The Oberlin Evangelist
June 21, 1843.
HOLINESS OF CHRISTIANS IN THE PRESENT LIFE:--No. 9
NECESSITY AND NATURE OF DIVINE TEACHING.
Modernized by Cliff
Collins
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed,
not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own
salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will
and to do for His good pleasure.” (Phil
2:12-13)
“Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord
Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will,
working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to
whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
(Heb 13:20, 21)
“However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He
will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but
whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will
glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13, 14)
“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father
will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your
remembrance all things that I said to you.”
(John 14:26)
I. Why is there a need for divine influence in
regeneration and sanctification?
II. What kind of influence do we need?
III. What kind of influence does the Holy Spirit
actually use?
IV. Why is the consistency and co-operation of both
divine and human agencies in the work of salvation and sanctification necessary?
I. Why is there a need for divine influence in
regeneration and sanctification?
1. A selfish mind will never evolve into a holy
mind. This will appear clear from the
nature of selfishness. Selfishness
consists in committing our will to self-gratification. Selfishness consists in committing our will
to indulging in our appetites and desires.
2. Now, please notice that selfishness is the
supreme choice of the person who wallows in it. Selfishness is choosing self-gratification over and above all
other and higher interests. Selfishness
is making self-gratification one’s ultimate goal in life, and everything else
becomes a means to achieve self-gratification.
Therefore, self-gratification is chosen for its own sake.
3. I showed, in an earlier lecture, that any choice
must produce its corresponding outward or physical actions. Our choice first grabs a hold of our
attention, and through our attention, it produces corresponding thoughts,
emotions, and desires. The choice of
our goal in life requires the use of means to accomplish that goal, and the
choice of our goal gives direction to the action of every mental power we
have. Since our choice of an ultimate
goal directs our mind, this choice also determines our motives or reasons for
doing what we do. Since desire and
feeling largely depend on our thoughts, and the choice of our ultimate goal in
life directs our thoughts, it follows that the choice of our goal largely
determines the motives that will address our mind through our souls. Thus, all the actions and states of our mind
are controlled by the choice of our goal in life. Hence, as long as we have chosen our purpose in life, whether
that choice is to serve self, or serve, God, our ultimate choice must shut our
mind off from the influence of all objects that are inconsistent with our
choice. Our ultimate choice focuses our
attention on all those things that agree with it. A person, for example, who dedicates his life to making money,
will naturally so focus his attention on things connected with moneymaking,
that nothing else will influence him very much.
4. Choosing our goal in life must be an act of our
will, and, therefore, it is a free choice.
But, the freedom of our will consists in the power to choose one way or
another, in view of any given motive that is presented to us. Free will consists in the power to choose or
refuse any object that is presented to us.
No one can choose an object that he does not see, or that he is not
aware of. Hence, whatever prevents him
from seeing also prevents him from choosing.
Whatever prevents him from seeing a motive or an object makes it
impossible for him to choose or refuse that object.
5. If there is an existing opposite goal, we can
draw our mind away from one group of objects or motives, and redirect our mind
in another direction. However, even
though our mind is completely free, if it fails to see any of those objects
that relate to that opposite goal, our mind does not have any means that will
ever guarantee that it will choose according to those objects. I am not saying that an existing goal,
whether selfish or holy, prevents us from perceiving any motives to a goal that
is contrary to itself; for, as I showed in my lecture on Christian warfare, our
souls will always expose us to temptation, no matter how holy we may
become. But, a holy goal naturally
shuts out motives hostile to itself as far as possible, and keeps our attention
focused on those motives that correspond with our holy goal. On the other hand, a selfish goal cannot
completely hush the voice of reason, and shut out all motives to act
unselfishly. However, a selfish person
naturally shuts out all motives to act unselfishly as much as he can.
In fact, we find selfish minds so open to selfish
motives, and so blinded to all other motives, that selfish motives have
complete influence and control over selfish people. Therefore, unless some agency that lies outside that selfish
person, is used to grab a hold of his attention, and cause him to see and consider
a totally different group of motives, than those selfish motives he has
committed himself to using, his situation is hopeless. As long as his own self-gratification
occupies his attention and engrosses him, he will not look at or even see objects
of a different character strong enough for him to come under their influence,
but he will slowly drift along into the depths of hell. All of his choices will be between different
forms of selfishness. He has committed
himself to floating down the broad stream that leads to eternal damnation, and
in spite of the spontaneous protests of his reason, he will float onward and
downward.
People may even hear the best instructions every
day. They may even hear the most solemn
warnings, and yet their attention is so focused on their own self-gratification
that everything they hear goes in one ear and out the other. They barely feel the power of these
instructions, if at all. Thus, Judas
was always thinking about money, so that even when he listened to Christ
preach, it didn’t help him at all. In
the same way, multitudes of people today have become so occupied with their own
selfish pursuits that although they hear, perhaps every Sunday, the most
pungent and solemn truths, those truths don’t seem to affect them in the least
degree. They even sit in the house of
God plotting their own selfish schemes and, during the service, they even plan
what they are going do and where they are going to go after the service
ends. Thus, by the action of the laws
of their own minds, they rush on to certain destruction, unless some foreign
influence stops them dead in their tracks.
6. Another point to consider is that spiritual
truths are not addressed to us through our senses. Furthermore, since sensual objects are constantly appealing to
our appetites, desires, and passions, sensual objects easily occupy our
attention. We constantly need a
spiritual influence to keep our attention focused on the great truths of
religion. Therefore, it is certain that
even converted people need a constant divine influence to keep them from
falling back into sin. They need
constant divine influence to constantly hold those motives that will keep holiness
within their view.
II. What kind of influence do we need?
1. This influence must be spiritual influence. It cannot be a material influence. We need a spiritual influence to gain access
to our mind, and draw our thought’s away from the material objects around us.
2. The influence that we need must be a moral
influence as opposed to a physical influence.
It must be something that can influence our choice. Our will is not like a steel spring that we
must bend by force; only motives can influence our will. Physical power cannot move our will. Our will moves freely.
3. We need an influence that will enlighten us so
that it controls and dissipates the darkness of our mind. Not only does the sinner move in an envelope
of darkness, which the Holy Spirit must drive away, but there needs to be a
constant blaze of light poured on the Christian, to expose his deficiencies and
lead him forward. When a Christian
backslides, and becomes selfish, what else, other than the light of heaven, can
remove his darkness and delusion?
4. This influence needs to be wise enough and
powerful enough to grab a hold and keep our attention. It is clear that we need an influence, not
merely to argue with us and get us to agree with God, but to so convince us,
that it gains our attention and keeps it.
Nothing is more common than for people to agree with arguments without
really understanding what those arguments really mean, and therefore, we need
an influence that can actually show the truth to our mind, quicken our
conscience, and develop our soul in its favor.
Anytime a truth is presented to our mind, the Holy Spirit can give
increased power to that truth if He can arouse a corresponding feeling within
us. Therefore, we need the Holy Spirit
because the Holy Spirit knows the laws and whole history of our minds
perfectly, and He knows just how to approach us in order to make us feel the
way we should feel, and He knows just how to possess us with the true knowledge
of God.
Whose heart has not ached over the problem of making
sinners understand the true nature of Christianity? Even professing Christians stumble over the true character of
God. I was astonished when I heard
about certain objections concerning my sermon about putting on Christ. You may remember, that I said in that sermon,
that we should, in all circumstances, and in every calling, ask what Christ
would do if He were in our place, even if He were a physician, a mechanic, or
even a street-sweeper. “What”! Some people cried, “compare Jesus Christ to
a street-sweeper, or a washer-woman?
That is blasphemous! I can’t
listen to him anymore”. Now, let me ask
you, what do such people know about religion?
Why, if they had seen Jesus washing His disciple’s feet, they would
immediately have declared He could not be the Christ! What! Imagine any
necessary and honest labor below Christ’s dignity? I wonder if they think it was beneath Him to be a carpenter? Some sinners believe that it is completely
below God’s dignity to take any notice of this world. That is what they think about God. They think it would lower His dignity to concern Himself about
us. What a shame! Such professing Christians don’t even know
the nature of true religion. If they
did, they would never indulge in their foolish prejudices against people of
color, and on a thousand other points on which they should be as honest and
solemn as if they were standing before God on Judgment Day. They need an agency to teach them the truth
about God and His service, and that agency is the Holy Spirit.
5. This agent must be able to reveal to our mind
truths that are designed to inspire confidence and love. Otherwise, all His testimony will only
confirm their selfishness, and leave them still carnal, sold under sin. (See Romans 7:14) This agent must also possess immeasurable patience. Men often run out of patience, and even
parents run out of patience with their own children. How much patience, then do we need in order to influence men to
obey the will of God? Moreover, this
agent must also be Omnipresent, and characterized by unlimited unselfish
love. Just think about how much love is
required. The Atonement is made. Christ died to pay the penalty for our sins,
but sinners don’t pay any attention to it, and so the Holy Spirit must do
something more to remove their blindness, and overcome their drunkenness, and
lead him to accept His offers and obey His precepts.
III. What kind of influence does the Holy Spirit
actually use?
1. The Holy Spirit strives with every generation;
and He strives with every individual gratuitously. He receives no pay for it.
Oh how great His unselfish must be!
His influence has all the characteristics I mentioned earlier. His influence is spiritual. John 16:7-8 says, “Nevertheless I tell you
the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the
Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. And when He has come, He will convict the
world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.”
The Holy Spirit’s influence is a moral influence, as
opposed to a physical influence. He
works in us to will and to do, by motives, and by truth. Please review today’s passages. Here are some more passages.
“Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of
truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of His creatures.” (James 1:18) “Having been born again, not of corruptible seed but
incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” (1 Peter 1:23)
“Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” (John 17:17)
These passages, not only state that the Holy Spirit
exerts an influence, but they clearly teach that this influence is a moral
influence. The Atonement of Christ
furnishes the motives that are needed to accomplish the work of converting
sinners and sanctifying saints. If it
should occur to you, that there were people converted before the Atonement was
made, I answer, that conversion comes through those truths that the Atonement
presents, and these truths were foreshadowed in the Jewish rituals, and revealed
in prophecy. Old testament saints
certainly were not converted simply by obeying the law. Law only drives a sinner to despair. What!
A selfish sinner brought to love by the threats of the law? Impossible!
Aware of his selfishness and guilt, the sinner looks up, he sees God
clothed in terrors and frowns, with a red thunderbolt in His hand, and God is
poised, ready to dash him to hell. Does
this have a tendency to persuade him to unselfishly submit to God, and to love
God? No! Such threats have just the opposite effect. It turns his selfishness into fiercer
opposition.
But, the manifestation of love in the Atonement is
completely different. It is as Paul says in Romans 12:20. “Therefore if your enemy hungers, feed him;
if he thirsts, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on
his head”. If you meet your enemy, you
may scold him and threaten to shoot him; and as long you yell at him him, he
may blush. As long as you threaten him,
he may tremble; but he will not love you.
We are all aware of the influence of that course of action. But, if we demonstrate unselfish love
towards him, we will heap coals of fire on his head. We change him into a friend.
So, when the sinner sees that God is all love instead of full of anger
and hate, with a power that appears as if His love is magic, this love melts
him down! As long as the sinner only
sees evidence of God’s wrath, he stands as unbending as a marble pillar, and if
he weeps, his tears are the tears of a rock; but when the Spirit takes and
shows him the things of Christ, he quickly yields. His stubborn knees bow, his heart breaks, and he lies prostrate,
subdued at the foot of the cross. This
is the work of the Spirit.
IV. Why is the consistency and co-operation of both divine and human agencies needed in this work?
1. We are aware that we are active in every step of
the work. The Holy Spirit does not
first convert men and then they suddenly become active. We are aware that we are perfectly active
all along, every step of the way. We
are just as active in this as we are in our jobs or anything else in the world.
2. The purpose of the Spirit is not to suspend, or
set aside our own voluntary agency, but to secure the right direction and use
of it. God cannot make us holy, and
save us without our own free will, for holiness consists in our right voluntary
action. To talk of being made holy
while we are passive, is to talk nonsense. Such a thing is impossible.
3. Without the agency of the Holy Spirit, even
though we are perfectly free and responsible, because we are selfish, we
voluntarily yield to the consideration and influence of selfish motives. As a result, without the agency of the Holy
Spirit, we would do nothing to pull ourselves out of the snare of the
devil. The Holy Spirit works in us to
will, and to do of course, since willing comes before doing. He dedicates Himself to the job of
influencing our will, because that is the proper place to begin. All the actions we perform which are good,
are truly ours, but the agent who persuades us to do them, is the Holy
Spirit. He wisely charms our wills into
conforming to the will of God.
REMARKS.
1. Of all the things that the Holy Spirit does, we
are only aware of the influence of truth, since the Spirit does not openly
reveal Himself to us. He only presents
the truth to us. We are only aware of
perceiving, acting, and feeling, in view of the truth, not in view of anything
else.
2. Can you see the error of those who are expecting
and waiting for some kind of physical change, and some kind of physical
sanctification? Multitudes of
impenitent people are waiting to be passively converted, and professing
Christians encourage them to remain passive.
Multitudes of professing Christians are waiting to be sanctified the
same way, by remaining passive. Now,
even though this belief is common, and even though this idea has held a
stronghold in the Church for a long time, I won’t hesitate to say that there is
nothing more absurd, and nothing more unsupported by the Bible. This is superstition. They treat God’s divine influence as if it
were like an electric shock, or a similar kind of influence. They completely overlook the very nature of
religion, and the very nature of the Spirit’s influences, and it has ruined
thousands, and, I may say, millions of souls.
3. Whenever we find our attention drawn to consider
spiritual things, we may know that the Spirit is at work within us, and we
should conduct ourselves accordingly.
If a sinner wants to know whether the Spirit strives with him, the
answer is easy. Does truth seem to have
a stronger influence on you than before?
Do serious influences enter into your mind from abroad? That must be the work of the Spirit. Walk softly lest you grieve Him away.
4. The truths of the Bible never influence us
inwardly, unless the Holy Spirit reveals these truths to us individually, and
makes them real to us. I am afraid that
many people overlook this. They read
the Bible as they would read a catechism or a lesson, and often completely
overlook its real importance. They must
have the Holy Spirit to make the Bible clear to them. It doesn’t look like they even had one passage made real to them
by the Holy Spirit. Reading the Bible
that way doesn’t do them any good.
Instead, reading the Bible that way does infinite harm because their
minds harden under it, and this is the reason why so many read the Bible
without finding its spirit. The truth
is, it is not good enough that the Holy Spirit revealed the truth to Isaiah,
and to Paul, the Holy Spirit must also reveal it to you.
Truth was never meant to be a rule of life as if it
were some mere external thing. You
might as well have the truth written on stone tablets. It is a mere savor of death unto death,
unless it is revealed to you in such a way that it becomes spirit and life to
you. The Spirit of God must teach you
what the Bible means. What Christian
does not consciously know that this is true?
Perhaps you read a hundred passages and they seem to do you no
good. In fact, it seems as though you
find nothing to suit you in a whole volume of promises. But, the time comes when God makes one passage
real to you. It hits you like an electric
shock. It sets you all aglow and
becomes food for you for many days. It
also serves as a key to many other revelations of the deep things of God. We observe this same thing happening in the
biographies of distinguished Christians.
How often do we hear them talk about the Spirit giving them the meaning
of a passage? They had read that
passage a hundred times before, and it seemed like there was nothing very
special in that passage. They only had
an outside view of it. But suddenly
they see in that passage, a profound meaning that they never thought about
before. It is as if light from heaven
illuminated their minds.
5. We have the power to resist the Holy Spirit. Our will has the command of our attention,
and if, when the Spirit presents truth to us, our will refuses to pay
attention, and continues to do so, the Spirit could present that truth to us
forever, and it isn’t going to do us any good.
That is why God commands us not to resist. He commands us not to grieve the Holy Spirit, and to work out our
salvation with fear and trembling for it is God that works in us both to will
and to do of His good pleasure. (See
Phil 2:12-13)
6. Things that we see and hear around us, our
habits, the world, the flesh, and even Satan, make divine influence absolutely
necessary.
7. Do you see the tremendous patience, the
painstaking compassion, perseverance, and love of the Holy Spirit? I will never forget the impression I got the
day the following thought came into my mind while I was reflecting on the work
of the Spirit. I asked myself how long
it had been since I was converted and what the Spirit had done for me during
that time; and I could testify that, during that time, through all my defiance,
He had continued to strive. He had
continued to lead and guide me, faithful until that moment, in His work of
love. Oh, how could I ever grieve Him
again!
8. Oh, how our ingratitude must greatly grieve
Him. I am afraid that Christians don’t
think enough of their indebtedness to the Spirit. They often seem to regard the Savior with great satisfaction, and
they regard the Father with even less satisfaction and the Spirit with little
or no satisfaction at all. However, all
the persons of the Trinity are equally interested and equally working for our
salvation, and all three have equal claims to our gratitude. The Father gave the Son, the Son made the
Atonement, and the Spirit secures our acceptance of that Atonement.
9. Can you now see what Romans 5:6 means? “For when we were still without strength, in
due time Christ died for the ungodly.”
If it wasn’t for the Atonement of Christ, the Holy Spirit could not
sanctify us because of the lack of motives that we would use to slay our
selfishness. But, the Atonement gives
the Holy Spirit that power over us.
10. God often works to influence our willful
decisions when we are not aware that God is influencing us at all. How often have you found yourselves arriving
at certain conclusions and making decisions that, later on, you cannot figure
out how or why you thought or did that to save your lives? This is also true with unrepentant
sinners. Perhaps some of you can
remember making decisions that even saved your life. I can remember that happening in my own lifetime. It would be extremely interesting to gather
information concerning this point. No
doubt, we would find many wonderful things revealed, concerning the intervention
of the Spirit of God.
11. The Spirit is always in His people, but often
His inward, gentle teachings and whisperings, are drowned out by the noise of
things around us. He loves to lead our
mind in His own narrow way, by gently breathing His influences on our soul, but
often, our mind is so excited and busy that it cannot hear Him softly speaking
in our own inward sanctuary.
12. The teachings of those who are not under the
Holy Spirit’s influence often draw us away from His teachings. I have often heard people say that they had
a sweet time in their prayer closet on Sunday morning, but they went to church,
and by the time church was over, the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit had
completely dissipated. The teachings
they heard in Church conflicted with the teaching of the Spirit of God, and
they grieved the Holy Spirit by focusing on what they received in Church.
13. Excitement, methods, and talk often quench His
influences. When people spend all of
their time chattering like chipmunks, there is little inward communion. When there is so much that is outward in
their efforts to promote religion, their mind grows poor and lean, and they
become occupied with the deception and show of outside religion.
14. Do you see the importance of having your inward
ear open? Do you see the importance of
understanding that you should not confuse your inward senses with your outward
organs of sense? Your ear is not a
sense. Your ear is the organ of your
sense of hearing. Your ear should no
more to be confused with your sense of hearing, than is the hearing aid you
hold to your ear. The same is true with
your eye, which is a bodily organ of sense.
Your eye is no more a sense all by itself, than are your glasses. Your glasses do not see, nor does your eye
see, but you sense light through them.
Hence, you can keep your senses awake and active while you dispense with
your physical organs. Why do you close
your eyes when you pray? You close your
eyes when you pray because you don’t want anything to draw your attention away
from God. In the same way, you can
close your physical ear, so that you may hear God speak.
Did it ever seem to you as if you actually heard God
speak? Perhaps it was a Bible
passage. I remember a time, several
years ago, when the Lord showed me His glory.
His presence was so real that I never suspected at the time, that I did
not see His glory with my physical eyes.
Soon after I was converted, I used to go around before, or at daybreak,
to get the brethren up to pray, (and I can say that was the first morning
prayer meeting I had ever heard about.)
One morning, I could not get them up; I felt distressed, and, in my
agony, I was walking away to pray when, all at once, the glory of God blazed
all around me, and it seemed as if all nature praised the Lord, but only the
men looked down and were silent. I wondered
why they could not see. It seemed to
have been something like what Paul had seen, when he could not tell whether he
was in the body or out of it. When
people experience this, it seems more than a figure of speech to talk about seeing
God, but if you want to see Him, you must let the inward senses awaken to the influence
of the Holy Spirit.
15. Do you see how the Holy Spirit and belief of the
truth sanctify the soul? When the Holy
Spirit presents the truth, you must believe it. Sanctification is, and must be, by faith.
16. Can you see how important it is to see why we
need God’s divine influence? The reason
is because our mind has committed itself to such selfish influences that only
the Holy Spirit can break the spell that binds it. We can see how important understanding the need for God’s divine
influence is because selfish influences so easily sway our minds.
17. We need the Spirit’s influence because of our
sin, and therefore, we should never use sin as an excuse.
18. The Holy Spirit induces all the holiness on
earth.
19. If you grieve away the Spirit, you are
lost. Nothing else in the universe can
save you.
20. Do you see what it means to be led by the
Spirit? To be led by the Spirit is to
yield to His influences.
21. How amazingly careless many people are, when they disregard the influences of the Spirit. Until you are more careful about how you talk and act, you will never know what it is like to be taught by the Spirit. There is a man who would not grieve his wife for any reason whatever, but he will daily grieve the blessed Spirit. The Spirit stands far away from such a man, knowing it will do no good to intervene. Poor man! If he continues to grieve the Holy Spirit, he will soon do it once too often, and he will never be forgiven!