Three Words That Transform Human Lives
(Read Romans, chapter 6.)
LADY said to me recently, “I have read a A number of books on ‘Deliverance,’ but I am
still all at sea. They discuss abstract theological questions as to whether the conflict in Romans 7 is between the two natures or whether the man there is trying to find holiness by keeping the law, and similar subjects; but, some way, my mind cannot follow all this abstruse reasoning. I want to be filled with the Spirit. I long for deliverance from the power of sin in the flesh. Can you not tell me, in a simple way, how it may be obtained?”
Because I believe there are many Christians in the ~gsame state of mind as this lady, I want to try to show the way to a life in the fulness of the Spirit, in language as simple as possible, and as free from theological terms as I can.
I wish to fix your minds on three words which, rightly apprehended, will I know transform human lives. They have transformed thousands, and will transform yours if you lay hold of them in earnest.
They are all found in the 6th chapter of Romans. I would ask you carefully to read the entire passage, then fix your mind on the first of these important terms. It is the word ‘‘Reckon,” and you will find it in verse 11, ‘‘Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be dead (or literally, to have died) indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
“Likewise’ — like what? Consider carefully what has gone before. In order to do so, it is absolutely necessary to have some conception of the great truths unfolded in this wonderful gospel-epistle.
Roughly speaking, the first two and a half chapters show us the need of the gospel. Man’s desperate and irretrievable condition, so far as his own power is concerned, constitutes that need. Upon the proven guilt and helplessness of men of every kind and degree, God reveals His wondrous plan whereby He can save the vilest as well as the best (all on the same principle of His free grace) on the ground of the work of redemption accomplished by Christ Jesus on the cross. By faith in the One who there settled the sin-question to God’s satisfaction, the sinner is justified freely and fully. This is unfolded in the second part of chapter three, and in chapter four, and the first part of chapter five — 8:20 to 5:11.
But beginning with verse 12 of this 5th chapter a new theme is introduced. What does God do with the sin inherent in the very nature of man when He forgives the sinner? Is this to be subdued by painful penances, or eliminated by an act of divine power? Or is the carnal nature changed by a slow process of sanctification, so that eventually the believer is freed entirely from it?
The answer is the declaration of another line of truth altogether. When Christ died He made atonement not only for what I have done, but His death has ended my life or existence as a natural man — a child of Adam. He, the holy One, bore my sins, and died in my place. God dealt with Him in my stead. Now I am accepted in Him, the risen One, who, as exalted in glory, is the Head of a new race to which each saved one belongs. “In that He died, He died unto sin once; in that He liveth, He liveth unto God.” i obtain deliverance from the controlling power of sin to which He died, when in simple faith I reckon His death to be mine.
Just as He died to that sin which God so hated, I, likewise, am called upon to reckon myself to be dead * indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Him. His death was mine; and He is my life. Faith exclaims with Paul, “I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
I am not called upon to improve myself — to gradually improve the old nature; but I am to reckon that I have died to its power and authority; and Iam to recognize that my real life now is that of the risen Christ, which is to be manifested in me.
This is what Christian baptism rightly signifies. “We are buried with Him by baptism unto death.” In that act I confessed that I — the old, selfish, worldly, sinful man — came to an end in the death of Christ. Now that Christ liveth in me, as my life, He is the power for me to walk in newness of* life.
Let me show how this works out practically. In a town of the middle-west a young woman whom we will call Lulu M., was for several years the acknowledged belle of the somewhat limited society of the place. She was talented, beautiful, and vivacious to a marked degree. None more graceful in the dance than she; few could equal her in musical ability; and, withal, she had that mysterious something about her, which we call personality, that attracted to her the young people of both sexes.
Her little world was at her feet, and she loved it intensely, and was loved by it devotedly. If she ever thought of God and eternity it was in a careless, well-bred sort of way, as recognizing that a certain amount of religion was required by modern culture, but that was all. At twenty she was living the life of a young woman whose hopes are all centered in this scene, with no real interest in the things of Christ. There came to the little city two earnest servants
of God, one a faithful gospel preacher, the other a gifted singer, expert in dealing personally with needy souls. For several weeks they conducted evangelistic meetings, and a number were turned from the power of Satan unto God, some of Lulu’s associates among them. She was invited to the services, but laughingly said she was afraid to go for fear of becoming converted and losing all the joys of life.
But on the last evening she yielded to a friend’s entreaty and went, determined not to yield an inch. But the power of God was in the preaching, and the Holy Spirit convicted her of the fearful sin of rejecting Christ, and she bowed before God in agony
of soul, confessing her guilt. That night she was - saved, and a few nights later was baptized publicly, to the consternation and indignation of the circle in which she had moved for so long. In vain they tried to woo her back to a world that she now saw to be utterly false, and which she confessed had never really satisfied. Drinking at the fountain of living water, she no longer thirsted for the broken cisterns of earth. When her 21st birthday drew near, her old friends said, “Now is the time to play our trump card. We must have her back.”” They planned a@ surprise party for her, and early that summer evening they gathered on the lawn outside her home. She was first apprized of their presence as they sang a song she had once loved well. Opening the door she greeted them happily, and, touched by their kindness, welcomed them cordially. They had brought. baskets of refreshments, and under the trees they ate and drank together. Then the leader, a talented and vivacious young man said, ‘‘Now, Lulu, you are coming with us to the theatre. We have bought up all the boxes in your honor, and we will all enjoy the play together.”
She hesitated not one moment. “Oh, my friends, you do not understand — I never go to anything like that now. I could not enjoy it.” ‘‘Why,” they declared, “‘you’ve often gone and always enjoyed these things in the past. You are getting morbid. Come along, and see how happy you will be.”
Firmly she answered, “I cannot take Christ with me there. You know I buried the girl who used to love those things. Now it is not the old self, but Christ who lives in me.”
Do you see the point? She reckoned herself to
have died to the world and its pleasures, so they no
longer had dominion over her. And the same principle applies to every form of temptation. Selfishness and worldliness of every description lose their power over the soul when you reckon yourself to have died with Christ.
But now look at the next word. ‘Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead.”
This is very definite, and I am persuaded it is right here that many fail. They do not yield themselves to God; so they never get more than a doctrinal deliverance. They understand the theory, but there is no power in the life. To yield is to surrender; or in the language of Rom. 12: 1, to “present your body a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God — your intelligent service.” In fact, the original word is the same in both scriptures.
Now you do not yield to God by accepting a doctrine. But it is a conscious act of the will. It involves a real surrender of yourself, a subjection of your will to the will of God. And this costs something. It means the crossing of mere natural desires, and the submission of your whole being to the
Lord Jesus Christ. To yield to Him is to deny yourself, to take up your cross and follow the rejected One.
People talk of following Jesus, and sing glibly of following where He leads. But what is really meant by that? What do you mean when you speak of following Him? Do you mean to follow Him into His heaven? When He said, “Follow Me,” it meant to follow Him in a world of sin and sorrow, a scene of rejection and reproach; that thus following, His disciples might become fishers of men, ere they should share His joy by and by.
A lady was speaking one day of the blessedness of fellowship with God, when a somewhat lukewarm Christian present exclaimed, “I would give the world to have your experience!” “That is exactly what it cost,” she quietly replied. It is impossible to live a
- victorious life and yet cling to the world, or to any
form of known sin. Self-judgment. is involved in our first word, “Reckon.” Until this takes place you cannot enter
into the meaning of the second one, “Yield.” Itisa solemn moment in the soul’s history when one definitely recognizes the claims of the risen Lord, and cries from the heart,
“Take my life, and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
“Take my hands, and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
“Take my feet, and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
“Take my voice, and let me sing
Always, only, for my King,
“Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in ceaseless praise.
“Take my intellect, and use
Everypower as Thou shalt choose.
“Take my will, and make it Thine;
It shall be no longer mine.
“Take my heart; it is Thine own;
It shall be Thy royal throne.
“Take myself, and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.”
Miss Havergal has expanded for us this word, “Yielded,” in this beautiful hymn. Oh to be able, not alone to sing it, but ever to mean it! And this must be, if we would know practical deliverance.
But, alas, how we naturally shrink from such a surrender of ourselves in order that the will of God may be supreme in our lives! Vainly fancying we will be happier doing our own will than doing His — who loves us beyond any earthly friend — we temporize, or even refuse to submit to that which would mean the entrance into a life of gladness such as we have never hitherto experienced. Be assured no sacrifice for Christ will leave a regret in the day of manifestation. Rather, we would then give worlds, did we possess them, if we could have the opportunity again to live for Him in a scene like this. When Cleaver, a devoted missionary to the Egyptian Mohammedans, was dying — for the work of Christ — cut down in the midst of his days, he wrote;
‘“When I am dying how glad I shall be That the lamp of my life has been blazed out for Thee. I shall not regret whatever I gave, ‘Money or time, one sinner to save, I shall not mind that the road has been rough, That Thy dear feet led the way is enough. When I am dying how glad I shall be That the lamp of my life has been blazed out for Thee.”
What half-hearted Christian ever exulted like this over days spent for self, and moments and money wasted on things that are of no lasting profit? [have recently come across another beautiful little poem that expresses in way mere prose cannot, the blessedness of a surrendered, a wholly-yielded life.! “Oh the peace of full surrender! All my joy to do His will! Mine to trust His faithful promise; His the promise to fulfil.
Oh the glory and the rapture
Thus to dwell with Christ the Lord;
New delight and wisdom gaining
From the study of His Word.
Pleasure’s songs no more entice me,
Nor the bugle note of Fame;
Sweeter far the holy music
Of my dear Redeemer’s name.
Oh the glory and the rapture — Earthly burdens pass away!
Stormy winter turns to summer;
Lonely darkness into day.”
But we must now consider a third word, and that is the word, “Obey.” “He to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness.” We were once the servants of sin, living in obedience to our fleshly lusts, led by the devil captive at his will. Saved by grace, having died with Christ, risen in Him, yielded to Him, we are now called to a life of obedience.
But if I am to obey God how shall I know when He speaks ? — -He has spoken in His Word. He still speaks by His Spirit. And the Word and the Spirit agree. He who would live in practical deliverance from the power of sin must, therefore, feed upon the Word of God. John Bunyan said of the Bible, ‘‘This Book will keep you from sin, or sin will keep you from this Book.” And this witness is true.
The believer needs the Word for food. It provides spiritual sustenance. As you feed upon it you grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Reading it in dependence on the illumination of the indwelling Holy Spirit, who inspired the writing of it, you learn the will of God. Obeying it as revealed, you become filled with the Spirit.
Be assured, dear troubled and often-defeated one, there is no other way to obtain this much desired blessing. It is not an emotional experience obtained once for all and never needing to be repeated. It is not ‘‘a second work of grace,” as some well-meaning but, I am persuaded, misguided people put it. It is the legitimate result of obedience to the written Word. As you learn the mind of God and walk in it, you are walking in the Spirit. And it is written, “Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lusts of the flesh.”
It is impossible to be filled with the Spirit if consciously grieving Him. The ungrieved Spirit delights to take of the things of Christ and show them to us. As He thus occupies our hearts with the Lord Himself we are filled indeed. David said, ‘“‘The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup.” Therefore he could say, “My cup runneth over.”’ So will it be with the believer who walks in self-judgment and obedience before God, which leaves the Holy Spirit free to do that in which He delights — to form Christ in us.
But if the Spirit is grieved, He must occupy us with our sins and our failures, until we are again brought to the place where we judge ourselves and confess our sins. Then He is once more free to direct our gaze to Christ, and to empower us to walk as He walked.
Let no one think I am teaching a veiled form of perfectionism in the flesh. It is the very opposite of that. There is no short cut to holiness. But I dare to affirm that a surrendered life will result in the manifestation of the fulness of the Spirit, thus controlling the heart for Christ, and out of the heart are the issues of life.
Now I leave these three words with you: reckon; yield; obey. You will find in them the secret that will transform your life from one of almost constant defeat to one of habitual victory through the indwelling Spirit of the risen Christ.
And if, like the defiled Nazarite, you break down through unwatchfulness, and become defiled by the dead, the only way back to Nazarite separation is to “Repent, and do the first works.” Go back to the point of departure. Judge yourself in the light of the cross of Christ, and own that you sinned in using that which belonged to Christ (both by purchase and your personal surrender) for the gratification of self. Learning from the past to be more watchful and prayerful in the future, go on in lowliness to walk softly before Him in loving obedience, undismayed by the evidence that the flesh is still within: and as you walk in the Spirit, you will both know deliverance from carnal lusts, and be to the praise of His glory even in this scene of testing.
But let me add a word of warning. Do not become occupied with your experience, your joy, your growth in grace. Do not talk of yourself or your victories. But rejoice ever in Christ Jesus, having no confidence in the flesh, according as it is written, “My soul shall make her boast in the Lord.” And again, “He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.” —
“Be Thou the Object bright and fair,
To fill and satisfy the heart:
My hope to meet Thee in the air,
And nevermore from Thee to part;
That I may undistracted be,
To follow, serve, and wait for Thee.”