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But God did not send him forth at his own charges and in his own strength. He never does so send forth His prophets. He equips them. He humbles them until there is no conceit or strength left in them,
Little faith sees the difficulties and often accepts defeat without a fight. Great faith sees God and fights manfully against all odds, and though the enemy apparently triumphs, wins moral and spiritual victory, as did Christ on Calvary, and as did the martyrs who perished in flame.
Great revivals among God's people and awakenings among the ungodly never begin in a great way.
We may be sweet singers, eloquent and moving preachers, skillful organizers, masters of men and assemblies, wizards of finance, popular and commanding leaders, but if we are not soul-winners, if we do not make men and women see the meaning and winsomeness of Jesus, and hunger for His righteousness and purity, and bow to Him in full loyalty, then one thing, the chief thing for an Army Officer, we lack. And yet that one thing is within the reach of us all if we live for it, if we put it first, if we shrink not from the cost. We may be, we should be, Oh, we shall be at all cost, winners of souls!
it is because of failure to obey the Spirit in such minor matters that many people are so spiritually coarse and unlovely, or so lean and barren in soul. 'The little foxes spoil the vines; for our vines have tender grapes.'
before we can be filled we must be emptied. Before we can have the 'life more abundant,' we must die to sin. The 'old man ' must be crucified and put off before Jesus can abide in our hearts and satisfy the hunger of our souls.
he did not often realize that he had found God when praying, and explained that he was so busy, so pressed with his work, so absorbed and fascinated with it, that when he prayed his mind wandered to things he should do during the day, and so he seldom got into real touch and fellowship with God. I earnestly warned him of the danger this meant to his own soul and eventually to his work, the dryness and spiritual barrenness that must come upon him if, through the multiplicity of cares and the pressure of work, God was crowded out or pushed into the background of his life.
Study, reading, travel, the cultivation of the mind and the gratifying of taste, may lead to the neglect of God's work and the drying up of the fountains of spiritual power.
who is enshrined in his heart's best affections. What, then, shall be first in our thoughts, our affections, our life? That must be first, the loss of which is the loss of all. To lose God is the sum of all loss. If we lose Him we lose all. If we lose all and still have Him, we shall in Him again find all.
if you think of Holiness as separate from the Holy Spirit, you will lose all.
It is no sin to be tempted. It is sinful to yield.
It is an unscriptural and dangerous doctrine that there is any state of grace in this world from which we cannot fall.
Righteousness is conformity to the divine law, but holiness is conformity to the divine nature.
'I got the blessing three times but lost it twice. The third time I got it the Lord taught me how to keep it through this text "As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord so walk ye in Him"' (Col. ii. 6).
To keep the blessing, we must pray to and commune much with the Lord.
To keep the blessing, we must give diligent attention to the Bible.
To keep the blessing, we must constantly live in the spirit of self-denial.
He who neglects diligent, daily study of and meditation in the Word of God will soon neglect secret prayer, while he who feeds upon it will be constantly pouring out his heart in prayer and praise, and in this as in all things, regular practice will cultivate, increase and perfect the spirit of prayer.
We ought to give at least one solid hour every day to restful, loving devotion with Jesus over our open Bible, for the refreshing, developing and strengthening of our spiritual life. If we would do this, God would have an opportunity to teach, correct, inspire and comfort us, reveal His secrets to us, and make spiritual giants of us. If we will not do this, we shall surely be spiritual weaklings all our days, however we may wish to be strong.
labors, will pay you for all your toils; one look
Do you want to know what holiness is? It is pure love.
holiness is a state in which there is no anger, malice, blasphemy, hypocrisy, envy, love of ease, selfish desires for good opinion of men, shame of the Cross, worldliness, deceit, debate, contention, covetousness, nor any evil desire or tendency in the heart.
Holiness is not absolute perfection, which belongs to God only; nor is it angelic perfection; nor is it Adamic perfection -- for, no doubt, Adam had a perfect head as well as a perfect heart before he sinned against God. But it is Christian perfection -- such perfection and obedience of the heart as a poor fallen creature, aided by almighty power and boundless grace, can give. It is that state of heart and life which consists in being and doing all the time -- not by fits and starts, but steadily -- just what God wants us to be and do.
Entire sanctification is at once a process of subtraction and addition.
two great practical hindrances to holiness are: First, imperfect consecration; and, second, imperfect faith.
"The very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He that calleth you, who also will do it" (I Thess. v. 23, 24).
When Satan has injured the faith of the sanctified man, he will begin to blacken the character of God. He will suggest to the man that the Father no longer loves him with that mighty love He had for His Son Jesus; yet Jesus declares that He does. Then he will suggest that, maybe, the Blood does not cleanse him from all sin and that the Holy Spirit cannot -- or, at least, does not -- keep anybody spotless and blameless, and that, after all, there is no such thing as a holy life down here in this world.
Remember He has said: "My grace is sufficient for thee" (2 Cor. xii. 9), and it is written of Him: "For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted" (Heb. ii. 18); and again: "We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Heb. iv. 15). But, "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. viii. 31).
The last thing a soul has to give up, when seeking salvation or sanctification, is "an evil heart of unbelief" (Heb. iii. 12). This is Satan's stronghold. You may drive him from all his outposts and he does not care much, but when you assail this citadel he will resist with all the lies and cunning he can command. He does not care much if people do give up outward sin. A respectable sinner will suit his purpose quite as well as the most disreputable.
The secret of all failures, and of all true success, is hidden in the attitude of the soul in its private walk with God.
Know, then, that all failure has its beginning in the closet, in neglecting to wait on God until filled with wisdom, clothed with power, and all on fire with love.
The man who wants power, just when it is most needed, must walk with God. He must be a friend of God. He must keep the way always open between his heart and God.
When God searches for a man to work in His vineyard He does not ask, "Has he great natural abilities? Is he thoroughly educated? Is he a fine singer? Is he eloquent in prayer? Can he talk much?" But, rather, He asks, "Is his heart perfect toward Me? Is he holy? Does he love much? Is he willing to walk by faith, and not by sight? Does he love Me so much and has he such childlike confidence in My love for him that he can trust Me to use him when he doesn't see any sign that I am using him? Will he be weary and faint when I correct him and try to fit him for greater usefulness? Or will he, like
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How much worse is he who attempts to do God's work without God's direction and God's strength!
William Booth say in an officer's council: "Take time to pray God's blessing down on your own soul every day. If you do not, You will lose God. God is leaving men every day. They once had power. They walked in the glory and strength of God but they ceased to wait on Him and earnestly seek His face, and He left them. I am a very busy man, but I take time to get alone with God every day and commune with Him. If I did not, He would soon leave me."
beware not to attempt to do the work of the Holy Ghost yourself.
But just as it costs effort to find the truth, so it requires watching to keep it.
God "is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek Him" (Heb. xi. 6).
If you want to hold the truth fast and not let it slip, you must read and read and re-read the Bible. You must constantly refresh your mind with its truths, just as the diligent student constantly refreshes his mind by reviewing his textbooks, just as the lawyer who wishes to succeed constantly studies his law books, or the doctor his medical works.
The truth will surely slip, if you do not refresh your mind by constantly reading and meditating in the Bible. The Bible is God's recipe book for making holy people. You must follow the recipe exactly, if you want to be a holy, Christ-like person.
Brother, if you have not committed the unpardonable sin -- and you have not, if you have any desire whatever to be the Lord's -- your first step is to renew your consecration to the Lord, confessing your backslidings; and then your second and only step is to cry out with Job, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job. xiii. 15); and this ground you must steadfastly hold, till the witness comes of your acceptance.
God has not changed. He waits to do the will of praying men.
have attended strictly to my part of the business, and trusted God to do His part, and I have had some success everywhere I have gone.
I emphasize the truth that the blessing is to be received by faith NOW. The man who expects to get it by works will always have something more to do before he can claim the blessing, and so never comes to the point where he can say, "The blessing is now mine. But the humble soul, who expects to get it by faith, sees that it is a gift; and, believing that God is as willing to give it now as at some future time, trusts and receives it at once.
Know Jesus, and you will be able to feed His lambs and sheep.
he who would be entirely sanctified must make an unreserved offering of himself to God.
Look unto Jesus and pay no attention to your emotions; they are involuntary, but will soon adjust themselves to the fixed habit of your faith and will.
You prove your real desire and purpose to be holy, not by giving up in the presence of defeat, but by rising from ten thousand falls, and going at it again with renewed faith and consecration. If you do this, you shall surely win the prize, and be able to keep it in the end.
if you want to keep the blessing, that is one of the things you must constantly do -- lift your heart to God and look to Him for light, not only in the crises and great events of life, but in all its little and seemingly trifling details.
Victory always comes where a man, having poured Out his heart in prayer, dares to trust God and express his faith in praise.
