Page images
PDF
EPUB

Resolved that I my part fulfil

In what I know to be Thy will;
Resigned, in that I will rejoice
Which is in Thy dear choice;
If Thou wilt only in Thy love

Prepare me for Thy house above.

[ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

EIGHTH DAY.

The Good Fight.

FINALLY, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel. Eph. vi. 10-19.

Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal

life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; that thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

1 Tim. vi. 12-16.

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

2 Tim. iv. 6-8.

STA

BISHOP WILBERForce.

TANDING fast in the Lord! What words for us to use for us failing, restless, capricious creatures. And yet there is a truth in these words. There is, blessed be God, even such a gift as this in heaven's treasury for every one who will indeed seek heartily to make it his own,-this gift of the

grace which wins the crown, and which wafts the rescued soul into the everlasting haven.

Do we ask then what is the cause of the steadfastness of God's faithful servant? Surely there is but one cause-God's eternal love. Yes, in the unfathomable counsels of the Eternal Three, in the love of the Triune Jehovah, is the cause of the steadfastness of any of the elect. Surely the Apostle traces it to this source when he says: 'Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.' Yes, in the counsels of the Almighty's mind, where there lies stretched out before the eye of the All-seeing all that shall ever be, as though already it had been-there was seen distinctly the mysterious meeting-place of each reasonable being He had created, with the Spirit that should strive with him in his day of grace; there was seen the issue of that mysterious struggle; there was known to God who would yield and who would resist His grace, and the love of the Almighty rested in the purposes of redemption upon the souls which He foreknew as the crown of His Son's glory in the salvation of the lost. Never must we lose sight of this. Nothing is so cramping to the mind, as, because we are afraid of having some wretched system which we spin out for ourselves, interfered with by such

mighty truths of holy writ as the absolute sovereignty of God, to throw them aside as something which we do not dare to gaze upon. Nothing is so cramping to the soul. No, let us every one trace all that is good, all that is blessed, all that is perfect, all that is holy, in every man, to God's sovereign will-to God's eternal love.

This, then, first, is the cause of the steadfastness of the saints; and notice next the means by which God works this end within them. St. Paul tells us most distinctly what the means were in his own case.

He says, 'When it pleased God ... to reveal His Son in me.' He dwells upon this, you remember, in the narrative dictated, doubtless by himself, to St. Luke, he repeats it to the scoffing king; he cannot refrain from continually referring to it: I have seen the Lord.' Yes, the sight of that love was the means which wrought in the Apostle's mind the change which grew into steadfastness.

And now mark the course by which this was effected. The love which he saw in the face of Christ kindled his love in return. It was a marvel to him that he, the persecutor, the reviler, the blasphemer, could be loved; yet God showed him that he was loved, and the union of these two sights wrought this charge within him-he saw himself utterly defiled, and yet he saw himself, though thus defiled, beloved of Christ.

He was beginning to understand the mighty mystery that He, the fountain of love, so over

« PreviousContinue »