The Abstinence of the Spirit
But if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.“” — RoMANS viii. 13.
“$I ROUGH the Spirit,” that is an impor- “7 tant qualification. There are men who
IS mortify the deeds of the body xot ee the Spirit. There are men who have abjured the world from disappointment, from jealousy, from jaundice. They have gone into the solitude and shut the cloister cell and refused entrance to the face of man. That is not to mortify the body “through the Spirit.” It cannot be said of such “ye shall live;” theirs is a perpetual death. Wouldst thou mortify ‘thy flesh “through the Spirit”? then must thou abstain from evil for the sake of dove. The Spirit is itself love, and to do anything through the Spirit is to do it for love’s sake. Wouldst thou mortify thy flesh “through the Spirit”? then must thy motive be not grief but joy. The sacrifice must be covered by a mightier sense of gain. The pain must be swallowed up in victory — the victory of love. The loss must come to thee not as an impoverishment but as an enrichment, not as a process of deadening but as the throbbing of a new life; he that sacrifices “through the Spirit” in the moment of his sacrifice “shall live.”
Spirit of love; Spirit of the Son of man, let me only sacrifice “through Thee.” Thou desirest not my pain, else would I give it Thee; if I give my body to be burned and have not love, it profiteth Thee nothing. What is it that Thou prizest in my pain? Nothing but the proof of my love. Thou sayest to my soul ‘Canst thou go with Me where I go; canst thou dwell with Me where I dwell? Dost thou love Me well enough to accompany Me into yonder lone Gethsemane? Dost thou deem Me dear enough to stand by My side in the dark night? Dost thou hold Me precious enough to take the cup into thy hand because it has been in My hand? Wouldst thou rather share My grief than be possessor of a joy unshared by Me? Wouldst thou rather watch with Me under the shadow of My heavy heart than sleep away the hours in personal repose? Then I bless thy tears; I prize thy cross; I value thy sorrow; I accept thy sacrifice. Thy burnt offering is to Me a pillar of fire by night; it warms Me, it gladdens Me, for it tells Me of a kindred soul. Thou hast crucified thy body through the love of My Spirit; therefore thou shalt live with Me.’