of this world " in all its rounds of frivolity, vanity and folly, to the utter neglect of God and their eternal well-being. They that live in pleasure are dead while they live, putting last things first to the utter neglect of first things. Preoccupation of Mind When Professor Pritchard, of Oxford, was once asked if it was not the tendency of scientific thinking to unsettle religious faith and devotion, he replied : *' It is pre- occupation of mind rather than science Its Supreme Importance 1 1 that is, and always has been, the prolific parent of skepticism and religious indif- ference/' And then he went on to ask : ** Are not the preoccupations of high positions, of ambition, of Hterature, of money-getting and money-spending, of conceit, of sensual habits, and even of idleness, at least as unfriendly to the hearty acceptance of Christian revelation as are the preoccupations of scientific pursuits?'' This witness is true. A great many men, even those of strong minds, flatter themselves that they do in- vestigate religion and have not been able to accept it, when as a matter of fact they have been neglecting it for other pursuits and have never given it any continued thought or attention. In other words, they put last things first to the utter neg- lect of first things. Like the men to whom Christ spake the parable of the Great Supper, they are preoccupied with minor things, business, cares, pleasure, and so *' with one consent began to make 12 The Christian Life excuse'' (Luke xiv. 18-20). Yet the very purpose of that parable of Jesus was to tell men of the first importance of the Gospel provision and the invitation to partake of it. First Things By and By There are other people who put last things first, but intend to attend to first things by and by. Their great concern is to establish themselves in trade first, to succeed in their profession first, to get on in the world first, to become rich or great or honored first, and then become religious — then seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness. But this is a great mistake to make. It is a distinct reversing of the advice and command of Jesus. It is living in a constant state of deliberate disobedience to Him. It is an especially wicked way in which to live, because of their selfishness in seeking their own things, and not '' the things that are Christ's/' and because they are Its Supreme Importmtce 13 running counter to God in all they do. It is wrong, too, because it is distrustful toward both the providences and prom- ises of Jesus {cf. Matt. vi. 25-34 and Luke xii. 27). It is a mistake to put last things first, intending to attend to first things by and by, especially because of the danger it brings that we may die without religion. Well did Paul remind the Corinthians, '* Behold, now is the acceptable time ; behold, now is the day of salvation '' (II. Cor. vi. 2). There is the danger that the things we put off we may never attend to, or that we may die in the midst of our days before we have attended to them. If we prosper, we may be puffed up with our prosperity and thereby be- come increasingly disinclined to religion, and neglect it even down to old age, for nothing is more deceitful than riches ; or we may be cut off unexpectedly in the midst of our prosperity before we have sought the kingdom of God. Plainly it 14 The Christian Life is great folly to put last things first, in- tending to attend to first things by and by. The only way in which we can obey Jesus and act wisely, therefore, is to do exactly what He tells us and put first things first — seek '* first " God's kingdom and His righteousness. The Prior Engagement We should seek it '' first '' in point of time. We are neither to put it off^, nor to allow anything else to get in ahead of it. This is the prior engagement of life. To the young it means that they are to seek both entrance into and the righteous- ness of God's kingdom while they are young. To those who may be middle- aged, or aged, or very old, it means the same. In point of time this is to be the very first thing. There is to be abso- lutely no delay about it on any pretense whatsoever (Matt. viii. 21, 22). We should seek it "'first,'' too, as a Its Supreme Importance 15 matter of the first and highest impor- tance. Nothing else can be of any im- portance as compared with the attainment of a part in the kingdom of God and the righteousness of it. This is the pearl of greatest price, the supreme treasure, the indispensable blessing, the one thing only that can make us happy here and here- after. We should place it ''first" in point of time. We should make it ** first '' as a matter of importance. *' Wis- dom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom." ''She is more precious than rubies, and none of the things thou canst desire are to be compared unto her." It is right and proper for us to take into consideration also the gracious prom- ises Jesus almost always connects with His commands, as a matter of comfort and encouragement in our obeying them. When He tells us not to be " anxious " about what we shall eat, or what we shall drink, or wherewithal we shall be clothed. He adds, " For your heavenly Father 1 6 The Christian Life knoweth that ye have need of all these things " (Matt. vi. 32). His injunction is, ** But seek ye first His kingdom, and His righteousness ; and all these things shall be added unto you '' (Matt. vi. 33). Heirship to God's eternal kingdom and righteousness does not cut us off from temporal blessings. These things will be ** added," or given over and above. As some one has well said, '* They will be thrown in among a crowd of greater blessings." The good things of the pres- ent life are not reserved only for the wicked. Satan does not treat his follow- ers better than God does His. When Solomon first asked wisdom, God gave him riches and honor also. What is profitable for the next world is profitable for this one, too. That '' honesty is the best policy " even worldly men assert. That '' godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come,'' it is time all men knew. Its Supreme Imp07'tance 17 The King of our Lives The fact is that the Christian who makes Jesus King, who puts His king- dom first. His rule supreme, is both the happiest and the most blessed among men. We have somewhere read that on one occasion Jenny Lind was invited by the king of her country to sing in the royal palace at a festival ; but the festival was to be held on the Sabbath, and her con- science would not allow her to sing at any such public gatherings on the Lord's Day. She therefore refused to attend. The king came in person and pleaded with her, but her response was, " There is a higher King than your majesty. I owe my first allegiance to Him." She put religion first. She put Christ first, and made Him the real King of her life. It is our duty to crown Christ, to en- throne Him in our hearts and over our lives. Nothing short of this is giving 1 8 The Christian Life religion, the Christian life, its place of proper importance. We should make it the principal thing because if it is not first it is not anything. A religion which is not above all else is no religion. So soon as anything else in- trudes between the soul and God, giving Him an inferior place. He is nothing to us. To reduce Him to a place lower than the throne is to exclude Him. We do not know Him at all if we do not know Him as Lord of all. His love is first. His desires first, His name first. Religion must have the first place in our thought, in our affections, in our pursuit, in our confidence, yes, in our whole life. Christ put our salvation first, and left heaven to *' seek and to save that which was lost," even suffering the death of the cross that we might have life eternal. To undervalue His work is the deepest pos- sible disrespect and disloyalty. If our religion is not first it is not reli- gion at all. When the young lawyer asked Its Supreme Importance 19 Christ what commandment is first of all, He answered, '* The first is. Hear, O Israel ; The Lord our God, the Lord is one : and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength " (Mark xii. 29, 30). Our usefulness, too, depends on our giving religion the first place. We may be useful in a Hmited way without reli- gion. Our usefulness is not wholly de- stroyed when we make religion secon- dary. But we shall never fill the place God designed for us until we shall make the Christian life first. Life must be a com- parative failure so long as the throne of the heart is occupied by some one else besides God. He alone is King and Lord. Our happiness also depends on placing religion first. There is such a thing as being too religious to enjoy sin and too sinful to enjoy religion. Jesus said, '' No man can serve two masters ; for either he 20 The Christian Life will hate the one, and love the other ; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon " (Matt. vi. 24). Those who try to serve two masters make the un- happiest work out of life. They have neither the '' pleasures of sin for a season " nor the joys of religion. With God held in an inferior place no one can be deeply happy. The joy of the half-hearted Christian is adulterated and unsatisfac- tory. Never can the soul enter into the joy of the Lord until the Lord of glory is enthroned in his heart. Salvation Salvation depends on this. One who does not make religion the principal thing in his life is not really saved. He may take to himself a little comfort that he has done something religious. He may flatter himself that he shall get safely through because he pravs and reads the Bible occasionally and attends on Its Stiprejne hnportance 21 some religious services. But his religion is not genuine, it is not thorough. He holds it, not as the dearest thing in the world, not as his chief delight, but as a necessary precaution against future mis- ery. To be in such a state is to misun- derstand religion from its very founda- tion, to lack vital religion entirely. It is to think more of, and care more for, some- thing else than God. It is definitely to disobey the fundamental command, ^* Thou shalt have no other gods before me. CHAPTER II Its Beginning rHE Christian life, presented by Jesus as the one thing of su- preme importance. He also tells us must have a beginning. By nature we are sinners, alienated from the life of God and guilty before His law. If we come into the new, saved life, there must be a change from what we are by na- ture. This change is of so marked a character that it is called by Jesus Him- self by the striking name of the new birth. The necessity of this change is stated or implied constantly in His teach- 22 Its Beginning 23 ings. He calls it a passing from death unto life. *' Verily, verily, I say unto you. He that heareth my word, and believeth Him that sent me, hath eternal life, and Cometh not into judgment, but hath passed out of death into life" (John v. 24). The same condition of the sinner was also probably referred to by Jesus when to one who sought excuse for de- lay in obeying His call saying, *' Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father," He answered, "' Follow me, and leave the dead (the spiritually dead) to bury their own dead" (Matt. viii. 21, 22). The apostle John, who stood especially near to Jesus and had His mind so fully, evidently adopted the same expression for man's unregenerate condition, when he said : '' We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abid- eth in death '' (I. John iii. 14). Paul expressed the same truth most forcibly when he said to the Ephesian Christians, 24 The Christian Life '* And you did He make alive, when ye were dead through your trespasses and sins" (Eph. ii. 1). In his second letter to the Corinthians he stated the thought still more emphatically, saying, '* If any man is in Christ, he is a new creature (or, there is a new creation) : the old things are passed away ; behold, they are be- come new" (II. Cor. v. 17). The necessity of this change, together with its nature, its methods, and its re- sults, is most systematically and fully set forth by Jesus in His conversation with Nicodemus (John iii. 1-21). In clear and emphatic words Jesus told Nicode- mus that he must not merely be born again, but be born from a lower into a higher sphere of being. The Jewish ruler was alive physically and mentally, but he was dead spiritually, and until he received spiritual life from above he could know nothing of spiritual things. This new birth Jesus declares to be a mystery. '' The wind bloweth where it Its Begmning 25 will, and thou hearest the voice thereof, but knowest not whence it cometh, and whither it goeth : so is every one that is born of the Spirit." But all life is a mys- tery. This spiritual renewal is accom- plished by the influence and operation of the Holy Spirit. How it is brought about is not readily understood, cannot be understood ; but we see the effects and know that they are real. No one can see the wind, but we can see the effects of the wind, and some very strong and substantial bodies go down before it. I have felt the Spirit of God working in my heart just as much as I have felt the wind blowing in my face. There are a great many things people cannot reason out that they beHeve and know. Like the man whose sight was restored by Christ, they may not be able to tell how the cure was wrought, but they can say, with that man, '' One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see " (John ix. 25). 26 The Christian Life An Object for Faith In His conversation with Nicodemus Jesus did not stop with the mystery of the new birth, but presented to him an object for his faith. This was Himself and the work He should accomplish on the cross. He said, '*' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up ; that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have eternal Hfe. For God sent not the Son into the world to judge the world ; but that the world should be saved through Him. He that believeth on Him is not judged : he that believeth not is judged already, because he hath not believed on the name of the only be- gotten Son of God (John iii. 14-18). It should be remembered that "" to believe on" Christ, as the term is used in the Its Beginning 27 New Testament, always means to trust, to confide in, to rely upon Him. A Christian, therefore, is one who believes on Christ. He has entrusted his whole life, with its sin, its guilt, it ruin, its need, its security for eternity, its redemption, cleansing and transformation, to the hands of the mighty Saviour, the strong Son of God. Those who do thus believe on Christ are born anew, born from above ; that is, there is a new, a divine life within them. Jesus speaks of it as a well of water in the believer " springing up unto eternal life " (John iv. 14). The re- sult is shown in new affections, new de- sires, new hopes, new aims. If we are truly born again the life of heaven has really begun within us. '' The kingdom of God is within you" (Luke xvii. 21). This life may be very feeble in its begin- ning, like a seed planted in a garden, but the seed is from heaven and the new life in us has truly begun. '' That which is born of the Spirit," said Jesus, '' is spirit.'' 28 The Christian Life It is the life of the Spirit begun in a hu- man soul. Paul put this truth in a very striking way when he said, '' It is no longer I that live, but Christ liveth in me " (Gal. ii. 20). Jesus said that a Christian is a '' branch '' of the true Vine (John xv. 5). Christ the Way In John xiv. 6, Jesus says, " I am the way : no man cometh unto the Father but by me. " And again in x. 9 he says, *' I am the door : by me if any man en- ter in, he shall be saved." It is worthy of special note that He does not say *' I am a way," as if there were other ways, but, '" I am the way " — the only way ; no one can come to the Father, or to heaven by any other. Jesus does not say, ** I am a door," but *' I am the door," that is the one and only door into the fold of God. Jesus Himself is the way. He, the Lord of life and glory, took upon Him our nature, suffered, bled, and died on the Its Beginnijtg 2g cross to be the door — the way of entrance to eternal life. *' By me," says Jesus, ''if any man enter in, he shall be saved." '' Any man " — that means high or low, rich or poor, learned or ignorant. "' Any man " — that means whatever his former character, however many his sins, how- ever hard his heart, if he enter by the door, if he truly come to Christ, he shall be saved. '' He shall be saved," — his sins shall be pardoned ; his heart shall be renewed ; he shall be set free from the love, the power, the dominion of sin, and in the end shall be brought safe home to heaven. If a ship wants to trade at any port of the many upon the shores of the Medi- terranean Sea, it must pass through the narrow Strait of Gibraltar. Large ships or small, valuable cargoes or those of little worth, it is all one ; they must go through the same narrow opening. So Jesus said, '' I am the door," and, *' No man cometh unto the Father but bv me." 30 The Christian Life But, glad and happy fact, He is the way, the ever-available v\^ay, for all who will enter by Him. Christ the Life If the process of the beginning of the Christian life could be described it would probably be something Uke this : We hear God's testimony concerning His Son. We begin to feel that He is just such a Saviour as we need. We begin to recog- nize His suitableness and sufficiency to meet our wants. Our guilt and pollu- tion seem too heavy for us to bear. We become aware that He is willing to take both, and give us pardon, peace, and power. The Holy Spirit holds Christ before us, presses Him upon us, and something within us begins to say that we ought to receive Him. We hesitate until we can hesitate no longer. Shall we reject God's testimony to us ? Shall we silence the voice that begins to speak within us ? Shall we reject the only Sav- Its Beginning 31 iour? No, we open the door of our hearts— and Christ enters. The mystical union with Christ is estabhshed. We have the Son of God, and with Him we have eternal life (John vi. 47). We be- gin to realize that it is no longer we that live, but Christ living in us, working in us, and shining through us ; we begin to feel that for us to live is Christ and to die is gain — that whether we live or die we are Christ's and He is ours. We have the spirit of adoption and we cry, Abba, Father. We did not believe on the Son because we had this spirit of adoption, but we have this spirit of adop- tion, this assurance of hope, this indwell- ing power of an endless life, because we believe on the only begotten Son of God. Our faith has transformed God's testi- mony to us to God's testimony in us, and we begin to realize that in giving us His Son God has indeed given us eter- nal life. No truth is given stronger emphasis in 32 The Christian Life the teachings of Jesus than the fact that He is the life of men. He said, '' The bread of God is that which cometh down out of heaven, and giveth Hfe unto the world " (John vi. 33). He said, *' I am the bread of life : he that cometh to me shall not hunger, and he that be- lieveth on me shall never thirst " (John vi. 35). '* All that which the Father giv- eth me shall come unto me ; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out " (John vi. 37). ** Verily, verily, I say unto you. Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, ye have not life in yourselves. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life ; and I will raise him up at the last day. For my flesh is meat in- deed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood abideth in me, and I in him. As the living Father sent me, and I live be- cause of the Father ; so he that eateth me, he also shall live because of me. Its Beginning 33 This is the bread which came down out of heaven: not as the fathers ate, and died ; he that eateth this bread shall live forever " (John vi. 53-58). " I am the light of the world : he that followeth me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John viii. 12). And, '' I came that they may have life, and may have it abundantly '* (John X. 10). Varied Experience The experience of the beginning of the new life in the soul is exceedingly varied. Probably no two cases are ex- actly alike. The manner of its beginning, or of the manifestation of its beginning, is of little importance. The important thing is that it shall begin. Sometimes the Christian life begins very simply, especially with the young. Among those who have been under good influences in the home, in the church, in the Sabbath-School, and have been liv- 34 The Christian Life ing sweet and gentle lives, free from grosser forms of evil, it is unreasonable to expect any violent "' experience " or marked change in the outward manner of living. Failing to recognize this fact many parents continue to wrestle with the Lord in prayer for the conversion of their children long after the change has really taken place ; while the children and young people themselves, on account of the same mistaken impression, con- tinue in strong efforts and deep, unsatis- fied longings to become Christians long after God has indeed accepted them and they are actually living devotedly in His service. It is well for us to recognize how simply and quietly the Christian life some- times begins. A thoughtful girl of six- teen years, living in the country at a distance from the church, which made attendance irregular, read, on a Sunday, the memoir of a Christian woman. On closing the volume, she said to herself, Its Beginning 35 ''That was a beautiful life.'' After a little thought she added, ''And I should like to live such a life." A few minutes later she kneeled down and said, " Lord, I will try from this time." The decision was made. She went on steadily, and is a useful and influential woman, honored and beloved, and widely known for her beautiful and devout character. So gentle a call or so sweet an experi- ence is not limited to children only. A man described his conversion thus to Rev. Mark Guy Pearse : " I never pro- fessed to be a Christian, or anything like that ; but one morning as I was going down to my business, I was thinking of those words, ' Simon, son of Jonas, lov- est thou me ? ' I did wish with all my heart that I could answer them as Peter did. I felt very sad that I could not. Then it came to me. Well, if I cannot say so much as Peter, could I not turn them round a little and find something easier ? So I began to think there was 36 The Christian Life one thing I could not say. I could not say, * Lord, thou knowest that I do not love Thee,' and I found some comfort in that. At last I got bold enough to look up and say, ' Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I want to love Thee.' Well, then I began to think about His great love to me ; I thought of His life, of His words, of His cross, and almost before I knew what I was do- ing I looked up and said, ' Thou know- est that I do love Thee.' " And at that moment the consciousness of a new life dawned on his soul. An Artist Converted Certainly the circumstances and expe- riences of the beginning of the new life differ greatly. Some one tells of an in- fidel Swiss artist, who was serving the devil to the extent of his ability, who went to Sheffield, England, not long ago. There he was asked to make a caricature of a Salvation Army meeting. He went Its Beginning 37 to the meeting on that errand, and scanned the faces of the people. With his own heart Hke the troubled sea that could not find rest, tossed and driven by tempests of passion, and tormented by a conscience burdened with sin, he looked on the assembled worshippers and saw peace written on their faces, and an in- ward joy beaming from their counte- nances. The sight convinced him of his sinfulness. He saw that these people had something which he lacked and which he needed. He turned his feet unto God's testimonies, believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, found peace through the blood of the cross, and rejoiced with the rejoicing ones. CHAPTER III Its Evidences rHAT the Christian life must have a beginning, that a change of heart is essential, Jesus makes perfectly plain when He says, '' Except one be born anew," that is, from above by the Holy Spirit's agency, *' he cannot see the kingdom of God " (John iii. 3). The same truth, as we have seen, is repeat- edly taught and constantly assumed in His addresses to men. So, then, there is no hope for us until our hearts are changed. It becomes therefore an ex- ceedingly important question : '' How 38 Its Evidences 39 can I know that this work has been done in my heart ? ' ' Every truly penitent believer is ac- cepted of God, but not every one is con- scious of the fact. Yet to have such assurance is certainly highly desirable. It is not asserted that this is essential, at least in the beginning of the Christian life, for the Holy Spirit may have changed the heart of a sinner even when he is complaining and sorrowing that his heart is not changed. But it certainly is a grace that ought to be sought, and is the condition of much peace and power and Christian usefulness. It is important, moreover, because indifference in regard to it is usually a sign of a lack of any deep sense of the need of salvation (Matt. ix. 13). Persons who have never realized their lost condition will not be deeply concerned to know if they are saved. With them a general lethargy of spirit- ual feeling takes the place of a genuine assurance. Those to whom sin and sal- 40 The Christian Life vation are not vivid realities, but only vague terms having little personal appli- cation, will scarcely desire to seek after a full assurance of hope. But those who are awake to these great realities cannot be content with less than a confident persua- sion of their acceptance with God. They will dread nothing more than the possi- bility of self-deception in the matter, and will be satisfied with nothing short of a well-founded, because divinely war- ranted, assurance, as far removed from presumption on the one hand as it is from indifference on the other. Some Evidences of Salvation It is very desirable, then, to know whether the new life has begun in us or not. The apostle John stood very near to Jesus and he laid much emphasis on the evidences of salvation. Naming some of these he showed the importance of our being consciously able to bear the tests, saying, *' Hereby shall we know Its Evidences 41 that we are of the truth, and shall assure our heart before Him : because if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Be- loved, if our heart condemn us not, we have boldness toward God " (I. John iii. 19-21). If our hearts condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. It is certainly very desirable, as well as most delightful, to have this confidence, and there are many valuable results in our lives that flow from possessing it. We May Know That one may know whether he is saved or not is clearly taught by Jesus. He certainly wished all His followers to advance far beyond the mere hope that they have a hope (cf. John xvi. 5-11). On the other hand, our acceptance with God does not depend upon our feelings. We may be glad of that, for our feelings are very fluctuating things to ground our expectation of salvation upon. We 42 The Christian Life ground our hope of salvation upon God's finished work for us in redemption, and upon His spoken word of promise to ac- cept us and save us when we turn to Him in Christ. But there are available tests, evidences of salvation which, if used, may help us to a knowledge as to whether we are Christians or not. What are some of these evidences as we gather them from the teachings of Jesus ? We Know Jesus It is certainly true that we cannot follow Jesus unless we know Him. How can we know Him ? We cannot meet Him face to face as His disciples met Him when He was on earth in human form. How can we get acquainted with Him } We may learn about Him in the Scrip- tures. '' These are they which bear wit- ness of me" (John v. 39). We should search the Scriptures until we become familiar with all that is told in them of Its Evidences 43 Jesus, especially His words. His works, His character ; until we have learned how He lived, how He loved, His patience. His gentleness. His thoughtfulness, His unselfishness. His great self-sacrifice. We should learn all we can about Him. But it is not enough to know about Him. We must know Him. It is quite pos- sible, too, for us to have a personal ac- quaintance with Him. He says that He knows His own and His own know Him. '' I am the good shepherd ; and I know mine own, and mine own know me '' (John x. 14). He says concerning the obedient disciple, " I will love him, and will manifest myself unto him " (John xiv. 21). It is the special work of the Holy Spirit to reveal Christ and the things of Christ to us. "' When He, the Spirit of truth, is come/' said Jesus, *' He shall guide you into all the truth : for He shall not speak from Himself ; but what things soever He shall hear, these shall He speak : and He shall declare unto you 44 T^he Christian Life the things that are to come. He shall glorify me ; for He shall take of mine, and shall declare it unto you " (John xvi. 13, 14). Thus Jesus is revealed to us, and we come to know Him as a personal friend, knowing no other friend so well, so intimately. This intimate knowledge of Jesus may come as the result of long acquaintance, but certainly the one who begins to follow Him must know Him (r/. John i. 35-51). We Trust Jesus The one in whom the new life has be- gun has some consciousness of belief in Jesus as the Son of God and of trusting in Him for salvation. This does not imply that he has a clearly defined grasp upon the doctrinal questions concerning Christ's nature ; but it does mean that he feels the need of a divine Saviour, that he believes Jesus to be God's Son and able to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him {cf. Matt. xvi. 15- Its Evidences 45 17). It also means that the believer has more than a mere intellectual assent to the fact that Jesus is God's Son. He has a consciousness of yielding to Jesus, of casting himself upon Him as his only hope, of trusting Him for salvation {cf. Matt. iv. 20-22). The feeling is akin to that which the disciples had when others were leaving Jesus : '' Jesus said therefore unto the twelve. Would ye also go away ? Simon Peter answered Him, Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life " (John vi. 67, 68). Best Ground of Assurance But the believer's best ground of as- surance is found in the definite words and promises of Jesus Himself. Jesus said, *' He that beheveth on the Son hath eternal Ufe " (John iii. 36). It is a mat- ter of definite promise and revelation that he that believes on Christ is saved. '' As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wil- derness, even so must the Son of man be 46 The Christian Life lifted up ; that whosoever believeth may in Him have eternal life" (John iii. 14, 15). *' God so loved the w^orld that He gave His only begotten Son, that who- soever believeth on Him should not per- ish but have eternal life '' (John iii. 16). When Jesus says that the one who be- lieves on Him, relies upon Him for sal- vation, is saved, and I consciously trust Him, I then certainly have the right to an assurance that I am saved. This can be put, like any other point of reasoning, in the form of a syllogism. It is a matter of absolute revelation that he that be- lieves in Christ is saved. This is the ma- jor proposition of the syllogism. The minor proposition is, '* I believe.'' That has no need of revelation ; it belongs to the inner consciousness. Am I not just as sure that I believe as I am sure that my pulses beat? Now put the minor under the major proposition, and the in- fallible conclusion is, *' Therefore I am saved.*' Its Evidences 47 This assurance springs up in the heart in consequence of several elements meet- ing together. The first is a strong faith in the word and promise of God. The second is the consciousness of the pos- session of that state of mind or char- acter to which the promises are an- nexed. It is not simply faith, though faith is at the foundation. The fact is the Bible is full of promises, and they are addressed not to named individuals but to characters — whosoever loveth, whosoever believeth, whosoever obeyeth, whosoever trusteth, whosoever hopeth. Well, if I hope and trust and obey and love, the consciousness ■ of possessing these graces gives me the assurance of the promises which God has annexed to these graces. Then, in the third place, there is that mysterious and royal gift, the witness together with our spirit of the Holy Spirit. These three evidences taken together give us reliable testimony upon which to trust that we have passed 48 The Christian Life from death unto life, from old things unto new. We certainly cannot put too much confidence in what Jesus says. He says, ** Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out " (John vi. 37). I come to Him. I have a right to believe that He has not cast me out. He says, *'Ask, and it shall be given you ; seek, and ye shall find ; knock, and it shall be opened unto you ; for every one that asketh re- ceiveth ; and he that seeketh findeth ; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened " (Matt. vii. 7, 8). I ask, I seek, I knock, in my desire to be saved. I have a right to believe that He has answered, has been found of me, has opened unto me. We Love Jesus The one in whom the new life has be- gun has some consciousness, too, that he loves Jesus. When the father of the child possessed of a demon was told by Jesus, ''AH things are possible to him Its Evidences 49 that belie veth/' straightway the father of the child cried out and said, '' I believe ; help Thou mine unbelief " (Mark ix. 23, 24). Just so the one who has en- tered upon the new life loves Jesus, but cries out, " Oh, to love Thee more ; help Thou my lack of love ! '' But, weak as his love may be, he is conscious that he does love Him. He is able to say with Peter, '' Lord, Thou knowest all things ; Thou knowest that I love Thee *' (John xxi. 17). A true Christian is not simply a baptized person, a church-member, a respecter of religion, but he is a person who has some definite relations toward Jesus. He trusts Jesus as his only hope of salvation. He hopes in Jesus as the one who fulfils his expectations. He follows Jesus as his example and as the one who will lead him to heaven (John xiii. 13-17). And, above all, he loves Jesus ; he has a personal attachment to Him, and a delight in Him, in His will, in His wish, in His success. 50 The Christian Life Marks of Love Now, there are ways in which we can tell whether we have this love for Jesus or not. Love has a way of making itself known and felt. If we love Jesus we will love to think about Him. It is a characteristic of love that it likes to dwell in thought upon the object of its love. So a true Christian does not forget Jesus, His wishes, His cause. His honor. Him- self. Jesus wants us to think of Him. He gave us the Lord's Supper to help us to keep Him in mind (Luke xxii. 19). He assured us that the Holy Spirit would aid us in this direction : '' But the Com- forter, even the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said unto you '' (John xiv. 26). If we love Jesus we will be glad to hear about Him. " How sweet the name of Jesus sounds In a believer's ear." Its Evidences 51 We like to hear of those whom we love. If we love Jesus we will be glad to read about Him. We always rejoice to receive a message from an absent child, husband, or friend. So the messages Christ sends will be the Christian's de- light. We have these messages in His Word. The true Christian loves to read them. Moreover, if we love Jesus we will try- to please Him. This is a trait of love ; it always considers what will gratify the one loved. If we love Him we will try to do the things He will approve. We will strive not to do the things He disap- proves. He Himself said that this is one of the definite evidences of the new life. *' He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me '' (John xiv. 21). '' He that loveth me not keepeth not my words " (John xiv. 24). " Jesus therefore said to those Jews that had believed Him, If ye abide in my 52 The Christian Life word, then are ye truly my disciples ; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free '' (John viii. 31, 32). Love does not murmur that Jesus' re- quirements are strict ; it is scarcely aware that they are : His yoke is easy and His burden light (Matt. xi. 30). This is be- cause of love. The true Christian has a consciousness of an affectionate choice of Jesus as his personal Saviour and Lord. He submits to Jesus' will, makes Him the supreme object of his affections, and endeavors to do the things that will please Him. If we have a consciousness of a willingness to accept and cheerfully to do the will of Jesus we may know that we have been brought from death unto life. The spiritually dead do not care to please Him. Jesus Himself put the strongest emphasis upon this evidence of discipleship. ''Why call ye me. Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say ? " (Luke vi. 46). " Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it " Its Evidences 53 (Luke xi. 28). He says that only those who hearing His words do them are building upon the rock (Matt. vn. 24, 25) • that those who do them not are building on the sand (Matt. vii. 26, 27). "Every one that doeth evil hateth the Hght, lest his works should be reproved. But he that doeth the truth cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, that they have been wrought m God" (Johniii. 20. 21). Ijove His Friends Again, if we love Jesus we will love His friends. This is a well known trait of love We love our friends' friends. Jesus affirmed : " By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John xiv. 35). This evidence which is good to convince others is also good to assure our own hearts that we belong to Christ. It was upon this fact the apostle John laid so much emphasis in his first epistle. He 54 The Christian Life that saith he is in the light and hateth his brother, is in the darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is no occasion of stumbling in him" (I John ii. 9, 10). ** We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not abideth in death" (I. Johniii. 13, 14). "If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar : for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, cannot love God whom he hath not seen " (I. John iv. 20). He then goes on to say that Jesus Himself is the authority for his statement of these evidences : '* And this commandment have we from Him, that he who loveth God love his brother also " (I. John v. 21). A man who loves all who love Jesus has good evidence of his present salvation. Love to the brethren is one of the best evidences to ourselves and to others that we are Christians. In a recent notable conver- Its Evidences 55 sion, of a professor in one of our col- leges, the man humbly testified that the first evidence he had that he had passed from death unto life was this \ "\ began to have a greater love for others, for hu- manity, for people in general/' If w^e love Jesus we will be very care- ful of His good name and honor. This is another universal sign of love. Readi- ness to confess Him before men will therefore characterize the true Christian. Not to confess is both to disregard His wish — '' Every one who shall confess me before men, him shall the Son of man also confess before the angels of God" (Luke xii. 8) — and to deprive Him of the honor due to His name and of the help to His cause each volunteer won for His army may give. One may be natu- rally timid. To feel timid may not be a sign of lack of love to Jesus ; but His true follower will endeavor by the grace of God to overcome his timidity and openly confess himself on the side of Jesus. 56 The Christian Life If we love Him we will also love to talk to Him and be with Him. This is why Christians love to pray, and to go to places where Jesus is found — where He has especially promised to meet them. It is also a reason why they look forward with delight toward heaven. The New Life Now, these are all evidences of the new life. They are all stated or implied in the teachings of Jesus. He did not state in what degree they must be present in any disciple, or how many of them the disciple must be conscious of possessing at any given time. But they are tests we can apply to see if we be in the faith. They may be used by way of comparison. A Christian, whose assurance was coming to consciousness, once said : '* I know that I am not what I ought to be ; I know that I am not what I want to be ; but, by the grace of God, I also know that I am not what I once was. " Its Evidences 57 A young girl who presented herself for union with the church was asked : *' Have you felt the consciousness of be- ing a sinner ? '' Shesaid/^Yes." "Are you a sinner now ? ' ' Again she answered, '' Yes." " Then wherein are you differ- ent from what you were ? " She replied, " Before I was a sinner running away from Christ : now I am a sinner running toward Him." Surely the evidence of the new life in both these cases was good. An esteemed woman, a professed Christian and useful in the Church, had a natural fear of death and a weak faith or assurance concerning the bliss beyond the grave. She called on her minister for advice and comfort. He knew she was really a devout and earnest Christian. He therefore endeavored to encourage her, comfort her heart and strengthen her faith. He said, " Well, suppose that you should die to-night, and go, as you sometimes fear, to the bad place. The 58 The Christian Life Bible teaches that our works do follow us — what we love to do here we shall have a desire to do hereafter. What would you do there but the things you are wont to do upon earth ? You would try to form a Sabbath-school ; you would institute a prayer-meeting ; you would endeavor to do all the good in your power there as you do here. Satan, hearing you singing and praying and en- deavoring to convert those around you, would soon turn you out. As long as you have the heartfelt desire to love, serve, obey and work for Christ, who has redeemed and renewed you, you have nothing to fear from Satan, and have no reason to dread hell ; for you will not be allowed to enter there unless you first become depraved in heart and life and have the desire to make others so. The unrepentant sinner, if it were possible for him to reach heaven, would be miserable and wretched there ; but you know that heaven is the place of your desire — the Its Evidences 59 place that, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, you are becoming fitted to enjoy." The pastor's words lifted a veil from the heart of this woman. The same words give an excellent test to apply for evidences of the new life. '' The greatest thing that we can de- sire, next to the glory of God, is our own salvation ; and the sweetest thing we can desire is the assurance of our salvation. In this life we cannot get higher than to be assured of that which in the next life is to be enjoyed. All saints shall enjoy a heaven when they leave this earth ; some saints enjoy a heaven while they are here on earth." (Joseph Caryl.) CHAPTER IV Its Conflicts rHE Christian life is one long con- flict between opposing forces, designated respectively the flesh and the Spirit, or between the old nature and the principles implanted within us by the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Some of these forces are within the soul. Others are such as assail us from with- out. It is indeed true of this struggle, as Caesar said of the battle he once fought in Africa against the partakers with Pompey, that in all other battles he was wont to fight for glory, but then 60 Its Conflicts 6 1 and there he was obliged to fight for his life. The Christian Ufe is a conflict in which not alone our Ufe, but our very soul is at stake. It might well be named a conflict for the soul on the battlefield of Ufe. Struggle Anticipated It was never the plan of Jesus to hide from His followers the temptations and tests and struggles they would surely have to meet. He said, '* Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves " (Matt. x. 16). He also said, '' I came not to send peace, but a sword,'* and showed how the one who would fol- low Him might expect foes not only among strangers, but even among those in his own household (Matt. x. 34-39). He said to His disciples, '' Yea, the hour Cometh, that whosoever kiUeth you shaU think that he offereth service unto God '' (John xvi. 2). He promised the ^'crown of life,'' the ^' white stone," the "hid- den manna," the ''new name " to those 62 The Christian Life who should '"hold fast/' bear "" tribula- tion," prove *' faithful unto death'' (Rev. ii. and iii.) He said that He Himself had been persecuted, therefore His dis- ciples v^ere not to be surprised when they should be persecuted also. *' A dis- ciple is not above his teacher, nor a serv- ant above his lord. It is enough for the disciple that he be as his teacher, and the servant as his lord. If they have called the master of the house Beelze- bub, how much more them of his household " (Matt. x. 24, 25). He ad- vised men definitely to '*sit down and count the cost" before entering upon the course of discipleship to Him (Luke xiv. 25-33), though He just as definitely gave to those who should venture the promise of His presence. His wisdom, and His aid. FjvH vs. Good Jesus certainly never hid from men the fact of the presence of evil and its Its Conflicts 63 bitter opposition to the good. He says that where the good is sown there will appear ''tares also." It was to convey this truth that He spoke one of His most significant parables : '' The king- dom of heaven is likened unto a man that sowed good seed in his field : but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares also among the wheat, and went away. But when the blade sprang up and brought forth fruit, then ap- peared the tares also " (Matt. xiii. 24-26). In explaining the parable of the sower and the various sorts of soil. He said that what He meant by saying that some seed fell by the wayside and the birds came and devoured them, was that to some hearers of the word '' cometh the evil one, and snatched away that which hath been sown in his heart" (Matt. xiii. 1-23). Satan no Myth That evil is in the world no one denies. The experience of temptation is universal. 64 The Christian Life To the Christian this means the ne- cessity of conflict. To Hve truly we must battle day by day. Satan is no medi- eval myth ; but an actual and active foe v^ho *' as a roaring lion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour," (I. Pet. V. 8). Interpreting the parable of the tares Jesus said plainly : '' The enemy that sowed them is the devil" (Matt. xiii. 39). On another occasion He said to certain unbelieving Jews : *' Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father it is your will to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and standeth not in the truth, because there is no truth in him " (John viii. 44). There is, then, such an enemy. {Cf. Matt. XXV. 41 and John xiii. 2). Cun- ning, powerful and treacherous, he hates God and hates the good. He tempted Christ (Matt. iv. 1-11 ; Mark i. 12, 13 ; Luke iv. 1-13). He wanted to **sift" Peter (Luke xxii. 31). And He wants to sift us too. Two things he especially Its Conflicts 65 tries to do with us ; to draw us back from the new life into his service, or, failing in that, to make us just as inefficient as pos- sible in Christian work. To make us in- efficient he first attempts to lead us into sin. Yielding to sin he knows makes cowards of us. Our cowardice discour- ages us in the Christian Ufe ; and when discouraged we are of almost no use in Christian work, for, as Mr. Moody used to say, '' God seldom uses discouraged Christians." But Satan's real purpose is to destroy us. As Jael did to Sisera, so Satan would first put us to sleep, and then kill us. A careful study of Jesus' own words concerning the Christian's great enemy cannot fail to be of utmost value in setting us on our guard against him. He speaks of him as '' the evil one " (Matt. xiii. 19, 38, 39 ; cf. v. 37 ; vi. 13), as the ^Mevil" (Matt. iv. 1-11 ; xiii. 39; XXV. 41 ; Luke iv. 8 ; viii. 12 ; John viii. 44; cf. Rev. xii. 9; xx. 2), as ^' Satan" £ 66 The Christian Life (Matt. iv. 10 ; xii. 26 ; Mark iii. 23, 26 ; iv. 15 ; Luke x. 18 ; xi. 18 ; xiii. 16 ; xxii. 31 ;