The Prosperity of the Spirit

And the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded: and he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, Hear ye me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him.’’ — 2 CHRON. xv, 1-2.

B@~ THOUGHT inspiration was the revela-; tion of something zew. I thought it should tell us something nobody knew before. Why then send the Spirit to a man to utter such a truism as this, ‘The Lord is with you, while ye.be with Him?” It is because these words are only a truism to him who has received the Spirit. He who has not received the Spirit would deem them the wildest paradox. He would look at the men of God, and say, “Where is to them the promise of His coming?” He would say to the Son of man, “Come down from the cross and we will believe in Thee.” He would ask if the favour of God was consistent with being mocked, and scourged, and crucified, with being despised and rejected of men, with having not where to lay the weary head. We know that it zs consistent, but why? Because we have the fruits of the Spirit. We have learned by Christian experience that the valley may be exalted, that the crooked may be made straight, and the rough places plain. We have learned by Christian experience that there is a peace which passeth understanding, which the world cannot give and never can take away. But that knowledge is itself a gift of the Spirit. Is it not written, “The secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him”? To all outside it ds a secret. A song in the night, a stream in the desert, a light in the valley, a rainbow in the flood — these are not the truisms of the natural mind. Inspiration alone can reveal the prosperity of the soul; the Spirit alone can tell us that God is with us while we are with Him.

Spirit of Christ, only in Thy inspiration can I know that the righteous prosper. ‘Seen in the light of the world, those that are with Thee appear to have the worst of it. But the light of the world cannot reveal the glories of Gethsemane. It can disclose the sweatdrops and the tears and the darkness. It can reveal the suppliant pouring forth His petition with the voice of strong crying. It can show that the prayer is seemingly unanswered, and the passing of the cup denied. But it cannot disclose the peace that comes with the cup. It cannot detect the angel of strength that follows the surrendered will. It cannot photograph the rod and the staff that even in the valley of the shadow enable a man to say, “Thou art with me.” Create Thyself that sublime vision, O Spirit of the Cross. Usher me into the joy of my Lord — the joy that could speak of its fulness at the very foot of Calvary. Inspire me with the peace which is independent of circumstances, which in the hour of death can say, “Let not your heart be troubled.” Then and not till then shall the paradox become a truism, then and not till then shall I understand the promise, ‘ The Lord is with you, while ye be with Him.”