We had this life more abundant wonderfully illustrated on a certain occasion while holding a meeting in the city of Indianapolis. We stepped into a doctor's office and observed a platform about four feet square. This platform was perfectly insulated by having glass feet beneath. The object of the platform was to form a place for an individual to sit and then fill him full of electricity. A chair was placed on this platform, and we were asked to take a seat on it. At first we were somewhat dubious. We had read of the electrocuting chair, and did not know to just what extent the lightning might be turned on. After a little persuasion, and looking at the matter rather philosophically, thinking that others had been there without being killed, we ventured to take a seat. At once the power was turned on and in a moment every hair on our head was standing straight up, we observed in the mirror. The power went through and through our body from head to foot. It felt glorious, and no one needed to tell us that something was going on inside. The doctor placed his hand near our body, and a sharp crack was heard, a spark of lightning flew out to meet him. Every time the hand approached any part of us, the report was heard and lightning would flash. Our friend was sitting near and he was asked to shake hands with us, whereby he responded, "No, you don't."He felt there was too much going on for him to trifle with lightning that way. Now, we would not want to convey the thought, that necessarily when one obtains the blessing of holiness there will be felt electric shocks throughout his being; but we do mean to say that when an individual places himself and all that he has on God's platform of consecration, and becomes perfectly insulated from this world, that God will turn on the power of the sanctifying baptism with the Holy Ghost, and that individual will surely know that the mighty work has taken place. And not only the one who receives the blessing will be cognizant of the fact, but others who come in contact with him will ascertain the same. To say that one has the blessing of holiness, but has no power, is to say what is not true. To say, "I am still sanctified, but I have lost the power," is to speak contradictory to the Word of God. There are some things which God has joined together, and surely we have no right to put them asunder. When the individual becomes perfectly insulated from the world and worldliness, and makes proper connection with the dynamos of the skies, something is surely going to happen.
Once we heard a preacher tell an experience he had when a telegraph operator. It sometimes fell to his lot to go down the line and see what caused obstructions to the messages. One time while out on such duty he observed the line was broken. Usually he took along with him a telegraph instrument with which to send and receive messages. This time he had neglected tocarry such an instrument. He saw the importance of sending back a message, but having no instrument, he did not see how it could be done. At length he thought of placing the two ends of the wire together, and by joining them in the proper way he could use the Morse code of dots and dashes, etc. He accordingly tried the experiment and it worked so successfully that he managed to get a message through to the office. The next thing was, how could he get a message from the office to himself? He could not hear the dots and dashes as they might pass along the wire to him. Finally, the thought struck him, that he could make his body a means of transmission of the message. Accordingly, he took hold of one end of the wire with one hand and the other wire with the other hand, when here came along the message and passed right through his body, making the dots and dashes of the system perceptibly realized by the jerking of the hands and arms. Here he had hold of one wire connected with the office, and with the other hand he had grasped the wire that connected with the other side and through him came the message. Would to God that more people had learned the secret of perfect insulation, and could have their very being so transformed that they would become channels through which the Holy Ghost could pour His own messages of divine truth out on a careless and deceived world! We need to become channels of life, abundant life to a lost and ruined world.
The world is perishing for life. The old humdrum of lifeless religion is too repulsive. When a certainnoted preacher was asked why more people did not attend church, the answer was, "Because they can not stand the humdrum." There is something about life that is attractive. A jumping, laughing, rollicking baby always attracts attention. The frisking lamb, the playing pups, the rollicking children, all attract. Folks don't like death. Funerals are sad. Graveyards are quiet places. The heart of man cries out for life. God puts a spiritual hunger within the breast for the life more abundant. The lifeless, emotionless, joyless prayermeeting or preaching service never had its origin in the pentecostal upper room. They are not the congregations of Spirit-filled, fire-baptized souls. David said, "My cup runneth over." Isaiah said in that memorable twelfth chapter, that people would do five things: praise, pray, testify, sing, and shout. Then he gives as a cause for it all, that "Great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee." And it is true to the letter. When God gets in the midst of people there are these beautiful manifestations. The people praise the Lord, call upon His name, make mention that His name is exalted, sing and shout. When the meeting dies, these things are wanting. "Life, life, eternal life!" Let this be our cry till the dead wake up, and the slumbering church arouses from its stupor, and the pulpit pulsates with pentecostal fire.
The last thing a person wants to meet is death. No wonder it is termed an enemy. If then death is so dreaded in the material world, why should we not abhor spiritual death? Thank God we do not needto have it around. With Christ the very embodiment of life, who was dead, but now is alive forevermore; with heaven's mighty reservoir of the elixir of life at our command, there is no need of spiritual cemeteries. We do not have to leak out our life because somebody said so; because some persecutor said something detrimental to us, or used some weapon of war against us. Did not martyrs of old face death at every turn? Paul said, "I die daily." He was in constant jeopardy. He never could tell when an angry mob would swoop down upon him, or he would be cast to the wild beasts. Yet none of these things moved him. He had a life like the palm tree, so hidden inside that external things did not affect. Indeed some of the early martyrs seemed to be endowed with miraculous physical life. It is recorded that the Apostle John was cast into a cauldron of boiling oil, but was miraculously delivered, the oil having no effect on him.
When Blandina, a Christian lady, was undergoing such tremendous tortures by her persecutors, though weak in her constitution, yet she sustained such aid from heaven, that her tormentors several times became weary in their wicked work, and declared that she must have been supported by some invisible power.
Sanctus was a deacon at Vienne. He was tortured for Jesus' sake and bore it all with marked fortitude and exclaimed, "I am a Christian." When red-hot plates were applied repeatedly to the most sensitive parts of his body, till the sinews were contracted, still he remained unmovable, inflexible in his steadfastness,and he was again placed in prison. In a few days he was brought forth again, when his tormentors were wonderfully astonished to find that his wounds were healed and his body sound and perfect. He was again put to the torture, but being unable to take his life, he was again remanded to prison, where soon afterward he was beheaded.
We may not be called upon to suffer physical torture at the hands of heartless persecutors in these days, but "They that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." We surely will have it in some form if true to God. The world does not love our Christ. Jesus told His own brothers that the world could not hate them, but it hated Him, because He told them their deeds were evil. When our persecutors come, what are we going to do? If we have the palm tree blessing, we have a life hidden so deep that the world can not reach it. This life is a heart life. It does not lie on the surface where the enemy's tortures can reach it. Look at the sainted martyrs in the early day; how they endured the afflictions that were heaped upon them, without a murmur, and would not flinch, nor compromise a hair's breadth. Their tormentors were taxed to the extreme in devising modes of suffering by which they hoped to succeed in getting the Christians to deny Christ. In order to show the real hidden life of the palm tree saint we will record the case of two martyrs as told in "The Historic Martyrs of the Primitive Church," by A. J. Mason.
Probus was presented. "Put away all foolish language,"said Maximus, "and tell me what you are called."
"My first and best name is Christian; my second, by which men call me, is Probus."
"Of what station in life?"
"My father was a Thracian, but I was born at Sida in Pamphilia. I am a civilian, but a Christian."
"Little good you will get from that name. Follow my advice, and sacrifice to the gods, that you may receive honor from the emperors, and be a friend of mine."
"I do not want the honor of the emperors, nor am I anxious for your good offices. I had a considerable property, but I gave it up, to serve the living God through Christ."
"Take off his cloak. Gird him up. Put him at the stretch. Beat him with thongs of rawhide."
The compassionate centurion, Demetrius, again spoke: "Spare yourself, man; you see your blood running to the ground."
"My body is at your disposal," answered Probus. "But your punishments to me are an anointing with sweet ointments."
After a time Maximus began again his attempts at persuasion: "Will you not have done with this madness now? Do you persist in it, unhappy man?"
"I am not mad. I am wiser than you. I do not serve devils."
"Turn him over and beat him on the belly."
"Lord, help thy servant."
"As you beat him, say, 'Christian man, where is your helper?"
"He has helped, and He helps me still. I care so little for your punishment, that I will not obey you."
"Think of your body, unhappy wretch. All the floor is covered with the blood from it."
"Let me tell you this: the more my body suffers for Christ's sake, the better it is for the health of my soul."
"Put him in irons, and stretch him to the fourth hole. Let him have no attention paid to him."
Tarachus is then brought before Maximus.
"Well, well, Tarachus," said Maximus. "I suppose that the reason why people honor old age is because of the greater wisdom in counsel that comes with it. Therefore, give yourself good advice, and do not today persist in your former notions, but sacrifice to the gods, and earn the praise of piety."
"I am a Christian," answered Tarachus, "and I pray that you and your emperors may earn the same praise, and may put away all hardness of heart and blindness, and be quickened by the true God to a higher and better grounded conviction."
"Knock his mouth with stones, and say to him, 'Cease your folly.'"
"If I were not of sound mind, I should be a fool as you are."
"See, your teeth are all loosened. Have pity on yourself, unhappy man."
"Nothing that you can do hurts me, not if you wereto cut off all my extremities. I stand steadfastly before you in Christ which strengtheneth me."
"Follow my advice. You had better. Come and sacrifice."
"If I knew that I had better do it, I should not suffer as I do."
"Strike him on the mouth and tell him to cry out."
"When my teeth are dashed out, and my jaws crushed, I can not cry out."
"Will you not even now comply, impious man? Come to the altars, and pour a drink-offering to the gods."
"Though you have stopped my voice so that I can not cry out, you can not hinder the thoughts of my soul. You have made me bolder and firmer."
"I will take down your firmness, ruffian."
"I am at your disposal. Whatever you devise, I shall be more than a match for you in the name of God who strengtheneth me."
"Open his hands and put fire in them."
"I am not afraid of your fire, which endures for a moment; but I am afraid lest, if I were to obey you, I should become a partaker of the eternal fire."
"Look, your hands are consumed with the fire. Will you leave off your madness, senseless man, and sacrifice?"
"You talk to me as if I had begged you not to use your arts of persuasion upon my body. I am proof against all that you are doing to me."
"Tie his feet and hang him aloft by them; then send up a thick smoke in his face."
"I thought nothing of your fire; do you suppose that I shall be afraid of your smoke?"
"Consent to sacrifice, now that you are hung up."
"Youmay sacrifice, sir; you are accustomed to sacrificing—even to sacrificing men. But God forbid that I should do so."
"Put strong vinegar, mixed with salt up his nostrils."
"Your vinegar is sweet and your salt has lost its saltness."
"Mix mustard with the vinegar and pour it into his nostrils."
"Your officers are deceiving you, Maximus; they gave me honey instead of vinegar."
"I will think of some punishment for you next court day, and I will put an end to your folly."
"And I shall be the readier for your devices."
"Take him down; put him in chains and give him over to the gaoler. Call the next."
"After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, andpalmsin their hands; and cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. * * * These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7:9, 14).
"When this cruel war is over," and the last enemy, death, has been conquered, and every tribulation has been passed through triumphantly, then we shall come forth on the victor's side, clothed with white robes, and waving our palm branches gloriously, having overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony.
When Jesus made that triumphal entry into Jerusalem, just before His crucifixion, the rejoicing followers acknowledged His kingly victories, and did homage by preparing His way, and "took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried,Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord" (John 12:13).
Not only did the palm branch have the significance of victory in the Bible, but certain countries have used it as a token of victory and rejoicing, a symbol or evidence of superiority or success. In our present day, "to bear the palm" means to come off victoriously. This expression has evidently been borrowed from the ancient symbol.
What other tree in all the world could so well be used to signify victory? When we think of its beauty, its perpendicular straightness, its perennial freshness, its sweet and abundant fruitfulness even in old age, its almost incomprehensible utility, its successful development where other trees fail, its natural propensity to ascend heavenward, its marvelous hardiness with its internal and upward growth, does it not stand to reason that the palm branch should be the most fitting type of Christian triumph and joyous victory? No other tree could be used so well to symbolize the victory of him who is fighting under the banner of King Emmanuel.
Now, if we are to flourish like the palm tree, then we shall flourish with victory.
We are taught in the Word that "we are more than conquerors through him that loved us" (Rom. 8:37). This means that the palm tree saint can fight and win and be ready to fight again.
David's fight with Goliath illustrates it. He marched out against his enemy and God's enemy withfive sling stones, and the first throw something entered Goliath's head that made an impression which he never got over. And then the stripling, shepherd lad had four more stones to kill four more giants if necessary.
In the economy of God's grace He never arranged for us to be succumbers, but rather overcomers. Read the marvelous promises of Revelation for those who overcome. There are seven of them, and note the ascending scale.
1. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life which is in the midst of the paradise of God."
2. "He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death."
3. "To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it."
4. "And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to him will I give power over the nations. * * * And I will give him the morning star."
5. "He that overcometh, the same shall be clothed in white raiment; and I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, but I will confess his name before my Father, and before his angels."
6. "Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem,which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
7. "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with my Father in his throne."
Wonderful stepping stones to the throne! Seven steps and into glory!
Let us examine them in their order:
1. He eats of the tree of life. Death has slipped away and eternal life has come. He is living forevernow. We eat of earth's food to live here, and we eat of the tree of life to live forever.
2. He has promise of a safe passage and a proper landing. He shall not be hurt with the second death. Insurance in the King's Insurance Company, secures a positive guaranty against the second death. Wrapped in the asbestos robes of full salvation, makes one immune from the fires of perdition.
3. He eats again; but now it is hidden manna. Hidden manna was inside the holy of holies. Thus, he reaches the "second blessing" properly so-called. Now arises special persecution and calumny; but the great Judge in casting the ballot for the condemned, puts in the white stone for acquittal: hence, he receives the white stone at this stage. "What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31).
4. Power, the positive side of holiness is now particularly manifested. Also, the night of trouble, trial, testing, temptations, and tears will pass away. The"morning star" is seen. He is looking toward the sun-rising, toward the morning when the Sun of righteousness shall appear.
5. Now, the "white raiment" of a holy life shines forth particularly. His outward life and testimony give him away. His hidden life manifests itself outwardly and differentiates itself from all other life. The inward glory is shining out to the surface, and his life is seen and felt. In proportion to the inward glory will the outward effulgence be manifested. Jesus, on the mount of transfiguration, let the inward glory out through His garments, and they became garments of light.
Now comes the announcement that his name will not be blotted out of the book of life. While it is possible to pass the point in sin, where the soul fixes its destiny for damnation, so it seems that there is a point in the progress of spirituality and grace and overcoming, that fixes the soul's destiny for glory. His name is confessed before God and the angels. The veil is getting very thin here, between the overcoming pilgrim and paradise. In fact he is living mostly in heaven now.
6. He is now counted a pillar in a peculiar sense. Like the pillars of ancient Egypt and Babylon where great monarchs carved their names, battles, victories, marvelous achievements, and chiseled their pedigree and dynasty, so God takes this time-honored, battle-scarred, self-sacrificing pilgrim at this stage and makes him an illustrious pillar in the temple of God, and writes in his favor his victories and exploits, his overcominglife. He is to go no more out. As some are sealed for eternal damnation in this life, so he is sealed for eternal glory.
"I will write upon him." Yes, God will carve upon him victories and conquests. He will write upon him the city of God—his sure destination. Like the address on a sealed letter, with the government of the country back of it to see that it arrives safely at its destination, so with God's "epistles," "sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise," with the address of his destination plainly written thereon, and with the government of all heaven interested in seeing him through, we see the overcoming saint nearing the Great White Throne. The end is near; he is overcoming to the last. He has been ascending the steps, till now he sees inside the pearly gates, and one step more will put him inside.
7. Here he is in glory at last, and a place with Jesus in His throne. Exalted place! With Christ, the great Overcomer, he sits down with Him in His throne. It is more than finite minds can comprehend. Surely, it will pay to be true to Jesus and be a final overcomer.
When we read these wonderful promises to the overcomer, and see with what precision and certainty he is made to ascend the spiritual scale to glory, we scarcely wonder, that before we reach the close of Revelation we hear the sudden announcement: "He that overcometh shall inherit all things."
"And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith" (1 John 5:4). The overcoming, victorious life is the only kind that satisfies the soul andqualifies for spiritual success in this world. The outside world is looking upon us, and if they do not see something in us beyond that which they see in themselves, there will be no inducement from our standpoint for them to make any change.
God has provided a life in which it is possible to "rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks." The psalmist said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth." No person can, by mere volition, bring himself into a frame of mind to bless the Lord at all times and have His praise continually in his mouth. The harassing trials and nagging disappointments incident to earthly life are too many and too severe to admit of the everlasting praise life without the grace of God within. And many with a measure of God's grace have not become acquainted with the secret of continual praise. Let us look at two statements, one in the Old Testament, and the other in the New Testament.
"All these things are against me" (Gen. 42:36).
"All things work together for good" (Rom. 8:28).
The first statement comes from Jacob; the second from the Apostle Paul. Paul said he had learned whatsoever state he was in, therewith to be content (Phil. 4:11). Jacob was looking at the mere external, and judging accordingly. What were the things that were against Jacob? "Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away. All these things are against me." But Jacob, you are very much mistaken. The verythings you say are against you, are all working together for your good. Joseph, right now is in Egypt, the governor of that land, and is not dead as you suppose. Simeon is all right under Joseph's watchful care, and Benjamin will be in the best of hands. Joseph went before, to be a loadstone to draw Simeon there, and Simeon is a loadstone to draw Benjamin there, and Benjamin will be a loadstone to draw you there and all the rest of the family to preserve you alive and to bring about God's wonderful plan and providence in the Hebrew nation. No; the trouble with Jacob was with his foresight; had that been half as good as his hindsight he never would have said what he did.
Perhaps Paul did not have so much to contend with in his day. Let us see. "In labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft. Of the Jews five times received I forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day have I been in the deep; in journeyings often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness. Besides those things that are without, that which cometh upon me daily, the care of all the churches" (2 Cor. 11:23-28).In spite of all these, hear his overcoming, victorious faith say: "All things work together for good."
There is probably no department in the Christian life which is more desired and for which more prayer is offered, than the victory department. There are so many trials, disappointments and annoyances from day to day, that if one allows them to overcome him he is constantly confronting failure and chagrin. But to know that one is from day to day and moment to moment living in the praise and overcoming life, gives him a joy and satisfaction that is simply glorious in the extreme.
There are many Christians who go through the world in a sort of up-and-down, to-and-fro, in-and-out, zigzag way that is certainly discouraging. To have victory today and defeat tomorrow, keeps one on edge all the time, not knowing which way the battle is going to turn. A lesson from the Book of Joshua is encouraging. When he began that wonderful series of conquests just after crossing the Jordan into Canaan, it was victory after victory. Here is a sample of the records: "And he did to the king of Makkedah as he did unto the king of Jericho." Then follows like statements in almost the identical language except that the cities are different, showing that he took the last city and conquered it and its king in precisely the same manner as he did the one before. God had previously promised him that he should have just that kind of victory in Canaan. "Hereby ye shall know that the living God is among you, and that he willwithout fail drive out from before you the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Hivites, and the Perizzites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Jebusites" (Joshua 3:10). Notice two things in this: It was to occur in Canaan, and there were to be seven nations conquered. Is not this typical of Holy Ghost victory in the sanctified life? Canaan is a type of holiness, and seven is the perfect number. God wants us to have perfect victory from day to day over all our foes, and He will supply that which will enable us to overcome.
So many so-called soldiers of the cross are living simply on the defensive with scarcely a thought of spiritual, aggressive warfare. Look at the great battles that have been won in the world's history. Were not most of them won by the aggressive side? Look at the whole armor of God as the inspired pen of Paul pictures it out in the sixth chapter of Ephesians; the helmet for the head, the breastplate for the vital organs of the body, the shield for the whole man, and a sword to do aggressive execution. We see the whole front of the man protected, but what about the back? There is no protection for that part of the body, for God's soldiers are not expected to turn their back to the foe. If they do, they are sure to be hit. When the writer was a boy, accompanied by other boys, he discovered an old Indian burying ground on the beach bluff near Santa Barbara, California. They had seen indications of such a place, and were diligently searching for the exact spot. Finally, they discovered somerib bones sticking out of the bank, where the constant washing of the waves had in time crumbled the bank down. With shovels in hand they went about the delightsome task of uncovering the dead, with the hopes of finding wampum, arrowheads, pottery or any other relics which might have been buried with their owner. Finally, a section of an Indian's backbone was unearthed, and upon examination it was found that an arrow head had pierced the vertebra, just missing the spinal cord, and was wedged in like a nail driven into a board. The question might be asked: "How did the arrow head get into that Indian's backbone?" Evidently, because the Indian was on the retreat, and his enemy shot him in the back.
Where is the victorious life, when life is spent simply in the humdrum of daily routine of selfish interests? No wonder people have an up-and-down experience. No wonder they never get anywhere outside of the treadmill of life. God wants us to branch out and bless the world and be conquerors. In the Garden of Eden we read about the wonderful river that flowed through it and watered it; but it was not self-centered nor self-contained; it branched out. So it is in sanctified human experience today; the Edenic stream of full salvation flows through the soul, but it does not stop there and center itself in the individual. The stream waters one's life and experience, but it flows out and on to bless others also. The Edenic stream started out as one stream, but the account tells us that it branched out into four streams and watered the world around. Soit is with that soul who will let the Holy Ghost have His way with him. Out of his inmost being will flow rivers of living water. This fourfold Edenic stream went out in four directions, to the four quarters of the earth, so to speak. Four is the human number of the Bible, and when one gets the Holy Ghost, he is expected to branch out to the people everywhere and water the world with the precious water of life. Holiness is not self-centered. It consists of two elements—purity and power. If one has the thought of purity alone when he seeks the blessing, he has a one-sided idea of it. There is a power side which enables the possessor to conquer. Purity for the individual, and power for the world; or in other words, power for aggressive warfare.
Whoever became a conqueror that stayed always in one little, beaten path? The world is so big, the possibilities are so great, and the grace of God so boundless, that it looks as if we all ought to set our stakes for bigger results in the Christian life. One day we were passing along a street in a certain city and observed a gentleman constructing a very peculiar piece of frame work, and our curiosity was so aroused that we went over and asked him what he was building. He answered, "I am building a razzle-dazzle." He then explained what that was. He said that a razzle-dazzle was something like a merry-go-round, except that as it went round and round it also went up and down. We thought how many people in their so-called Christian life are riding the razzle-dazzle. Theywant to be going and moving, but they are going round and round, and not only that, they are going up and down, up and down, and never getting anywhere in their experience. Now, we never were much in favor of running off on tangents, but in this case we think it would be very advantageous to strike a tangent and take a bee-line for Canaan.
Many are hindered in their victorious life by the "little foxes which spoil the vines." Their spiritual wall which surrounds them seems to admit so many of the aggravating cares, that they find themselves frequently overcome thereby. "Salvation, will God appoint for walls and bulwarks" (Isa. 26:1). "But thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise" (Isa. 60:18). When we remember that "God is our salvation," and "Our God is a consuming fire," and this God, the consuming fire, is the wall of salvation around us, we believe the wall is so high that the devil's little foxes can not jump over it; so thick they can not bore through it, and so deep they can not dig under it. This is surely a blessed protection for those on the inside. But the promised protection of God is still more. He will insphere His trusting child and make him doubly safe, and make his surrounding simply glorious. Notice the divine insphering: "As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth even forever" (Psalm 125:2). Here is the Lord all around us. "Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved" (Psa. 16:8). The Lord is by our side. "Underneathare the everlasting arms" (Deut. 33:27). The Lord is beneath us. "He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty" (Psalm 91:1). The Lord is over us. And we are also taught that we may abide in Him and He will abide in us. Think of this marvelous protection: the Lord all around us, by our side, underneath us, over us, in us and we in Him. Then shall we allow the trifling things of earth to conquer us and spoil our experience? How often we hear one say words like this: "I wouldn't give up my experience for all the world," and then possibly in an unguarded moment go down over something not worth a quarter. We once heard of a sailor that had braved the sea and storms for years, and finally got drowned in a bucket of water. While drinking he had some fit or accident which caused him to fall, so that his face was buried in the water and he was strangled to death. Be careful of the little things; they are sometimes more dangerous than the bigger ones. A brother was once accosted by one of the Lord's workers and asked how he was getting along in his Christian experience. He replied that he got along very well usually through the day, but when he went home from his work in the evening, his wife nagged at him so much that he invariably lost out. He would be blessed along through the day, but when that nagging spirit of his wife got started, even though he would hold out for some time and keep the victory, yet as sure as he would open his mouth, the victory was gone. He told the worker that he had anexperience like a pelican. He then described how the pelican would start out in the morning and load up its big pouch with fish, and then in the evening it would start for home, whereupon the little birds would get after it and peck it first on one side of the bill and then on the other, till the poor pelican would throw its head around from one side to the other, and finally its mouth would fly open and out would go the fish, which was just what the birds were after. He said he had a pelican experience; that he would get along well through the day, but the constant annoyance of the wife in the evening would finally cause him to open his mouth, and away would go his victory. Many a blessing has been lost, simply by opening the mouth. It is much harder sometimes to keep the mouth shut than to open it. "So he openeth not his mouth," was the attitude of Him who was our example.
For many years the process of grafting has been known and practiced by horticulturists. This is accomplished by taking a scion, usually of the previous year's growth, from a shrub or tree, and inserting it into another shrub or tree more or less closely related to the first. It must be so inserted that the cambium layer of the scion, that is, the layer of formative tissue between the bark and natural wood, is closely united to that of the stock. In time, these two parts grow together into a perfect union. The scion thus inserted will derive its life and strength from the original root and stock, but will bear its fruit according to the nature of the scion.
When we come to the palm tree, we find something that is opposed to this method and will not respond. It will not yield to any mixture. It has not the qualifications that admit of grafting processes. It can neither be grafted in with any other tree, nor can any other tree be united with the palm. It will not mix. It is an endogenous tree, and the cambium layer does not obtain. It has no joining tissue that can be thus united with any other plant.
Did the Omniscient Inspirer of the Word make anymistake when He said, "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree?"
The Word of God is diametrically opposed to unholy mixtures. Hear the word of the Lord in Deut. 22:9-11. "Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled. Thou shalt not plow with an ox and an ass together. Thou shalt not wear a garment of divers sorts, as of woolen and linen together."
Who has not seen the evil effects of mixing the planting of various seeds together, such as melons and pumpkins, or other incompatible varieties? Why not yoke an ox and an ass together? They are neither mated in size, breed, nor disposition. It makes a lopsided pair. One is classed with the clean animals, and the other with the unclean. We once saw an oriental picture in the back part of a Bible where some native was plowing with an ox and an ass together, and they had the appearance of being ashamed of themselves. It looked as if the poor plowman would have a hard job to get any work out of the pair.
But why not the mixed garment, of woolen and linen? "They shall be clothed with linen garments, and no wool shall come upon them, whiles they minister in the gates of the inner court, and within. They shall have linen bonnets upon their heads, and shall have linen breeches upon their loins; they shall not gird themselves with any thing that causeth sweat" (Eze. 44:17, 18). God did not want them to chafe and sweat inperforming their religious service; hence, the prohibition of the mixture in garments.
In this we find a beautiful lesson for spiritual experience. We have too much of the linsey-woolsey type of religion in our day. How God must abhor unholy mixing up!
In this threefold prohibition we see the three sides of religion. Pure religion consists of three things: doctrine, service, and experience. First, they were not to mix the seed. What does seed typify? Read the parable of the sower in the eighth chapter of Luke. "The seed is the word of God." Here we have the thought: it is the doctrine of God. One part of religion is doctrine, and we must not be mixed in this respect. When the Bible speaks of that teaching which comes from God, it is put in the singular and called "doctrine." When it comes from men or devils it is called "doctrines." God's doctrine is one; men and devils' are many. Paul admonished Timothy to take heed unto the doctrine. In Paul's time, and in the times of the early fathers, heresy abounded. In our own time, Christendom is rent with heresy. Unscriptural doctrine obtains everywhere. Universalism proclaims the mercy of God reaching "from everlasting to everlasting." So, in the ultimate outcome, all, because Christ died for all, will be housed safely, in spite of a Christ-rejecting life. Unitarianism, as the name suggests, believes in one God; hence, rejects the deity of Jesus Christ, and being Universalists also in belief, they are all going to get in by the example of theSavior. While the Universalist believes that God is too good to damn him, the Unitarian believes that he is too good to be damned. Then comes along the soul-sleeper, who mixes with his doctrine the heresy of no conscious existence after death till the resurrection, and the utter annihilation of the wicked following the judgment, all of which is in direct opposition to the plain teaching of the Word. Mormonism comes in with its deluded adherents and claims a new revelation in the Book of Mormon, and repudiates hell, flaunts its mantle of polygamous fornication over its dupes, and gives the world a mixture indeed. Christian Science, the greatest misnomer in modern parlance, foists its counterfeit religious currency over our fair land and makes the unwary deny the existence of sin, death, Devil, and the real personality of God himself. The blood atonement of our Savior is obnoxious to them, and hell is not in their creed. Surely theirs is a mixed seed, with scarcely any real truth. Then springs up theignis fatuusfallacy of Russellism with its promised "Millennial Dawn," spreading out the "Plan of the Ages" so that its deceived votaries discount the deity of Christ until His resurrection. They claim that His body was not resurrected, but may have passed off into gases; that one is not born again till he is resurrected; that hell is a farce; that the world will have a further chance of being saved after death. Not content with these forces, the disseminator of mixed seeds raises up a regiment of Higher Critics, who, with their Jehoiakim penknives, have cut andslashed the blessed, inspired Word of God till it is beyond recognition as it comes from their hands. To follow their vandalism is to get into the meshes of mysticism and doubt, and wonder what part, if any, is to be relied upon as actual inspiration. Then we have the "New Thought," and the "New Theology," and the "Aquarian Gospel," and their name is Legion, the "isms" that are foisted upon gullible humanity in these latter days. Occasionally one pokes up his personality above the horizon and declares himself Jesus Christ, when, lo, and behold a following! Sad indeed is it that so many people and many good people, have been beguiled into the unscriptural teaching couched in the creed of the so-called "Tongues Movement." When it first claimed the attention of the Christian world their theory was first, justification, in which all sins were forgiven; then following this experience came sanctification, which involved the cleansing of the heart from all inbred sin; following this definite work, comes the baptism with the Holy Ghost, accompanying which is the speaking in tongues as an evidence of said baptism. No one must rest satisfied that he has received his Pentecost till he has spoken in tongues. Then the factions began to arise. Leaders opposed each other, and all spoke in tongues as claimed. Their creed began to change, and now one of the leading factions of the movement ridicules the thought of sanctification as a second work of grace, and declares, that while sanctification does come in, yet all the cleansing one gets is in the first work when pardon takes place; that is,all inbred sin is then eradicated from the heart. They still hold to the baptism with the Holy Ghost and speaking in tongues. Many of the good people of the land have been caught in this theological mix-up, and have dropped out of the old-time holiness ranks. What does it all signify? It signifies a mixing of seed—a mixing of doctrine. The theocracy of the Old Testament forbade it in the literal, and the inspired Word also forbids it in the spiritual, in the present dispensation.
A person who is mixed in his doctrine is a dangerous element in the community. His work is not to settle, root and ground others in the faith, but rather to unsettle them. "A heretic after the first and second admonition, reject." Has it ever occurred to the reader that heresy is one of the works of the flesh, or carnal mind? Read it in Gal. 5:20. The Conservator of orthodoxy is the Holy Ghost in a purified heart. Outside of that, where is the hope of preserving inviolate the purity of the doctrine of God? Let me illustrate how this works. There enters an intelligent, so-called expounder of the truth, into a pulpit, and he proceeds to teach the people. There sits in the congregation one with a purified heart, in whom dwells the Holy Ghost, the Author of the inspired Word. As this ingenious mixer of seed throws out some good truth, he adroitly mixes into it his heresy, and makes it so plausible, that, if possible, it would deceive the very elect. His arguments are so clear, and he uses the Scriptures so well to prove his statements, that even to the minds of themost spiritual, it seems that he has made the points scripturally plain. The head responds and says, "It looks that way," but the Holy Ghost dwelling in that purified heart causes a shrinking. The soul closes in, and the listener says, "I do not feel right somehow. I am not comfortable." What is the matter? It is the blessed Conservator of orthodoxy, the Preserver of the purity of the Word of God operating in that heart to hinder it from accepting heresy. But here sits another who has not been so fortunate as to have the element of inbred sin purged from the heart; hence, has not the abiding fulness of the Holy Spirit in the heart. The speaker appeals to him in the same way he did to the other. The head nods assent, for he certainly makes it plain. But he has that in his heart from which heresy springs, and so the heresy from this man appeals to its kindred spirit in the listener, and the result is, it is swallowed down, the poison has done its work, and another victim is numbered. Oh, reader, is it of small import that we should be filled with the Holy Ghost, and thus have our spiritual Protector always guarding us from poisonous seed? We would not want to take the stand that this is the infallible rule with all people, but we do certainly believe that this is the secret of some remaining firm and immovable in doctrine, while others are swept from their moorings.
The next department of religion we wish to notice in connection with wrong mixtures is that of service. The ox and the ass were not to be yoked together.This signifies service. Service constitutes a large portion of our religion. Without proper service to God we could not hope to continue in the grace of God. Certainly it stands one in hand to know what kind of service he should engage in.
The world and the religion of Jesus Christ were never calculated to mix. It is the unholy mixtures all down the ages that have brought the stigma upon the Church of God. It always causes trouble. "And the mixed multitude that was among them fell a lusting: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat?" The children of Israel fell into line with the murmurings of the mixture they had on hand. God's plan has always been for His people to be separated people. That is the reason He took them out of Egypt. He warned them before they ever got to Canaan, that they must remain separated from the inhabitants of the land. They were not to intermarry; they were not to mix. When Balaam utterly failed to curse the children of Israel for Balak's sake, because the Lord would not let him, yet on his departure he told Balak how he could succeed anyway. He told him to mix up with the children of Israel in an unholy and abominable alliance. He did so and brought the curse and plague of God upon Israel, and thousands were slain thereby. When Nehemiah was sent to rebuild Jerusalem, he found a terrible state of affairs had arisen by the intermarriage of the Jews with the women of Ashdod, Ammon and Moab. There were a lot of little half-breeds runningaround that could not talk the Jews' language. So Nehemiah had a great cleaning up time on his hands.
God has called His Church to stand out clean and spotless from the world. What a power she would have been had she always taken the separated, clean way! But how sad to see those who profess to be followers of the meek and lowly Nazarene, courting the world and mixing with them in their pleasures, pride, popularity, and polluted politics!
One of the saddest things to behold today is the reckless transgression of that plain command, "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." See the unhappy homes everywhere, because Christians did not counsel with God and His Word in taking a life-partner. Oh, the anguish, and heartaches, and backslidings, because the plain Word was not followed! There was a certain Christian lady, who neglected to follow the Guide Book in this important step, and right soon after the marriage she knelt down to offer a little prayer to God, and His voice was heard clear and distinct: "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers." It was too late now to remedy the affair, but the same word was in the Book before she got into trouble. For thirty years this lady wandered on in darkness thereafter and never heard the voice of God, till in mercy she was brought back to saving grace.
How many there are who take upon them the name of Jesus Christ and yet are mixed up in secret societies and labor unions. Let the world have these institutions if they want, for they are simply worldly. Theirmethods and practices and pleasures are not conducive to spiritual life. It is a wrong mixture. "Come out from among them and be ye separate."
Let me not pass by another mixing which does not have the blessing of God upon it. It is that of partnership in business with the unsaved. How many of God's people have found themselves in serious difficulty on account of unscriptural business partnership. More than once God has had to force the alternative upon one of His children to buy out or sell out; that he could not continue in such alliance to the glory of God. We have been astonished and grieved at the careless and reckless way so many professing Christians, yea, holiness people have disregarded this command of separation, and allowed themselves to be drawn into stock companies with the unsaved. Is it not an unequal yoking together? Shall we take God's money, and put it in the control of the world? No wonder so many who have been so fortunate as to possess a little of this world's goods have suddenly found their money taking wings and flying away. Had they counseled with God in the business, they would not have been beguiled into the unequal yoking with unbelievers. Let us not think we can fly in the face of the plain Word of God and take matters in our own hands with impunity.
Neither should we yoke up in church fellowship with those who are not saved. We would not take the stand, that perchance some might not be taking the track, that it should bar us from church membership, but when the mass of members are not obeying God,and are opposed to holiness, and are worldly in their trend, it is no place for one who wishes to be spiritual and keep blessed. How long will it be if one mixes in with such a crowd till he will be like them? We once were passing through the state of Colorado and saw from the car window a beautiful, clear stream of water join with another stream that was dark and muddy. How long did it take the crystal stream to become muddy like the other? It certainly did not clarify the muddy current, but the muddy current mixed right into it and all became impure.
Poor Ephraim ought to stand out as a warning to those who think they can mix with the world with impunity. Hear the Word on his case: "Ephraim, he hath mixed himself among the people; Ephraim is a cake not turned." Poor, unturned cake. He had mixed so much among the people that he did not have fire enough to bake him on both sides; it did not pay to turn him over. What is an unbaked cake good for? It is so sticky that it will adhere to almost anything. Ephraim adhered to this people and that, and met with sad failure. Sticky, soggy, heavy, indigestible, unpalatable! Who wants it? "Hot cakes" is the call, and not cold, unturned ones.
The next department of religion we wish to notice is that of experience. Here we have the prohibition of the linen and woolen garments mixed. What is closer to a person than his garments? God has seen fit to express salvation under the fitting emblem of garments. "For fine linen is the righteousness of saints" (Rev.19:8). "These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb" (Rev. 7:14). "Let thy garments be always white, and let thy head lack no ointment" (Eccl. 9:8). "Put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem" (Isa. 52:1). "He hath clothed me with the garments of salvation; he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isa. 61:10). We have given these beautiful Scriptures to show that garments are used to symbolize Christian experience. Now, as the garment is the closest thing that comes to a person, so one's experience is the closest thing in his religion. It certainly gets up close to a man. God forbade under the theocracy the wearing of linen and woolen garments mixed. This mixture causes chafing and sweat and hardship that He wanted avoided in their religion. But in this present day we find, alas, too frequently a linsey-woolsey religion.
Let us carry out the figure. Linen is the pure, clean, vegetable creation, and is used to signify the righteousness of the saints. Wool is the product of the animal, and is carnal; hence, signifies the carnal element in one's experience. This carnal element sometimes called the flesh, obtains in every Christian's heart until he obtains the baptism with the Holy Ghost, wherein his heart is thus made pure.
"Neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woolen come upon thee" (Lev. 19:19). As the Word of God was against the garment of this mixture, so that experience today that is allowed to remain in theheart whereby there is righteousness and carnality dwelling together is forbidden. There must not remain carnality where grace has taken up its abode. There will be spiritual sweating and chafing, and one's religion will be hindered and thwarted, and in all probability there will be failure in the end. As it was scientifically incompatible, the mixing of linen and woolen together for a garment, so it is spiritually incompatible, the mixing of righteousness and carnality in the same heart. There is always more or less chafing and hardships and discouragements. "For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye can not do the things that ye would" (Gal. 5:17). Thank God, in the economy of grace there is provided an elimination of the carnal element of one's experience, leaving the pure, clean linen of righteousness. Then the chafing, and galling, and spiritual perspiration, working against carnal odds, will cease.
Now for a word of application. "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree" in preclusion of uniting or mixing with others. There is something in the very nature of the palm that precludes the graft, or intermixing. There is something in the spiritual makeup of the holy, palm tree saints that have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. They are a class by themselves. They will not mix their religion with the world. In doctrine they are clean, true, clear, and scriptural. They are holding to the old landmarks which their fathers have set. They are not runningafter the new fads under the guise of religion. They are settled, rooted and grounded in the truth. In service they are separate from the world. They are not mixing with the fun, frolic and general pastime and pleasure of the worldly element. They scrupulously adhere to the admonition to "come out from among them" and not to be unequally yoked together in any way. In experience, they have no admixture of the carnal and spiritual elements. They have had their hearts cleansed from all sin, and are really clothed with the pure, spotless garment of salvation. They lack that cambium layer of formative tissue that unites them to any other stock. Of course the world hates them for standing out against them and failing to unite. The worldly minded church members steer clear of them, for these members retain a formative tissue that will admit of joining with the world and allowing the world to join with them; but the palm tree saints stand aloof; they do not mix.
Our God is the God of nature as well as of grace. Trees thrive best when in the sphere that nature intended them for. The palm tree is especially a hot climate tree, and when taken out of its proper place it stands to reason that it will succumb. It can not stand the cold. It was not made that way. It matters not how hot the place may be, even in the broiling sun of the desert, it will thrive. But place it in the cold regions, and death will inevitably be the result.
The palm tree saint has this same characteristic in the spiritual realm. A red-hot meeting is his delight. His very nature calls out for the fire which burns in meetings where God has His way. The warmer the meetings the better he likes them, and the better he thrives. He can not stand the cold. God did not make him to stand cold meetings, and so he is not responsible for it. Cold meetings seem to chill him to the marrow. And should he providentially be placed in such a sphere, he would feel that he must do something to start the circulation or he would soon be frozen to death. Why do not more people have the wisdom of those in cold climates? To illustrate: A man starts out on a load of wood to take it to the market severalmiles away. The thermometer is many degrees below zero. A friend meets him in the way and informs him that he saw him nodding as he came down the road; that his nose is white and that frost has gathered on his eyebrows. The poor man still has sense enough left to see his danger, and he at once jumps off the load and begins to kick his toes against the sled, and swing his arms around his body in that peculiar, cold-climate style to warm himself. After a most heroic effort he finds himself thoroughly awake, and the warm blood again coursing through his veins, and he says to himself, "I will not allow that to happen again."
How often have we seen an iceberg in the pulpit, icicles in the pews, and polar breezes sweeping through the place! Surely, to live in that climate long would be to freeze to death. One would have to make a tremendous stir if he hoped to keep up circulation in such a place. And should the stir be made, there would be a hue and cry of fanaticism, wild fire, crazy, or such like. But the Holy Ghost never intended Christians to live in such an element. He never intended palm tree saints to live in refrigerators. One may ask if refrigerators are not good for something. Surely, they are. One can preserve a dead chicken well in one of them, but put a live chicken in and it will soon chill and die. The idea of thinking that a lot of little, new-born babes could live and thrive in church refrigerators! No, they must have warmth. It is their nature, and when one goes contrary to nature, bad results will surely follow. Thank God there is a warm climate for those who musthave it. Let us see to it that we live under the warm rays of the Sun of righteousness, and in an element conducive to spiritual growth and health.
There is a mistaken idea abroad concerning unity. Because there is no outward eruption, and because things seem to run smooth, they take it for granted that there is oneness. There is such a thing as being frozen together instead of melted together. Jesus prayed for His disciples that they might be sanctified, that they all might be one. It is the sanctifying baptism with the Holy Ghost and fire that makes people one in the proper and scriptural sense. If one had any fire in which to keep warm, and should attempt to live in some frozen regions, they would soon cool him off, and he would be frozen together with them. The story is told of an eagle floating down the Niagara river on a cake of ice. He was enjoying a feast on a lamb which was frozen to the ice. After a while the eagle neared the falls, but he was not afraid, because he could fly. Finally, as the water got swifter, the eagle was seen to spread his wings and prepare for the escape. When he saw that he could remain no longer with impunity, he attempted to spring from the ice, when, lo and behold, he found himself frozen to the cake of ice. With an awful screech and wings flapping he went over the falls to destruction. May the Lord saveusfrom too much self-confidence and from remaining where death and destruction are inevitable, and where freezing and falling go together.
Quite a number of years ago the writer and anotherevangelist were invited to a certain church in New Orleans for revival services. A certain, noted evangelist had formerly served in that church as pastor, and great good had resulted from his ministry. The pastor at this time stated in his invitation to us, that should we accept it, it must be with the understanding that we were not to preach holiness as a second work of grace; that the church had previously undergone quite an upheaval on that line, but now things had quieted down, and peace was now reigning instead. It might be of some interest to know if we accepted his invitation. Our answer was about on this line: "We thank you for your invitation to assist in meetings in your church, but inasmuch as you have placed an embargo on the stream of holiness as a second work of grace, which is the only way any one ever received it, we feel if we should accept the invitation under such conditions we would be selling Jesus Christ at a less figure than Judas got for Him. And furthermore, may not that peace and quietude of which you speak relative to the church, be the quietude of the graveyard instead of a live church?" Suffice it to say, we did not receive any further invitation.
It is a very easy thing to compromise both as preachers and laymen, and accommodate ourselves to cooled off environments, till we are a very part of the thing ourselves. As long as God has provided a warm home for His sheep and lambs, let us see to it that we have the benefit of the same. Amen!