| The Christian Life | December 1943 |
Leads to Glory
Loyalty to God and Christ
“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me: and he that loveth Me shall be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.”—John 14:21
THIS text shows that we must not only have the commandments of Jesus, but we also must keep them to be acceptable to God. Nothing less than an absolutely loyal will could enable us to meet all the tests and finally gain an “abundant entrance” into the Kingdom. To have such a spirit of loyalty will require a constant scrutinizing of our thoughts and words and doings.
Not long ago an instructor of Parachute Troopers was being interviewed in a radio broadcast. He was asked the question, “Is it not dangerous to jump with a parachute from an aeroplane?” He answered that they always impress upon the students that whether or not such a jump is dangerous depends on how thoroughly they inspect their apparatus before they start on the trip. They must see that there are no tears or weak spots, that the cords are not twisted, and that the release snap is in good, workable condition: The students are told, he explained, that if they take such a jump without first making a careful inspection of their equipment, taking for granted that everything will work out all right, they may be “jumping to a conclusion” in more than one sense.
We can take a lesson from this illustration. We, who are Christians, have made a full consecration of our all to do the Father’s will, to be baptized into Christ’s sacrificial death. “Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?” (Romans 6:3) Figuratively speaking, we have taken a jump into sacrificial death. Is it dangerous? That all depends on whether or not we are continually inspecting our parachute—ourselves—to see that in our hearts, there is the spirit of full obedience to God and His Word. The apostle tells us in II Corinthians 7:1, “Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.” We should be careful to purge out the old leaven of malice, hatred and envy and instead see that our hearts are filled with love and thoughtfulness. We should put away filthy words, filthy habits and a filthy appearance. We should watch not only our actions but also our thoughts, so that nothing will interfere with our being wholly devoted to doing the divine will.
In Leviticus 16:13, we read, “And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not.” The High Priest had to follow certain rules of ceremony on the Day of Atonement or else he would die as he went under the second veil. This pictures the fact that we must carefully scrutinize our thoughts and actions to see that we are carrying out our consecration vows in harmony with the commandments in God’s Word.
For instance, the High Priest when he brought the blood into the Most Holy of the Tabernacle was to take fire from off the brazen altar and put it in the censer on the incense altar in the Holy and crumble incense on it before going into the Most Holy. Suppose he would say, “What difference does it make where I get the fire, so long as I have fire in the censer.” And suppose he should take coals from a fire out in the camp. His sacrifice would not have been approved and he would have died, as he attempted to go under the second veil.
Likewise our trials represented by the fire, should come upon us as a result of our obedience to God in sacrificing the flesh and its interests in harmony with our covenant of sacrifice. Just having trials is not sufficient. We are to avoid bringing upon ourselves trials because of thoughtlessness or carelessness or quick temper. We are told in I Peter 2:20: “What glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.”
Let us always bear in mind that the Lord is judging us according to our hearts. I Samuel 16:7 reads, “But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, [Eliab], or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” This was said concerning one of the sons of Jesse at the time that David was anointed to be king of Israel because Saul had been rejected by the Lord on account of his unfaithfulness.
Saul had been told to slay the Amalekites. He did kill them but not their king, Agag. Saul did what he pleased rather than obey God’s instructions. We read in I Samuel 15:20, “And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and have gone the way the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.”
The Amalekites might well picture our sinful and fleshly desires which we as new creatures, are to kill and mortify whenever they conflict with doing God’s will. Some one may be quite ready and willing to slay most of his “Amalekites” but he may keep alive a “King Agag”—some pet pleasure or sin that he wants to retain for his gratification. In doing this he is not living up to his covenant with the, Lord—his covenant by sacrifice. (Psalm. 50:5) His will is partly loyal to God, but not wholly loyal. O, let us watch so that some pet pleasure does not take up so much of our time that it interferes with the carrying out of our covenant by sacrifice!
Let us now ask ourselves some questions to see how loyal our wills are to God.. Just how do we rate on God’s scale of values? The first question is, How much progress are we making in overcoming the flesh? The principle referred to in Romans 5:20 applies to our justification, “But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” But we should not presume upon God’s grace—we should progress in righteousness. Instead of saying, “The merit of Jesus makes up for the shortcomings of my flesh, so what difference how much or how little there is to be made up,” we should be endeavoring to keep the body of flesh in subjection to the new mind. Paul wrote, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”—I Cor. 9:27
Just as the athlete who keeps practicing the broad jump he proves his muscles and his sense of balance, to where he can make a broader jump than when he first started, so our ability to resist evil and to use our mortal bodies in the service of the Lord should be greater and stronger than when we first started on the course of consecration.
The second question that we can ask ourselves is, When we have a quarrel are we more interested in showing that the other party is wrong and in obtaining an apology than we are in gaining peace and harmony and love? The spirit that is more interested in making the other fellow knuckle down and apologize than in building up each other in Christian character, is not the right spirit.
At a certain lecture, the speaker held up a large white cardboard and asked the audience what they could see. They replied, “A large white cardboard.” Then with his fountain pen, he dropped a blot of ink on the cardboard and again asked the audience what they could see. They answered, “An ink blot.” Then he pointed out to them that the white cardboard was ever so much larger and yet all they noticed and thought about, was the small ink blot. What a lesson for us not to look merely at some small fault that a brother may have and fail to see his good qualities. Uncontrolled anger, like a magnifying glass, can snake that ink blot look much larger than it is.
Additionally, we are not to hold grudges. Just as the Israelites were to clean house and remove all leaven, so the apostle tells us in I Corinthians 5:8: “Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” He specially mentions “old leaven,” seeming to imply something of long standing such as the corruptive influence of inherited sins and weaknesses. This “old leaven” can also be considered as “rank wickedness” in contrast with the less rank but more insidious leaven of malice and wickedness. When we keep old, long standing grievances in our hearts but out actions we are saying, She did wrong to me about six months ago. O, it is true that she said that she was sorry and asked me for forgiveness, and I said I would forgive her, but I am not forgetting about it so the next time she displeases me, I can remind her of it. Such a spirit is not pleasing to the Lord and means that one possessing it is not wholly loyal to Him.
The next searching question is, Are we grumbling about our circumstances or have we as yet learned to be content? Paul wrote, “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content.” (Phil. 4:11) The story is told of some sailors who were out on a ship in the ocean. They had run out of fresh, sweet water. As a result, some had died and the rest were very thirsty. Another ship was passing by and in answer to the request for fresh water were told, “Drop your bucket where you are.” They thought this was a foolish answer in view of the fact that the water in the ocean is salty and would only make their thirst worse. But they tried it and to their amazement, found that the water was sweet and fresh. They were at the mouth of the Amazon River, which because of its size and force runs far out into the ocean.
The Lord tells us in His Word that He will give us just those experiences that are for our best spiritual welfare. We are to “drop our buckets where we are” and the Lord will so overrule our affairs that even the circumstances which look as if they could only bring us harm spiritually, can, with the aid of His Spirit operating through the Word, bring us just the spiritual blessings we need. The Lord does not remove the woes, but as the poet puts it, “He knows how to steal the bitter from life’s woes.”
Therefore, let us not hastily conclude that the Lord has permitted us to drift into circumstances and conditions which can only, ruin us spiritually. If our wills are fully submitted to His will, and our faith is sincere and simple, we will find that the waters are sweet. “Faith can firmly trust Him, come what may.”
Another question to ask ourselves is, Do we sulk when others do not follow our advice or instructions? If we do, remember that sulking is a confession of weakness. It indicates that either we do not know how to handle others, or else, we are not manifesting the spirit of the Master.
Now let us examine ourselves to see if we are as thoughtful and tactful in our expressions of appreciation as we should be. We should not go to the extreme of never giving a compliment or saying a word of appreciation. On the other hand, we should avoid being too flowery, or too frequent or too flattering in our words of appreciation.
Let us also ask ourselves; how alert are we to take advantage of all the little opportunities of service for the truth, for the brethren, and for our families, which are daily presenting themselves to us? Let us watch ourselves along this line.
Let us ask still another question. Are we getting all the good out of the meetings that we should? One object of the meetings is to enable us to better understand the letter and spirit of God’s Word and thus gain a better knowledge of the doctrines. Using as our text books, the six volumes of Scripture Studies, and proving each point as we go along by referring to the Bible for proof texts, and studying how we can apply these doctrines in our general and daily conduct, we will be richly blessed in the knowledge of the Lord. Experience has proved this to be the case.
When we come to the meetings, the amount of truth we will be able to carry away with us, will depend on how receptive are our hearts and minds. Let us try to see hove much blessing we can get from every thing that is said, and to be and give a blessing as well.
Another object in attending the meetings, is to have our hearts warmed by the love and friendship of the brethren. It is said of a certain famous baby specialist, that if he had a baby at a hospital that was weak and frail even though it was being well fed, he would write on the instruction sheet, “This baby is to be loved every three hours.” He knew that the love and care and attention which that baby would receive from the nurse would do for it what the food alone could not do. Likewise, the love and fellowship of God’s people are also needed by each one of us. The doctrines are necessary but they need to be supplemented by these seasons of loving friendship with the Lord’s people. Are we making the fullest use of the doctrines, the fellowship and love of the brethren?
The Apostle Paul left us a noble example of one who is wholly loyal to God’s will. Despite the trials and hardships of the narrow way, may we all be able to say, in all sincerity, with him: “But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.”—Acts 20:24