성령 안에 있는 의와 평강과 희락(롬14:17)

DECREASING INTO HIS PURPOSE “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John 3:30 If you become a necessity to a soul, you are out of God’s order. As a worker, your great responsibility is to be a friend of the Bridegroom. When once you see a soul in sight of the claims of Jesus Christ, you know that your influence has been in the right direction, and instead of putting out a hand to prevent..

AM I CARNALLY MINDED? “Whereas there is among you jealousy and strife, are ye not carnal?” 1 Corinthians 3:3 No natural man knows anything about carnality. The flesh lusting against the Spirit that came in at regeneration, and the Spirit lusting against the flesh, produces carnality. “Walk in the Spirit,” says Paul, “and ye shall not fulfill the lusts of the flesh”; and carnality wi..

THE BURNING HEART “Did not our heart burn within us?” Luke 24:32 We need to learn this secret of the burning heart. Suddenly Jesus appears to us, the fires are kindled, we have wonderful visions, then we have to learn to keep the secret of the burning heart that will go through anything. It is the dull, bald, dreary, day, with commonplace duties and people, that kills the burning heart unle..

INTEREST OR IDENTIFICATION? “I have been crucified with Christ.” Galathians 2:20 The imperative need spiritually is to sign the death-warrant of the disposition of sin, to turn all emotional impressions and intellectual beliefs into a moral verdict against the disposition of sin, viz., my claim to my right to myself. Paul says—“I have been crucified with Christ”; he does not say, “I..

FRIENDSHIP WITH GOD “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” Genesis 18:17 Its Delights. This chapter brings out the delight of real friendship with God as compared with occasional feelings of His presence in prayer. To be so much in contact with God that you never need to ask Him to show you His will, is to be nearing the final stage of your discipline in the life of faith. When ..

THE WAY OF ABRAHAM IN FAITH “He went out, not knowing whither he went.” Hebrews 11:8 In the Old Testament, personal relationship with God showed itself in separation, and this is symbolized in the life of Abraham by his separation from his country and from his kith and kin. To-day the separation is more of a mental and moral separation from the way that those who are dearest to us look at t..

SHALL I ROUSE MYSELF UP TO THIS? “Perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” 2 Corinthians 7:1 “Having therefore these promises.” I claim the fulfillment of God’s promises, and rightly, but that is only the human side; the Divine side is that through the promises I recognize God’s claim on me. For instance, am I realizing that my body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, or have I a habit..

THE WORKER’S RULING PASSION “Wherefore we labour that . . . we may be accepted of Him.” 2 Corinthians 5:9 “Wherefore we labour . . .” It is arduous work to keep the master ambition in front. It means holding one’s self to the high ideal year in and year out, not being ambitious to win souls or to establish churches or to have revivals, but being ambitious only to be “accepted of H..

THE MASTER ASSIZES “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 5:10 Paul says that we must all, preacher and people alike, “appear before the judgment seat of Christ.” If you learn to live in the white light of Christ here and now, judgment finally will cause you to delight in the work of God in you. Keep yourself steadily faced by the ju..

THE DISCIPLINE OF DISMAY “And as they followed, they were afraid.” Mark 10:32 At the beginning we were sure we knew all about Jesus Christ, it was a delight to sell all and to fling ourselves out in a hardihood of love; but now we are not quite so sure. Jesus is on in front and He looks strange. “Jesus went before them: and they were amazed.” There is an aspect of Jesus that chills the ..